Mood Board Monday: Tea Time May Be My Nerdiest Obsession

I take my tea very seriously (read here why). On cold rainy days like today (or sunny warm ones) tea time is my perfect ritual to focus and center, because if there is a such thing as a “Christmas person” I am not her. I find this time of year depleting and hectic and I’m ready for it to be over.  My tea is a bit of liquid courage to handle all the Merry Christmases and Happy Holidays.  I’m such a Scrooge, but at least I’m aware of my Scrooginess (laughs to self). Here are my favorite tea making accoutrement (and, no they weren’t Christmas gifts): 

I CAN'T WORK UNDER THESE CONDITIONS!!!

I looked at this picture and was immediately frustrated by something I’d never paid much attention to before (other than the horrid lighting conditions). The wall file full of to do lists and a repulsively cluttered dry erase board hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles (a disaster is waiting to fall on me at any time)! 

No wonder the nook that I intended to be a comfy place for reading, sipping, tea, sketching, journaling, and hand sewing (you get the point) remained unused real estate.

I placed a dam on top of my head and expected my creative river to flow. This is the only creative space that I have left. I sacrificed the space that once held my drafting table and easel for my treadmill and bookshelves. I clear off my desk for large crafting projects and sewing projects that require my machine. My creative nook is the only place I have left and I’ve contaminated that too…

It’s time for a makeover!

My personal style is the Madcap Aesthetic, which is a much nicer way to say “crazy head.” To be even kinder let’s say eclectic and quirky, but never haphazard. There’s always a method to the madness.

Let the Redecorating Begin...

Afro.Art.Nerd in "Wondaland"

Illustrations by Lewis Carroll from "Lenny's Alice in Wonderland Site" http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/

Cardigan & Tights: Target | Dress: Torrid | Shoes: Max Studio
Gee Whiz! Why in the name of all things fashion don't I have on a necklace or earrings?!?!?

TENDING MY MOTHERS' GARDENS IN A ROOM OF MY OWN



This lamp sold out quickly at Anthopologie but
 there are quite a few sites that offer
 DIY advice to create this
 lamp inexpensively.
As a memento, I may try my hand at this soon .

I had the blessing of having an overtly creative mother and grandmother.  Their talents were so influential to who I am now: how I dress, decorate, cook, and so on. My mother was a gifted interior stylist who had a keen eye for antiques.  As I mentioned in a previous post, she was most interested in the Victorian era and all of its flourishes, florals, lace, and rich wood accents.  One of my five siblings can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm having a very difficult time remembering her ever drinking out of a mug.  She always took her tea in a delicate, sliver- rimmed cup and saucer with two sugars and a spot of cream. When I was little my older sister and I had a tea set as well (and it was not plastic). We often mimicked our mother's graceful morning ritual with our own tea parties.
Somewhere between the age of eight and now, I lost that treasured ease of preparing and properly enjoying tea.  One morning in one of my clumsy moments of haste, I reached for my reusable(ecochic) Starbuck's ceramic cup and cringed as it crashed into shards onto the floor. 
It was the end of an era. Somehow, I feel like I got some of my sanity back-- the sanity I lost during those treks down I-75 gulping enough Starbuck's coffee to keep me up for weeks on end.  I know there will still be some all nighters in my future as a PhD candidate after this hiatus, but I will no longer make it a lifestyle.

I have gardens to tend...