Sunday, July 12, 2009

Fiestaware Makes Me Happy...

...and other random thoughts!

My dishes. New pedestal bowls are on top shelf - left...in peacock and shamrock.

First off: I love dishes. If I were rich and had a huge kitchen in which to store them, I would own a bunch of different place settings. Alas, I am not, but about five years ago I changed my dishes to Fiestaware, which is relatively cheap (around $20 on sale) for a place setting. Between birthdays and Christmases past, I now have a gorgeous rainbow of dishes in my cupboard that I love to look at. Some day I would love to have one of those vertical plate holders in my kitchen and also some (not all, as I'm not that neat and organized) open cupboards so I could see my dishes whenever I'm in the kitchen.

You know how sometimes when you order a "main meal" salad at a restaurant, they serve it in really big bowls? Panera Bread does this, and I love it. Well, we've been eating huge salads for dinner a lot lately, and I had the *brilliant* idea to see if Fiestaware made any big bowls that would work for our salads, so yesterday afternoon we were off to an antique consignment shop that carries Fiestaware seconds - and I found these pedestal bowls, which are perfect for my ginormous salads! I admit, I drooled over many other items (square and rectangular bakers? I need them!), but except for a couple of extra small cereal bowls, I didn't splurge on anything else. Here's how tonight's salad looked in my new bowl - and I have to admit, it seemed to taste better!

Another delicious salad in my new bowl - this one had blueberries, dried papaya, English cucumber, green onions, sliced mushrooms, grape tomatoes, chicken, avocado, walnuts, romaine and Newman's Own Light Balsamic Dressing - and yes, this is a serving for one very hungry person who did not manage to finish it (eyes are still bigger than stomach, it seems).

In other news: We saw Bruno today and all I can say is Oh.My.God. It was wild!!! Just a word of warning...don't go if you are not comfortable with male nudity. I'm just sayin'.

Three days to go until my surgery, so what would be a good thing (yes I'm being sarcastic) to happen right about now? Gold star to everyone who guessed a visit from my least-favorite Aunt, along with cramps. Yay me? And the funny thing is that I have to go tomorrow to have blood drawn for a pregnancy test - it's part of their anesthesia protocal - and although I'm going to call the pre-op nurse tomorrow morning to be sure, I suspect I'll still have to do it.

Thanks to everyone who left comments regarding the surgery and my worries about getting back to exercising. What I'm planning on doing is going back to the actual workouts on Monday, July 27 - even if it's just doing some light treadmill/bicycle/rower work and maybe a little something in the strength room. I figure it will be good to get back into the mindset of exercising, even if I'm taking it easy. Of course, I'll start out walking around my neighborhood before then...and who knows, maybe even do a leisurely bike ride! Obviously I am planning on everything going well and me having a quick and easy recovery. I guess there's two ways it could go, so I'll plan for the best - why not, eh?
Posted by Shelley at 10:24 PM

27 comments:

  1. Your cupboard is wayyy too neat and tidy. Love the fiestaware-always have. And the salad? Scrumptious! I like the exercise plan you have. Good job Shelley!
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  2. I have Fiesta ware too!!!!

    I am so sorry about your surgery, but I think you better only do what they say...better to wait a bit longer before jumping back in than hurting yourself!
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  3. oohh your dishes are so happy! They would totally make me smile every time I eat!
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  4. I adore Fiestaware! Sooo pretty! I'd like to eat at your house. =)

    I love the pretty salad bowls. I've been looking for something like that.

    If I had room in my small home, I'd have all kinds of dishes, too.

    I wish you well with the surgery.
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  5. Housewares are my downfall! I have a few antique pieces of Fiestaware and Riviera that I adore. The pedestal bowls are gorgeous. I wish I hadn't seen them. Must not go to the store. Must not go to the store.
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  6. never HEARD of fiestaware and adore the colors!

    smart plan on the returning to working out postsurgery but just remember (CAUTION! nag ahead) it's more important to listen to your body.

    more DIFFICULT? for sure.

    but important.
    we will all be here cheering you onward through all of it.
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  7. I too love the dishes. I had thought about getting some Fiestaware a while ago, but couldn't pick the one perfect color (my kitchen is red, but that is not my choice - I inherited it - I love the green, blue, orange colors the best) but I never thought of getting a place setting at a time in random colors - that is so fun and would probably bring some much needed other colors into my red kitchen. What I need is a great closeout sale! And I agree with the surgery/exercise comments - great to be positive, but listen to your body, and good luck with everything.
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  8. Pretty! I love colorful and fun dishes too, especially since I take pictures of my food LOL!

