Tea! Tea! - Easy as 1.2.3

Oh, I just adore my sweet little toddler niece Madeline!

Her Momma Jenn, my dear sister-in-law, 

 sent me the CUTEST phone pics the other day!

Maddy having her pretty pink play teatime -

 does it get cuter?!?

                               Can you see her cute pink play kitchen
                                 with the adorable pink & white appliances?

One must double check the cups are clean!

I wonder if I should offer Mommy a cup?

             

Nah, I think I'll just drink them both!

               

Reminder:

If you haven't signed up for my giveaway

Click HERE for more details!

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

Pink Saturday   *   Mosaic Monday   *   Teatime Tuesday

Red White Blue Wares & Giveaway!

I am having a Patriotic giveaway!

It's also been some time now since I have joined in on Bev's 
Blog Shop linky party post

over at How Sweet The Sound.

It's a wonderful way to show off things you may have for sale!

Remember; you needn't have a store, shop, Etsy or Ebay.....

just need to share what you may wish to sell!

I have had an ebay shop for almost 16 years 

and I promise you this is a wonderful way to get some exposure

that you may not otherwise have had! (Thanks, Bev!)

I have purchased quite a few things from those participating too-

so it is a win-win any way one looks at it!

A cute hand painted salad sized serving/decorative plate!

Today I am sharing a few wares in my little store  

RED WHITE BLUE THEMES all on sale

and perfect for your outdoor holiday entertaining!

Set of 4 of the cutest "bandana" painted napkin rings!

Big lot of new white plastic spoons and forks!

4 cute dinner stoneware dinner plates 

4 matching mugs!

4 salad plates in the Fiesta style by HOME

Lidded cooling crock for dips or butter

Cute lighthouse and candle gift set

Large white artisan pitcher hand made in Portugal





And for those more "formal" minded, I am offering up for sale
this stunning blue white and gilded artisan hand painted teapot!

You know I must show at least one teapot, right?  : - )

Of course I would love you to check out my store
and do some shopping - I am sure there is something
there you would love to have.

You can always find my store by clicking my logo
on the right side bar of my blog all year long.


But my motivation TODAY is to ALSO prompt you all to take a look at
BLOG SHOP LINKY PARTY to also look at other's wares for sale....
and to get you to join in and sell something yourselves too!

EVERYONE WINS WINS WINS!


My giveaway ends 10pm EST Monday June 29th so I can get 
the package out Tuesday in time for July 4th!

No requirements except be in the USA, and to leave a comment
stating you'd love to enter.

If you don't have a blog please send a private email also
telling me your snail mail addy so I can get it posted for you!

As always, thank you for your visit!

♥

~Michele

Linking:

How Sweet The Sound   *   What's it Wednesday   *   Anything Blue

Blue Monday

My Friend Linda

I lost an awesome friend over the weekend.

Linda was an amazing woman;

funny, gregarious, interesting, dynamic, strong, loyal, and so sweet.

She was one of my earliest women's club friends.

I bonded with her from the very first meeting.

She had that kind of magnetism; was liked by everyone.

I am sharing a pic of the first time I had her for tea.

She is the one 3rd from the left in pink and black.

Betty   *   Carol  *   Linda  *  Sandra  *  Nancy  *   Karen  *   Me (floor)

[Pic courtesy of MD]

She lost her husband years ago and had no children,

 but had a nephew she adored, and many many friends.

She was a docent at our Zoo,

 and always had such fun stories about life there.

She was taking some folks on a hike in the woods when she noticed

 she was having trouble walking.

 She went straight to the doctor for tests, 

and found out she had brain cancer.

I tell you, friends, she was upbeat and brave till the very end.

I know I could never have done that-

she has gained my eternal respect.

May she rest in peace until the Second Coming of the Lord!

She will be sorely missed.

I ask you if you will please pray for her soul, 

and for those who are mourning this loss, as they are many.

Please say an extra prayer for Linda's best friend Lois,

who needs the healing of prayer for this loss.

It's been hard on her and I know she really hurts.

Thank you, prayer warriors!!

As always, thank you for your visit.

♥

~Michele

I am keeping this post comment-free

 so you can get to praying right away.

That's what is really important here today.

 Thanks so much.

The Historic O' Neil House (Part 2)

Yesterday I posted the most incredible bridal shower for my SIL.

It got long and I said I had a few pics of the house itself.

