Not the usual day- in- the- life

I decided to set the table handsomely for every meal we ate, yesterday. It was fun to consciously spend time arranging the table settings midweek, for no particular reason, for no expected company. I was treating us to extra attention to detail instead of using my every day "put it on the table so we can eat" mentality.I genuinely make an effort to cook most days, but rarely do I put forth effort for the " table scape", as foodies call it, unless it's a holiday or someone's birthday or we have company.For breakfast, I used my Grandma's china, glassware and silverware, with white linens and an orchid centerpiece. All Al and I ate consisted of a toasted bagel with cream cheese,watermelon chunks, orange juice and coffee, but I found myself lingering longer( Lake Oconee allusion), just because everything was just so much more elegant than usual at the breakfast table. Arranging everything took longer than fixing that meal. For lunch, we sat in the dining room and used my Mother's Blue Danube dishes, two Tiffany glasses, and her beautiful silverware. I used Tia's hand stitched tablecloth and napkins, and I put a red rose in a Waterford bud vase between us. I made cabbage soup and crab salad, and we had raspberry sorbet.Finally, for dinner, I used our wedding china, crystal and silver, , a different set of linens, put candles and some crepe Myrtle on the table, turned on some quiet classical guitar music and opened a bottle of good Pinot Noir. We "dined" - not just ate- and although it was a lot more effort and time than usual, it was certainly a positive change up from our general pattern. I prepared lamb and okra, Caesar salad, and warm oatmeal raisin cookies with decaf coffee.I even poured us ( not Gina) some Grand Marnier. It was a rare day, an exception to our informal routine, and because of its out- of- the - norm pattern, it will be memorable.Maybe I 'll do something similar again...in a year or two.