Upcoming Cityfest at The Whitney

Cityfest is an annual fall event at The Whitney with several special events taking place September 10th - 19th.  One of those events is the Autumn & Apples tea on Sept. 19th with two seatings at 12:00 noon and 2:30 p.m.

My boss asked me to think about putting together an appropriate gift to give to attendees.  The first step was to contact our tea blender, Mary Jones of Detroit based Intutea, to create a special blend to include in the gift and to serve at the tea.  She created two blends for me to sample and I selected Apple Cinnamon - a black tea containing apple pieces, cinnamon, safflower petals and other herbs. It tastes wonderful and is very aromatic.

Next I had to get my creative juices flowing for the presentation of the gift.  I ordered plastic apples [which will contain the tea] from Oriental Trading, and wooden quart-size berry baskets from Amazon to set them in.

Supplies are ready and awaiting assembly.

This was the first basket I assembled.  I purchased the silk fall leaves and brown shred from the Dollar Store.  I also bought gold shred and will have alternating baskets of gold and brown.  The baskets will not only coordinate with the theme but will enhance the tables, and most importantly, my boss liked them.  ;-)

The basket seemed too plain so I made another quick trip to the Dollar Store to see what ribbon they had to make a bow to add to the front.  I liked the idea of rustic burlap, but am not sold on the 2 1/2 inch wide ribbon they had.  I'll make a trip to the Craft store tomorrow.  The bow does enhance the basket, but needs to be a little smaller with narrower ribbon. I'll need to make 80 bows!

I ordered sealable bags that will hold enough loose-leaf tea to make six cups of tea.  The bags will go inside the apple.  Now to measure out 80 packets of tea!

The Whitney will also include a gift from Parmenter's Cider Mill in Northville to all guests.  I think this project is going to keep me very busy for the next week or so!  If you are a local reader, I hope you will consider attending this tea.  More details are provided at The Whitney website.

Speaking of The Whitney, friends from church came to the 11:00 a.m. seating of Mansion Tea yesterday to celebrate Kenadie's 12th birthday.  Her mom and grandma celebrated with her.  It was a fun surprise to see them.

Scones are served separately so are not on the tiered server.  A plate of three jumbo strawberries with chantilly cream also accompany the meal.

Our strawberries aren't decorated, but a friend recently sent me a photo of adorable teapot decorated strawberries that would be perfect for a tea party - just very labor intensive.

When I got home from work my Shutterfly album was waiting for me.  I'm SO pleased with it!  Can't say enough good about the quality of Shutterfly photo albums.  They are so worth the time and money.

I'm anxious to begin working on a sequel to this album after I cross a couple other projects off my 'to do' list.

Ellie's Visit and Teapot Purses

Nine-year-old granddaughter, Ellie, came yesterday for her visit and back-to-school shopping. She doesn't have an iPhone yet and prefers playing games over movie watching, so we played several rounds of Cootie, Old Maid, Memory and Checkers to occupy her time.  We don't have the variety of games that she has at home, but we made do.

She slept in this morning and when she awoke we took her to Country Oven for breakfast.  

She ordered bacon and pancakes with lots of whipped cream and the server obliged!

Two grandchildren visits down and one to go.  Landon comes next Monday.  After we met our daughter-in-law at the half-way spot to deliver Ellie, my hubby took me to a nearby HomeGoods store.  It's been a long time since I've been in one, and I wanted to look around.  I didn't come out empty handed.

The first thing that caught my attention was a Spode plate from the Woodland series, with a bison on it.  When we went out west last summer with our youngest son and his family, one of the highlights for Jeremy was spotting a bison in the distance of a Yellowstone prairie.  He patiently waited by the side of the road while the bison meandered its way across the prairie and a couple of ponds until he was close enough to get a good picture.  The plate seemed to have Jeremy's name written all over it.  I bought it and then sent a picture with a text message to him.  He liked it and I'll send it home when Landon comes next week.

