You Deserve Beautiful Dishes – Even If It’s Just For Toast

Fear of the Fancy Plate Club

When I moved into my new flat earlier this year, I did something unthinkable. Something brave. Something bold. I bought nice crockery. Not just functional plates. Not just something to serve pasta on while watching true crime and slowly losing faith in humanity. Actual, proper, Maxwell & Williams plates. Black and white, textured, glazed, and sexy. The kind of plates that make you feel like you have your life together even if you’re eating Girl Dinner in bed at 6:45pm.

Now, historically, I’ve been a Kmart crockery girlie. Cheap, cheerful, chip-prone. And not in a fun hot-chips way. I had an entire mismatched collection going – mostly for food blogging purposes, if I’m being honest. But the idea of buying a matching set for myself always felt extravagant. Or worse: reckless. I had an irrational fear of breaking a plate, despite the fact I’ve literally never broken one in my life*.

But wine glasses? I break those all the time. And yet, I refuse to buy cheap ones. If I’m going to shatter glass, it better be beautiful. The same goes for dishes. It was time. I finally admitted to myself that I deserved to eat my slightly burnt gluten-free Vegemite toast off something worthy. Because I am not some random side character eating out of Tupperware. I am the main character, and my toast deserves a red carpet.

*Okay, okay, except once. I dropped a bowl of biryani on my foot and broke the bowl clean in half. My foot was not so lucky. Nerve damage, bruising, and a bloody rice-strewn crime scene. It was traumatic.

Main Character Dinnerware for Main Character Meals

Look. I know it’s just cheese and crackers. I know it’s just avo on toast. But just is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. Your life isn’t on pause until you have a partner or a mortgage or someone to split the cost of a Breville Air Fryer with. You deserve beautiful things now. Not when the kitchen is Pinterest-ready. Not when your pantry has matching spice jars. Now.

The toast still tastes the same. The cheese board isn’t any less beige. But when you put it on a plate that makes you smile, something shifts. The moment becomes intentional. Ritualistic, even. It’s no longer a sad little dinner because you couldn’t be arsed cooking. It’s a vibe. A curated dining experience for one, complete with sparkling water and mood lighting from that candle you bought for “ambience” (and then immediately used to ward off the ghost of your ex).

It’s easy to tell yourself that it doesn’t matter. That you’ll upgrade your dishes when you move into a better place. That you’ll buy proper cutlery when you stop losing teaspoons like socks in the dryer. But darling, life is made of small moments. Of Monday night toast and mismatched pyjamas. Don’t wait for the fancy thing to happen. Make the thing you’re already doing a little fancier.

Everyday Rituals Deserve to Feel Sacred

I used to think sacredness was reserved for Sunday dinners or first dates. For entertaining. For making an effort because someone else was watching. But honestly? Some of the best moments of my life have been spent sitting cross-legged on the couch with a plate of leftovers and a sense of peace. That, to me, is sacred. That’s when the world quiets down and says, “This is enough.”

So why not give those moments the dignity they deserve? The dignity of a plate that feels like a treat. A knife that doesn’t bend at the thought of cutting through cold butter. A glass that says, “Sure, it’s just Schweppes, but it could be Prosecco.” You don’t need a special occasion. You are the occasion. And you deserve to be celebrated every time you eat.

I don’t care if you’re microwaving soup or plating up a fancy little salad you’re pretending isn’t just lettuce and anxiety. You deserve beautiful things. Every day. Not because you earned them. Not because you’re throwing a dinner party. Just because you exist. And if you’re going to be dramatically eating pasta alone while rehashing imaginary arguments in the shower later, you might as well have done it in style.

Your Crockery Is a Love Language

Buying nice plates was my way of saying, “I’m not waiting anymore.” Not waiting for someone to move in. Not waiting for the matching dining set to go on sale. Not waiting to feel like I’d earned it. I simply decided that I deserved it now. And maybe you do too.

