.......to the HLCCA Conference in Nashville! I'm Gone! See y'all later!!
6 years ago
Showing posts with label Fiesta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fiesta. Show all posts
2010-07-13
2010-05-18
My Visit with Charry
The Fiesta message board,Collectible Medium Green (CMG), that I frequent is having a little fun with a Chartreuse 10" vase, that we have named Charry. Charry is being sent to different CMG members around the country. They take pictures of Charry around local attractions in their area. My turn came up recently, and this was my visit with Charry.
The other day, I had double the surprise when Charry and the Dish Fairy both visited. Charry said he was feeling a little bit claustrophobic and wanted to get out and stretch his "legs" after the long trip from California. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating very well. Luckily, a few days later, the sun made a nice and very welcomed visit! So I took Charry to one of my favorite places in town, the Wandell Sculpture Park at Meadowbrook Park. This is where I love to go bicycling or walking.
Charry was a little bit nervous after meeting some of the "folks" that love to hang out at the park.
Next, we came upon a naked woman, and poor Charry had no idea what to think of this place.
Charry couldn't get away from the naked woman fast enough! But he was a bit curious about the couple he found around the corner. They seemed to be in the middle of some sensual dance.
Next up was this pair, who looked like they might be in the middle of some fight. Charry tried to get in the middle of them and break them up, but they were much bigger. So Charry decided to leave them alone.
But soon after we left the more colorful people of the park, we came across a HUGE rabbit. Charry thought he had died and gone to chocolate easter egg heaven, but I warned him about those "chocolate" eggs. They might not taste very well!
After seeing such a big rabbit, Charry wasn't a bit surprised to see such a big bear. Of course, Charry wanted to know why the bear was sitting on a pine cone. Unfortunately, even I could not answer this question. I just let know Charry that we are a bit different around here. ;D
Charry had a good time checking out some of the other sculptures around the park.
And Charry was already to play when he found this group of kids having fun. This colorful bunch welcomed him right away and he couldn't believe he had finally met some people that were almost as bright as him.
After the kids had gone away, Charry was still in a playful mood. He decided to play a little hide-and-seek.
We were having so much fun, Charry never noticed the signs of keeping off of the sculptures. Luckily, we made a quick exit before anybody kicked us out of the park.
After all of the walking and playing around, Charry was ready to go back into his box for his next adventure. So Charry was sent on his merry way!
2010-02-08
And the new color is…
It has been announced (unofficially of course) that the name of the new Fiesta color is Paprika! :)
The color is said to be a reddish-copper color. I think this color will be a very nice addition to the line-up.
My Fiesta Beginnings
I started my Fiesta collection in 1999. I was on vacation in Saugatuck, MI, with a group of friends. We were visiting a junk shop. Please note, they claimed to have antiques, but for the most part, I would claim they had a lot of junk and newer items. In this shop, I ran across a stack of Fiesta plates sitting on a table. The sight of these plates instantly took me back to my paternal grandparent’s table when I was growing up.
I was never very close to my father’s family. Even though they lived the same distance from our house as my mother’s parents, emotionally, that distance was a lot further. There were the few Thanksgiving dinners when the whole family would gather, but those had ended by the time I was 7 or 8. And we would stop by their house each Christmas morning, but it would only be us visiting. I rarely ever saw my aunts, uncles or cousins. Even more strange, I grew up less than 10 minutes from one of my aunts and her three daughters. I saw them even less than my grandparents.
The one thing I always remember about my grandparents though was their table. It was always set with Fiesta dishes. Of course, when I was a small kid, I never knew (or really cared) about the dishes. But now that I look back at those times, I fondly remember. The colors I remember were Red, Yellow, Cobalt, Medium Green, Ivory and Turquoise. I don’t recall any of the other 50’s colors or Original Green for that matter either. I know my grandmother bought them when she was working at a local department store. But I have no idea when she worked there. She would be a few dishes at a time, as the budget allowed.
Sadly, my grandmother passed away in 1995 and my grandfather was put into a nursing home in 1999. When he went into the nursing home, all of his belongings were auctioned off. This was the same time that I was really getting into collecting Fiesta. But with the lack of communication in the family, I was never told of the auction until after it was over. I would have gladly bought all of their Fiesta dishes. The main prize would have been the Turquoise disk pitcher she used for every meal to pour her iced tea. And for me, that one piece will always be the iconic piece of Fiesta.
