What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?

I saw something on Facebook today that I liked, and it made me think of my own boys and how we teach them about life. As well as something my niece said to me this summer.

This photo appeared on Facebook at I guess the right time and it caught my eye. I can remember from the time I entered preschool it was a constant question and each year demanded an answer. I actually love that my niece who is now 5 asked me this Summer what I wanted to be when I grew up. I just turned 40 last spring and her question made me smile. I told her I had not really figured all that out yet but I had some time. She said Aunty "I think you should have a tea shop and restaurant and sell tea, sandwiches and tiaras oh and books"  I thought this kid knows me well. I should do all those things but then that created a problem, knowing what you want to does not always mean it will happen overnight like magic.  I sure wish it did.
I wonder if I was asked what problems did I want to solve when I grew up vs what I wanted to be just how different life would have been and what it would have meant to me.

So her question has had me dreaming for I guess the last several months. I posted this photo and quote on social media the other day and it really ties in with the theme of today's post. I am 40 and I don't really know what I want to do when I grow up. I fancy myself a writer, a chef, a photographer, a tea enthusiast and about a half  a dozen other things, but ask me what problems I would like to solve and that is a whole other ball game.

Problems I would like to solve the list is long and somewhat ridiculous.
From the simple problem of where the heck are all my socks and spoons going, to world peace. My list is varied and shows my ADHD side. All that aside here is problems I work on everyday and take quite seriously.

Concurring my dyslexia: Every day I work on this and you may never know just how hard, or how long I work on this, chipping away at it day after day but I think I am getting somewhere with this problem. I retype almost every word and sentence I type. I read everyday now because I want to and not because I have to.  I like to write, I like to share and I love to read.

Anxiety: This is a common problem many people face, myself included. I would love to solve this problem once and for all. I try a everyday. I have learned that to help manage the anxiety and day to day stress in my life, I have to make time and take time for me. Even if it is just a few minutes each day (sometimes I take way more) I started forcing myself to do this daily a few years ago, and I take photos of those moments. I started doing this to hold myself accountable for making and taking the time and so many of you have commented on how much you enjoy it, that it was very easy for me to keep going. I light a candle, I make tea, I use the good china and it is just for me. It doesn't solve the worlds problems but it does keep mine at bay for a few minutes each day. That and I have a great husband, kids and cats as well as friends who keep me honest and busy.

Growing up I wanted to be a chef, a teacher and a mom...I have done all these things. And now I want to work on being a better writer and maybe having that tea shop, restaurant that somehow sells Tiaras. I know that the point of the question is to figure out away to make that happen, find out what I need to learn to be able to do that and I now it is time to work towards all these things. My 5 year old niece is pretty smart, she knows me very well.

Well I guess I best finish my tea and start figuring out how to make my plans a reality. Oh one one more thing I may not know what I want to be when I grow up but I do know when I do grow up I know exactly the car I want to own and drive to that tea shop, that sells books and tiaras, now if I could just save my money instead of spending it on books I might be able to afford one! Dreaming of my blue punch buggy and tea shop with each sip this morning, I thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery.  I would love to hear what you want to be when you grow up. Please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

A Cozy Short Story By Kari Lee Townsend

I purchased this Sunny Meadows short story on Amazon on the weekend. I loved the series that Kari Lee Townsend wrote The Fortune Tellers Mysteries and when I did not see book 4 come up I had forgotten about the series until I had moved my bookshelves around last week. I tracked down Kari on social media and she kindly shared that there was a short story and book 4 as well.  I ordered the short story which was a fun little mystery and felt like a home coming visit.

I am looking forward to ordering book 4 Perish in the Palms and if you would like to read the 3.5 short story Shenanigans in the Shadows please click here.

 I was so excited when my mail man brought my pre ordered Vicki Delany book Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen and a lovely gift from my friend Lisa K a Connie Archer Mystery called A Spoonful of Murder. 
I feel truly blessed to have these wonderful cozies to escape too, a perfect cup of tea and a cranberry scone to sustain me. Thank you for joining me for A Cup of Tea and a Cozy Mystery. I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Tea Time Just Got More Delicious At My House

Delicious Tea Time Sugar Cookies just out of my oven. A few weeks ago I took  leap of faith and ordered a rolling pin from Etsy I had shared here. Every year I host a cookie exchange party at my place and I wanted to do a special cookie this year and once I saw this rolling pin I knew I wanted to make these. I will likely make these every year and I do believe I will order more of these rolling pins in the future.

