Treated Royally and A Shout Out

Yesterday my family gave me the royal treatment.  It started with sleeping in, followed by yummy scones for breakfast/lunch, and then a delicious dinner complete with a beautifully set table.

Our daughter came home for the weekend, which is always a treat.  I just love having everyone under one roof!

On Saturday, my son asked what I wanted for Mother's Day and I told him not a thing.  He then informed me that if I didn't tell him something I wanted, I would get something I didn't want.  

When I opened my gifts there was this single asparagus shaped taper candle (pictured above) and as I pulled it out he was grinning from ear to ear...so was my daughter who had gone shopping with him!  He said it was the ugliest thing he could find and that because I hadn't given him any ideas this was my "something you don't want" present.  I hate to tell him, but the joke was on him since I like my pretty little asparagus candle, and my only disappointment was that he could only find one!

Along with the soaps, a gift certificate, and the candle, I also received this wonderful book Perfect English by Ros Byam Shaw with photography by Chris Tubbs.

If you've been reading my blog for awhile now, then you know how much I LOVE design books, especially beautifully photographed ones and this one did not disappoint!

It's full of wonderful text and glorious imagery of quintessential English country design and decor, which allows it to live up to the title of Perfect English!

My roses are now in full bloom, and my daughter created a lovely table arrangement for my Mother's Day feast yesterday evening.  We had grilled steaks, fresh asparagus, organic potatoes, and berry sherbet for dessert...yum!

Mr. Tide's gift to me was doing a ton of yard work this past weekend and buying me some blueberry bushes and flowers that will bring me lots of enjoyment for years to come!

I also treated myself to a few pretties the past few weeks, including these lovely green cut glass votive holders, which we used at dinner last night.  I also picked up a few pieces from Mason Cash to add to my ever growing bowl collection.  I bought a set of pudding basins, a mixing bowl, and then 4 small oval baking dishes which I hope to use to bake individual pot pies this winter, or maybe yummy creme brulee!

I hope you all had equally wonderful Mother's Day celebrations yesterday!  And thank you to my family for helping make my job as a mother very easy!!!

This week will be another busy one as I am hosting our local garden club this evening, working on a story that was due 2 months ago (yeah this is the life of a writer sometimes...things get delayed or pushed back and you just have to go with the flow), a photo shoot on Wednesday, and I have an art show this weekend that I'll tell you more about in an upcoming post, so it's push time!

But before I go, I wanted to give a shout out to my dear friend Fifi O'Neill!  Her book has been burning up the charts...and is topping lists everywhere!  Congratulations Fifi, I can't think of a more deserving person!!! xoxo

Romantic Prairie Style ranked #6 in sales on Nielsen Bookscan
for two weeks in a row in the Hardcover House & Home category, as reported in the
Best-Selling Books listing (week ended April 17th) in the April 23, 2011 edition of
The Wall Street Journal
Circulation: 9,963,418

Cards, Crabs, and a Flash

I hope all of you mothers out there had a wonderful day surrounded by those you love!

I sure had a great day today, from sunrise and counting...well maybe from 9 am anyway since I slept in!  I actually got way more gifts than I expected.  We aren't big present people except for birthdays and Christmas, so when I had 2 boxes to open I was so excited! 

First Mr. Tide bought me a very cool piece of camera equipment, a bounce flash!  A bounce flash allows you to bounce the light off of the ceiling, or almost anywhere, so that your photos are much brighter but don't have that harsh light which is often created when using a flash.  When shooting interiors of homes, or at dimly lit events, having a good bounce flash is critical.  I got the chance to try my new flash out on Saturday (he let me open it early so that I could use it for my two shoots on Saturday) and it made a HUGE difference! 

I took the picture above without using the bounce flash.  You can see how light the area around the window is, but the further you move away from the window the darker the room appears.

Here is the same basic shot, but with the help of the bounce flash the lighting is much more uniform.  Both photos were sharpened using PS Elements and the second one was lightened slightly, but you can see what a difference using a bounce flash can make.  This was such a great present and will make my photo shoots much less dependent upon the weather, and I can now shoot in low light as well as bright light!  *Happy Dance*!!!  Oh, and if you didn't already know (and no, I don't get compensated in ANY way), if you buy camera equipment from B&H Photo in NYC, be sure to do it through Kate, from Chronicles Of A Country Girl so that she can get a little pocket change out of the deal!  She has a button for B&H on her sidebar, that's what Mr. Tide used, and I know Kate greatly appreciates the support!

