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Hello, My Lovelies!  Welcome to our Spring Tablescape Blog Hop!  This season there are eighteen stylist participating, and I can't wait to see what the other participants have created to celebrate my favorite season.  If you're visiting in order, then you're hopping over from Red Cottage Chronicles.   Maureen has a beautiful blog, and I always enjoy her posts.  She's a tough act to follow!

Today is our anniversary!  Mr. Bookish and I have been married 36 years today.  We were married on the very last day of winter in 1988.  Our first full day of married life was the first day of spring.  This is one of the reasons I love spring so much... I also love spring because: the return of baseball; spring flowers; my birthday; and longer days spent at Lake Martin.  Spring is good! 



Sweet Rita from the Panoply blog is our hostess.
Thank-you, Rita, for hosting.  I always look forward to these parties!


For spring, I decided to create a whimsical Easter table with a few of my favorite spring and Easter things.  












I had planned to go in a totally different direction for this hop.  Let me explain my creative process for this spring tablescape.  Here is my inspiration:




I was shopping at Anthropologie recently, and I found this darling seersucker napkin set.
I love the preppy look of them and the colors.  I thought they'd be great for summer, but I decided to use them now, for Easter.



Next, I chose my preppy bookish bunny salad plates and matched them with MacKenzie-Childs dinner plates and woven placemats.



I always have fresh flowers either in my dining room, breakfast room, and sometimes both.   Mr. Bookish's allergies have been acting up, so I went with the plastic eggs with a few gerbera daisies on the Welsh dresser.  Please don't judge me too harshly!  ;P




I thought the cabbage napkin rings would be fun because bunnies love cabbage.
I have cute carrot napkins, but I was determined to use my new napkins.  Maybe next year!
It's a very simple table, but I do think it's fun.  I decided to set a table that would make me giggle, and I succeeded.  








I love the tiny bunny and cabbage salt and pepper shaker set I purchased from our local grocery store.






I used a bunny table runner with checked cotton-tailed bunnies.



I also used a couple of carrot tea light holders on the table.




Everything on the table is from Pier1 except:
Napkins:  Anthropologie
Dinner plates, large bowl (centerpiece), egg vases (on Welsh dresser), and mugs: MacKenzie-Childs
Glasses:  Neiman Marcus
Salt and pepper set, green grass, and plastic eggs:  The Fresh Market




Since the bunnies are bookish, you might be wondering what they're reading during this Lenten season.  Wonder no longer!  This is what they're reading:



According to Goodreads:


If you are looking for something lovely to read in order to prepare your heart for Easter, I highly recommend this book!


Please visit all the participants in the Spring Tablescape Blog Hop.  You won't be disappointed!
Kari's blog is next if you're going in order.  It's the very last link.


Hyacinths for the Soul - March into Spring
Home is Where the Boat Is - Easter Bunnies, Chicks, and Blooms
Life and Linda - Hippity Hoppity Tablescape
My Thrift Store Addiction - Birds and Blooms Spring Tea Party
The Cat's Whiskerz - Hello Spring
Belle Bleu Interiors - Bunnies and Blooms
Thrifting Wonderland - Simple Bunny Table Setting
The Painted Apron - Bunnies in Bloom!
Corner of Plaid and Paisley - Spring Sprouts New Life
Red Cottage Chronicles - Spring Fling Tablescape
The Bookish Dilettante - Spring  Tablescape: Bookish Bunnies




Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill



Spring Tablescape: Bookish Bunnies

Tuesday, March 19, 2024


 



Hello, My Lovelies!  Clearly it's past March 1, and I want to apologize for all my Tales of the Traveling Totes Friends for not being able to post on time and miss the link party.  

Sorry, y'all!

I thought I'd given myself plenty of time the week before, but I had not.  Before posting, I needed to fix a few buggy problems with my blog and Mail Chimp, and I had a few unexpected things happen that kept me from home and my computer.  Aren't we lucky we have Linda our very own Fairy Blog Mother to help! 





I still want to share with y'all our winter travels to California and New Mexico.


When the University of Alabama Crimson Tide was offered a bid to the Rose Bowl, Mr. Bookish and I decided to go and not only attend the Tournament of Roses Parade and Bowl Game, but to also visit family living in Southern California.

Our first stop: our home away from home, The Fairmont in Santa Monica.


We enjoyed all the beautiful Christmas lights on the property, the famed Santa Monica Pier, and the best charcuterie across from the Fairmont at Wally's.


We celebrated New Year's by visiting family living in Dana Point.  I absolutely LOVE Dana Point, and I can see why our family loves it so much!


The Montage is in their neighborhood.



