last night, we three marked the end of summer and the beginning of the new school year with a celebratory dinner. (this met with much more success than the end of summer beginning of the new school year shopping excursion to the mall on friday night, but... i digress.)
taking a cue from april and barb, there was candlelight. the reluctant entertainer encouraged me to break out the "good" dishes. and stephanie made me think long and hard about our back to school theme.
we took down the "summer fun" banner that has graced our kitchen window since the last day of school, and created a centerpiece using the summery tchotchkes that have graced our mantelpiece (bonus! the mantlepiece is now clear for my fall decorations!)
taking a cue from april and barb, there was candlelight. the reluctant entertainer encouraged me to break out the "good" dishes. and stephanie made me think long and hard about our back to school theme.
we took down the "summer fun" banner that has graced our kitchen window since the last day of school, and created a centerpiece using the summery tchotchkes that have graced our mantelpiece (bonus! the mantlepiece is now clear for my fall decorations!)
Be Your Best.
i really wanted something that would resonate. and transcend. "be your best" came about after a week of trying out different ideas (be kind, be honest, practice, focus, etc.) somehow, as i sat down to make our centerpiece, "be your best" is what came out. i like it. it fits. i have dreams of looking at jack each morning as he bounds out of the car and saying, "jack, just be..." and he will know. 
the good stuff
our china makes me swoon. i like swooning. i should really take it out more often. our menu was:
brisket with roasted carrots and corn
garlic mashed potatoes au jus
iced fudge crinkles with whipped cream
pink lemonade
one super confident 3rd grader
perfecting the art of the dollop
a few of the highlights for me... traveling a few blocks to borrow an onion from my sister; coming home from my walk to the smell of dinner roasting; lighting the candles (i have become a battery-operated-tea-light junkie); jack washing his hands (un-prompted, i might add) for 5 minutes so that he could "plate" the desserts; matty (the self-proclaimed bull in a china shop)commenting that he loves to eat dinner that's been served on fine china (uh-oh?); being our best together...
8 comments:
what a wonderful celebratory dinner. :)
Doesn't candlelight make everything magical? I must give all the credit to Barb for that one, though.
And I love your theme. I am certainly going to do a theme next year. And it's not going to be "Endure to the End."
I love seeing you all at your best.
p.s. the image of you going for a walk for an onion made me so happy, and wish that my sister lived just that close to me as well.
hehe! I liked the 'onion walk' image also.
You always find a way to inspire. It's a gift of yours.
My house needs some inspiring....
HELP LELLY!
Awesome! Your dinner sounds delicious, and candlelight makes everything extra-festive. Your theme is brilliant. And I wish I could walk to my sister's house...
Oh I love it! I'm so glad I read this post before my own have their first days of school. I am a world famous copy-cat, you know.
So much fuN!
I may need to do something like this to help us welcome in October (September is too close) or something because I totally dropped the ball on back to school fun.
We don't even have china, so there's no swooning here...sigh.
I love the idea of celebrating the beginning of school with the "good" stuff!
I think we might have to break out the china tonight for the 1st day of Kindergarten!
Post a Comment