I've been pondering getting a porcelain chinoiserie garden stool for my living room for awhile now [a new repro not an authentic antique] and HomeGoods had a nice one reasonably priced, so it came home with me too.  I justified the purchase by telling myself that's why I work.  ;-)

In the past I've shared a couple pieces of tea-themed Kate Spade necklaces that I've purchased online, but last week three of her tea-themed purses came across my Facebook Afternoon Tea Across America feed that left me drooling.

The purse is all leather and fully lined.  The original cost was $399, but it's on sale right now for $239 with free shipping.   I have six colored inexpensive teapot purses that I bought in 2004 [hot pink, silver, neon green, sky blue, gold and red] but they're made of vinyl-like material and don't compare to the quality of the Kate Spade purse.  

I had a black one too, but since I carried it the most it wore out and had to be thrown away.  I never replaced it.

My first thought regarding the Kate Spade purse was "it's way out of my price range" [and it is more than I normally pay for a handbag], but it's not outrageous compared to what other designer handbags sell for.  I browsed a pre-owned designer handbag website and $239 was nothing compared to their prices, and the cost of brand new designer handbags makes my head spin. 

Kate Spade came out with a wicker teapot handbag in 2016 that's no longer available. It originally sold for $398 and if you're lucky enough to find a used one online, it's a lot more than the original price.   It's SOOOO cute!

Here's another clutch tea-themed purse from 2016 that's no longer available.  It sold for $328.  

Do you have any tea-themed handbags, designer or otherwise? What's the most you would pay [or have paid] for a handbag?  The most I ever paid was $162 for my Mary Frances handbag, and I thought long and hard before paying that.   I guess how we spend our money all comes down to priorities.  Teapot purses fall in the 'novelty' category vs. 'practical' but they sure are fun for tea lovers.

One thing's for certain... the Internet sure does lead me into temptation sometimes.  ;-)

Catching Up

I've been absent from my blog for over a week, and I finally have some time to catch up.  A few weeks ago I received a postcard from Shutterfly containing a coupon for unlimited free photobook pages plus 50% off of everything else.  This was an offer too good to pass up, so I immediately began the time consuming task of going through tangible photographs from pre-digital days [which required scanning], and digital photographs stored on my computer.  

I have an ongoing list of photo books I want to make [which presently totals 12], but since I've been having lunch with my high school girlfriends once a month, I decided this album should be about them: photographs from high school reunions, lunches, weddings, and tea outings with my best friend, Sandy.  Below is a screen shot of the cover I designed.  It's a bit distorted, but the actual cover won't be.

As usual there were too many photos for one book, so book II will be necessary.  This album is the maximum amount of pages [111 pages], so I was grateful for the unlimited pages promotion.  The $256.68 book was reduced to $80.01 with the promo codes.

My girlfriend, Sandy, came over last Tuesday [Aug. 10th] and spent the day working on the project with me.  Her hubby put all her digital photos from our tea outings on a zip drive, and she brought her seven scrapbook albums so I could scan any of her photos that I didn't have, and copy any photos on the zip drive.  

It was a fun walk down memory lane viewing all the photos.  We concluded we've been blessed to do many wonderful tea events together, and saddened that so many of the tearooms are now closed.

This is the 12th Shutterfly album I've made - a huge monetary investment for enjoyment and posterity. As is usually the case with technology, Shutterfly changed their photo album formatting since I made my last album, so it was a bit of trial and error before I got the hang of it, but I'm so happy it's done.  I sent it winging its way through cyberspace last Friday and it's scheduled to arrive Aug. 28th.

Sandy and I enjoyed spending the day together which included a lunch break.  I didn't think to take pictures.  It was a simple lunch of bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches with potato salad, and individual mini-angel food Bundt cakes covered with macerated strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream.  We had Harney & Sons Blueberry Green Tea with our meal.  I enjoyed this tea at our recent outing to Sweet Shalom tearoom [which held their last tea on August 8th as their beautiful Victorian house has sold], and I ordered the tea when I got home.  If you're into flavored green teas, this one's a definite winner.

