So much for fancy family dinners...

About a million years ago when I worked at Pier One, I fell in love with a set of dishes called McKenna. The plates were off-white stoneware with a cut out edge that sort of resembles a prize ribbon shape. I loved them because we had a table merchandised for thanksgiving with those beautiful plates and yellow Toscana chargers. Ironically I most loved the soup bowls which sold out so quickly that I could never get my hands on any -- so I bought the rest of the set instead.

But I never do anything half way. Oh no, I pictured me hosting a family dinner someday and our family was already heading towards 12 so I bought 14 (i.e. FOUR F*&%ing TEEN) dinner plates and salad plates. I remember the day so well, as I debated if I should really spend all my Pier One bucks on an immense dinnerware collection that in mind would take the place of family china. I debated if 14 would be enough, how I would store it and move it from place to place until I bought a house. And then I lugged it home (did I mention it was STONEware?) in my other purchase of the day -- something that I later discovered was the world's heaviest damn wicker laundry basket ever made. In short, I killed myself for those suckers.

And then I used them on a daily basis for the past five or six years. And today I broke a plate. That makes the current set complete at 7 dinner plates and 5 salad plates. And did I mention that the set was discontinued and therefore nearly impossible to find? Oh yeah and heavy. So as we prepare to move yet again, I find myself thinking -- ok I think I'm ready to let go of the McKenna and move on. Maybe some nice Corelle-ware like the set that my mother used every day for 20 years and never broke a single plate.