Party of 8

We are preparing for our first formal dinner party in our "new" house. The occasion was marked by the need to finally unpack my good china, which had remained safely in dish-pack boxes for over a year and a half now.

I do love to use all of our nice dinnerware frequently, not saving it for few and far-off "special occasions" only. But in this case, I had hoped to get the new floors laid in the dining room and family room before stocking the china cabinet. Alas, the need arose for the china before I found time to complete the floors. So, I spent a better part of Friday last week unwrapping, inventorying, cleaning, and setting each individual piece, along with cleaning the silver and locating the wine glasses. At least the table looks ready, in case the hostess isn't!