Afternoon Tea

    Did you ever throw a tea party for your dollies when you were little, or maybe you were able to include a few friends too?  Having tea parties was one of my favorite things to do when I was little; I thought that was a part of being a grown-up lady.  Eventually I began to wonder why my mother never went to tea parties and in fact none of the women I knew went to tea parties.  Why was that?  I was determined to change that when I grew up.  So, one lovely October day, my mother and I hosted a tea party for all the special women in our lives and it was wonderful.  There wasn't a frowning face in the entire room.  We vowed to not let this be last time we had tea together.  

    After that life changed in many ways and it just wasn't possible to have tea with these special women.  There were still plenty of opportunities for tea with my girls.  Sometimes they hosted; sometimes I did.  It was always special and fun.  This year I decided to make it a proper tea with a proper tea service.  My daughters are old enough now to be trusted with china and old enough to be in charge of making some of the treats to go with our tea.  Since my mom was here visiting, we had a proper tea party on a summer afternoon, and now that our time here is coming to a close I am looking forward to hosting another tea party (or maybe a whole bunch) for all the little girls and little girls at heart in my life.   In the mean time, I'm just dreaming and thought I'd share my favorite tea time picks:

Dusty Rose Tea Dress from Unique Vintage

Find this set at here at ModCloth or at Amazon

Biscuit Cushion from Etsy

LeilaLove Macarons

Sweet Treat Earrings from Miss Patina

Blush Pink Tea Flats

Tahiti Ships Long Overdue: ootd

    Oh, this dress!  I waited for a year for it to come back at Larmoni.  Finally they opened a new shop called The Other Sparrows and this dress sailed back in stock.  I love, love, love it!!  It's a thick cotton material and the color and print have held up nicely even in the summer heat and at least a half dozen washings before wearing it in these photos.  

    I ordered it in a size medium to get a little extra length, but even so, I wear high waisted shorts underneath so I'm covered on breezy days.  The bad news is that this dress is out of stock again, (sorry I didn't get this posted sooner), but I do love everything I've bought from Larmoni and their sister store.  

Shop the Look:

Gold shell purse from Ebay

Flats from Target

Dress from The-Other-Sparrows.com

Pink Cardi is old and from AE Outfitters

A Patchwork Life:ootd

Family and friends.  What better gift could there be?

   This post is going to be pieced together with personal and fashion related things.  August is on her way out and September is coming to stay and bringing more rain and cooler days....I hope.  I'm taking each day as it comes and not even trying to think about tomorrow.  My dear, sweet mother has come and gone.  She brought laughter back into my heart, not to mention good cooking and even better hugs.  

    My birthday has also come and gone, and with it came a very dear friend whom I met while studying in Switzerland years ago.  She is still as beautiful and as brilliant as she was the first day I saw her and her  hugs have only gotten better with time.  She and her lovely husband visited with us for several days, though not nearly long enough in my opinion.  What looked to be a difficult and sad day they managed to make absolutely wonderful and my most memorable birthday yet.  

A view of Tokyo at sunset from my friends' hotel room.

     My sleep has improved and my weight is up several pounds.  And though I'm not even half way to my goal, I'm getting there; by bits and pieces, I'm getting there.  I have to make a few apologies for this post.  The girl who cuts my hair (yes, I can call her a girl because she's over a decade younger than me, though extremely good at her job) has been gone for the last month so my bangs are a little sheep doggish at the moment.  

    Also, I've had to make serious adjustments to all my dresses in order to make them fit, so I'm not exactly a great example if you're gauging fit before buying a dress I've worn in my photos. Also, I'm going to skip the fancy backgrounds for now.  They're a lot of work and I'm really trying to limit my time on the internet.

    Putting all that downhearted news aside, I have to say that God has blessed me in my grief.  To have such devoted friends and family, to have counselors who became available at exactly the time I needed them, how can I not look up from my sorrow and see Him at work in the midst of all this.  I am broken, but I'm learning that life is broken pieces stitched together by God with love and healing to make something new, something unique and beautiful.

     All this talk of sewing the scraps of life together has me thinking of quilts.  I've always thought that patchwork quilts, especially crazy quilts were the most lovely.  A crazy quilt might seem like a lot of odd pieces that make a lovely mess, but it's actually the opposite.  It takes more work and skill to bring all that chaos together than it does to start and finish with the peaceful order of a nice block quilt.  There's a metaphor for life in there.

    So, it only seemed appropriate for this post to wear my Collected Calico patchwork dress.  I searched for this little gem from Anthropologie for years before finding it at ThredUp at a price that I could afford.  Normally running $60-$100, ThredUp had it for only $27.  (If you've never tried this awesome online thrift shop, use this link to save $20 off your first order  http://www.thredup.com/r/WKVOY5 )  It's the epitome of summer dresses and I haven't seen a single body type that this dress doesn't flatter.  It even makes my currently bony frame look svelte. 

 

Shop the Look:
Ok, I'm about to be lazy again and only give you info instead of links
Collected Calico Dress by Anthropologie
Charter School Cardigan from ModCloth
Black Flats from Forever21
Jewelry is handmade by me :)