Tea for Three and Three for Tea!

I work for the best pediatric dentist in Albuquerque. As a Christmas present, my coworker and I decided to treat our beloved boss to an elegant tea luncheon. We thought this would be the perfect break from the chaos of screaming children (and their parents!) in her everyday life.

(Ever wonder why I don't have kids? My job, my job, my job. Seriously, if they could figure out a way to market it, working in a pediatric dental office would be the best-selling, most effective birth control of all time. The kids are cute, but I'm ready for a break from them by ~~the end of the day~~ ~~my lunch break~~ 9:05 am.)

I'm not at all crafty, so I was pretty pleased with how my tea party invitation turned out. The crown is a $0.75 wood accent from Michaels.

The St. James Tearoom in Albuquerque, NM is the perfect place for a girls' day.

Where can I find a dog like this for my front patio? It's a much warmer welcome than what our rambunctious Jack Russell terrier, Pica, provides.

My reputation at work seems to be that I am the girl who always gets lost, so I was relieved when my tea party co-planner offered to drive me. Thank goodness - I had no idea where we were! Where is the St. James tearoom? I can't tell you.

Everything at the St. James Tearoom is charming. We could really use one of these signs at our office.

The tearoom is filled with elegant, intimate rooms. You'll feel like you're at your Grandma's house, minus having to clear the table or listen to your uncle's lecture about "fake news".

(Side note: I honestly always thought he was talking about Fox.)

We passed several cute nooks, each decorated in a unique style, and wondered which we would be in.

This one with dogs and an English fox hunting theme? No, our room was even better.

We were inside the Beatrix Potter room! My inner child squealed with delight. My boss pretended she hadn't heard.

This little dog pillow was the first thing I noticed and it was love at first sight. Look at his dapper green coat! The St. James Tearoom has a gift shop but, sadly, this fellow was not for sale.

Christofur Columpaws.

Our little marble-topped table was set for the three of us...

...with what might just be the most relaxing tea set I've ever seen.

When our discussion turned raucous, we simply took a sip of tea and were reminded to settle down.

I made a mental note about each of the special touches, convinced little things like offering two varieties of sugar cubes would make or break my future parties. The small details made our day.

Not to mention the menu:

St. James Tearoom

Robert Burns Tribute Menu
"Hope springs exulting on triumphant wing"

Savories
served with Margaret's Hope Traditional Black Tea

Flaky Salmon in Puff Pastry
Date & Cheddar Tart
Peking Duck Pancake
Corn Basil Pepper

Traditional Tea Sandwich
Cucumber & Radish with Herbed Cream Cheese

Scones & Bread
served with Winter Mint Rooibos Tea

Savory Bread & Bacon Pudding

St. James Traditional Cream Scone

with Lemon Curd and Clotted Cream

Sweets
served with Dragon Well Green Tea
Almond Cream with Amaretto Peaches
Chocolate Pecan Caramel Tart
Lemon Bon Bon

Marie enjoying her cup of Dragon Well Green Tea, which tasted fabulous, and beaming a caffeine-induced smile.

Or maybe it was the sugar.

Oh, the sugar! Don't worry. Working in a dental office, we of course turned our noses up at all the plates of dessert.

(Ha, ha, ha, ha.)

As our tea party was held on the 22nd of January (rescheduled from the date listed on my otherwise perfect party invitation above - ack!), we made sure to toast Annie Spohr's first birthday. My boss and coworker had no idea who that was, but were kind to humor me. I love that sweet baby! Not quite enough to want one of my own, but close.

Post-tea party, you know how people who are trying to have a conversation just absolutely and completely looove it when you randomly take their photo for the whole world to see? Yeah.

To be fair, they were talking about boring work stuff. That's not allowed, ladies!

Good boy.

I can't end this post without writing about our walk back to the cars. After discussing where each of us was parked, it was decided that we had ended up in different parking lots. Person #1 insisted she walk Person #2 to their car, since they were parked on the other side of the building. Person #2, of course, insisted on accompanying Person #1 to her car, which sounded like it must be parked very far away.