I was engaged and had chosen this pattern by the time I graduated from college. My grandmother gave me the teapot as a wedding gift. She gave me the sugar and creamer set as a graduation gift. Sadly, the first time we used the teapot (ironically at a birthday party for my grandmother), it cracked down the side when we poured hot water into it. Apparently, after traveling, you should wait 48 hours for the china to acclimate to the new temperature. Several years later, my sweet husband found on eBay, a replacement teapot from a lady in England. I find it very cool that I have a teapot that was actually used to serve tea in England. To this day, my grandmother doesn't know that it is a replacement.

As for the photo, I'm still fighting dental issues. I had a root canal on Monday, and let's just say it wasn't very pleasant. Currently, I am on so much medication that I have a chart to let me know when to take what. My face is swollen and seems to be partially paralyzed, but I think (hope) that is just due to pain and perhaps the nine anesthetic shots they had to give me before I got numb enough for the root canal. So, when I set up to take this picture, I didn't really care how it turned out. Once I got up to process it, I thought, "Hey, this might look cool with a soft focus." It did. I had to call Scott in to be sure it really did look all right in case my Vicodin induced brain was clouding my judgment. I did preface it by telling him that I wasn't thrilled with the tilt of the sugar pot lid. He thought the photo looked fine, but agreed with the lid issue which made me feel guilty leaving it like that. I tried rephotographing it, but couldn't seem to get a shot with the lighting right again not to mention, the lid is actually crooked--who knew? Scott thought I should add some sort of leveling device to the lid (this perfectionist attitude probably explains why his photos are better than mine), but at that point, what's left of my sanity kicked in. It is now very late, and I have to get up in five-and-a-half hours for my next round of drugs. Truly, I am insane, but don't for a moment let this fool you into thinking that photography is a hobby of mine.