Belated Birthday Tea-Themed Gifts

When your birthday is in January and you live in Canada, there's a high probability that your birthday celebrations will get rescheduled because of inclement weather. This year, we got hit by a snowstorm that dumped 40 cm (15 inches) of snow...so I ended up celebrating my birthday in February which had more co-operative weather!

Pretty tea-themed cards #1 & #2

Pretty tea-themed cards #3 & #4

My family and friends showered me with more teas.

Teas from Trader Joe's.

Love the yellow rose on this beauty.

For tea on the go: A pretty travel mug with a tea infuser.

Cute gift #1: A miniature book with a book-shaped infuser.

Cute gift #2: Tea party books for my inner child

Cute gift #3: A teapot house for my future fairy garden.

I don't know if these candles actually contain tea leaves, but the bear holding a mug of tea is pretty cute.

You can never have enough tea-themed towels!

Tea-infused lotion and mints.

Thanks to my generous and thoughtful family and friends, I won't need to buy new teas for a looooooooong time!

Belated Birthday Celebrations and Gifts

Last month, I turned another year older.

My talented aunt baked me this gorgeous strawberry shortcake. 

It tasted as amazing as it looked!

Photo Credit: My Friend

I finally had afternoon tea at Tea at the White House's new location. 

This was a joint birthday celebration with my friend. We both selected dessert-inspired herbal teas. Donut herbal (top right) tasted sweet and nutty, while the chocolate covered strawberry herbal tea (bottom left) was a delicious, fruity tea (this was my favourite).

The pretty tea-themed birthday cards.

The 5-year-old daughter of my friend (from the afternoon tea)--without any hints from her mom--selected this cute teacup image for my birthday card and even coloured the teacup in my favourite colour: purple!

My family and friends showered me with tea-themed gifts again!

This charming teapot is the perfect addition to my collection. 

I'll have to share my 3 elephant teapots one day.

How adorable is this Chip mug?!?

A tea infuser bottle.

Teas! Teas! Teas!

A crafty friend handmade this super cute cozy. 

Can you see the embroidered teacup on the back?

Lovely teabag holders in my favourite hues: turquoise and purple.

These pretty paper plates and napkins are almost too pretty to use!

Ditto for these notecards!

Purple strikes again: an embroidered tea towel.

An interesting historical book on tea.

I'm hooked on this present!

A reusable bag featuring teacups and teapots.

I'm beyond grateful to my generous and thoughtful family and friends for the fabulous gifts!

I'm joining the following parties this week:

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Friends Sharing Tea

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians!

Pumpkin teapot by Kaldun & Bogle

The lovely autumn/Thanksgiving cards that I received from my Canadian card and tea exchange group.

To celebrate Fire Prevention Week (Oct 8-14), I'm sharing this adorable fire safety for kids' book called "No Dragons for Tea".

Last spring, McDonald Canada's Happy Meals offered mini versions of this book (they could fit in the palm of my hand). If you missed the promo, you can also purchase the book from regular or online bookstores.  

Screengrab from the London Fire Brigade's Twitter Feed

My stone cold heart melted a little when I saw this sweet photo of Greenwich firefighters hosting a tea party with isolated seniors as part of their fire safety education program for older adults.

Thank you for visiting my blog today!

I'm joining the following parties this week:

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Friends Sharing Tea

The First RBG Tea Festival

Last Saturday, I wen to the Royal Botanical Garden's First Tea Festival. 

The Tea Festival had 25 vendors and drew large crowds (who knew that Hamilton had so many tea lovers?). The tea sampling and presentations were so much fun!

Taiwanese Tea Ceremony: Osmanthus Black Tea

Madeline Chang from Bon Tea Place led the Taiwanese Tea Ceremony. It was an interactive presentation and the attendees were encouraged to "receive" the teas prepared by the 10 trainees.

 

Taiwanese Tea Ceremony: Autumn - Pai Mu Dan Organic Tea

The white teaware and tea represented the autumn season.

Taiwanese Tea Ceremony: Winter - Young Pu-Erh Tea

The black teaware and tea represented the winter season.

Taiwanese Tea Ceremony: Spring - Bi Luo Chun Tea

The green teaware and tea represented the spring season.

Taiwanese Tea Ceremony: Summer - Oolong Oriental Beauty

The red teaware represented the summer season. 

The oolong tea had a fruity taste and was my favourite among the seasonal teas.

Taiwanese Tea Ceremony by the Children

The 5 remaining tea ceremonies were performed by children (the youngest was only 4!). 

They were all so cute!

Left: Jasmine Pearl

Middle: Dong Ding Oolong

Right: Ti Kuan Ying

Taiwanese Tea Ceremony by the Children

 Top: Toffee Pu-Erh (this was smooth and yummy!)

Bottom: Jasmine Green Tea

I also heard interesting talks about  "Tea's Journey Around the World" and tea blogging.

Left: Linda Gaylard (aka the Tea Stylist)

Right: T.J. Williamson from World Tea Podcast is the only blogger (to date) who blogs via podcasts.

Mistletoe Chai by The Monarch Tea Co.

The owner, Katie, also offered a fun session on the art of pairing tea with food where we had the opportunity to sample Walker's meltaway milk chocolate with Cream Earl Grey tea. YUM!!!

This collection of cups for tea leaf readings spans over a century.

The Art of Tea and Tasseomancy owner, Amy, also did a neat presentation on the history and practice of tea leaf readings.

Kevin Kong's Wellness Centre offered samples of this Pu-Erh that was produced in 2007.

Kevin also presented on "Chinese Tea and Tea Health".

Tea and sugar cookies with an Earl Grey glaze were served at the book launch of "Tea-Inspiration: Inspiration Words for Tea Lovers" by Lu Ann who blogs at The Cup of Life. Naturally, I had to support a fellow Canadian blogger and bought an autographed copy of the book. The pocket-sized book would make a great stocking stuffer!

 Of course, a tea festival wouldn't be complete without some tea pretties!

 

Top left: Royal Rose Chai by The Chai Palace

Top right: Black Scotch Tea by World Tea Podcast

Bottom: Cream Earl Grey (left) and and Strawberry Tea (right) by Blue Mountain Tea Company

 I think this was an oolong by the Bon Tea Place?

Top: Darjeeling Jungpana by Camellia Sinensis

Bottom: Fruity (herbal?) tea samples from Steeped Tea (left) and Tea-ara (right)

The most interesting and unique tea that I sampled was this Tangerine Pu-Erh. 

The 8-year-old Pu-Erh tea was stored inside a tangerine and processed for over 30 hours! I'm not a huge fan of Pu-Erh, but this one had a nice mild citrus flavour.

 

Left: Iced green tea by Drink Empower

Right: Organic Raspberry Lemon Kombucha by Booch

The freebies that I scored.

 

I'm starting to get into the Yule spirit so I brought home: 

Mistletoe Chai by The Monarch Tea Co; 

Nutracker Tea and Candy Cane Organic by The Travelling Tea Room

I hope that the RBG will host another tea festival next year!

I'm joining the following parties this week:

Tea Cup Tuesday

  Friends Sharing Tea