You may be thinking that the Peterson's didn't even celebrate Christmas this year, because I have yet to post about any holiday parties or meals. I even got an email from a reader who asked if I were ill! Well, you see, my sweet, 91 year old mother can no longer travel, and this is her first year in an assisted living facility. That meant that if we were to be together, I had to travel to her. Thanks to our older daughter hosting us at her home, we had a wonderful time and have found a new "normal". I'm finally back in Atlanta, and we hosted a very informal dinner for some old friends. I was happy to use these cheerful place mats from Target and they made such a fun table!
Isn't this cute? This "woodie" with the tree on top is sort of an iconic symbol of our modern Christmas. This was us years ago when our girls were small, but the vehicle was a blue Ford Pinto wagon!!!!
For a centerpiece, I used a red pick up nestled in some simple greens.
To echo the stripes on the border of the placemat, I used a small red and white striped plate that I found at Kroger. Then I placed a hunter green salad plate from Walmart on top of the red dinner plate from Ballard's. Now, that's diversity!
Then, just for giggles, I used a little car from the Dollar Store and tied a sprig of greenery on it to mimic the design element of the placemats.
In order to let the design on the placemat show, I slid the plate stack over to the left and balanced it out with the placement of the napkin. This gave me lots of room for the glassware.
This green handled flatware was from World Market and I placed it on top of a simple cream linen napkin with a bit of faggoting on it. Yes, I know I broke the "rules" about placement by putting it all on the same side, but taking liberty with your table is part of the creative process. Right? That's my story.......
These red vintage goblets gave the setting a bit of spunk. We just brought our pre-dinner wine glasses to the table with us as we were seated.
Old Imperial Glass salt and pepper shakers sit on the cream canvas runner.
These heavy wooden candlesticks and brown tapers echoed the wooden sides of the station wagon on the placemats.
I found this simple and refreshing and planned a menu that was also simple. I made a green salad with pine nuts and blue cheese crumbles for the first course, then we grilled lamb chops and paired them with cheese grits topped with roasted cherry tomatoes. A baguette from Whole Foods and a store-bought tiramisu finished things off. And lots of good wine! And laughter!
We have several more get togethers planned, so I'm not in any hurry to take down the Christmas tree this year. Usually that's my task as I watch the football games on New Year's Day. Fortunately, the tree this year has yet to drop even the first needle. It's as fresh as the day we put it up a month ago!
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