I'm juggling multiple projects simultaneously right now, and they will be individual upcoming posts.  I worked both days last weekend which makes me grateful I normally have Sundays off.

It's been a tradition at our house for several years for the three youngest grandkids to spend a few days at our house in August, and while they're here their Papa takes them back to school shopping.  School will start back on August 30th, so we had to scurry around to fit it in this year.

We drove to Chelsea yesterday to pick up Izzy.  She had to work until 3:30, so we surprised her by going to lunch at Chelsea Burger where she works.  She's growing up so quickly, and will be a High School Junior this year, so these visits won't last much longer.

Chelsea is an old, quaint town as you can see by the building where Chelsea Burger is located. It used to be a tavern, and transitioned to a burger restaurant about a year ago.  The original sign from Seitz's Tavern still hangs inside, as well as the original counter.

Here's our sweet girl behind the order desk.  I ordered the Chelsea Burger Original.  Yum!

Grandson Landon sitting at the counter, which isn't used right now due to COVID.

The interior still has the original brick walls with one of them displays their logo.

When Izzy got off work we made our drive back to Warren.  We watched Karate Kid I and II last night before bed.  It had been so long since I saw them [the first one came out in 1984], it was like watching a new movie again.  Karate Kid III is on the agenda for tonight.

We went out to breakfast at Country Oven this morning [another tradition during their stay] and Papa and Izzy are shopping as I type this post.  She'll go back home tomorrow in time to clock-in at work at 3:30 p.m., and Jerry will bring granddaughter, Ellie, back for her turn. Landon will come the first part of next week.

How have you been spending your summer?

A Wedding at St. Clair Inn

Yesterday we drove to the St. Clair Inn, [in St. Clair, MI] for our daughter-in-law's brother's wedding.  He's the last of the Theisen siblings to marry. 

Rain was predicted all week long, but Mother Nature was kind and gave them a sunny, 85 degree day - perfect for an outdoor wedding overlooking Lake St. Clair.

There's a reason all the chairs were empty prior to the ceremony - it was very hot in the sun so everyone was standing in the shade until minutes before the wedding began.

The two older girls in the "Bride Tribe" passed out hand fans before the ceremony began, and they were much appreciated.

The reverse side of the fan was the printed Wedding Party.  The Theisen Family is large - 5 children and their spouses and 19 grandchildren, compared to just Whitney and her brother and 2 grandchildren on the Marshall side.   Mark and Whitney wanted every family member to be included in their wedding party plus a couple of close friends so it was a very large wedding party.

Don and Roxanne with their 19 grandchildren.

The procession began with a bagpiper. His bagpipe music accompanied each one down the aisle.  Whitney's maiden last name was Marshall, which is Scottish in origin.

Don and Roxanne [Parents of the Groom]

Imagine our surprise when we discovered our son, Jeremy, was officiant.  He took the online course that made him legally qualified to perform the ceremony.

The "Ring Security" 

Daughter-in-law, Samantha

Granddaughter, Isabella, Jr. Bridesmaid

The "Bride Tribe." Granddaughter, Ellie, peeking through in the back row.  

And last but certainly not least, the beautiful bride, Whitney, and her father.

The happy Mr. & Mrs.!

The Bridal Party

A beautiful outdoor reception followed.

While we waited for the wedding party to arrive, yummy "starters" were served.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of the cute Charcuterie Cone.

Three of the "Ring Security" minus their suspenders and boutonnieres, and with untucked shirts, but two of them still had their bow ties on.  Grandson, Landon, is on the left, with two of his cousins.

 Granddaughter, Ellie, with her Cousins

~ And by herself ~

Proud Papa and Nana had to have their picture taken with Izzy.

Jeremy and Samantha

It was a lovely afternoon / evening, and we wish God's best blessings on Mark and Whitney's marriage.  No mention of tea in this post, but I did sip a cup of Harney & Son's Blueberry Green Tea while writing it.  ;-)