Care for a spot of tea, m'dear?

My mom introduced me to tea houses at a very early age. Her dream has always been to own her own tea house... one oozing with Victorian charm. One of our favorite tea houses in the area is Victoria Rose Cottage. This place is lovely, lovely, lovely!! The food is yummy and the teas are even yummier.

So, last Friday afternoon I decided we just had to have tea. And a proper tea at that! We chatted and had fun and filled ourselves with Peach Apricot tea and Paris tea. The Paris tea was absolutely marvelous!! It was creamy and rich and filled with berry goodness. Since they were out of Paris at Victoria Rose we are on the hunt. Can't wait to find some.

Mom enjoying her tea.

Look at my plate of food! I'm drooling just thinking about all those delicious tea sandwiches.

The drive home topped off our great afternoon. The sky was breathtakingly filled with heavy, rain clouds, the mountains were freshly powdered with more snow, the hills were a carpet of green and the yellow wildflowers were dancing in the breeze.

Because I like looking at pretty things

I like blogs with lots of pictures. Well, make that blogs with pretty pictures. So, since today is kinda gloomy out (it's rainy and dark and brrrrrr... cold) I thought I'd share the little bits of sunshine that are making their way onto my computer screen. I'm warming up already.

mother may i ~ the blog
Little Red Caboose
Today is Pretty
Color Me Katie
A Fanciful Twist
the~spirit~of~the~river
maya*made

And here's a pretty picture to fill my blog(well, at least I think it's pretty and it reminds me of a very perfect-weather-perfect-company day not so long ago).

Just can't get it out of my head

I cannot get "Everybody" by Ingrid Michaelson out of my head. I'm walking down the hall and BAM! I'm singing "oh, oh, oh!" I'm standing at the kitchen sink, looking out the window while washing dishes and POP! her voice is inside my head and her lyrics are flowing from my lips. Even my hubby and kids are getting in on the action. It's cute to hear them in different rooms singing out loud. I'm not complaining though. It's kinda nice to be reminded that "Everybody, everybody wants to love. Everybody, everybody wants to be loved" So, I hope it gets inside your head too. Enjoy!

Sock it to me!

A very sweet boy asked for a sock monkey for Christmas, but Santa never delivered. I thought my son's desire for a sock monkey was just a passing fancy. Boy, was I wrong! Ever since Christmas he's asked about the sock monkey... How much are they? Where could he buy one? He has enough money in his piggy bank. Will Santa bring one next year?

He really, really wanted a sock monkey so I had to deliver.

The hubby had an old pair of Rockford Red Heeled socks that I had put away in my fabric stash many moons ago. So, I brought out the socks, searched for an online tutorial and got busy. And now, Mr. Sock Monkey joins the boy's ever growing mountain of stuffed toys. Welcome to the family, Mr. Sock Monkey!



BTW, I found the awesome sock monkey tutorial via Web Goddess with great step-by-step instructions including photos. SCORE!

Today I get to...

Today I get to sit down after a long work day and enjoy the sounds of a relaxed, well-fed and peaceful family. Om Shanti.

Happy New Year!

Something for everyone

I want the water to fill your glass the moment it sees your thirst.
I want the staircase to meet your footfalls.
I want the line to the freeway to move like breath.
I want the wind flattering your hairline, the rainshower a welcome refreshment.
I want the parking space to fit your car.
I want the birds on your back deck to warble in the exact way they did during your childhood.
I want the photographs of all your holiday dinners buzzing with a certain unnamable
happiness.
I want the dry cleaners to understand your outrageous requests.
I want the man calling your house to survey your thoughts on phone companies to remember the evening is precious as silk.
I want your new jeans to not come undone in the wash.
I want snow to land on your eyelashes like it does in the movies, an etheric, slow-moving kiss.
I want a letter to arrive the moment you feel most unwelcome of your own company.
I want the scent of lemons in the air.
I want the power lines overshadowed by the view your neighborhood offers at twilight.
I want the downtown ice rink to keep your fantasies aloft.
I want the moon to articulate your most punishing silence.
I want the willow tree revived and teeming, the broken daisies resurrected and obstinate with brightness.
I want the labyrinth of what ifs narrowed to a single, poignant sentence.
I want the tulips to be wild as clover, as fog, as good intentions.
I want your heart to cut through its own brutality,for your body to see everything about you that’s beautiful.
I want love to come at you in thick pats of butter, in strands of spun sugar, heavy and light as cream.
I want it to bathe your skin until you are nothing but forgiveness, until your shadows have disappeared, until all of your perfect right angles have collapsed,
until you are a curve of a curve, and your hands slide forward and open
and are able, at last, to feel everything.

-Maya Stein

I just had to share this poem I found via 37 Days .

Have a beautiful New Year!

Miniaturiffic!

Yesterday afternoon I ran into town and found these abso-adorable mini baking pans at Cost Plus Imports. I knew I had to bake some mini pumpkin bread loaves in these and give them away as gifts. So this morning I got to baking and BOYOHBOY they came out super duper cute! I was so excited that as soon as they were done cooling I ran to show the hubby. He smiled and said, "cool". But where oh where was the utter joy I expected him to have? Where was the happy dance? Oh bother.

I really hope my recipients like them. They were surely baked with love and plenty of smiles.

It's hard to tell how small these really are. I hope the candy cane gives some perspective.

A surprise a day keeps the blues away

We have a very cute Mickey Mouse Advent calendar that my mom bought the kids years ago. Every Christmas we pull it out and they are always excited to greet each day with putting up another ornament on the Mickey Mouse tree. It makes me so happy to see how happy they are each morning.

Well, this year, I saw so many cute advent calendar ideas out in blogosphere that I had to try one of them. And I'm so glad I did! Our newest, homemade surprise envelopes advent is a hit with my munchkins. The original idea can be found on Design Sponge. I love the simplicity.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any white open end envelopes and for some strange reason my printer printed the numbers brown instead of red. So, we adjusted just a wee bit. I did have some beige open end envelopes and they went quite lovely with the brown print. I also ended up using natural twine instead of the bakers twine. In the end, I really like the way it turned out and it's been fun to see the kids' faces light up each morning. Here is our didn't-have-all-the-materials-so-I-used-what-we-had-on-hand version:



I did buy some small wooden ornaments to put in the envelopes so they could decorate their "small" tree. I also put other fun "surprises" like:

candy
holiday jokes
coupon for night of christmas cookie baking
invitation for a moonlit night walk (flashlights okay too)
christmas music dance-a-thon
make a twig star night
... and other fun goodies.

It's not too late to make your own advent calendar if you don't have one or want to update your old one. Happy Holidays!

It's beginning to look a lot like HALLOWEEN

Halloween is just around the corner and the house is getting ready. Yay! Halloween decorations are some of my favorite decorations. It'd be nice if they could stay up year round.






And a special Birthday shout out to my beautiful sis. Happy Birthday, Teen!!

Dear Internet,

You provide so many lovely romps through different cyber shops. But, today, I am so completely frustrated. Why can't you provide real, live shopping? Why can't I buy and use these super precious pie molds right now, this minute? Oh, how you make me ache, Internet.

Frustratingly Yours,
Butterfly Chica

P.S. Here are some pics of my yearning. *Sniffle*












You can find the molds at Williams-Sonoma.