Best Blog in a Supporting Role...And The Award Goes To...

You want to be friends with her.

As soon as I heard the blog's title, I was intrigued. Who wouldn't be? And when I read the story behind the title, I was captivated. And in tears!

Of all the blogs I read, Use the Good Dishes is one of the few I jump right over to as soon as I see a new post. Why is that?

Experience Counts. Carol-Anne, the creator, is helpful. A voracious reader, an ambitious worker (she has three jobs), and a talented designer, she seems to be more than happy to pass along what she knows and what she's learning as she makes mistakes and shares her successes.

She'll give you the details for instance, on how she paints furniture, revamps her office, or stretches her budget for fresh flowers. And that's just for starters. Check her archives!


Honesty Rrefreshes. Carol-Anne is candid. She never backs down from her true nature, no matter how revealing, embarrassing, or conventionally unflattering.

She lets readers know what it's like to live with her obsessive-compulsive disorder, but never in a negative way. Instead, she channels her compulsion into organizing and redecorating.

She humbly admits her own shortcomings, details her confusion about choosing a paint color or changing her curtains, and is brave enough to post photos of herself with a haircut gone wrong, or in a bathing suit (and looking good).

Humor Entertains. Carol-Anne is one of those people who sees the light side of everyday events.

I always get a smile and some encouragement from the graphics she chooses. Here is an example:

Or this:

So, if you like being informed, refreshed, and entertained without a lot of gobbly gook to wade through, by a woman who hates doing laundry, can't sew, drinks wine daily, rearranges furniture almost as often, changes all her everyday dishware with the season, is a self-confessed craft-klutz, and never shies away from happy color combinations or gluing feathers on a lampshade, you'll probably love reading Use the Good Dishes as much as I do.

FLATTERY GETS YOU SOMEWHERE. Okay, the last reason I'm giving Carol-Anne my award for Best Blog in a Supporting Role is that she recently reviewed the latest ebook I've written. So, when you're at her blog, please read her comments about my No-Sew Window Treatments To Stage Your Home.