Thursday, April 30, 2015

Pink Chocolate Girls Night Out Tablescape

Cuisine Kathleen's challenge to create a "Girls Night Out Tablescape" seemed as if it would be easy when I first thought about it.  In reality this challenge sent some perplexing thoughts wandering through my mind for several weeks now.  Just exactly what does girls night out mean to me?  Join me on my journey as my thoughts meander through a lifetime of  "Girls Nights Out" and the thoughts on creating a girls night out table setting.

First a quick look at the table setting
As I started gathering up the different items that I had been collecting to do a girly tablescape for a year or so my mind kept wandering to thoughts all of the adventures that I had had on my "Girls Night Out" escapades through the years. One of my first memories of going out with the girls was when my girlfriend Marla's mother drove us down to the Polish Women's Hall for the weekly Friday night dance.  Sounds innocent enough right?  Well it was,  but my Daddy had forbid me to go to these dances.  Oh but we had a ball.  I still remember exactly what I wore,  a pretty gray sweater with a deep pink skirt and a perky pink scarf around my neck.  We had so much fun dancing to a band (probably just a neighborhood band) we even hammed it up when a local TV station came in and taped the kids out dancing on the floor.  I made it home before my 11 O'clock curfew and well before my Daddy came home from work on the night shift.  When Daddy came home on Friday nights we would pop some popcorn and gather around to watch Ghoulardi,  a Cleveland TV legend played by Ernie Anderson who later became a nationally recognized voice in commercials and TV programs.  Drew Carey used to wear his Ghoulardi t-shirt on his TV show.  As we settled down to watch whatever ghoulish movie that was showing that night they opened the show by broadcasting the images of the kids dancing at the local dances that evening.  They had never done that before........ Well you know what happened then,  I will never forget my father turning around to me (still wearing my pretty gray sweater and pink scarf) and stating with a deadpan look on his face and a flat voice that I looked just like the girl on TV.  I think I was grounded forever.
I had to make a trip over to my storage unit to pick up a piece of material that I had bought at Goodwill last year.  I had rolled down the window and was playing old time rock and roll (Cleveland is the Rock and Roll Capital of the World you know),  it's the kind of music that gets in your soul (hehe) and reminiscing about the adventures my girl friend Dee Dee and I had with a couple of other gals from the office cruising around Southgate USA.  The premier shopping center in the country at that time and the best place to be seen for a bunch of young chicks in a 1960 Corvette convertible, rain or shine, snow, sleet, or hail.... we would be cruising.  I used to think the Beach Boys wrought all of those songs about us.  I feel sorry for kids today,  what do they have?  Justin Bieber..... that thought would give me the creepy shivers.

I had to dig around in the garage to find a box of beads, a heavy box of beads.  I had bought packages of different colors and styles packed together in about five pound bags for one dollar each several years ago from Marc's.  I thought this would be a good time to use a few of them.
I laid out the pink and the chocolate color beads but ended up only using the chocolate color.
Pink flowers with brown stems from Marc's a few years back were perfect for the centerpiece.
When I married (at a very young age) there were no more girls nights out except for PTA meetings, cub scout and boy scout meetings, and going to TOPS club meetings and shopping with my mother.  Now that I look back at it I realize that my Mom was truly my best friend.  When we went out it was girls night out!  We would go to dinner at Chinese restaurants (my dad was a steak man) and then go to weigh in at our TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) Club meetings a few days later.  We would shop and then we would talk almost endlessly.  Mom and I were the feminine side of the household that I grew up in.  My father and my two brothers plus three of daddy's brothers probably helped forge the relationship my mom and I grew into as I grew older.  When dad and mom retired and moved south my life changed but I found new friends and hobbies but none ever replaced the relationship I had with Mom.

Back to the tablescape
I found my box of girly stuff that I had been collecting and
laid them out down the center of the table.
The pink and black ring holder shoes are perfect for a party favor.
Cute high heel desert plates are perfect for the cream horns, Baklava and petit fours cakes and tiny red velvet, salted caramel, pistachio and frosted chocolate cup cakes.

Various candies dot the table like table scatter.
Hard to tell the chocolates on the tablecloth from the Hershey's and the buckeyes isn't it?
Pretty napkins from Goodwill.
A jewelery holder holds the chocolate beads
in a most feminine way.
Black champagne glasses and pink flatware.
Large black octagon chargers are layered with pink lace trimmed napkins
and pretty high heel girly plates.

