When I realized that Drew and I were going to be making/spending Easter lunch/dinner by ourselves in New Orleans this year, my mind immediately starting racing to think of how I could make it special and at least a little different than every other lunch/dinner that we eat here. Thinking of big family meals for holidays at my house, I instantly remembered how we always change the tablecloth/plates/flowers and everything on the dining room table to something very springy and Eastery. The current tablecloth that Drew and I have is a neutral camel color that screams everyday or Thanksgiving before it says Easter. I knew we would need something different. Little did I know how hard of a task that would be.
On Thursday after I got out of class, we had to run some errands and stopped by Target. I found a tablecloth I really, really liked there, but they only had it in a long rectangle and not a round one. 🙁 We then went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to continue our search, where we only found more bland Thanksgiving color tablecloths. We also tried Sears home store. They didn’t have any tablecloths at all. 🙁 We were tired by then and decided to continue our search later.
Yesterday we were back on the search again. We tried T.J. Maxx, but all I found were table runners. We tried World Market, but they only had long rectangle ones. I also tried Pier One, but again they only had table runners and rectangular tablecloths! What is it with these people! Does no one carry ROUND tablecloths! I know we are not the only people in the entire New Orleans area that has a round table! I was quite frustrated. Plus, even if we had a rectangular table, not a one of the tablecloths we had seen were anywhere near springy/Eastery. Apparently everyone has their seasons mixed up around here. Or they don’t care to decorate their tables with an Easter appropriate table-scape.
Finally we decided to look at Macy’s. It wasn’t that I doubted that they would have tablecloths earlier on in our search, but Macy’s is farther away and I figured that they would be more expensive there. By then I was hungry, exhausted and ready to go home. We looked in the tablecloth section, saw they actually had tablecloths and round ones at that, (although really only 2 that could pass for Springy and they were really more on the Summery side) saw that they were on sale from $49 to $24, grabbed the one we liked better, checked out and got out of there.
This is what we ended up with:
But the story doesn’t stop here. We got home and put it on the table. It was bright and said Easter more than our current one did, but I still wasn’t crazy about it. It looked fine in the package, but in person, there was too much of a harsh black/white contrast for a pastel colored holiday and a lot of blues that we don’t otherwise have in our kitchen color scheme. It also said VERA in black in random places all over it. I thought that was tacky. Overall, it was just too busy. We lived with it until today to see what we thought about it later, but I still didn’t overly love it. It isn’t that it was horrible or anything, but it was just one of those impulse purchases of something you don’t really have to have and you aren’t overly pleased with. I thought about it and decided that for the $27 we ended up spending on it, there were other things I would rather have than this tablecloth, even if that meant that we had our plain old boring tablecloth for Easter dinner.
I really couldn’t get the Target tablecloth out of my head. It was a lime green and white check, which actually reminded me of one of my favorite Easter dresses as a kid. It was one that Mamaw bought on one of the years that my mom didn’t make our Easter dresses and it was lime green and white checked with little flowers and ladybugs all over it. Looking back, it probably wasn’t the classiest for Easter, but I loved it and wore it to church all the time. I wish I had a picture of it here so I could show you.
I thought about it all morning, packed up the first one, and decided that even though Target only had a long one in the lime green check, I could cut it into a round shape and sew up the edges. I was determined. I convinced Drew to go tablecloth shopping again, mainly only because if we got the Target one that was $12 and took the $27 one back, we would save some money as well. 🙂
I was nervous all the way to Target. I just knew they would all be gone. I bolted in the front door and down the aisle. I was almost there. I could see them! You can imagine my utter delightment when this is what I saw:
Did you read that closely? That says 70″ ROUND TABLECLOTH!!!!!!!! Not only did they have the one I wanted, but I wasn’t going to have to cut it up and sew it either!!! I danced and spun around and jumped up and down all the way through the store and to the check-out. (Drew can verify that) I was so ecstatic! I love when you find things that you are looking for and they are perfect and they aren’t breaking the bank. $12.99 for a tablecloth is not bad. Plus, the check-out lady randomly gave me a $5 Target gift card. Plus it is actually something I would like to have on the table for more days than one, unlike the first one we brought home. I love that it is pretty, but also simple. I don’t have to worry as much about it clashing with anything else I would want to decorate the table with.
In addition to all that, I just think it is perfect that we went on this search to find a tablecloth for Easter and this one reminds me of one of my childhood Easter dresses! It doesn’t get better than that!
And if any of you New Orleanians out there have already started your hunt for a Thanksgiving tablecloth, there are quite a few options out there, even though it is only April.

It reminds me of the one I made for the ice cream table that was pink and cream gingham! I love it and it is always springy looking! IS that a word?
I think it is a word, although in the sense that it means something bouncy or elastic. But language is a constantly evolving thing and I consider it based on the vernacular, rather than a textbook of proper words. If I want to use it and it makes sense to me and I think others will know what I am referring to, then its a word in my book. 🙂