Surprise Birthday Tea Party For One

Yesterday, my birthday,  around 11 am, I decided it would be best to get a shower in, I started to run the shower and heard an unexpected knock at my door. Wrapped in my towel, I opened the door to three smiling nieces, standing way back and offering me their hand made cards and a bag containing a tea party for one from Vancouver's Secret Garden Tea Room.

My sister who lives here and my sister who lives in London, arranged a take out order and picked it up to bring me to enjoy! I did not even realize that my nieces and nephews in London (and brother in law) were on Facetime on the phone and saw me in my towel! I was completely shocked and surprised. I absolutely loved everything in the special bag. The sandwiches were perfect, the scones delightful and the treats spectacular.  My sister for the last 10 years has made me lemon pie for my birthday, he birthday is the week before mine and when our mom died, she continued to make me the lemon pie my mom used too.  She made them into tarts for me to fit the theme.

Even with social distancing, I had a very enjoyable birthday. A friend and her daughter dropped of a gift bag, and my new upstairs neighbor, dropped me off this lovely plant. Thank you to all who reached out and made me feel appreciated and special on my birthday.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Happy Birthday Your Majesty.

Today is Queen Elizabeth's Birthday. It is her 94th birthday. It is usually a time she celebrates with close family and friends while we all celebrate her birthday publicly with the Trooping of the colors scheduled for June 13th in London. At this time we don't know if this will carry on but I do hope it will. 

I watched over the weekend, a video from a former Palace Chef Darren McGrady on how he made scones for the Queen.  In honor of her birthday I thought I would give them a try.

I will be honest that I did not have the right sized cookie cutter and all though I love the idea of these, I did not find that mine rose as nicely as Chef McGrady's did. They were yummy for sure, but I like my way better. I was really surprised to learn that the Queen apparently puts her jam on first!
I truly enjoyed watching this video and I hope you do too. Cheers to hopefully many more years. Long live the Queen.
Thank you for joining me here for a cup of tea and a birthday toast to Queen Elizabeth. I would love to her from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com

Happy Birthday Barbie

Today is Barbie's Birthday, I have always loved Barbie and I still do today. This is a photo of me from Christmas morning 1984. I still get the same excitement today in the Barbie section as I did back then on my frequent trips to the toy section.

Today I wanted to share with you what I think is a very cool Barbie that a friend sent to me and I am over the moon with her!

This is Breathe with me Barbie, and she walks you through very simple breathing exercise and with the help of her puppy, you place an emoji on the pup, that helps Barbie choose what breathing exercises to do.

 I am thrilled to have had sometime to play with Barbie and have a cup of Rose and Tulsi tea this evening to wind down. I love that after 61 years Barbie is still going strong, and in a great direction.
Thank you for joining me for a cup of tea and in wishing Barbie a Happy Birthday today.
I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com