“The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to a happy repose!” ~ George Gissing

“Drinking Tea means a moment of calmness. It brings you back to your center.” ~ Miriam Vovalle

(For all of you ladies out there,) remember when we would dress  up in our ‘Sunday – best’, place our new tea pot and delicate cups and saucers we received at Christmas time upon a little table set up in our bed rooms? We would invite anyone who would come to our Tea Party. (Even if a few of the settings ended up being for our fair-haired and favored bears and bunnies, our grandpa or beloved dog, Sparky. ) 🙂 There is just something about a tea party that still warms our hearts as grown women. Maybe it is the beautiful china, the fresh flowers, the delicious delicacies placed before us, the smell of our fresh teas brewing or perhaps enjoying the blithesome  companionship of our dear friends.

There are a variety of choices when you are desiring to ‘go to a Tea!’  One  type of Tea is held at an exquisite and elegant Tea House that hosts the entire party for you and your friends. (You are even treated to fancy hats to wear as you sit at your table and are served, waited upon, pampered and treated like royalty.) In our city,we are graced to have “The Victorian lady.” It is  a beautiful tea room filled with winsome china’s, fancy hats, delicious scones and teas as well as small menu items.  

There is also the exceedingly, elegant and prestigious High Tea at The Ritz Carlton Hotel, or the refined and gallant Afternoon Tea held at the prestigious, Windsor Court Hotel in Louisiana, New Orleans where you are served elegant cakes and pastries with superb blends of tea while you sit amongst beauty and elegance. I would love to travel to either of these renowned and eloquent Tea rooms.  🙂  Maybe someday!

The ladies Tea that I know the most about is the ‘Tea’ that is hosted by either yourself or a dear friend, held either in the garden, on the veranda or in the dining room. (Though by the end of the party, everyone has migrated to the living room, enjoying themselves so much, chatting the hours away until they forget the time…drowning  out the sounds of their families beckoning them to “come home and fix  dinner.”) 🙂 

  I personally  adore them all but I think the one I love the most is hosting a Tea for all my girlfriends here in our home. It is a special present I can give to my friends as it blesses all their senses, enables their worlds to slow down and they feel like a ‘Queen for the day.’ One year, my husband even dressed up, (looking mighty dapper I might add,) 🙂 and  gracefully served us throughout the meal with refills of tea, coffee and then of course, the  scrumptious desserts.   It was a wondrous day! (Looking at my husband as they left,) some of the ladies commented; “I want one of those…a man who serves.” I do have to say, I feel very blessed to have him.

Excitement fills my very being as I bake, polish silver, iron my white napkins, create my spinach, bacon and cheese quiches and prepare my three section cake plate, each tier topped with my cherished Haviland china, ( inherited from my grandmother.) The next event at hand is to fill all of the tiers as they await the dainty sweets, chocolates  and slices of homemade sour cream coffee cake. Some of the ladies enjoy tea so I have a potpourri of flavors to choose from… Other ladies want coffee, so I make sure there is a fresh pot brewing.(Accompanied by flavored creamers of course.) The hours seem like minutes as we share and catch up on our lives, laugh, and live in the delight of feeling like ROYALTY,coddled, pampered and convivial, all wishing the day never had to end.

If you are blessed to live in a home adorned with a beautiful backyard, a peaceful veranda or live in a wooded area, having your Tea outside  during the warmer months would be ideal. There is nothing like sunshine and cool breezes to enhance any gala.

My Tea’s have always been inside the homes I have lived in. I think decorating our home and the dining room table is my very favorite part of the preparation. Creating a table with beautiful and enticing settings that bless each woman is a gift that fills my heart to overflowing. Amidst the wondrous teas, fine cuisine and beautiful table, I enjoy treating my friends to the blithesome Victoria Secret London Symphony orchestra, where each refrain brings serenity and peace to the gala and to each ladies soul.

With each season, the theme of the Tea changes…I think my two favored times of the year for a  Ladies Tea are autumn and Christmas, but I love the spring too! A snowman theme in the winter is a lot of fun! I guess they are all my favorite! 🙂 What season or occasion do you think your favorite Tea would be served in?

Take some time exploring and giving a TEA for your friends and family. Half the fun is in the planning, creating and decorating stages of your  fancy gathering. In my other blogs under this category; “Come to a tea,” I will be sharing in depth, ideas for seasonal ladies tea parties so please take a look and let me know what you think.

PHOTOGRAPHS: In placing your computer mouse upon any of the photos or graphics, it will display where the picture originated from.