Girls Love Chocolate!

Today is a very special day! In addition to being America's birthday, it is also the birthday of a special blogger friend who, like everyone I know, happens to love chocolate and polka dots (or "spots" as our English friends call them)...



And if you will permit me to set the table, I'll share a little about the dishes I used for her celebration (last year). Yes, I saved this post for a WHOLE year for her birthday this year! Waving to you, Lisa!!! :-)



And I thought I'd join my friend Sally for Blue Monday and my friend Lady Katherine for Tea Time Tuesday even though this is not exactly tea. But maybe Katherine won't kick me out! Sally's stuck with me because I do have blue. ;-)



And since it's 999 degrees in many parts of the country right now, I thought I would serve some sweet tea to quench our thirst. How will that be, Katherine?



The fact is, for the party last year we were going to have lunch, but something unforeseen came up, and we dined away, coming back to the house for ice cream and cake...



But I had a great time playing with the dishes, both before and after the celebration [do you sometimes play with dishes just because???]...







It's fun taking shots from different angles...



With different reflections...



I love the way the blue on the plate looks almost watery or iridescent with the light...



And how the spots repeat...



Along with the colors...





To form a cohesive whole...



But it's the little details...



I enjoy most when planning a party or setting a table...



And if you'll permit, I will share the ones for this party with you (if not, that's okay, you can just zoom to the end! LOL!)...



I found these blue and white polka dot placemats at Marshall's on clearance, and I snapped them up because I loved the color. I learned a valuable lesson with these mats as they have a tendency to overlap on a round table. So next time, I would opt for runners or a tablecloth. Remember to check for that if you fall in love with placemats and have a round table...


I added white chargers for the base. These have a nice little flourish of scalloping along the edge...



Next I added these blue dinner plates I received as a gift, plates that add an interesting element to the table with their square shape and clipped corners. I turned them on angle so that more of the charger beneath would show...



Then, I added these white with black polka dot salad/dessert plates...



Finally, I topped it off with the little dishes I used for ice cream, the dots in this being the same shade of blue as the blue plate (though it might be hard to see in my shots)...



And the colors on the table also reflect the colors of a vintage quilt seen covering a table in the adjacent living room. The quilt has this exact shade of blue and the pink of the lilies in some of the squares...



I used pink astomeria lilies for the centerpiece to match the pink in the little dishes. The birthday girl had also told me ahead of time that these were her mother's favorite flowers...



The container is a copy of a Nantucket basket executed in porcelain that I found on eBay in various sizes about ten years ago (I have three different sizes). The baskets also go nicely with some pieces I have in the Nantucket Basket pattern by Wedgwood...



I used Chantilly flatware by Gorham and had intended to serve Chicken Caesar Salad as the main course, but because of a series of events that occurred that morning about which I will spare you the details (but included leaving needed flatware in our safety deposit box AND leaving my credit card at home, etc., etc.), we ended up eating the main meal at a favorite restaurant and having "Chocolate Ganache Bon-Bon Cake" and Moosetracks ice cream at the house afterward...





Again, I repeated the dot/spot design in the glassware, a pattern I found some time ago at Anthropologie...





I used linen napkins that my mother gave me years ago, tucking a party blower inside the folds, and tying them with blue satin ribbon that came tied on the placemats...



Then I tucked a pink astomeria blossom in with each blue ribbon...



And what party is complete without balloons...



A happy birthday banner...



And tiaras...



And let's not forget the guest of honor and her lovely young daughter. That would be fellow bloggers Lisa of AKA West (Right) and BG of Prairie Girl (Left) who had just moved to Florida the summer of this party, a fact about which we are all very happy...



And now dessert! Would you prefer one slice...



Or two...



Or would you like just a wee bit of cake with your chocolate icing??? ;-)



Any way you look at it, we have happy guests with a cake like that, not to mention ice cream. As we end with our guests, please note that Lisa was so polite, she didn't tell me she had asthma until after she attempted to blow out the forest fire that was her cake! I put about 27 candles on it because we decided that she would remain forever young, but that was still quite a few to extinguish. Fortunately, she did well, and lived to tell about it...



And speaking of telling, I want to tell you what Lisa and BG gave me for my birthday last year. They knew I liked to entertain, so they found very whimsical pieces for me. An appetizer plate with a mermaid/sea theme (I always did want to be a Weeki Wachi mermaid when I was little!)...





And did you notice that it's whimsical and BLUE??? Yes, Lisa thought of everything...





And so does BG who picked out this darling crab dish...



I could not have been more pleased...



And want to thank them again for their generosity...



And thoughtfulness...



And though a year has passed since this party, I want to wish Lisa the very Happiest of Birthdays! Lisa, you are a very special person to have been born on our Nation's Birthday, and we have a date for lunch this week when you return! And with that, I'll close because I want to hear everyone tell all about their wonderful adventures.

So please join me at Sally's blog for Blue Monday by clicking HERE and at Lady Katherine's for Tea Time Tuesday by clicking HERE.





Thank you for visiting me today, and I look forward to visiting you at your blog. And thanks so much for always making my day complete! :-)

Happy Fourth (I know I wished it for you in my previous post, but I never tire of celebrating our freedoms) and Happy every day. As always, please pray for our Gulf and call (pester) your/our officials!

Warmly,


Mrs. Magpie (Sheila)



Accoutrements (I love that Bill has us using his term!)

Placemats: Marshall's on clearance

Napkins: Vintage

Ribbon: Recycled from the placemat packaging

White Chargers: Avonlea Antique Mall (eight years ago)

Blue Plates: Gift (last year)

White Polka Dot Salad Plates: Marshall's (last year)

"Girls Love Chocolate" Dishes: Marshall's and Home Goods (last year)

Goblets: Anthropologie

Seahorse Pitcher: Gift

Flatware: Chantilly Luncheon Service by Gorham

Flowers: Publix

Cake and Ice Cream: Publix

Balloons: Dollar Tree