And that stack of plates I saw in the junk shop, they came home with me. At the time, I had no idea what they were other than the items that triggered my Fiesta obsession. I thought they would make great dinner plates, but they turned out to be the 11” chop plates. A bit too bulky and way too large for dinner plates. The colors are Apricot, Rose, Periwinkle, Turquoise and Cobalt. I think I used them once for eating, and realized they were too big. They have been dust collectors ever since. But they still remind me of my grandparent’s table and the beginning of my collection.
2010-01-11
In With The New
I have never been a resolutions type person. I often make goals, but I don't come up with a list of items that I want to change on January 1st. The best part of my New Year Resolutions, when January 2nd comes around, I am still following all of my resolutions, because there are none!
This year I am working on something different though. After the bitter end of 2009, I have decided to make 2010 totally different. I have already changed my diet and continue to lose weight slowly (being sick most of December helped too!) I don't smoke or do drugs, so no need to give them up. My drinking is so minimal that I rarely drink anymore. I think I am good on that part.
My big change for 2010 is to concentrate on the positive and leave the negative behind. I don't have an anger issue, but I do have a problem of negativity building up before I vent. And when I get upset enough, it often makes me explode!
This might seem easy, but it is a goal that I will really need to work on. Luckily, I have a few things that help me stay positive. My dog is such a sweet dog, it is hard to be mad around her. Just one look at her face and it will melt any anger. Also with all of the colorful Fiesta dishes around the house, who could be mad? Just one look at either of the Fiesta cabinets will put a nice smile on my face.
So I am looking very forward to 2010. :)
2009-07-16
Post-Conference Blues
I'm very sorry to say...I had to come home from Pittsburgh! I first off want to thank everybody that was there, I had the best time! I had the wonderful opportunity to meet so many wonderful people. I had been chatting online with some of them for almost 10 years now. I am not even going to begin to name all of the people I met because I will only forget twice as many.
I got the honor of meeting all (except for Papa who didn't attend) of the members of the Hump Night Chatters Club. Just as we do twice a week in the chatroom, we had a blast in person!
I also got to meet so many new people and make new friends.
Lastly, a HUGE THANKS to all of the HLCCA officers, the conference volunteers and everybody who made Pittsburgh 2009 such a huge success! I just hope Nashville knows what they are getting into next year! :)
The bad news was when I got home, I had no internet connection! After MANY, MANY hours on the phone with the phone company and 3 visits from the AT&T repair department, they finally diagnosed the problem. Sadly, it took 3 days to fix! That was 3 days of dialup (and 1 night of using Douglass's internet) of trying to catch up with the Post-Conference discussions and photo sharing. Tonight I will start adding my photos to the collection.
2009-07-08
I'm Outta Here!
Even though I have been chatting with some of these people for 10 years (first on MediumGreen and now CollectibleMediumGreen), I have never had the opportunity to meet any of them face-to-face. I have wanted to go to the last 3 conferences, but other circumstances have kept me home.
I am picking up my friend Val from the Indy Airport and we are driving the rest of the way to Pittsburgh. We will also be stopping at quite a few junk/antique shops/stores/malls along the way. During the conference we will be visiting the Homer Laughlin factory, where we will see our beloved Fiesta dishes being made. On Saturday, Val and I are going to be joined by 2 other CMG guys. We are going to take a little trip to go visit Fallingwater. Fallingwater is probably Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous design.
And bring back all of those happy days
Put your troubles down
It's time to celebrate
Let love shine
And we will find
A way to come together
And make things better
We need a holiday
See y'all next week!
2009-06-24
Pittsburgh or Bust
Two weeks from right now, I will be leaving the Indianapolis Airport with MsVal on our way to Pittsburgh. You have all been warned about this trip. I suggest you take the young, the elderly and the weak-hearted and GET THEM OUT OF OUR WAY! We are going to have the time of our lives and nothing is going to stop us!!!
Pittsburgh will never be the same!!!
2009-06-03
Pitts in July
Not that I am counting...but as of today...only 35 days until my vacation starts and I am headed off to Pittsburgh.
2009-04-07
Lemongrass and Chartreuse Comparison Photo
Here is an excellent comparison picture that compares Lemongrass, Post86 Chartreuse and Vintage Chartreuse. HLC said that Lemongrass was a yellowish-Chartreuse color. After seeing this picture, I would say that Lemongrass is much more vibrant than Chartreuse.
Thanks to MaryAnn. Don't forget to check out their new website, Colorful Dishes, and check out all of the wonderful dishes they have for sale.