Making rolled sugar cookies is labor intensive, truth be told these were pretty easy to make, as I am not icing them (though for my party I am thinking of half dipping them in chocolate). If you can roll out dough, you can make these cookies. The trick is the right consistency of the dough, work in small batches and use parchment paper.

 I started with my favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe, you can use your own but this is mine.

Karen's Sugar Cookies
Pre heat the oven to 350
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup margarine
1 egg
3 tbsp cream
2 tsp Vanilla
4 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Cream your sugar, butter and egg. Add your cream and vanilla. Beat in your flour, baking powder and the salt. You want the dough to form a ball and not stick to the sides of the bowl. If it does add 1/2 cup more flour. 1/4 of a cup at a time.

I form my ball of dough and then I place it between too sheets of parchment paper and I press it down 1/2 inch thick. Leaving it covered and usually on a cookie sheet or cutting board place it in the fridge. You can do this 24 hours or 2 it really is up to you. The dough is easier to work with when it is cold.

I find it much easier to do these types of cookies in small batches. So I took about 1/8th of the dough and placed it between two more pieces of parchment. I then used my regular rolling pin (I swear by this one my mother in law bought me years ago) and I roll out the dough 1/2 or 1/4 of an inch depending on what you like of an inch thick. I do this with the parchment on top, I find it is way less messy. You can do it anyway you feel comfortable.

This is a very important step if you are using a rolling pin like these. You must generously flour your pin. I do not use the handles as I can not get an even enough pattern. I place both my hands on the rolling pin for even pattern distribution. If you find that your dough is sticking to your embossing pin, add more flour and re roll your dough with the regular rolling pin, re flour your embossing pin and try again.
Then choose a cookie cutter the shape you would like to use. I chose a round fluted edge cutter that I felt was the right size for tea! Simply cut out your shapes. I would use the best parts of your rolled out dough. I cut about 6 cookies at time, re rolled, adding more dough as I went until all the dough was used. I am really thrilled with how they turned out.

I baked mine until they were golden brown at 350 for about 12 mins. Every oven is different, you can also enjoy these much lighter but I love them a bit darker.
I ordered my rolling pin from Valek Rolling Pin's Etsy Shop  with shipping it cost $46.87 US. I feel it was worth every penny. I will be looking to order more in the new year and I know I am going to enjoy using this one year round!

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery. I am off to finish Shenanigans In The Shadows, A cozy short story by Kari Lee Townsend. I look forward to sharing the review with you soon.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

The World Just Keeps On Turning

It is Monday, It is November 16th and the world just keeps on turning. No matter what we do to each other, to the planet, to our neighbors, to our children, to animals,  to our foe...it just keeps on turning. Spinning as if nothing has changed and nothing has happened. This feeling of wanting to get off this planet or to understand and accept the point of all these horrible things that humanity keeps doing, over and over and over again, is overwhelming.
People die everyday, from Cancer, from other horrible diseases, from accidents and from terror attacks and the world just keeps spinning. It is 2015, and I watch what is happening and what has happened but not on tv this time. I watch the world unfold now largely on Social Media. When I was younger the TV and Newspapers were the only source of info, when 911 happened the internet was really just begining to take off, not at all like it is now. But we had the tv and we watched nothing but CNN for months. Watching over and over again the planes hit the towers, listening to messages from loved ones on ill-fated planes. When it seemed like  it would never end and the world would certainly end, it just kept going. I wonder why these things keep happening and how the world can possibly keep turning and yet it does.

We talk and pray and post of peace, knowing full well that the most recent attacks around the world are sure to continue. No mater who you are and where you live you try not to feel terrorized but it is a feeling that is hard to shake.  I realize how very lucky I am to live in a First World Country, to have the freedom and rights that I do. So I will use my freedom of speech and expression to set a table where all are welcome and where the kettle is always on. I pass you a cup of comfort, friendship and warmth not just because I can but because I want to and because it has to start somewhere, may it start here. Do kind things, speak kind words, offer hope, be friendly, share, extend yourself, change the way you think of others, look at things from other perspectives, be mindful of what you watch and what you subject yourself too. Be the peace we so desperately crave, the kindness we all know how to extend, the difference in the life of someone else.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea today and for reading my words today. I truly wish I had more then words to offer to comfort, to heal and to affect change.

