Well, it’s certainly time I share my London teatime with you and all the fun details of getting to finally meet my sweet friend, Claire, in person!  Oh, my…where to begin?!!  Claire and I have been friends for a few years now.  We met online via our blogs, and when we were chatting together in person, we recalled it was through a birthday group that we both belonged to.  We had actually forgotten!! What was most important to us was just how much we had in common and how we “hit it off” instantly.  We began visiting each other’s blogs, emailing, and then, becoming friends on Facebook.  Of course, we both love tea related things and the sweet art of teatime so it was an instant friendship!

What a sweet, beautiful friend…her friendship blesses my life so much!!

 Once I found out we were going to London, I couldn’t wait to let Claire know. We had always talked about what fun it would be to sip tea and chat over cupcakes, but it is a little jump across the pond so we had no idea when this might actually become a reality.

What a treat and sweet blessing that it did! We began making plans about meeting once I was in London, and Claire was so very sweet and thoughtful to take a train to meet up with me in the heart of London. This beautiful chick had to travel 3 hours or so to get to London, and she was willing and happy to do it!! I didn’t really realize exactly where she lived all the time we had been communicating online so I felt bad for her to have to travel so far. But, she assured me she didn’t mind. That meant so much to me…to know that she wanted this meeting to take place just as much as I did…I already knew she was a true friend…this kinda sealed the deal!

 So, of course, she began to ask me where I would like to go for tea. Oh, my, I was thinking…I’m actually in London and getting to join a sweet friend for teatime! Pinch me, it is a reality!!

I felt like she was the expert when it came to choosing a spot for tea in London so I told her to pick her favorite spot for us. And, she did!! What a lovely choice she made!

 Claire chose Fortnum & Mason…such a fabulous place!! It’s rich history dates back to the early 1700’s, and several floors make up this stunning shop. There are several restaurants inside, and The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon was the magnificent setting for our lovely teatime.

I loved the color of their decor…a stunning aqua! I use aqua a lot throughout our home so it suited me to a “T”!

When the tiered tray came out it reminded me of my tea room…what fun we used to have watching everyone’s face light up as we presented the trays loaded with goodies.  It is a special feeling!

The scones were scrumptious!!  And, with a dollop of lemon curd and Devon cream…oh, my…so yummy!!

Isn’t this pretty?  We just loved this tray and couldn’t wait to sample each treat!

And, it was over one cuppa after another that Claire and I smiled, giggled, chatted, and experienced our friendship bloom even more!  We both said how we could just stay there all day, keep sippin’ tea, and not ever run out of something to talk about.  Now, that is when you know you are with a true friend.  The conversation was so effortless; I think we both had so much we wanted to say, to ask, to share that we just felt like we were getting started when it was time to move onto the next part of our day.

Ooh la la, the desserts were such adorable little treats, and we had fun sharing them and choosing our favorite.  There was even a cake carriage!! Oh, my…yes, there was!  And, I don’t think I even got a photo of it, but it held several different cakes that we could choose from.  And, can you believe that it was only after we had left the shoppe that we remembered we didn’t even try those cakes!! We were so full and having so much fun chatting that we completely forgot!  Guess our conversation was sweet enough!! 🙂

It was then time to do a little shopping for tea to take home.  We had to find the perfect blend!  What a selection!  We did a bit of shopping before heading out of Fortnam and Mason and then strolled along the city trying to decide what our next stop should be.  I’ll be doing another post where I’ll share some photos of sites along our walk and a few of us just being silly.  What fun it was to spend the day with Claire…words can’t truly convey how amazing the day was!  I knew she was such a dear, special person before our meeting, and my heart is forever full of such sweet memories of our time together.  Be sure to take a peek at Claire’s blog, My Little Life ~ you’ll have fun reading all about her adventures, love of tea, and sweet stories.  And, you’ll enjoy visiting her shoppe, Our Favorite Things, where you will find beautiful teacups and lovely vintage and handmade treasures.

Claire, you are such a special friend, and I feel so blessed to have you in my life!  Meeting you was one of my happiest moments in 2012…something I had not even imagined would happen!  Oh, if we lived close we would have such fun being creative, meeting for tea, shopping, and chatting til wee hours of the morning!!  Thank goodness we can do alot of this virtually!! 🙂  I love you, girlie!!

{A meeting such as this was certainly a good reason to do a little sketching!  I did this the night before our teatime at about 2:00 in the morning…guess someone was a wee bit excited!}

Thanks so much for stopping by to have tea with us…stay tuned for more London pics coming soon!

Hope you are having a fun and happy Christmas season!

Hugs,

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