This That the Other

(May already? Sheesh)

So the last several months have been very very busy and it looks like it will finally let up mid-June! Then, I’ve booked a trip to San Antonio for my birthday to see my Texas peeps.  Julie and I are both headed to the great SA in July… and I must say, aside from seeing my friends, I am REALLY looking forward to all the delicious Mexican food I plan on stuffing down my gullet. Oh Jacala! Not gonna lie, my birthday dinner is going to consist of a #4B, which I am pretty sure is the only thing I have ordered at Jacala the last several times I’ve been there over the years. Also, that is the restaurant where this happened.

A couple of weeks ago I went with Malvina and her friend Katie to high tea for Malv’s bachelorette weekend. We are not exactly the type of people who think strippers are a fun time so our wild and crazy weekend was definitely fun, but not really wild and crazy (thank goodness! hah). So we decided to have a bridesmaids bachelorette outing to Lovejoy’s in San Francisco.

I’d been to high tea once before. In 1995, my dad won a trip to Hawaii, and while we were there, my mom wanted to go for high tea that was offered at one of the fancy beach hotels. I think it was in Honolulu rather than Waikiki but anyway, it was on the outdoor veranda that opened up to the beach and was all very fancy pantsy. That was the first time I’d ever had Darjeeling, which still holds a central place in my coffee-loving heart. I drank Darjeeling for years after that (until I had my first Starbucks drink in 1999… and that was that, haha).

Lovejoy’s is in the Noe Valley neighborhood (I think?) and pretty easy to get to off the freeway. if there is one thing that I really dislike, it’s driving in San Francisco. I drive a stick shift (now and forever! love it) and since it’s pretty hilly in SF, that can be nervewracking. But really, I just dislike driving there in general, the stick shift is just kind of an excuse. BUT as I recall, there is only one hill between the freeway and Lovejoy’s, so sometime I might be able to make it work. Yikes.

Anyway, the tea shop is full of tea frippery and very British. Lots of tea sets set out and lace and mismatched tea pots, it’s all borderline twee, but FUN. We dressed up and that was fun – other people had jeans and stuff on, but that just didn’t seem right.

I ordered a black tea with lavender, Malvina ordered a chestnut tea, and Katie ordered a lemon meringue tea. Our tower of goodies consisted of fresh fruit, delicious scones (I think cranberry?), and tea sandwiches. We chose a bunch of delicious sandwiches: classic cucumber, pear & stilton, green apple & cream cheese, mandarin orange & cream cheese, egg & onion, roast beef & horseradish, and turkey & mustard. So delicious! My choices were the mandarin orange & cream cheese and egg & onion. So tasty! I really liked the mandarin orange in particular – who knew that would make a good sandwich??! Fancy British people, that’s who.

Malvina’s tea choice was actually the best one. I really liked mine, but there was a depth to hers that was unexpected! Actually all three teas were good.

There were also crumpets, which I was surprised to find out are pretty similar to English Muffins. Since I love English Muffins, crumpets were a nice surprise.

OH and the revelation of the whole afternoon was CLOTTED CREAM. You guys, where has clotted cream been all my life? I do not know but wowza, amazing.

We made a pact to have tea on hopefully a quarterly basis. There are several tea houses around the Bay Area that sound like they would be simply delightful to try! Next time, we are wearing hats. Fancy old lady hats.

Tomorrow is Malvina’s bridal shower which I have worked hard on planning so hopefully that goes smoothly. Once that is over, I just need to get my bridesmaid dress altered a little bit (straps, hem MAYBE, I kind of like the tea length, it’s this dress in black with a pink sash). I also need to finish the bridesmaid jewelry, no lie I’m kind of procrastinating on that.

My office is currently going through some crazy times right now, so I have been super busy with work and I’ve developed some sort of allergy to everything related to lettuce and cabbage – at least, it gives me one hell of a stomachache – the last one lasted two days and I’m not super stoked about this. My newfound reaction to these types of food also includes my beloved Brussell Sprouts. SAD FACE. 🙁

I really could use a day to just sleep in until 11 but I think that will have to wait until a week from now.

And finally:

May the 4th be with you.

_________

p.s. CLOTTED CREAM