Tea towel junky

As obsessions go, I don't think this one is too terrible. Some women collect shoes. I have to have tea towels. Lots of them. Here's my MO: when brand new, I use them on our counter or console table as a sort of mini tablecloth, upon which I can set glasses, bar setup, hors d'oeuvres, whatever. They can also line a tray (original usage) or act as a short runner. One can serve this purpose for a long time, until somebody dumps a mojito on it. Then you wash it and put it into service as a very good dish/hand towel. If you feel like ironing them, they can still be your good towels. They're pretty, they add a splash of color to the kitchen, and good ones hold up to multiple washings (we still have a few at the bottom of the pile that are 20 years old). I change ours out just about daily.

Oh, and they make great gifts, either by themselves, or wrapped around a bottle of wine, or holding a little collection of foodie treats (french salts, olive oil, etc.).

What is not to love?

So yesterday, we received a shipment of tea towels from a French company I just found, and they are beautiful. Maybe my all-time favorites. I'm sure Robert thought I was a bit of a pest, because for every one I opened, I oohed and ahhed and made him look at it, and for half an hour, it was nothing but "oh my god, look at this color!" and "wow – look at this one!" and "isn't that gorgeous?"

As he said this morning, being a junky is not cute. But I don't care. We've got our new tea towels and I'm flipping over them, and hope you will too. I already have plans to donate half of what's in our tea towel baskets at home, and slip some of these new ones in... right now we have lots of different styles and colors, but just two of each. Not to worry, I'll be placing a reorder right away. Here are a few (not so great) pictures: