Teeny Pies

I’m writing this post from my very own bed in DC. It’s a very rainy day and I for one am grateful for the gentle nudge toward embracing a writing day. I’ve been a busy bee around DC the last few days. The drive here was smooth sailing, thanks to the lovely group of friends who helped us cram everything into the surprisingly spacious Ford Flex (boy was that SUV a helpful beast). In the days prior I managed to sort through all of my boxes and was fairly sensible with what I decreed a ‘keeper’ or a ‘giver-away-er.’ 

There was a moment (or maybe a few moments) of sheer panic when I looked into the boxes of family china and realized there wasn’t one simple set but instead there were three. Having not yet needed any sort of china up to this point in my life, I’d never really taken the time to look into the boxes I’d been lugging around for the past five years. I’d simply accepted that when my mother said it was the family china it meant that it was important and necessary to hang on to it. So, seeing three sets of china was confusing… and heart stopping. I immediately called my mum and she, very casually, said it was in fact just a few sets that my grandmother had been putting together, but in fact didn’t need to be kept if it was just too much trouble. 

My brain nearly exploded right then and there as I contemplated the bombshell she’d just dropped… I DIDN’T NEED TO KEEP THE FAMILY CHINA?!?!? I’d kept those boxes through two different Chicago apartments… one of which was the tiniest one bedroom in the world. When I left Chicago I had to find a family china babysitter. I was flabbergasted that after years of blindly accepting the overwhelming guilt I experienced whenever I thought about ditching the whole shebang I was free to do whatever I pleased. I decided (with absolutely no guilt involved) to get rid of two sets and keep the prettiest third set, figuring that when I open a pie shop I can finally put the ‘family china’ to good use. There wasn’t a single gravy boat in sight by the time I was finished. 

We packed the car, strapped my rocking chair to the top, and drove straight through to DC where we unpacked the car and toasted our new apartment.

I’ve since then unpacked everything, bought a bike, been to the zoo (for those of you who don’t know, we live next door to the zoo) and baked a pie for PBSkids. I have a pie cupboard. I have arrived.

(so many different sized tins)