Fine china

I have been obsessed with trying to figure out what to get for my family, and I am finally done, so I thought I would share some of it. Upon further thought I am concentrating on the china that I purchased. Beware: I am going to discuss cost. Sometimes it annoys me when I do that, but in this case it's an interesting piece of the story.

My mom and my grandma love crystal, especially the Swedish company of Orrefors. So I got my grandma this bowl:



It is absolutely beautiful. I mean, I enjoy Orrefors as much as the next Swedish gal, but usually I could take 'em or leave 'em. This one I LOVE. I think it's partially because it has a cuteness factor to it with the snowflake. But apart from that, I took it out and looked at it and really understood why it's such a renowned china company. It is a piece of perfection.

This is what I got for my mom:



Ok, so it's an ornament. However, it's a Waterford crystal ornament. I have overheard before that my mom really wanted one. These things are friggin' ridiculous. The one I really wanted to get was $65. I really should have, because I ended up getting 30% off for various reasons. This one was $55. There were a couple of cheaper ones and many much more expensive ones.

My mom and grandma have expensive taste. Haha. Last year I got them both Orrefors that was on sale. The pieces were only like $30 but they almost had heart attacks.

I like Wedgwood a lot mostly because it's English. I looked at the Wedgwood Christmas stuff and there was a Vera Wang thing that was really pretty. But way too much money. Plus, I am the one that likes Wedgwood, not anyone else. Here it is.



Otherwise, though, the ornaments were weird. I didn't like where they were going with them.

I also love how as I was going around my expense threshold went up. At first I saw the annual Swarovski ornament which was $40 and I immediately said it was way too much. Then this tree was $50, still too much. Yet I still was somehow ok with a $55 one. I think it was because I knew my mom wanted one and will really appreciate it. Those kinds of things are things I don't mind spending money on, I think.

My mom used to work in the china department at Dayton's/Marshall Field's/Macy's. So I have an "education" on china. She always used to have me go around and look and pick out a pattern I like of dishes and of glassware so that I could gradually obtain an acceptable number of place settings by the time I am married, or something. I had some that I kept going back to, but I don't know. No gradual obtaining ever happened.

This is such a piece of society that is hardly ever noticed. How interesting.