Life is Like a Fruit Cocktail. (?)

Instant gratification is not soon enough.
**Meryl Streep

Instant gratification takes too long.
**Carrie Fisher

HANK: Would you eat your dessert first? (If no one was watching?) Are you a best-first? Or a best-for-last? And if you get something new, do you wear it or use it? Or do you save it?

Deb's question last week about celebration got me thinking. I have a fridge full of champagne, and an amazing new purse my husband gave me as a gift. What connects those--is that they are both untouched.
I'm "saving" them for the right time.

I think, oh, it's winter, the purse will get spots on it, and get ruined in the news car, and I'll wait til spring to bring it out.

And the occasion is never big enough for the champagne--okay, we had some when each book sold, but that's...about it. And goodness knows, enough wonderful things have happened that I COULD "justify" it...but I think, oh, gee. Pride goeth before a fall, so I don't want to be too happy or it'll be over. Okay. That's neurotic.

I was packing the other night, and in my closet I found some cute tank tops with the price tags still on them--I must have been "saving" them for exactly the right time. And I forgot about them.

Sometimes delayed gratification is a good thing, right? I won't open presents until the actual event holiday or birthday, and I love to see them all sitting there, waiting for me, surprises. (Sometimes I read the last page of a book first, but that's different. And another blog.)

But I'm thinkin'--I'm going to try to be a bit more go-for-it. Are you a saver? Or a user?

ROSEMARY: I like to think of myself as a "don't postpone joy" kind of gal but I too have dresses with the tags still on them and I have to force myself to use the pricey handbag. I won't wear the Hermes scarf if I'm going out for Italian food (olive oil....)And my "good" china and silver...rarely touched. That's a pity, I should work on that.

Other than that - Be Here Now, baby. Sometimes a glorious sunset is reason enough to crack open that bubbly. Or a bad day. or a great review. Or an excellent random on your ipod...that first springlike day when you can wear open-toed shoes...all causes for celebration!

JAN: I think I'm going to object to the term "user" mostly because the way the kids use it.

HANK: Oh, I agree. Can we think of something else?

JAN: On champagne -- here's the problem. Once you open the bottle you are pretty much committed to either drinking the whole thing or throwing out half. I even once bought a special device designed to preserve the carbonation, but I don't use it. It's sort of the culture of champagne.

My mother used to instruct us to buy her a bottle of Emeraude when we asked what she wanted for Christmas or her birthday. When she died we found a closet full of twenty Emeraude bottles unopened.

But she insisted on using the sterling silver and china for everyday, so who can figure? Like my mother, I'm a little bit of both. There are bottles of champagne I still haven't opened, but all my new and favorite clothing gets worn. No price tags still in my closet!

RHYS: I'm afraid I'm like Hank. As a child I used to nibble around the pastry edge of jam tarts until I finally got to the jammy center. But it's a habit I'm trying to cure. When I go through my closet I always come across items I loved but barely wore because they were too good for everyday and should be worn on special occasions--BUT they are now out of fashion.

HANK: Yes! Yes! Me, too.

RHYS: So I'm trying to make myself wear that new horrible expensive new Chico's ensemble untl it falls to pieces.

One trouble is that I'm a messy person. If I have a pale outfit on I can guarantee I'll spill spaghetti sauce. One of my most embarrassing moments was doing a daytime TV show sitting on one of those high stools. My segment ended and I had to stay perched on my stool while they did a cooking demonstration of---spaghetti sauce. The chef then handed me a plate to try, on camera. Yikes!
But I am getting better about some things. I now bring out the Royal Doulton china whenever we have guests. But all those silver serving dishes wrapped away in a closet? Bringing those out would mean cleaning them. I draw a line.

HALLIE: Great question, Hank. Way back when, the test on this was how you ate your canned fruit cocktail. Remember? Diced up pear, peach, grapes, pineapple and a smidgen of cherry. Were you an all-at-oncer? Or start with the cherry or end with it? I'm a cherry-last person, even though I could swear that all the fruit tastes the same.

But my new clothes get worn. Sometimes out of the store (after I pay!) The only problem is that I confess to shopping end-of-season sales, which means I might have forgotten about the tank top before it's warm enough again to wear it.

I love that closet full of twenty unopened Emeraude bottles. When my father-in-law died he had about 30 unused potholders.

No one has been able to figure it out.

ROBERTA: Thirty unused potholders, wow, that's unusual! Now we see where Jerry gets his packrat tendencies:).

My husband hates that I'm reluctant to use the china and the silver, so I'm slowly getting better at it. If you own a few extra plates, makes it a little easier. And there's always Ebay, right? But I have a set of lovely green water goblets that belonged to my grandmother. They have yet to make it to the table, because what would happen if one got broken? they're irreplaceable.

Fruit cocktail: grapes and cherry only for me.

HANK: My step-mother (well, sort of, I guess, let's just call her the fabulous Juliet) gave me HER mother''s antique glass dessert dishes--the top half, glass, is shaped like a champagne glass, then they fit into sterling silver holders. (Oh, if I were home I'd take a photo) I'm terrified to use them, because if one breaks-well, there are no others.

But did she mean for me to keep them in the pantry?

Okay, here's my proposal. Let's choose a day, then USE THE CHINA!

How about you, Reds? Use the heck out of it? Or save it?