Tea Time

{Butterfly Photography, Kimberly Chorney}

The picture above is more my cup of tea than an actual one sadly.  For as long as I can remember, I have never quite enjoyed tea.  In fact, I have never really enjoyed drinking any hot liquid; i.e., coffee, hot chocolate, soup, etc.  I know it all sounds weird, but I would rather drink a smoothie in the dead of winter than drink something hot.  In recent years though, I have tried my best to get over this habit and broaden my taste palette.  I enjoy coffee (if you count the foo-foo kind that's loaded with sugar, syrup, milk, and of course, calories), hot chocolate, and some teas now, but they have to be at room temperature almost.  To me, that's when you can really taste the flavors and not just scolding hot water.  Either way, I still long to be a member of the tea party...

Five reasons I would like to pick up the habit of drinking tea :

1.  I love scones and tea sandwiches ~ definitely would justify making them more 

2.  Health benefits ~ sickness would be so much easier to combat

3.  I would have an excuse to buy pretty teacups and other fancy tea gadgets and accessories 

4.  I always feel left out when people want to go to The Tea Room or other tea only establishments 

5.  I think it would be quite fun ~ perhaps I never got out of my dress up tea party stage as a child, plus a piece of me has always longed to be British...

I'm really not kidding about that #3 by the way, and here is a lust list to prove it.

Proper Decor-um :
    No. 1 ~ Buttermilk Scones Dress ~ ModCloth
    No. 2 ~ Knot2much2ask Spot of Tea Pendant Necklace ~ via Max & Chloe
    No. 3 ~ One-Lump-Or-Two Lamp ~ Anthropologie
    No. 4 ~ L by Lenox "Floral Waltz" Tea Saucer & Tea Cup ~ via Bloomingdale's
    No. 5 ~ Vintage Three Tier Cake Stand ~ I Love Retro via BOUF

Tea for Two : 
    No. 6 ~ Blueberry Sour Cream Scone Mix ~ Stonewall Kitchen or make from scratch using this Tyler Florence Recipe
    No. 7 ~ Caramel Sundae Escape Tea ~ Talbott Teas
    No. 8 ~ Lemon Curd ~ Stonewall Kitchen
    No. 9 ~ McVities Rich Tea Biscuits ~ Amazon ~ can't get much more British than this, thus it is completely necessary to at least try them

Perhaps if I start acting the part, a love of tea will just come naturally.  I'll work on my decor-um and one day have the perfect little tea for two.  Does anyone else out there share my sentiments?

UK Delights - Music Mix

In honor of Ellie Goulding's awesome performance on Saturday Night Live this past Saturday, I've decided to share some of my favorite songs/artists from the UK.  If you haven't already realized, I'm heavily influence by the UK in numerous ways, and many of my current favorite artists, e.g. Ellie Goulding, Kate Nash, Adele, Florence + the Machine, and Eliza Doolittle, are all from Great Britain. There were a lot of other musical contenders as well, so it was really hard to narrow it down for the finished mix.  I left many artists that I love off the list just because they weren't going along with my current mood at the time.  Anyway, without further ado, here is my UK Delights mix, and I've also provided a video of Ellie's performance too in case you missed it. 

I love how her live performances sound just like her album.  It's actually her voice and not some great production and computer work.

Enjoy,

A Royal Wedding

{photo of a young Kate Middleton via The Middleton Family Album}

Change in today's post, sorry.  I refrained so long from putting anything up on here about the royal wedding, but since I have a strong interest in nearly everything from the UK (especially the Royals), I just had to today.  The continuation and reveal of Friday's post, will occur tomorrow.  

Anyway, if you didn't watch the wedding, I'm sure you still heard about it one way or another...it was pretty hard not to, unless you live under a rock.  It was one of the greatest weddings of our time, and some may still not care or get nearly as excited, but it was history in the making.  Plus, it is a rare occurrence on television these days to see a couple that actually does not shame the institution of marriage.  Whether it was Will beaming down at Kate and telling her she looked beautiful during the ceremony, Kate unable to contain her smile after the nuptials, or their two kisses on the balcony, you saw continual signs that the couple actually love each other.  To me, that's what made the wedding all the more special and why all eyes are and will continue to be on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. 

{Official Wedding Photo of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge by Hugo Burnand}

I dare anyone to say she did not look beautiful...  

I'll now leave you with a video of the couple's wedding song: Your Song by Ellie Goulding (a version of Elton John's original).  I LOVE her and can't wait till Saturday when she appears as the musical guest on SNL!

Congrats to the happy couple! 

One Year...and Counting

Today marks my one year anniversary with my boyfriend.  Being in a long distance relationship for a large chuck of it has been incredibly hard, but he's my best friend, and I would not have wanted to spend this last year with anyone else.

 If he reads this, I hope he knows that I love him with all my heart ♥

PS: Love is in the air on the other side of the pond too;  the Royal Wedding is today...will you be watching?

Let's Get Graphic - the British Way

Well bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard.

One of my new favorite quotes from the Oscar winning picture, The King's Speech.  I might have been a touch late on seeing the film, but it was well worth the wait.  It's amazing that such a film was going to earn a R rating just from a few extra choice f words before production cut them out.

Anyway, if you must know, I am obsessed over almost all things British.  I probably would have gotten around to this post eventually, but being as I just saw The King's Speech an all, I was inspired to do it sooner rather than later (and it most likely won't be the last time).  Let's get graphic the British way shall we...

No. 1 ~ London Tray ~ Maria Holmer Dahlgren

No. 2 ~ Pink Union Jack Cushion Cover via Raw Space

No. 3 ~ Vintage Oxford University T-shirt via Ebay seller 

No. 4 ~ Stripy London Mug & Tin Set via the London Transport Museum Shop

No. 5 ~ London's Skyline Print ~ Richard Coward for Transport for London

No. 6 ~ London City Bag ~ Brown Paper Packages

No. 7 ~ River Series - London Eye Plate ~ Snowden Flood

{fabulous prints via Stella McCartney Kids Collection}

Oh and my favorite designer, Stella McCartney, has done it again with this adorable girl's rain coat and dress.  Where can I find these in my size???