Previous Lemongrass Postings:
Lemongrass
Lemongrass Update
2009-03-30
NEW Lemongrass Update
Here is an amazing pic of Lemongrass surrounded by all of the other current Fiesta colors (not including Marigold which is the 75th Anniversary Color). It definitely gives you an idea of what it will look like. Too bad they didn't include Chartreuse, since Lemongrass is supposed to be a yellow version of Chartreuse. It would have really shown just how different/similar the colors are.
Also, the release date for the new color has been updated. I originally posted that it would be released in November, 2009. That information was taken directly from the HLC (makers of Fiesta) website. That has now changed to June, 2009! So we are only a few months away from the new & improved (hopefully)
2009-03-23
Sassy Pink
There seems to be some confusion about the big announcement yesterday. This was originally scheduled to be announced at 12am yesterday, but it got lost in the internet webs.
Early April Fools
2009-03-22
Lemongrass
Today Homer Laughlin announced the newest Fiesta color, Lemongrass. It is not expected to be available until November, 2009. The color is said to be a more yellow shade of chartreuse. Which would be very nice since Chartreuse is my favorite Fiesta color!
2009-03-21
Up To Speed
Here is a quick post to bring my blog up to speed. First off, let me say that I am sorry about not posting very much lately. Between my new job and this awful crappy weather, I have just been in a funky mood. The job is going okay. There has been many managerial changes at work lately, and it has become a super stressful experience. One of the things I enjoyed when I first started was the lack of drama that was always present at my last job. But this place is even worse! Luckily, I just get to stay back in my room for the most part and avoid a lot of it.
Fiesta wise, there is nothing much to report. I did get a chance to take a look at the new Square Fiesta dishes. The local store had 3 sizes of plates and the bowls in stock. The color choices were Chocolate, Scarlet, Sunflower, Peacock and Ivory (I believe). I really like the plates. The large plates will make awesome chargers for the round plates. As for the bowls, all I can say is that they looked better in the pictures. Sadly, the bowls do NOT stack. What good are bowls that don't stack??? I was very disappointed with them. And I am now not looking forward to seeing the mugs. Oh well, win a few, lose a few.
The weather has been so-so around here lately. We had a few days over 70°. Most of the days are at least over 50° which is very nice. I have been riding my bike a lot again. I can't wait for nice warm weather all the time.
2009-01-11
CMG Chat Haiku
Every Wednesday and Sunday night, a group of people from the Collectible Medium Green (CMG) message board meet in the chat room. There is a core group that pops in most of the time with a few others that pop in from time to time. While CMG is a message board about Homer Laughlin's dishes, the topic in the chat room is usually another story. Yes, we do discuss our favorite dishes, but the topics also have been known to include dead parakeets, bad neighbors, our individual blogs, the Chippies (don't ask, we won't tell), jobs, pets, kids and of course pretty anything sexually related. *meow* The best thing about the chat room, it gives us a chance to sit and talk with people who understand our dish obsession. And we all get along very well.
Last week, after discussing another blogger who is frequenting the blogs of one of the chatters, we noticed the blogger writes all of her posts in haiku. So we decided to have a haiku challenge. Below are the two haiku that finally got finished during our bi-weekly chat.
Elaine wrote this one. I really love it and it reminds me of when I used to be in a dish buying frenzy!
spreading joy and dish love,
my money is gone!
This one was directed towards M, who was wanting to post these on her blog. M spent a bit of time looking for a lid for a green marmalade dish. I believe that this completed her collection of the vintage mustards and marmalades. So I wrote this to her:
It took forever to find,
But now you are mine!
2008-12-24
Thanks To My Secret Santa
In this years Secret Santa gift exchange at CMG, I received some cool gifts from fiestasal! Every year HLCCA (Homer Laughlin China Collectors Association) hosts a conference. They always have some very cool Fiesta pieces that is decaled with the HLCCA Conference logo. I have always wanted to go, but there is something that has happened so I am unable to enjoy the conference.
3 years ago, my family decided to suprise my grandparents in the celebration of their 60th wedding anniversary. I was all for that, until I realized that they decided to celebrate it over a month early...the same exact weekend as the conference! I was so looking forward to that conference since it was going to be in St. Louis (only 3 hours from where I live.)
The next year, I was going to ask off for the weekend of the confernce, but my boss announced that he was going to get married that month (they just had to get married on 7/7/07.) No problem I said, the conference is a few weeks after that. NOPE, HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! They decided they were going to take a 2 week honeymoon, but they wouldn't be going on the honeymoon until a week after the wedding. UGH!