La Countess de Monet likes it there.  A lot!



We went on really nice walks.






This is Finlay's brother Harold and his Best Beagle Friend Barney.


We spent New Year's Day in Pasadena.  I loved it there, too, and some of the cottages there are some of the prettiest I've ever seen!  This one was my favorite:




I've always wanted to see the Tournament of Roses Parade in person.  It did not disappoint.





You can read my post about the Tournament of Roses Parade including my favorite floats by following this LINK.




Although the Crimson Tide lost to the Michigan Wolverines, we still had the best time at the game.  I had a feeling Michigan would win because our daughter is a good luck charm.  While she attended the University of Alabama for undergrad and graduate school, Alabama won at least three national championships.  At LSU while she was earning her PhD, LSU won a national championship.  Now she's doing a post doc at Michigan...OF COURSE they HAD to win.  When her post doc is over, I will literally cry if she joins the Auburn University faculty.  That can't happen, y'all...

At the very end of January, we went skiing in New Mexico (Taos Ski Valley).  I was really looking forward to visiting not only to ski, but to also visit Taos's art galleries.  Unfortunately for us, the Blue Bus Line that takes people back and forth to the mountain and town wasn't running "due to political reasons" whatever that means.  It snowed everyday, which was great for skiing, but not so great for driving, so I skied everyday.  I was worried about my stamina and getting altitude sickness (we were sleeping above 9,600'), but I did not get it, and I was so happy about my stamina: I skied better than I expected!





Miss Candy Max went on this trip with me.  Our home away from home was the Snake Dance Lodge.



Snake Dance is literally ski in/ ski out.  We were spoiled!  This is the view of Lift One from the Juliet balcony outside our bedroom.



One of my favorite views from the ridge looking at the backside of the mountain.
This is where most of the runs are.



Our trip was with the Birmingham Ski Club, and a few friends brought their ice skates as well as their skis.



Mr. Bookish in his new ski duds he got for Christmas.


I really loved skiing Taos, and I especially loved the ski school and my instructor.  It turned out to be a blessing that I skied almost everyday and did not go down to mountain.  I got my ski legs back under me, and I had a blast.  My only complaint is that it takes planes, trains, and automobiles (and buses) to get to the resort: It's at least a three hour drive from the Albuquerque airport to Taos/Ski Valley.  



Our next adventures will be live on June 1, 2024.






Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill




My Embarrassingly Late Tales of the Traveling Tote Post

Saturday, March 9, 2024

 



Hello, My Lovelies!  Welcome to another tablescape blog hop party hosted by Rita @ Panoply!   



There are sixteen participants in this blog hop, and I'm looking forward to visiting all the other blogs and being inspired by the creative tablescapes.




Thank-you, Rita, for hosting, and also thank-you for always making the prettiest graphics for our posts!


For this year's Valentine's Day tablescape, I decided to put together a simple one in our breakfast room.  The table is set for two, for Mr. Bookish and me.  




I decided on a theme of hearts and lace, and I started with a pink tablecloth with red and beige stripes.  It picks-up the colors in the placemats.
I set the table for us at the upper end of the table, and I placed two other placemats and scattered three heart-shaped bowls on the lower end of the table.




My plate stack is simple.  I implemented the theme using heart plates and serving pieces from MacKenzie-Childs, and lacy plates and a serving dish from Pier1.




The placemats have heart and lace images on them.  




For breakfast, I will be serving Conecuh sausage and cheddar drop biscuits.  They will be served using the lace platter.  The heart bowl will serve fresh fruit featuring citrus.
Also on the menu:  espresso, because nothing says love more than hot coffee!





I like how the geometric, rickrack-edged napkins look with the placemats.  
The photo below shows the rickrack trim.











The jam pot will hold Strawberry and Champagne Jam from the Waverly Local.
The flowers are from The Fresh Market, and the vase is a wedding gift from my closest high school friend (and she's still one of my besties).  








Resources:

Everything on the table is MacKenzie-Childs except:
Lace plates and platter:  Pier1
Napkins:  Anthropologie
Tablecloth:  Vintage Williams-Sonoma
Flatware:  Horchow
Jam spoon:  vintage
Crystal vase:  wedding gift 



Please visit the other participating blogs.  The links are listed below.














Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill


Valentine's Day Tablescape: Hearts and Lace

Tuesday, January 23, 2024


Hello!

I'm Ricki Jill. Welcome! I'm honored that you're reading my blog. I enjoy sharing my creative lifestyle @ The Bookish Dilettante. For more information about my blog, please read the Start Here page. Thank-you for stopping by, and I hope you'll consider following me via email.

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