Tea and Thrifting

Yesterday I had lunch in Wichita at Aunt Hattie's Tea Room. I had been there before and taken photos, but I'm not sure if I ever blogged it.

Unfortunately, sometimes that happens - I take photos of something that is really cool and then life moves on at a very fast clip and they never get posted. I couldn't resist taking a couple more yesterday. Maybe I'll dig out the ones from before and post them at some point. I still haven't blogged Puerto Rico from the summer of 2005, or tea at the Empress Hotel in Canada in the fall of 2006 or our visit to the dome of the Kansas State Capitol from last month, or for that matter a lecture I went to a few weeks ago or one I attended this week. I just can't seem to find time to get everything in.

Lately I've been in a much more "vintage-y, tea-y, home-y, art-y" mood, as you can tell from the blog. Pretty much the blog just reflects whatever I'm thinking about at any given moment, so it goes through phases just like I do. Some find that charming and some find it annoying.

Mark told me once that what he loved about my blog was that he never knew what he might find. He logged on once and one entry was about a tea party I'd been to, with photos of me and friends and it was all sweet. The next entry was titled, "Things that piss me off." I don't recall that, and surely he was exaggerating, but I don't think I'll google that just in case. Ignorance is bliss.

Well, back to tea at Aunt Hattie's. As any decent tea room understands, it's all about the details. They do an amazing job with decor - it's a lovely setting.

I was there a little late so there were only a few other people. I hope they do a decent enough business to stay around. I love having the option of going somewhere like this. It's hard to find a place where you can enjoy such a nice setting.

Their food is good, but a little overpriced for what you get. But, of course, you go to a place like this for the atmosphere, not just for the food.

Yesterday I ordered the chicken salad sandwich. It comes with a bit of fruit and is $9.50. Like I said - a bit overpriced - but, it's very tasty. I guess they've changed the menu a bit because this was different than what I ordered before.

There is now another tea room in Wichita, but I haven't been to it yet. Another trip for another day.

Aunt Hattie's has a terrific decor, with many rooms. I was in the garden room this time, but they are all similar and perfect for a tea room.


















I hit a number of the thrift stores yesterday and my find of the day was this little tea set. I've never seen anything quite like it and I can't wait to use it.


I have this "thing" about toast. Don't ask me why, I don't know, but I can't wait to use the little toast holder widget. Fun, fun, fun. OK, so I get tremendous joy out of really simple things. I'm a very happy person overall. The trick is you just have to look at life like the average four year old. I heartily recommend it.

I don't generally use milk in my tea, so I think I'll use the little creamer to hold some agave nectar or honey for sweetening. The little sugar bowl will be perfect for some quince jelly, which is my current favorite.

I found this at a goodwill store, not far from Aunt Hattie's tea room. And I had just finished lunch when I ran across it. It was in their "boutique" section and half price yesterday, so that was a bonus.

One of the things I've been on the hunt for lately are little vases like I have on my kitchen shelf (you can see it a few entries down). They used to be around for a quarter each, and suddenly they're hard to find. I did run across two yesterday, but neither of them are the really small ones like I was looking for. But these are sweet so I picked them up. The clear glass one I got a few days ago at the local goodwill.

The other thing I'm hunting these days is vintage cloth. I have some projects brewing in my brain that are going to require some nice, soft, well washed, well loved fabric. Yesterday I found these cool old pillowcases and one sheet. My mom had this same sheet set, but it finally disintegrated. But it was a little trip down memory lane.

I adore anything with handwork on it and couldn't believe my luck at finding this embroidered pillowcase. It is in excellent shape so I will probably use it instead of using it as supplies for other things.

All in all it was a good afternoon and evening of thrift shopping, punctuated with lunch and dinner and visiting with a friend. I took the afternoon off as a reward for myself because it had been a week of working a lot of hours.