Home Entertaining, Lifestyle
Sophisticated Living – What is it?
More important, how to I obtain it?
I often talk about sophisticated living and how everyone can live their lives that way. But, I think many people are confused about what I mean and how to achieve it in their daily routines.
Most people assume that to live a sophisticated lifestyle you have to have a lot of money and spend it lavishly. I’m here to tell you that sophisticated living has absolutely nothing to do with how rich you are or your spending habits. Instead, it has everything to do with putting effort into what you choose to surround yourself with – the items you touch on a daily basis, the things that you use not only with your family but also with your friends and colleagues when you entertain. It has to do with everything that lives behind the cabinet doors in your home.
Your cabinets should be filled with things you enjoy touching and using, the feel of them, the weight and balance of a favorite kitchen knife or dining fork, even the casual water glass you use on a daily basis. They don’t have to be silver or cut crystal – they just have to be something you love to use. That’s not to say that I don’t love beautiful silver and crystal (because I do!) but everything doesn’t have to be formal and it definitely doesn’t have to belong to only one manufacturer or only one pattern.
The things that we surround ourselves with and use are a reflection of ourselves and should be items that we love to share with others. Whether it’s because they have a great story to tell or are handed down from someone we loved or because we simply happened upon them on a trip! They could be the silliest BBQ plates that were found in a second-hand shop on a road trip that turn a casual afternoon barbecue into a long night of laughter. All of these contribute to sophisticated living.
The photo includes some of my most cherished items – the one piece of silver my mother had (the simple Revere Bowl), the first champagne glasses I ever purchased when I was 21, the beautiful Baccarat Mille Nuits champagne flutes that were a gift from my best friend that started my collection, the box of salt cellars that are clearly missing one little dish and two spoons but were so sweet I had to buy them from an antique dealer, various silver serving pieces bought at flea markets all over the world – even my cherished wooden cooking spoon (burn marks and all) that I’ve moved from home to home over the last 40 years. All of these items are a reflection of me, who I am and what I want to share.
The joy has been in the collecting of these things and it continues every time I reach for one of them to use.
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