Thanks so much DD. We have a few different options when hosting a big crowd. Sometimes we move the kitchen table out into the sunroom, and that accomodates an even larger group! Yes, the tablecloths are the same. I frequently buy 2 of each because we have large groups so often. For the same room, I have a couple of vinyl sets that are spunky and colorful.......and SO easy! White tablecloths are my all time favorite, coupled with crisp Irish linen napkins. I like classic looks. Thanks for your sweet comments!

Sounds like you have everything covered. Really I'm sure it will be just lovely & maybe you can do personalized bookmarks or maybe even a fall bulb wrapped in some tulle netting with a ribbon & a tag indicating the date of the celebration & to plant a memory or something? I'm sure I've seen sayings to attach on tags for bulbs somewhere. Vera

I would like anything from a good bakery. My birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving and mostly just before or after. I have had my share of supermarket turkey shaped cakes and cakes with pilgrims. I used to ask for ice cream cakes as a kid because they at least had ice cream and usually weren't awful.....The worst was when I was 16. I wanted something grown up and beautiful. My sister talked my boyfriend and my parents into going to a amusement/arcade park for a surprise. The place was a castle themed park called Camelot. All the kids at my school called it "scam-a-lot" I was horrified. When the girl brought out the cake badly frosted and with day glow icing clowns and balloons I asked them to get it boxed and we went home to have ice cream instead. At least none of my friends saw it all. No I am not stealing this from the show Golden Girls. This actually happened to me! I had another cake disaster for my graduation. My sis and I got the freshest ingredients and made a cake from a cake bible cookbook from the library. I had spent a week prior making frosting roses for this masterpiece had saving them in the freezer. We made the cake and tasted the trimmed off parts it was fantastic! The next day we frosted it and that evening when the family tried it it was so dry no one wanted to eat it. After that I always ordered a cake from the European bakery I love in Pasadena. The other cake fail I was involved in was my cousin's wedding. She knew I could do frosting flowers well so she asked me to come over and decorate her wedding cake. She wanted me to use this lavender icing she made. I decorated the whole thing and we set it by the window. After an hour into the reception, the purple icing in the sunlight faded to blue and was melting a little. My part of the family was out drinking and laughing on the grass. My cousin's husband's family was inside being shocked at the drinking going on outside. The cake suddenly started to lean and lucky her husband's brother was sitting close by and grabbed for it. The top 2 tiers were saved but the lower ones crashed. She didn't put in any supports inside. But, great sport that she is, she just laughed and served her husband's family the upper layers and our family the toppled ones. We didn't mind a bit. She's a great gal and can laugh through anything. One of the weddings I can say I really enjoyed. Sliding color changing cake and all. Please no one get a bright colored cake for a birthday. At my granddad's 90th, my aunt ordered a NASA themed cake with dark blue icing. My Grandad worked in the space program after being in the air force during WWII. Everybody had a dark blue tongue and blue teeth. All these old people with blue lips and teeth! I love a simple cake with almond extract and some fresh ripe strawberries or peaches and whipped cream. I had a fantastic cake once made with 4 different pastel fruit flavored layers and also a very good Black Forest cake by a Belgian pastry chef who used to have a bakery in my city but has now retired. I'm too wary to try a special cake again but I love to make pies and decorate cupcakes with fresh flowers.

Sure! I use Porous Plus 511 - my fabricator applied it once before fabrication, once at installation, and I applied it again a week later. I'm sure there are various ways to go about it, but my fabricator told me to spray it on in small sections, allowing each sprayed area to slightly overlap (kind of like mowing a lawn) - methodically go over your whole counter area and then when you're done, go back to the place you started and wipe it off with a paper towel until you get to where you finished. Essentially, it will have *sat* on the slab for the few minutes it takes you to spray your counters which is long enough. Honestly, I've got a fairly big area to spray (island and perimeter) and yet the whole process takes me 10+ minutes. I was told to reapply it to the whole kitchen once a year and also to any etch marks (which to date I am the only one who can see them) when they occur. Hope that helps!