Mom and dad lived in North Carolina for twenty years during which time I had two more sons.  Mom would come to stay for several weeks when each child was born.  We would talk and talk until the wee hours of the morning. Every vacation I would pack up the kids and we would go to Grandma's house plus whatever occasion I could come up with.  The eight hour drive did not seem so long going down to see Mom, once there we always had an adventure or two and we went to mom's bingo games every week.  My favorite bingo games were at the VFW Hall with the veterans.  The ladies axillary would host about forty veterans from the VA Hospital,  one was a  lady who had served as a nurse and was said be the oldest living female veteran from World War One in North Carolina,  such a sweet lady she was and what an honor it was to meet her. The evening included a home cooked meal.  My mom always made the steak and gravy to take for these Bingo nights.  We would start cooking the steak around mid-day in her electric skillet, she would flower the steak and brown both sides and keep adding the steak to a roaster in the oven until about sixty or so pieces were ready to have homemade gravy added and slid back into the oven until they were tender.  Good times.
So Mom this one's for you!  I can't think of anyone that I would rather have a girls night out with,  we could shop till we drop and we can eat cake till we pop! There are no more worries about counting calories now.  How I wish you were here.

Love,
Your Daughter
Candace


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15 comments:

  1. Awww..what a wonderful post to dedicate to your Mom. Everything is just beautiful and I hope my daughter has as fond memories of me staying with her when her babies were born as you have of your mom.

    That is SO funny about you being on that TV show and your Dad seeing you. Grounded! lol

    LOVE that piece of fabric-it was worth going over to the storage unit to dig it out.

    Have a wonderful weekend- xo Diana

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  2. What a wonderful tribute to your mom - and the table is deliciously darling, and oh so girly!! I love the tablecloth and the way you used candies - and all those sweets - now I want a cupcake. The plates are just darling - I'd never seen any before - cute cute cute.

    I just knew you were going to get caught going to the dance - it is a lovely memory - and a cute story. I would have loved to cruise in a corvette convertible - but at that time in Alaska there were no fancy cars - just ones that would get you where you needed to go - so we had to cruise in my girlfriends Volkswagon Bug - but we managed to have such fun.

    I love the whole table - only you could come up with something so clever.

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  3. Oh, my, Candy, did I enjoy this post! I laughed out loud when you told the story of your Dad seeing you on TV! Your table is wonderful! From the fabulous tablecloth to your dish stack (wow! to those shoe plates!) to your accent beads and I LOVE your shoe ring holder. Everything sets an atmosphere of girlie fun! A great table that obviously brought back some terrific memories for you and serves as a loving tribute to your Mom. Bravo!! Rosie @ The Magic Hutch

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  4. Absolutely perfection Candy. Love this table and all of your girlie accents. The plates are just as cute as can be. I always wonder where everyone finds such awesome things for tablescapes. love the pink flatware.... Kudos to you. Happy Friday/

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  5. Sweet memories Candy, and a sweet table to match! Love love your high heel plates, super fun, and how you put the charger on the diagonal with the lace trimmed napkins~ of course, girls need lots of sweet treats and chocolate to keep up their strength and beauty! Great tablecloth and sounds like you had a lot of fun retrieving it!
    Jenna

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  6. Now that's my kind of Girls Night Out table! Whenever there is chocolate involved, I'm in! Those high-heeled plates are perfect too! Enjoyed reading about the stories from your youth and your relationship with your mom - I'm fortunate to have the same kind with my mom.

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  7. Oh Candy what treasures you speak of for the times with your mom I love this table especially the material on the table you can do so much as you did with it. How funny that you got caught with your dance from your dad what a great memory.Boy would I love to go thrift shopping with you just to plan out your ideas and watch them come out. great job.my friend Susie

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  8. I just knew when Kathleen posted this challenge you would do it up right. What a fun table, Candy! I love all the naughty, indulgent (and sweet) chocolates mixed with the sassy and fun plates....we ARE sugar, spice, and everything nice....so is your table! Thanks for the chuckle about Beiber....my kids likely don't even know any of his songs, but definitely know the Beach Boys and The Beatles, I agree with you about most of today's music....blech. :)

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  9. What a beautiful post...... The table is stunning. Looking at you beautiful pictures and reading your stories brought out such an emotional and loving response to any woman who reads the story. I certainly can relate to your adventures. Both heartwarming and amusing. Love that you honored your mother so. I laughed out loud as I read about your returning from the dance and your Daddy saw you on T.V.. Great post!

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  10. Candy,
    Such treasured memories and what a darling, delightful tablescape! Your plates are super cute and oh all of the delectable treats too. Weren't those days of gone by, just the best ever, and I feel sorry for today's youth for not having our type of music too!
    Our Moms, our hearts, our treasures.
    Jemma

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  11. Such beautiful table. The plates are just matching to the occasion.Love the center piece. This table can gather lot of memories down the lane. Thank you. Love Sujatha:)

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  12. I love that fabric and the table! Well, it is just fabulous. That flatware is stunning. For whatever reason, I never shop for or buy flatware, and yet when I try to put a table together always wonder why I have so little to work with in that department. I think I need to head out for a flatware shopping excursion and look for nothing else.

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  13. Oh, my! You went all out, I love the pink and shoes! What an adorable setting.
    Hugs,
    Patti

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  14. I love the stories about your mom.

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  15. What a lovely tribute to your mom! It's so wonderful that you have all these fabulous memories! Your table is delightful, and love those desserts! Now THAT's a dessert tray to delight a bunch of girls! I'd go for the baklava, I haven't had any in . . . Too long!

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