This month, I have been focusing on celebrations because January is my month. It is also the first time, in years— or maybe ever. That I was intentional about celebrating me.
“A baddie on her Birthday” as my sister would say.
I hope that you have gathered inspiration and ideas on how to celebrate yourself or others. It is important to recognize your wins— big and especially small. Small drops make a mighty ocean.
Thanks to Partiful, I was able to use this free app for my invitations. Guest were able to RSVP, make notes, and get questions answered, such as how much is needed? What should I wear? Where is this event located? I was also able to manage my guest list and plan accordingly.
Imagery, shout out to Ai. I have wanted to host a tea party for a few years now. After years of excuses, I told myself that I am no longer allowing outside circumstances to define my life and situation.
Celebrating all of my wins is a practice that I am holding on to for the rest of my life. Practicing gratitude puts you into the right perspective. Recently, I saw a tweet that said; “When I started to tell myself that life was good, life started getting good.” This is a true and beautiful quote. To me it means that I get to set the intention for my life.
You are not behind, life is good, you made it, you did it. The evidence is around, waiting for you to realize it.
Without Further Adu, Let’s get into the details!
As I have said before, bring back party favors! Honoring your guest, for honoring your invitation is a beautiful way to create a memorable event.
Staying on the tea party theme I thought of a cute way to do a spin on the Blue Box Cafe by Tiffany & Co. With gift bags in a blush pink color that read Catrice & Co. I had a wonderful experience with my vendor through Etsy who brought this vision to life. The gift bags were smaller than I expected but were thoughtfully made by Emilia— who I worked with. Emilia was responsive kind and caring. I was worried about the arrival time of the bags and communicated this to Emilia, she ensured me she could get it in the mail as soon as possible to get it to me days before the event. My guest appreciated the thought and intention.
In the bag…
As a self care connoisseur…
Each bag had a lip and eye mask. I got these from Amazon.
You can never go wrong with hand lotion. Another Amazon find
On Brand for the self care queen.
I also paired the goodie bags with my favorite treat. A snickerdoodle parfait. This is made by a colleague who is passionate about baking. You can taste the love of the craft in her work. I am still receiving messages today about how to get in contact with her for another Parfait. It is addicting and delicious.
These parfaits were a moment. From Tray’s Tasty Treats, if you do decide to check it out, get the snickerdoodle Parfaits. Tell her I sent you, she has other flavors, but CATRICE sent you for the Snickerdoodle Parfait. IG: @3tscakesandtreats
This was my favorite part of the event. Seeing the different expressions of tea party, the girls brought out the white gloves, saucer hats, and beautiful smiles to accompany. I appreciate my guest for honoring my theme and making it a beautiful, memorable, experience.
I made my My first Micas purchase— which was my dress. My dress was true to size, great quality and super cute. I felt like an Aquarius Princess.
The tea was held at Reynolds Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland. The staff was wonderful and accommodating. Prior to going I informed them that we’d be taking content (creator etiquette) and they made it a point to seat us in a way where we had the space to get the content we needed— and also enjoy the experience. I opted for everyone to do the Colonial high tea which included a soup/quiche, scone, and tea. I got a version of green tea because I heard on tik tok that green tea was natures ozempic— listen, a girl has to get in where she fits in we cannot forget the goals! I must say all of teas were delicious.
Our starting course, a choice of quiche or soup, most of us got the lobster bisque .
Now, I am an African girl so if rice isn’t included, or a form of heavy starch like potatoes, I have low expectations on being full. That day— after running around all day I didn’t get the chance to eat anything during the day, so I was hungry. The lobster bisque was simply to die for. I didn’t have the quiche but I didn’t hear any negative review on it. The scone- was warm and yummy, came with a side of butter and jam. The scone was so fluffy on the inside I didn’t need butter or jam. Paired with the tea— heavenly. After the soup, scone and sandwiches, we were all surprised and actually super full. We had so much left over- we couldn’t even finish so it was definitely worth it!
This was the image of the high tea tray in front of me. We had three trays.
We also each got our own tea pot with whichever tea you decided to get, that was cool too.
This post is long, I might do a part two, but all in all I enjoyed the day, it felt great seeing my vision come to light, It was a beautiful feeling to celebrate all that life has given me.
I just want to encourage you to Celebrate your life and all of your wins. If your birthday makes you excited and happy it is something worth celebrating. Your loved ones want to celebrate as well.
But in this life and with everything, when you take ownership, you walk away less disappointed. Now I feel like I have set a standard for myself, I need to start planning what I will do next year!
Cheers to intentionally beautiful celebrations.
The real tea
My heart is completely full from the reception I have received since starting my blogging journey, the love, support, ideas and questions have made this such an enjoyable experience. I don’t advertise on my socials, yet I am always humbled— in a blessed way, when I see the analytics. The true tea is that I am thankful and full of love. I am expectant and excited for where this journey will take us this year.
