I'm loving all the stories about using the good china, towels, whatever, that this purse story is pulling out. They remind me of a similar epiphany I had a few years ago.
Growing up, my sister was always the princess and I was the tomboy. I thought her wedding was a fairytale, and then she and her husband were the quintessential young couple putting together their home, while I moved from one cramped grad or early prof rental to the next. I didn't realize it at first, but between agreeing with my family that she should have beautiful things while I was in a "temp" home, not a real one and not having any money, I really shortchanged myself.
So a couple of years ago, we were at their house around Christmas and they mentioned that their 3-teir Christmas mill had been a gift from me. I realized that I really wanted a nice one too, but what I had gotten myself that year (when my son was 6) was a much smaller version, almost a toy, that was nowhere near the quality of what I'd gotten them. From then on, I decided we are in our real life, and deserve to feel good in our home. I started paying attention to home decoration like I never had before, and in the move last summer, I made some big decisions about what I didn't want in my kitchen. I've yet to replace those things, but I have some nice ideas about what I'll get.
So yeah, not only do I agree with pulling out the good stuff and using it, but also with getting it for yourself in the first place.