Last year, I had been saving a bit of money in order to do the conference. But clumsy me, I fell down the stairs in May and it started a chain of events that ended with me being in extreme back pain for 4 months. There is no way I could have ridden in a car or a plane for any extended period of time, so the conference in Minneapolis was out. :(
So back to the story, grandmadisher (Pat) sent me 3 items from previous conferences. I totally love them since I have never been to a conference or been able to see in person any piece from a conference. First up I got 2 pieces from the St. Louis conference. Both are in peacock, one is the chili bowl with the logo on the front. The other is the jumbo saucer (which works for the chili bowl) also in peacock with "Homer Laughlin China Collectors Association" written on the top of the saucer. Both are beautiful! The 3rd piece I received is beyond words! It is a turquoise bread tray with the logo from the Phoenix, AZ conference. IT IS AMAZING! I totally love the pieces I received! And YES! I am going to the conference in 2009. Every other year (the odd years) it is held in Pittsburgh which is only 30 miles from the factory that makes our beloved dishes.
Thanks To My Santa Elf
So yesterday, I was laying on the couch when there was a knock at the door. Then I hear the noise of a package dropping on the floor. YAY...I have a package! But I haven't ordered anything. And I already received my SS gift. The return address is from my good dishing friend MsVal! :) This year she has created some wonderful ornaments. Click the link to see her post about the ornaments she made. I open the package to find 2 of her wonderful ornaments that she made especially for me!
 | |
on Chartreuse | on White |
I will cherish these ornaments forever! Not only because they are Tigger and Pooh or because they are Fiesta, but because they came from Val and she made them especially for me! She has restored my Christmas spirit. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
2008-12-13
A New Blog To Read & Also A Chance to Win Some Fiesta!
Thanks to Papa for pointing this out. Jaci over at Ravings Of A Mad Housewife is giving away 4 Fiesta Place Settings in her blog. Not 1. Not 2. Not 3. But 4 Fiesta Place Settings in your choice of color(s)!!! How freaking cool is that! Great way for you non-Fiesta collectors to start. And if you already have Fiesta, a great way to score some more!!! And honestly, if you don't use Fiesta, HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU EAT OFF OF THOSE BORING DISHES!!!!!!!!
2008-10-30
Hump Day Chat Group
I spend a lot of time reading and posting on the CMG (Collectible Medium Green) message board. Another feature that I like is the chat room. I do spend a lot of chatting at a gay website. I also use Yahoo Messenger quite a bit to keep in touch with some friends. But the CMG chat is different. For the most part, we are all frequent posters on the message board. We also have a common thread, we love our dishes. But I have never met one person from the message board. Thanks to the annual conference (and other means) some of them have met each other. So the chat room takes it to the next level for those of us who have never met. Reading and replying to posts is not the same as actual chat.
We started of with Sunday night chats. It is a good night for most people, but not everybody could make it. Lately we have added Wednesday nights. The turnout on Wednesday nights has been very good. I have been chatting up a storm with quite a few of the regulars and every week it seems we get 1 or 2 new people! :) The conversation runs anywhere from Fiesta, Harlequin and other dishes to well, sometimes the conversation can get x-rated. LOL It is all in fun, as long as nobody has anything agains tit, it is all good! :)
So all of the fellow CMGer's that read my blog (all 5 of you LOL) please feel free to jump in on Sunday and Wednesday nights!
2008-10-27
New and Exciting Times For Fiesta
In the upcoming months, I think it will be a very exciting time for Homer Laughlin with their new additions to the Fiesta line. Recently we saw the release of the another new color which is based upon a Vintage Fiesta color, Ivory. While the color probably wouldn't make the most spectacular looking table setting if it was the only color, the beauty behind Fiesta though is the versatility of the multi-hue palette. Ivory is one of those colors that makes the other colors pop and take center stage. The same will probably be said about the next new color to be coming out, Chocolate.
From the pictures we have seen so far, Chocolate looks to be similar to a creamy chocolate color. The color will really pop against Turquoise, Sunflower, Tangerine, Rose and Ivory. I also have a feeling it will look great with Chartreuse and Persimmon. And Chocolate will add a very beautiful touch to any Fall/Harvest/Thanksgiving table. The color is supposed to be released in mid-November, 2008, just in time for Thanksgiving!
And lastly, HLC has been listening to their customers and came up with a new design to compliment the Fiesta line. Square Fiesta contains some of the same art deco lines as regular Fiesta, but the overall design is more square in shape. This line of dishes won't be released until March, 2009, so I will hold my reviews until then. But I think this will add a very exciting touch to this iconic line of dishes. Hopefully it will just add more customers to the already popular tableware!
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