Happy Anniversary, Strix!
Teppy, I'm stuck on the Blue Elephant attending, with a silver lei, or other silver adornment. I like the French manicure, but I think I'd reverse it, with a silver field and sapphire tips.
We lived decades in North Carolina, where you can't swing a cat without hitting a pottery. All our mugs are hand-thrown and individual, even the couple we picked up at yard sales--signed on the bottoms, too.
I was forced--forced, I tell you--to leave the knockoff Meissen Blue Onion dishes H hates behind when we moved. Also the mixed yellow and cream (two of each) oversized ironstone plates and bowls. What we have with us are the plates and soup bowls we bought because they're Craftsman colors: that particular green, tan, and dark blue, imprinted with leaf shapes on the rims and just damn gorgeous. I had quite a collection of diner cups and saucers, and those inch-thick white mugs, but they didn't make the move. My Buffalo china white diner cereal and fruit bowls did, though.
We have eight complete place settings of china--pale seafoam green lace rims and sterling silver edgings--and rarely use it. We like using utensils that suit our moods, and the freedom from conformity (!) of random dishes.
Ironically, we left our stainless flatware set behind for our son to use, and planned to buy something new for us. We shopped for months, and nothing ever both looked and felt right in the hand. I wound up buying bits and pieces of our original set off ebay, since it's discontinued and the manufacturer no longer carries it.