For those just joining in, this Tudor style home

 was built in the early part of the 1900s.

It is GORGEOUS - with so many unique architectural details!

I was busy with the baby shower visiting

(and stupidly forgot my camera)

so had to use my phone....and didn't get nearly enough pics!

These dark shots don't do this lovely home justice!

It has beautiful terraces and gardens

 and has an awesome conservatory room.

Almost every room had a unique fireplace,

some wood and some stone.

The lights were originally gas sconces, per the time period.

Remember Mrs. Patmore's and her assistant Daisy's

 fear of electric lights on early Downtown Abbey?

Sure hating next season is the last season.

They seem like friends to me now, do you feel the same?

So many rooms had beautiful crystal chandeliers.

How I would have loved to have had more time

 to look upon the gardens and grounds.

May have to just stay there sometime soon

 now that it is a Bed and Breakfast

and get some more shots!

I love the old fashioned candlestick phone

 sitting next to a modern laptop computer on this marvelous

old leather-topped half round desk...

the contrast is interesting to me.

                                                                    [source]

The above pic is where we had the dining portion of 

the baby shower luncheon -

 this is how the room looks before set up.

(If you missed the baby shower post, just hit "older post" and it will take you there,)

As always, thank you for your visit.

♥

~Michele

Little Lamb Baby Shower Luncheon

My-oh-my did I attend the best baby shower of all time or what!??

It was hosted by my mother-in-law for my sister-in-law.

I am so happy to (finally) have a moment to share it with you!

It was held at the beautiful historic Tudor-style home
 called The O'Neil House
which is now a Bed and Breakfast!

It was built by the early rubber magnate William O'Neil,

 who started the General Tire Company in 1915.

I encourage you to read up on these histories above

after you finish reading my post, of course.  : - )


(This lovely B and B host tea parties, too!)

Sweet soft fuzzy lambs were everywhere - such a cute theme!

I am embarrassed - I forgot my camera and had to use my phone,

and the lighting was difficult to work around.

I just needed to share it regardless, it was such a lovely event!

See what I mean?

 Isn't this little lamb plushie adorable??!!

We dined in what they refer to as

The Garden Room - which is light and airy and lovely!
(It was once perhaps the conservatory? Not sure.)

The tablescapes were gorgeous and sat 8 gals at each.

Here was mine and where I sat,
 along with my two daughters and my mother in law.

Gorgeous matching antique chairs, fresh garden roses, 

silk pin-tuck tablecloths, crystal, carved wooden chargers....

silver-plate sugar and creamer, every nice thing.

Close up of the adorable favors my MIL made:

Little milk chocolate lambs

made specially for her by a family favorite chocolatier

from my in-law's hometown of Erie, PA

called Stephanelli Candy Company.

It's soooooo good,

 and Ginny always gets some for us on Easter and Christmas.

The food was so good and so beautifully presented!

We started with a palate cleanser;

I had this clever frozen orange sorbet

using a hollowed-out orange as the dish holding it!

Next was Italian Wedding Soup -

 a favorite of my husband's

very Italian family.

I was halfway through mine before I remember to get a pic.

Our main dish was grilled chicken breast with reduction sauce

 over brown rice with veggies

and a small salad with fresh berries.

You will notice no strawberries as my sister-in-law is allergic

(as is my husband!)

This food was totally scrumptious!

 YUM!

We finished with a decorated  Tiffany Bakery party cake!

(Another family favorite for all important occasions!)

Originally the baby shower was scheduled

 weeks before the baby was due...

and they didn't know the gender of the baby....

However, she came very early and Momma and baby 

were in the hospital during the shower!!!!

So Angela participated virtually on Skype

 while Papa unwrapped all the baby gifts.

He was such a trooper - even wore a pink shirt
in celebration of his newborn baby girl!

He really got into it after a bit of time
and warmed up to the whole shower thing
(his best mate was there too, for moral support!)

Action shot taken by MIL's phone used with permission




I have a few pics to share of the historic Tudor home
in a post tomorrow so be sure to come back!

This post is getting too long.

I close with a picture of my little baby niece's
gorgeous birth announcement I received yesterday.

And to my other two sisters-in-law: 
I am so sorry I never posted about your wonderful baby showers.
I do the best I can with the time that I have is all.
There's just never enough time, is there?

Hugs and love to all!  

♥

As always, thank you for your visit!

Linking:

Tablescape Thursday   *   Foodie Friday