Today, I was served a yummy breakfast which included pumpernickel toast, bacon, walnuts, and fresh organic strawberries... yum!  And then it was time for me to open the present from my son and daughter!  They both admit that now that I am a blog-a-holic, buying presents for me has gotten a lot easier.  

And they also know what an addiction I have to dishes, so they gave me these gorgeous melamine crab plates from Pottery Barn!!!  I love anything with crabs on it, I'm a native Marylander after all, and these plates are perfect for summer dinners on the back patio overlooking the water eating corn on the cob, fresh peaches, and what else but...crab cakes, of course!  Thanks Bugs and Angelfish!

They also each gave me a beautiful card with the sweetest handwritten messages inside.  They make me tear up every single year, no matter how old the two of them are!  Mr. Tide tried to buy me a card a few weeks ago, but I insisted that he give me a back rub instead, and I think I won out in that deal!

So there you have it, my wonderful Mother's Day 2010, surrounded by the ones I love the most and lavished with presents, good food, and warm wishes, can you really ask for more than that?!

Oh and did you notice that sweet changing table in the "bounce flash" photos above?!  Well I'll be showing you lots more pictures of that darling nursery one day this week!  It is too sweet, and you won't want to miss seeing it!  

Until then my friends, enjoy your week ahead!

A Burleighware Breakfast

 

Good morning my friends out in Blogland!  It's breakfast time here at Low Tide High Style, but before we eat I thought I'd give you a gentle reminder about my Giveaway.  There's still time to win this beautiful white cut work throw.  

 

So if you haven't registered already you have until midnight PST tonight for a chance to win!  Simply click HERE for all of the details.  And if you've already left a comment, become a follower, or posted my giveaway on your own blog...Thank You!!!

So after a very rough morning yesterday, it's time for a brand new day today, and we all know that every good day starts with a healthy and delicious breakfast.  So enjoy a cup of tea, some toast and jam, maybe some scrambled eggs and bacon...make mine extra crispy please!

I hope each of you have a wonderful Thursday and if you would like to read the epic saga of how I came to be the proud owner of these beautiful Burleigh dishes click HERE.

I'm linking up for Tablescape Thursday with Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch!

Retail Heros

You may remember my love affair with Burleigh and how I found an incredible blue and white Burleigh platter for the most amazing price!  If you missed it you can check it out here.

I went back to Williams Sonoma Home online just a few days after I bought my platter, to buy some matching dishes, and was so proud of myself for snagging some of those at a great price as well!  I watched and waited for them to arrive in the mail and then one day the unthinkable happened.  After waiting several weeks and even receiving information from one of their customer service agents that my plates were due to be delivered just a few days later, I got an email saying they were sold out and wouldn't be coming back in to stock!  What?!

I get the whole thing about this not being a national crisis or anything, but I was so bummed!  You know how you see something and think it's wonderful, but then you find out it's not available and suddenly it becomes the one and only thing you've ever wanted in your whole life?!  Ok, well it wasn't quite as bad as that, but it was close!

I called WS Home almost immediately after getting that email, I was determined to find a set, or maybe 3, of those dang dishes!  I got a lovely woman as a customer service rep who patiently listened to me drone on and on about how my life would be ruined without those dishes and she was even kind enough to see if she could find some, hiding somewhere in the deep dark recesses of their inventory.  Nope...no luck...completely sold out she said!

Not one to be easily defeated I looked on their website and found their list of brick and mortar stores.  Now bear in mind this was at almost 11:00 pm EST on a Friday night, so the only stores still open were in California.  So I called their Palo Alto location and a wonderful woman by the name of Kathleen (I hope it's spelled with a K!) answered the phone.  It was nearly closing time for them but she too patiently listened to me blather on about these plates and then went to see if they had any in their store.

 Photo:   Williams Sonoma Home

And after just a few moments on hold she came back to say that they had some!  Are you feeling the highs and lows of this roller coaster ride I'm taking you on yet?!  I excitedly said "Oh wonderful I need 3 sets of them!"  And then the bottom dropped out as the gleeful ride to the top of the coaster just moments earlier when I found out they had plates, became a downward spiral screaming headlong to the bottom of the hill.  She proceeded to tell me that they were sold separately in the store, and for way more than what I had originally paid with my online order!