    I have decided that none of my dinnerware needs to match. If I like a single colored plate or bowl, I am going to buy it!
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  9. I have a "thing" about dishes too! Except I like mine to have a white (crisp...to me) background. I found Villeroy & Boch's "Switch" ...called that because it comes in about 4 different styles. I got the salad/dessert plates in square, and I'm in love with those, now, too. LOL

    I, too, recommend following the doctor's orders re exercise post surgery. Last thing you want to do is mess up your health by trying to do too much, too soon. Then it won't be a short, uneventful recovery. You'll have the rest of your life to exercise; an extra week or two, in the grand scheme of things, means nothing. :)
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  10. I have to admit I'm GREEN with envy. I love fiesta ware, and haven't ever had any. Now that the girls are older I'm thinking when they're gone (and I won't have to worry about chips and breakage as much) I'll be getting some stoneware.
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  11. fiestaware makes me happy as well. :)
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  12. LOVE the Fiesta Ware! You are so lucky to have such a nice collection. I have some canisters that everyone is jealous of but I've moved them from place to place the last 20 years and they are starting to get some chips and cracks. Good point on the big salad bowls too! I'm going to have to give that a try.

    I will be out of town the next few days so I wanted to say in advance that I'll be thinking of you during your surgery! Please keep us posted!
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  13. I am not so much a bowl person as I am a salad person!!! Looks Yummy!

    I was checking out your goal post, and good for you!! Keep inspiring me!
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  14. Funny, we already had HUGE bowls for salads, cereal, pasta, etc. and had to buy smaller bowls to manage our portion sizes. Good luck with your surgery!
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  15. Isn't everyone uncomfortable with male nudity? I'm not sure I've ever seen a more obvious design flaw - junk on the outside of one's body! Just SO wrong.
    I tried the strawberry/chicken salad a couple of days ago and it was a hit! Very filling - I made it for friends who came over for dinner. I did use pecans instead of walnuts because walnuts make my mouth hurt, and I also bought poppy seed dressing, which is a little sweeter - I liked it, but either is good. One thing I like about the light basalmic vinegrette is that it isn't a 'diet food', it's just a dressing made a slightly different way, but it's still all food.
    This salad looks good, too - I liked the idea of the dried blueberries.
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  16. Love all the colors - what a great way to brighten up the day. Tip for Aunt visit - bring lemons so she can 1) suck them or 2) turn them into lemonade - her choice.
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  17. Those dishes really are so pretty. All of those jewel tones...so much more pleasing to the eye than even china for me.
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  18. I love my Fiesta ware too. I'd love to have a rainbow of colors too but right now I have the cobalt, turquoise, white and persimmon.
    I have antique Fiesta as well but I try not to use that too often. Have you noticed the size difference of the plates from the old to the new? The post-86 Fiesta plates are HUGE in comparison!

    Laurie
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  19. I am a huge fan of the big giant salad bowls. I have two for my set of dishes that I got as serving bowls, but I pretty much use them strictly for salads. I wish I had purchased more b/c they don't sell them anymore.
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  20. So jealous of your plates and bowls! I love color, but for some reason, I went with Williams & Sonoma everyday wear - and while sturdy, they are boring white!

    Love the salad!!

    Fingers crossed all will go well with you - too funny about the pregnancy test - could you imagine starting over at our age??!!
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  21. I love your dishes! I like dishes too and always wish I had some cabinets with the glass fronts to display them...

    That salad looks awesome, I want to eat that right.now.
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  22. I love Fiestaware! Right now, I have Longaberter dishes in Spice (orange color) and sage. I'm sick of them but hate to not use them since all of the money that was spent. But you just gave me an idea, I could get the Fiestaware and switch back and forth. I may have to check into that! :-) Love the salad in the huge bowl. I think food tastes better when it is presented well, don't you?
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  23. That's a beautiful salad and bowl. I used to own an antique store and old Fiesta Ware was a HUGE seller. (BTW, I need to get more adventurous with my salads. Papaya, you say? hmmmmm)

    Best of luck tomorrow! I'll be thinking of you. Sorry about your Aunt, though. Nothing like insult to injury :( Be well, get good drugs.
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  24. You did a beautiful job on that salad. I love it when a salad has lots of untraditional goodies in it. I'm glad that you love your dishes so much. I work for the company that manufactures them and want to remind everyone that they are MADE IN THE USA! They also are restaurant-grade so don't be afraid to have them with kids. They also have a 5 year chip warranty and they are available in so many colors that they go with any decor. You can dress them up or dress them down.

    Hint for portion control: I use the smallest size oval platter or the luncheon size plate for meals so I put less on them.
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  25. Hope your surgery went well today Shelley! :D
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  26. I've always admired fiestaware but have never bought any. I love all the colors. Is it durable? I just wondered if it chipped easily. I have bought fiestware knockoffs at Walmart and found that they chipped almost immediately.

    Love the new blog backgroud, by the way. Very pretty!
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  27. OMG WANT THE PEDESTAL BOWLS RIGHT NOW.
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