Welcome to Pink Saturday!
Come up to my front door
I’ve got some music playing in stereo.
We’ll have a cup of tea and enjoy this Pink Saturday.
For more Pink Saturday visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site and have replaced my photos with black and grey boxes of ugliness. I’m slowly deleting those boxes from my blog and trying to update so many posts, very frustrating.
What a lovely discovery I made today on one of my adventures, Madam Fifi’s Tea Room and Bakery located at Country Village in Bothell.
The Tea Room was decorated with all this lovely blue.
I enjoyed a half-sandwich with a salad and Earl Grey Tea. I was surprised when a plate of scones came out at the end of my meal. So surprised that I took a bite before I could photograph it. All the food I had was delicious and fresh tasting. The scones were melt in your mouth perfect with just enough cream and lemon curd. Hmmm, I wonder why I’m not losing weight!? :0)
There are lots of tea accessories for sale in the Tea Room, too.
I would recommend Madam Fifi’s Tea Room. Lana, I’d love take you here for your birthday!
To see the menu and hours go to their website.
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site and have replaced my photos with black and grey boxes of ugliness. I’m slowly deleting those boxes from my blog and trying to update so many posts, very frustrating.
So I’m back in the land of my favorite thrift stores. I found a few treasures already. My sister Lana’s haul was pretty darn good, too! We met at Goodwill on Saturday the 5th for an hour or two…
The first teacup is Chelsea Garden, Royal Grafton, Made in England, $2.99.
The Japanese Garden Scene Teacup just says Japan on the bottom. I liked them because they reminded me of the Japanese Gardens in Seattle. I purchased 5 of them for .49 cents each.
The last sweet tea cup and saucer are Bluebird Fine Bone China, Made in Canada. The tea cup was $.99 and the saucer was $.99.
This cute set of 5 tea cups and saucers are from Japan. I love the design inside each cup, as well as the outside. Each set was $1.48 so $7.40 for the set of 5 before tax! Since we are on a tea theme my last purchase was this Tea Cozy that was made in England for $1.49.
Someday someone will have a fine Estate Sale with all my accumulated “moth and rust will destroy” treasures! Blessings on y’all!
Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.
I have learned over the years to pamper myself when the time is right. I also can rationalize a dinner out any day of the week. So…because Dear has been in Seattle at a Pharmacy conference since Friday and I’ve been home alone I decided to have a treat and go out to dinner on my last night alone. I started the eating out alone experience when I was out of town at sports tournaments, etc. I learned that it’s OK to eat out alone. The first couple times it was awkward but I’m “way over it”. I like to eat early so Happy Hours are ideal for me. You can eat at a nice restaurant instead of a Fast Food Joint!
Tonight I hopped into my car and drove a short distance to the Safire American Bistro in Camarillo. The bar has great tables for two for a single person to feel comfortable at. These tables were out of the main hub bub and not real conspicuous. They have what they think are deals on their happy hour menu. I’ve had better deals elsewhere but this was nice never-the-less. (Is that one word?) I ordered their Safire Salad which was wonderful $5.00. I love that it had garbanzo beans (chickpeas) in the salad and Parmesan shavings. The tomatoes were grape tomatoes and not the scary salmonella tomatoes that are causing havoc across the US right now. Sheesh the $7.00 gourmet pizza was a medium size not a personal size so I brought 3/4 of it home. I suppose $7.00 for a medium gourmet pizza at a nice restaurant is a good Happy Hour price…
Ummm, I wasn’t going to mention it but since it’s in the photo collage the gin martini was $6.00. And since you are eating out alone, only have one drink please. 🙂 Now how do I rationalize this meal that cost me $23.00 with tip you ask, yes I generally tip 20%. I figure since Dear’s company is paying for all his meals the last 5 days we’re way ahead even though I splurged. Do you see my reasoning?
The pampering didn’t stop with dinner. When I got home I brewed myself a cup of tea and had a slice of Amish Friendship Bread that Willow sent home with me yesterday. Very yummy, Willow!
This is a new brand of tea I’m trying from St. Petersbourg, actually made in France. A Russian blend of China, Ceylon and India teas with natural scents of bergamot, lemon, lime, orange, mandarin, and flowers. (Earl Grey, citrus fruits and flowers). I love the little muslin tea bags.
Dear comes home tomorrow, yippee!
Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.
So on Saturday I decided to head North 40 miles to Santa Barbara to take care of some business at Nordstrom and then have a leisurely walk around town.
I headed up State Street to find the Nordstrom. Santa Barbara has some great Mission Architecture.
Even the Nordstrom here is designed to fit into the neighborhood. I love the architecture of the store. The wallpaper in the dressing room was really fun and I had to take some shots while waiting to be “fitted”. When the evil deed was done and my pocketbook was highly debited and my 2 small purchases were put in this huge sale bag (too bad what I bought was not on sale), I headed out to explore the historic town.
This Lewis & Clark store was one of my favorites with a great variety of stuff shown in the next collage.
Lots of china, silver, vintage aprons, vintage ware, and whimsy. Time to find some lunch…
I chose Barcliff & Bair. It was a nice spot right on State Street with outdoor tables. I chose the inside because it was overcast and sprinkly at this point in the day. I had Harney and Sons Earl Grey Supreme, a grilled chicken and brie sandwich with peppers and onions, and a cup of 3 bean soup. Very nice. I then went to do a little more shopping.
