As time progressed, it became evident that opening a tea room was not going to be a reality for me, so I began focusing my attention on other possibilities, continually striving to find my niche in the tea world, and having fun along the way.
I have come to realize, the more I learn about tea, the more there is to learn! I will never reach the point where I've learned everything on the subject. It will be a life-long pursuit and I'll always be a student of tea. The adage is, learning is fun at any age!
In March 2003 I headed off to Las Vegas, Nevada for the first Take Me 2 Tea Expo, which was later renamed World Tea Expo. During the three day expo, I signed up for several classes and it was a wonderful learning experience.
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Shirley [my tea room mentor and also a Magnolia & Ivy alumni] and I enjoyed seeing Kay and Terri again. They taught some of the class offerings, and introduced their new tea product line, Tiara Teas, in the expo show room. What fun seeing all the booths of tea products! The expo was a huge success and just completed its ten year anniversary earlier this month. Later, an extension was added to the Las Vegas Expo - World Tea East, [currently being held in Philadelphia, PA in the fall] to accommodate tea enthusiasts from that geographic area.
L-R: Kay, Phyllis [me], Shirley and Terri
There was a M & I alumni meet-up.
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It was nice seeing Mr. John Harney [of Harney Teas] again, and having our picture taken with him.
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Author and speaker, Elizabeth Knight.
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TEA A Magazine Editor, Pearl Dexter
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There just happened to be a tea room in Las Vegas! Tricia's Teas was located in an antique mall, and we made reservations for Afternoon Tea. It has since closed, but I'm told another lovely tea room has opened.
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Tricia had hats galore to try on.
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L-R Linda, Shirley and Me
In the fall of 2003 I enrolled in Dawnya Sasse's five week, in-depth, on-line tea course, Start A Tea Business [possibilities beyond owning a tea room]. I was in her very first class, and her course is still being taught today. With every conference or course I take, my tea horizons expand a little farther.
Tea journey continued...
I aspire to be a student of tea for the rest of my life. It's even on my business card. ;)
ReplyDeleteTea is definitely a life long learning experience. Do you see me in that picture in the red on the far left at the M&I meetup? There I am. I do remember that expo so well and the Tiara Tea. I had a booth that year with Jennifer Peterson.
ReplyDeleteYes, I did see you in the photo, Marilyn. You're in some of my photos from the 2007 Atlanta Expo too. It seems like our tea journeys are parallelling - although you've already found your niche, and I'm still pursuing mine!
ReplyDelete“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
ReplyDelete― Ralph Waldo Emerson
It seems your journey through the world of tea has been just wonderful. I hope it continues to be a source of joy for you, Phyllis, and I am so happy to have been a part of it.
Obviously I'm reading out of order (and trying to catch up after being gone for a week and THEN having a magazine deadline!), but I must say I'm enjoying reading about your tea journey. And I also feel like you that I will forever be a "student" of tea. In fact, I'm kind of suspicious of anyone who claims they've learned all there is to know about tea. I'm just not sure that's possible!
ReplyDelete