Fine China, A Fellow Blogger & Serendipity!

A few months ago, I stumbled upon an incredible blog called Affordable Accoutrements, which is written by an amazingly gifted decorator, collector, and writer named Bill, from Tennessee. Not only does Bill have a large, beautiful home filled with lovely antiques, he also has an enviable china, silver, crystal and glass collection. As you might imagine, his tablescapes will knock your socks off! Perfection!

Bill lives in a part of the world (i.e. the south) where a committed collector like him can find lots of lovely old (and new) china. On the other hand, I'd been looking for a set of china forever and could find nothing I liked...until I saw Bill's set of Concorde by Theodore Haviland (made in America), which is shown off in this stunning tablescape (the solid white/cream set):

I mentioned to Bill in a couple of emails that I was in love with the Concorde and asked him some questions about it. And this is how generous he is - he came across a partial set on a weekend antiquing jaunt to Missouri, wrote down the prices and emailed me!

After connecting with the lovely shop keeper, who runs Pastimes Antiques, I have received the first small shipment of my very own Concorde, including the coffee pot, creamer and sugar bowl:

Isn't this beautiful? I just love it. I am not typically a gold fan, but I had a few odd pieces of scalloped Limoges with gold trim, and found that they really brightened up my table. The gold seemed to make big occasions feel more special with their glow. It may be a while before I set a table like Bill, but I'm off to a good start!

Serendipitously, while I was talking about Bill in Tennessee, David came upon the idea of making a civil war trip there! So we've decided to visit Tennessee in late September, for another civil war trip (he's a major civil war junkie). This follows last fall's Virginia road trip and David's solo Gettysburg trip.

The great part about the road trips is that I get to go antiquing while David walks in battlefields. I might get to visit Bill, but if not, I definitely hope I can get a list of his favorite antique shops!! Thanks Bill!