Fiestaware

The 14-place servings of fiestaware we use every day. I love that I can store it on an open shelf.

A close-up view. Our colors: tangerine, scarlet, cobalt blue, peacock (turquoise), heather, plum, and cinnabar. There's a few stray yellow pieces we picked up when we couldn't resist a great clearance price!

I'm sharing some photos of our ever-growing Fiestaware collection. We have 14 place settings (in 7 colors) and assorted other pieces. On Halloween, Joel and I went shopping at Macy's (we had a coupon that was about to expire!) and added a few pieces to our collection--the 3 bowls pictured below, along with a few other items. I have to admit I was on a fiestaware high when we found the pedestal bowl for $3.

I know, they are only dishes. But the fiestaware represents much more than just dishes to me. Like any soon-to-be bride, once Joel proposed to me I started dreaming about what our home would be like. I was anxious for the day when we wouldn't be shuffling between our two homes, but living together in one. Obviously, we had both accumulated many personal items during the years and the challenge would be combining our two households. But I also felt it was important that we start our life together with some new things, not just all the stuff from our past.

What better way than with new dinnerware that we would use on a daily basis? Cooking, eating together...those were the things I was looking forward to. Neither one of us owned a wonderful set of dinnerware (no offense, hon!). I was more than willing to pass on my old stuff to my kids.

My heart was soon set on Fiestaware. Fiestaware is classic; it's simple and durable, will be around forever (sort of like us, right?). It offers lots of color choices that you can mix and match...and I love color.

Joel, being the smart man he is (he proposed to me, right?), agreed to the fiestaware idea and soon we were stopping at fiestaware displays, discussing colors... Joel surprised me with something like 12-place settings for Christmas last year. I was thrilled. And even though it was hard, I let those dishes sit in their boxes in a corner of my bedroom until we moved in together.

Now we enjoy our fiestaware every day as we sit down to eat together. I love it.

Behold, the new bowls purchased on Halloween. This "treat" includes the deep purple pedestal bowl we purchased for $3 (a deep discount from the $32 original price). We also scored a butter dish and 4 ramekins.