Telltale table

Sometimes everyday things can be so revealing in their subdued way, almost secretely. Take our battered living room table: I find it tells more than our looks right now (and looks can be deceiving but they can also tell a lot, so beware). That is how, when you least expect it, small things can betray your real you. Now, what is your real you? Well, you know: your experiences, what you like, what you dislike and so on. Take your handwriting, for example: if I remember correctly, we were even given lessons in school on how to write certain letters and how not to write some others because then experts would be looking into that and making a great portrait of who you are, based on the dot on your letter "i". Boy, am I glad I live in computer era. 

By taking a look at our living room table - yes, there is a leading thread in this post - I decided to read the vibes the little or big objects it is housing reveal to the (newly) expert eye. Of all days, the picture you can see above was taken after a busy and fascinating Amsterdam walk, so the table had a lot to tell, not to mention that you can easily see that the folks are in town! Just see how crowded the space is compared to the usual immaculate table and to the lonely presence of our imposing opaline vase and its flowers! If you look at the picture, you see that the vase has lost its predominant position and is besieged by countless other revealing items from all walks of life:

-The tea sachets: they come from the Tea Bar, in Amsterdam. A neat little place that houses a shop specialized in teas and herbal teas of all sorts, and a tea parlor on the first floor. The atmosphere is friendly and very relaxing, mostly thanks to the white design of the walls, the welcoming wooden tables that can sit up to 6 people around a hot cup of champagne and raspberry tea. Lovely. One of the sachets contains dried lavender, simply inspired by the lovely lunch we had at Gartine where desert included lavender whipped cream on a cute little cupcake. The other sachet contains strong and fragrant citrus tea leaves: my mom has in mind her summer iced tea, a tradition we cannot dispense with under the southern Italian sun. Summer holidays, here I come!

-The newpapers: the family looooooves reading newspapers, online, on paper, on the moon or in the subway, you name it. The favorite ones? The Corriere della Sera and Le Monde. The pink pages of the Gazzetta dello Sport can also be seen around the house, needless to say, to satisfy football lovers' interest. They are simply an additional presence for us, these newspapers.

-The dark chocolate bar: for those who do not know (anyone out there still?!) I totally live on chocolate. My favorite one is the Valrhona, but it is difficult to come by these days... So I carry around what I find and I am even known to always have chocolate in my bag. It never hangs around for long enough to melt, mind you. Indispensable, I tell you, to survive anywhere.

-The necklace: its beads are an imitation of opal stones, my favorite ones. The necklace also reflects my hobby of necklace making and beads, a nice relaxing hobby that makes winter hours fly by. The necklace broke once and I managed to make it again - and I was a proud little woman that day. Which makes me think that I still have lying somewhere beads I bought last year and I still have not used. I will certainly go idea hunting before summer starts for some fresh creations.

And on and on I could go for hours about each and every object lying on the table: each of them is linked to a family member, for better or for worse, each of them has a story to tell. Whether I want it or not!