A New Series To Love Vicki Vass Has A Winner With The Postman Is Late

First let me tell you that Vicki Vass sent me this book to read and review, and I loved it.
This story is a Neighborhood Watch Mystery, first in what I hope will be a long line of stories from this Chicago neighborhood. The main character 75 year old spit fire Jan is the richest character I have read this year, likely ever. She is absolutely fantastic. The mysteries are good, the idea is amazing and even with the murders in the area, I am telling you you are going to want to move into this street.  I loved this book, the only fault I could come up with is the cover and that is only because this is a great book and Vicki Vass' writing challenges my whole "pick a book by it's cover" mantra. I do know one thing as long as it says Vicki Vass on it, it is a book I am going to want to pick up, pre order and unplug the phone, computer, ipad and tv for.

As you may have guessed I am not the biggest fan of the cover but the story is so much better then fantastic that I forgot about the cover until I put the book down. In this case this cover does not do justice to the story that is waiting for you just inside.

I laughed when I saw the title as it is rather fitting with all my self professed "Stalking of the Mail Man", you see my mailman who is very reliable and "like clock" work went missing again on me about a week ago, he returned Thursday, the same day I got this book. My mailman hurt his back. He tried to tell me it was all the books I order, we shared a laugh it is good to have him back. He is truly an asset to my neighborhood and not at all like the Postman in story!

Even having finished the book my mind is still reeling and I know there are a few vacant homes on Jan's street, ready and waiting for us to move into!
To order The Postman Is Late from Amazon please click here.
To learn more about Vicki Vass please click here.
Oddly enough it is Sunday and tomorrow I go back to stalking the mail man again for a pre order to read!
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery, this is one I wont soon forget! I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

On My Table And In My Cup November 7-14th

I can not believe it is Saturday once again. This has been a very busy week and I am thrilled to have on my table this week Vicki Vass' The Postman Is Late.  I have also had several different holiday teas in my cup this week. Santas' Secret and Hot Chocolate Black teas have fueled me this week.

I have begun the parade of Snowbabies this week and spent most of last night taking out and putting my collection out for display. I love these little faces and I have some truly wonderful ones to share in the coming days.

In the wake of hearing the horrific news of the events that have unfolded in Paris, I decided to take all my Snowbabies out and enjoy them, display them and share them. Life is precious and time is not always our own. I choose peace, I choose light. I morn those who's lives have been forever changed by evil.

I choose to remember, thank those who are there for Peace, for those working so hard to help settle the displaced, the scared, the lost and the lonely. For those who have come before me and for those who continue to fight for freedom and help the oppressed, I give my thanks and my remembrance.

'Change the way you see things, and you will see things change" ~Dr. Wayne Dyer
Thank you for joining me this week on A Cup of tea and A Cozy Mystery, I look forward to sharing more with you again tomorrow.

Snowbabies, A New Cozy and Tea

I started taking out my Snowbabies a few days ago. I love them. When I was 16 and not yet dating my husband he bought me one of these Snowbabies Figures one Christmas. I love them. I now have several of them that he has purchased for me over the years. Every time I find them in the store or unwrap them I feel that same magical feeling I did when I saw the first one. The one in the photo with my newest cozy to arrive is the one he gave me last year. I would like to also say a huge thank you to Vicki Vass for sending me this cozy to read. I got it, made tea took the photo and sat down to read the first 10 chapters before I realized the time! This is a Neighborhood Watch Mystery and it is fantastic so far! But back to the Snowbabies...

This is the Snowbabie I got last year I love it, the cat snowman and the baby that looks like my niece Phoebe, who is almost a year and looks just like this little figurine.

 My collection has grown considerably in the last 24 years and all but one of these figures in my collection came from my husband, one from a dear friend who is like a sister. The one she gave me is shown in my photo above. I love this as it reminds me of her and I, I am pretty short and when I got this it reminded me of how she and I hugged when we finally met. Becky is one of my dearest friends in the world, one I don't see or talk to often enough but feel like we are sisters. So much so she hosted my 2 sisters and I and a few of our children at her home in Pennsylvania in 2009 for one of the best weeks of my life!

Some of these are quite large and this photo is from a few years ago before we had the large tv that now sits on my mantle. My problem this year is where to display all these lovely little ones. My bookshelves are full of teacups and saucers not to mention a few treasured cozies.....I think the TV needs to go....I guess I will spend the next few days trying to figure it out and I will be using more of my Snowbabies in my tea photos. I have two that my husband bought me last January on clearance I can not wait to share. But for now I will leave you with the one he just gave me the other night...

This one lights up and is so lovely. I treasure these little figures and wish I could have them out year round. I hope you will enjoy seeing them in my photos over the next several days. 

I hope to have a review of Vicki Vass' The Postman is Late for you soon! 

Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and a cozy mystery, I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com