Kathleen was very sweet and so incredibly helpful, I mean it was only a 1/2 hour or so before they were due to close, and she said she would put the plates on hold for me so that I could then go back and talk to the online folks to see if they would price match them!  She also put her wonderful sales manager, Pam, online who gave me more info about how to have the plates shipped to me directly if the catalog folks would contact them and authorize it.

So back I went to their online service reps to plead my case about how I had ordered these online, and paid a certain price, and how my son would likely not get in to the college of his choice if I couldn't get these matching Burleigh dishes at an affordable price!  Dale was the rep who had the unenviable task of taking my call, but she was wonderful and told me she would speak to her supervisor Lori to see if they could work it all out!

After another few minutes on hold they had worked some sort of internet magic and assured me that they would contact Pam or Kathleen the next day to seal the deal and get me my beautiful Burleigh plates and at the price I was originally quoted in my online order!

With a little bit of patience, some fortitude, and with a lot of help from some great WS Home retail heroes, I got my blue and white beauties from UPS yesterday!   So if you live near their Palo Alto store, please pop in and say hi to Pam and Kathleen, and tell them that Kat is loving her new dishes.  I already phoned to tell them that, but you can tell them again!  And one more thing, since we all know that the President and CEO of Williams Sonoma Home frequently reads my blog *eye roll* here's a little message for ya!  Give those girls a raise, they made me a customer for life!

Don't forget to stop back by on Thursday when I will be using my new dishes for Tablescape Thursday!

Be Still My Heart

I've mentioned before that I have a dish "issue."  I'm completely and utterly addicted to dishes, or more specifically to serveware.  Platters, cake plates, you name it, if they are pretty I want them!  I have plenty of plates too, some with services for 20 and others just a few dessert plates in a particular pattern, but it's those darn serving pieces that draw me in like a moth to a flame!

As much as I love these pretty little wares, the lack of crisp bills overflowing from my wallet (ok I don't have a wallet I just shove stuff into a zippered pocket in my purse), keeps me from picking up too many of the things I really, truly want!  There are a few companies out there that make my heart skip a beat when I see their beautiful offerings.  Burleigh or Burgess Dorling & Leigh, if you want to sound highfalutin, is one of those companies.

It seems that everything I see on their website makes me want to pack a bag and jump on the next British Airways flight to London!  Sadly, that's not going to happen anytime soon, so for a long time now I've had to settle for gawking on the internet and imagining what a set of their bowls, dishes, or a platter might look like in "my" kitchen!

The other day, while on one of my fantasy "internet" shopping sprees I found IT!!!  There it was, right before my eyes...my heart raced, my pulse quickened, and I ran for my purse (and that zippered pocket) to buy it!  Today, when the UPS truck arrived I knew just what it was!  It wasn't my son's car detailing supplies, or something from my husband's work...it was for me and it was something I've always wanted but had never considered due to the price!

It was my perfectly packed, bubble wrapped Burleigh Burgess Chintz Platter from Williams Sonoma Home!  But wait, there's more!  This wasn't just any old Burleigh platter, this was my drop dead gorgeous dirt cheap Burleigh platter!

 Now that term "dirt cheap" is relative I know.  Had I been in Target and seen a large platter costing $25.00 I would have walked right past, but this was Burleigh...my Idol in the world of dishware!!  Originally listed on their website for $195.00, which was a "tad" overpriced by my estimation, it had been marked down to $29.95 and then I had received an email offering me an extra 20% off!  Can you sense me grinning like a Cheshire cat people...while ripping the packing to shreds?!

Ok, so here "she" is (why do I refer to all things dish'y' as "she"?)...in all her Burleigh glory!

And here's a view of her...umm pardon my French...derriere!

And her beautiful Burleigh Birthmark!

I knew right where to put her...on the hood above our range.

And then I stood back and admired her beauty, and the gorgeous chintz pattern, and the deep blue color.

And then...I rushed right back over to my computer and ordered some of the matching plates!!!

I'm linking up for Blue Monday over at Smiling Sally's wonderful blog!