I found a consignment shop on State that I’d come back to in the future. I thought this china cup and saucer would be a good mate to my Royal Albert one I found at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. This one is Cambridge, Pink Mist, made in England. I think those are Dogwood blooms which I love. This beauty was $10.00. That is not my usual thrift store bargain price but I was happy to spend it anyway for this sweet cup and saucer.
I also made a side trip to the Santa Barbara Art Museum and the Santa Barbara Mission but I’ll leave that for another post…
I got home and found out that Dear had made it to our home in the Seattle area safe and sound. He flies home tomorrow morning and I’ll pick him up at the airport. He and our daughter were on their way to our favorite Mexican restaurnant in Kirkland because there was no food in the house :0)
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!
So my walking numbers are way down this week after my high stepping totals last week. I’ve been sidetracked this week. I decided to clean out my kitchen cupboards and reorganize them so it’s easier to work. I had 3 bags of stuff to donate to the local thrift store. Things that just aren’t working in the condo. I have another box full of stuff to take back to the Mother ship in Seattle. Just when I was ahead I had a great shopping day at none other than Goodwill.
6 Water Goblets with roses etched on them (all 6 for 2.99), Tea Pot and two tea cups $2.99, A three piece cream and gold tea place setting for $1.99 (Kahla, East Germany), A Tiffany and Co. Ice bucket for 1.99.
A Limoges little basket dish for $1.99
There were 11 of these little vases that are designed to be place card holders. I got the set of 11 for $4.99.
Now the big decision on what to leave here and what to send to the Mother Ship…
I’m headed to Orange County today to meet some of my family at a Persian Restaurant to celebrate my father’s 85th birthday. I’ll try to catch up with y’all tomorrow. Have a wonderful day.
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!
We started our beach walk at 6:00 AM today! The sun has not shown up in all it’s glory yet…
The colors in my photos change as the sun comes up over the hill.
We saw a lot of crabs today. The tide was not as far out and we couldn’t get as far on the sand this week.
The Pirates were afoot and we snuck by their ship.
Dear braved the surf while I took the higher road.
“Here’s looking at ya”
We finished our walk on the beach and were home by 7:45 AM. I then got ready to head out to San Marino, California to meet my nieces, sister, and mom for a birthday breakfast.
On the way to breakfast a car fully engulfed in flames was worth a photo! :0)
Julienne Restaurant in San Marino, California
My sister Kathy and her daughter Michelle
The sisters, Michelle and Melissa
My niece Debbee and me
My Mom
I decided on the Earl Grey Tea. Look at that pretty little bag the tea leaves come in.
A Gruyere omelette with scallions and avocado and rosemary potatoes.
Me, my mom, and my sister Kathy
Kathy and her daughters. Happy Birthday Kathy.
And yes it is hot in Southern California today. This was the hottest my outside temp registered when I hit Woodland Hills. (109 degrees) Notice that I’m standing still in traffic so no one was in danger when I took this shot. We’re breaking records today. Thankfully it is a lot cooler than Woodland Hills in our town…
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!
Hi Flower! I thought of your blog site when I saw this window in Old Town Camarillo today!
Fun Flower Power!
Katie, these 5 cups cost me $2.00!
What do you think?
Here’s the bottom of the cup…
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!
This week’s theme is Tea Venues. This is a previous post but I wanted to share it during this weeks Tea Blogathon theme since it’s about a Tea Room that I’ve experienced and recommend.
Oh what a delightful haven we found for Tea in Thousand Oaks. Willow and I had reservations for a mini tea on Wednesday Afternoon. We arrived at Tranquility Tea Room which is in an office space on the 2nd floor of a building set back off of Thousand Oaks Blvd. When we opened the door we were delighted with what we saw.
Lots of China, Antique furniture, Lace, hats, fresh flowers, and tea accessories.
We chose our table and settled in for a lovely time.
Willow decided it was OK if I took a photo of her at our table.
We enjoyed looking at so many pretty things and then our food started arriving.
Aprils menu included Blueberries ‘n Cream Scones, Orange laced Mini Swirled Scones with their homemade lemon curd and Tranquility cream. Then there was a choice of Gourmet Tea Sandwiches. I chose the Cucumber a la Provencale and Caramel Apple Brie with Pecans. Willow chose the Caramel Apple Brie and the Chicken-Almond Salad. For dessert I chose the Lemon cheesecake triangle and Willow chose the Strawberry Tart. It was all very fresh and tasty! The touch of fresh flowers that adorned the food and plates added such a visual treat. We found out that Candra’s mother does the flowers for her. Oh who’s Candra?
We met Sue (who graciously served us) and Candra (on the right). Candra owns and operates the Tea Room. We had a nice long conversation about Tea rooms and ministry. Here’s something I copied from her website about her and the Tea Room.
Tranquility Baking and Tea Room
Seven years ago, Candra Coogan began a baking business with a desire to help a local charity. She began delivering cheesecakes dressed in Victorian attire and donated 10% of her sales. Her business grew into a successful catering and baking business specializing in tea parties, and in December she took the next step, opening Tranquility Tea Room on Thousand Oaks Boulevard.
What a wonderful ministry. They have a vision to move this tea room into a Victorian house in the Ventura/Oxnard area. That would be such an ideal setting. Thank you Sue and Candra for your wonderful hospitality and your heart for service to the community. Can’t end the post without one more collage of the fun things around the tea-room.
We highly recommend the Tranquility Tea Room to anyone who loves Tea in a comfortable, beautiful setting, with expertly created delicious delicacies. Can you tell I was impressed!
“Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things.”
Chaim Potok
For more Tea Rooms and Ventures visit LaTeDah at Gracious Hospitality.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 