High Tea

Ok, so I think we have found the most ideal baby shower/sprinkle location ever.

High Tea at The Peninsula hotel!

Our "book club" got together to celebrate Dawn's second baby - a girl! - on Sunday. Her and our friend Laura are both having C-sections on the exact same day next week, so our group will be growing quite a bit!

It was so lovely to spend a Sunday afternoon over tea, champagne, and an amazing tower of goodies. We had a harpist right behind our table, and I'm pretty sure we could've stayed at our table all night long.

 After we polished off our trays, we had Dawn open a few girly gifts to celebrate her upcoming addition. 

 Some of our husbands and babies hung out while we were busy - so it turned out to be a fun Sunday for everyone involved. 

And a perfect way to celebrate our two dear friends! 

Christmas Recap

Maybe one of my favorite parts of Christmas as an adult is just the built in excuse to fully indulge in all of the finer things.

Like, really really good champagne!

After a happy hour like that, no champagne the rest of the week tasted half as good, but it was such a fun treat to ring in the holidays.

When Joel got home from work on Christmas eve we went to the 4pm children's choir mass which was was as cute as can be, and then hurried home to get ready for dinner.

 

 

 

My cousin Erin and her fiance(!!!) joined us for a dinner and what a feast we had.

 

Joel is seriously an expert in cooking and eating lobster and it really is the most fun and decadent tasting dinner you can have.

But it's freaking messy. 

Half way through dinner, everyone put on aprons so that we could stop worrying about the mess and just go for it.

 

Erin and I have found each other in the same places a lot throughout our lives, but having each other here in LA together is the best one yet. 

   

And of course, most of all, I am just reminded again how lucky I am to have my little family. I feel beyond, beyond, beyond blessed with the fortunes I've been given. 

After dinner we exchanged gifts (couple to couple and then a favorite thing under $10) and then had the best cake I've ever had in my life (from SusieCakes) before it was due time to call it a night.

Joel and I exchanged our Christmas eve pajamas and then went to bed - however all way not calm outside. 

LA had a wind storm roll in with really high winds and we lost power on Christmas morning around 4:30am. 

We woke up and weren't sure what to do, I felt like I just couldn't do Christmas without a lit Christmas tree, coffee, and our traditional cinnamon rolls....

But we took a walk to get coffee and when it wasn't on when we got home, we said screw it.

We lit candles, played Pandora on our phones, and on the one shot we had to open the fridge grabbed bagels, champagne, and orange juice.

The power didn't come back on until after 2, but it turned out to be a really fun and special Christmas morning because of it. 

Joel made us a feast of appetizers for dinner and we cuddled on the couch in sweats for the rest of the night.

 

shrimp cocktail, turkey bacon wrapped dates, salmon dip, spinach artichoke dip 

On of my Christmas presents was "Tea Time with Tess" at the Peninsula, so this afternoon, Joel and I will be going to high tea for one final holiday celebration before we leave for paradise.

detox tea time

 

After a weekend filled with fries, wine, lobster rolls, and the best chocolate bread pudding I've ever had - I need a few days of detoxing (probably more like a month but I don't have that kind of discipline).

The problem with detoxing is that I get so damn hungry.

My girlfriend Dawn turned me on to this Hunger-Curbing, Metabolism Boosting Tea and I had to give it a try. 

She'll give you all the goods, but if you don't want to watch the video - here's what you need: 

a. 1 lemon, 4 shakes of caynee pepper, 4 shakes of cinnamon 

b. a coffee mug that matches your outfit

c. and a large spoon to constantly mix up the concoction

The tea tastes a little weird but it's not horrible. It reminded me of Mexican Hot Chocolate but tasted more like Mexican Apple Cider. If you can get over the interesting-ness of it it'll be worth it. When I tried this tea yesterday around 3, I had eaten an early, light lunch and  fit in a gym session so I was pretty close to starving. I would have rather had a bagel with cream cheese but this cup of tea actually had me full almost three hours later. 

If you I can get this bad boy to replace a morning or afternoon snack, I would imagine it could really help shave off a few pounds.

---------------

Also....on a totally unrelated note...

It's my fiance's actual birthday today! It's our first birthday together as an engaged couple - and it's really weird to think next year we'll be celebrating as husband and wife! Tonight we are ringing in the new year with just the two of us. We're stopping at a wine store in Brentwood to take advantage of a 25% discount on your birthday and then having dinner at the ever famous Katsuya afterwards. I love a fancy date night on a Tuesday!

But in a reality, I really just wanted to say happy birthday Joely - Roscoe and I love you more than you'll ever know!

Tea Time

 

Let's be straight here, long gone are the days I vent, catch up, and/or bitch over tea. Now that I'm 24, we've moved up to the big leagues. Now, my talking time happens over booze. If it's early in the morning, mimosa's. Lunch? We're drinking white. After 4pm, we can choose either margs or red. BUT my blog....my sweet blog...it's gotta be tea time, and I can't change the name now. I'm in too deep. So our new weekly little gab sessions will have to be labeled as such - however, do know, if we meet (& gab), I much prefer wine over tea.

1. This week has me all kinds of anxious. I've recently taken on new opportunities at work and while it's a fantastic situation - it means I have a lot to learn.

Plus, while I'm learning all of this new stuff, I've got a lot of wedding details going on. Right now I'm trying to make appointments to try on dresses, meet stationer's, pick a band, find bridesmaids dresses, re-visit our venues, and determine a budget. I could manage all that under normal circumstances, but since I'm hiring these people in Chicago, my 6 day trip at the end of August is already bursting at the seams.

2. My sweet baby Roscoe is getting neutered today. I know he will do great, but it does make me a little worried that he's in a major surgery. I'm thinking good thoughts and can't wait to kuzzle him when I pick him up today around 4.

3. My girlfriends and I nailed an 8mile hike on Sunday. It took us every bit of 3 hours and I'm still freaking sore. And seriously sunburned.

4. Trader Joe's wine is the best for weekday splurges. Cocobon is my favorite table wine so far and I picked it up yesterday for $7. Winning.


5. Do you read "Classy & Fabulous" ? Sarah has honestly stolen my heart and I would pretty much pay a moving company to bring her and her cute boyfriend out to Los Angeles. She is just my kinda girl - and I think she'll be yours too.  I really recommend you follow along with her sweet journey....big things are on her horizon and you're not gonna wanna miss it.

Alright dawwwlings, that's all the thoughts I have for you for now. Until next time.

Cheers!