You don’t have to overhaul your whole kitchen. You don’t need a Pinterest-perfect colour palette. Just start with one plate. One mug. One thing that makes you feel like the version of yourself who has her life a little more together than she actually does. It’s delusional self-care, and I highly recommend it.

Sometimes, we think loving ourselves means bubble baths and yoga retreats and being unbothered on Instagram. But sometimes it looks like eating scrambled eggs on a plate you really love. And feeling good about that. And then breaking a wine glass later and laughing instead of crying because at least you lived your little moment fully.

A Toast to Toast (And the Plate It Sits On)

So this is your reminder. You deserve beautiful dishes. Even if you live alone. Even if you eat on the couch. Even if dinner is just toast, again, because you forgot to defrost the chicken. You deserve the plate. You deserve the good forks. You deserve the moment.

Life will always be chaotic. You will always be busy. But the act of eating is a pause. It’s a moment to nourish yourself. To take a breath. To say, “I matter enough to have something lovely.” Let your toast feel luxurious. Let your girl dinner be a visual masterpiece. Let your plate be more than just a surface. Let it be a declaration.

Because the truth is, you’re the main character. And main characters don’t eat off cracked plastic. They don’t shove dry crackers into their mouths straight from the box like raccoons in crisis. (Okay, sometimes they do. But then they recover with grace and a matching dinner set.) You deserve nice things. Starting with what you eat off. Even if it’s just toast.

You Are Not Entitled to an Answer – Chaos, Crumbs and Clarity

In this episode of Chaos, Crumbs and Clarity, we're unpacking why you are not entitled to an answer. Specifically, we're talking about the strange little corner of modern dating where a few days of app chat somehow becomes an emotional contract, and suddenly a man you've never met believes your silence requires a formal explanation, a debrief, and possibly a follow-up meeting with management.I have two stories for you. One man who talked almost exclusively about himself, ignored the fact that I was sick, and then followed up a week later asking whether I'd reconsidered his "request for clarification". And another who became offended because I didn't respond to his selfie within two hours while I was lying in a dark room with a migraine. Sir. Please be serious.Because here's the thing. Before you've met someone, you do not owe them unlimited access to your time, attention, reassurance, or emotional labour. You don't have to justify why the vibes changed. You don't need a reason they'll consider reasonable. You are allowed to disengage because something felt off, because you changed your mind, because you met someone else, or because you're in your luteal phase and frankly the entire world can wait.Today we're talking about the difference between ghosting and simply disengaging, why demanding closure can become a boundary violation, the exhausting expectation that women should manage men's feelings for them, and why you do not need to JADE, justify, argue, defend, or explain, when you've already decided you're done. Let's get into it.Key Takeaways:A few days of chatting does not create a debt. Matching on an app, exchanging messages, or talking on the phone does not give someone a claim on your attention. Until you've actually built a connection, you are allowed to walk away without submitting supporting documentation.Closure is not something another person can demand from you. Asking once is one thing. Continuing to push after someone has clearly disengaged is not persistence or emotional maturity. It's refusing to accept the answer you've already been given.You do not need to JADE. You don't have to justify, argue, defend, or explain why you're no longer interested. The reason doesn't have to be good enough for him. It just has to be yours.Pre-date silence and post-date silence are not the same thing. If you've never met, disengaging is part of app dating. Once you've shared an actual date or developed a genuine connection, a simple goodbye becomes basic courtesy. Nobody needs a dissertation, but acknowledging another human being matters.Sometimes they don't miss you. They miss the audience. Someone can seem interested while actually being interested in having your attention. Real connection requires curiosity about you. If the only time they become deeply engaged is when you're leaving, pay attention to that.For more visit ⁠BryJaimea.com⁠ or follow over on IG ⁠@BryJaimea

If this post helped, inspired, or made you smile, you can support my work with a tea or tip over on Ko-fi. Every bit helps keep the chaos flowing.