tea with bea

growing up we drank a lot of tea. when the evening settled down i would always find my mom with a cup of sleepy-time tea. i just associate tea with my mom. in fact, my mom didn't even start drinking coffee until her mid-thirties! now don't get me wrong, i'm a big coffee drinker thanks to my college days and motherhood and well, life in general. but tea is my first love.

i've had tea since i was a little girl with my mom and nanny (what i call my grandmother). my family is from England and we enjoy our tea. my nanny B (what i call my great-grandmother) is turning 94 years old this year and was the only one of her siblings born in the states. so as i've grown older and met different people and understand other cultures more i'm able to see just how much english influence is in our family. hence the tea.

my oldest daughter, hazel, recently turned two and we've had a few tea parties. she usually gets milk in her tea cup, but she tries a sip of my tea from time to time. i'm so excited to pass my love of tea down to her (and eleanor when she's old enough!). it's also just really adorable to see a two year old drinking out of a tea cup!

i love tea all the time, but i really love afternoon tea. i love it because it makes me slow down. i love the warmth on my hands as i hold the cup, the sweet smell, and the steam on my face when i hold the cup close. very rarely do i have tea on-the-go. for me, tea needs to be for a slow time where i can sit and enjoy it.

one of my favorite things is having tea with friends. the conversation always feels a bit sweeter. i think having food and drinks with others does something in our hearts that makes us want to open up and be vulnerable and be our true selves. (more on the food part later.) so i wanted to start writing a weekly, "tea with bea."

"bea" is my childhood nickname that has stuck with me through adulthood. it goes back so far my family isn't entirely sure how it started, but one story i hear is my younger brother wasn't able to say my name, so he started calling me "bea"...sabrina...bea...bea...sabrina? honestly i have no idea, but it stuck. most of my childhood and college friends call me bea. this may be news to many of my NYC friends though!

all that to say, i'd love for you to join me for tea once a week. i'll post simple things...something that's going on in my life, something that i'm loving, a funny story, or something like that. you know, stuff that we would talk about if we were sitting and chatting over tea.

i look forward to our tea dates! until then here's some of my favorite teas:

--from Alice's Tea Cup (this is one of my all time favorite restaurants and tea shops. if you're ever in NYC this is the place to go! it's magical!):
-Earl Grey Extra Fancy
-Christmas Brew (this tea is amazing! i'm not a huge fan of fruity teas, but this one is delicious and isn't over-the-top fruity. and although it's called Christmas Brew i drink it all year round! p.s. it's decaf!)

-chai tea
-classic black teas
-herbal teas
-a favorite

--for night time relaxing:
-La Tisaniere Nuit Calme (my favorite!)
-Celestial Sleepy Time (you'll always find this one in my home)

what are your favorite teas? i'd love to try them!

:)

things i'm loving lately

i always love to hear of products/books/food/etc that people are enjoying so i thought i'd share some things i'm loving lately:

1. these anthropologie shorts. last week was the first time i've ever bought anything from anthropologie thanks to a giftcard. these shorts are really comfy, cute, and they're on sale right now!

2. lipstick. over the past few years i've grown to really love lipstick. these two are my current favorites: rimmel london's naughty nude color 760 (the name cracks me up!) and l'oreal paris julianne's nude 620.

3. sofft's mirabelle sandals in 'luggage brown'. i'm wearing them in the picture above and i even wrote a whole blog post about them! they're currently the only sandal i have...so if you follow me on instagram or facebook you've probably seen me in them. :)

4. Prayer by Tim Keller--i definitely wouldn't call this a light read, but the weighty-ness of it is really challenging me and causing me to go deeper. i'm really enjoying it!

5. washi tape. i love washi tape and find ways to use it often! in our old apartment i decorated a whole wall with just washi tape. i love the little succulents on this tape!

what are things you're loving right now?!

cute + comfy sandal for summer

a lot of people have commented on my new sandals in my Instagram stories so i thought i'd share the details on here :)

my friend, kelsey, told me about these new sandals she thought i would love and she was right! living in NYC we do a LOT of walking so we look at our shoes like someone with a car would look at their tires. they need to be reliable, last for a long time, and get you from point A to point B in one piece.

when i first moved to the city I didn't think that way and i found out quickly that when your feet hurt your whole body pays for it. & when i'm in pain or uncomfortable it just makes me grumpy (which is not fun for me or anyone around me for that matter!).

i've also had four knee surgeries and one foot surgery (soccer injuries from back in my glory days...ha!) so good shoes really are a must for me.

so if you're in the market for a shoe that feels like you're walking on a cloud  while also being stylish...let me introduce you to Sofft!

i've had mine for a few months now and i've worn them mostly every day...it's like a sneaker sole with a sandal top. does it get any better than that? cute & comfortable. yes please! I have the mirabelle sport sandal in brown leather. they make some other styles too so go check them out!

requirements when i'm buying a sandal:

-comfortable (my biggest value when buying a shoe!)

-has a back-strap (this is a biggie for me because of city-living and my foot surgery. i like to feel like the shoe is secure on my foot...lots of people can do without having a back i'm just not one of them!)

-stylish...if i don't love the look of the sandal i'm not going to want to wear it. this seem like a no-brainer, but because i value comfort so much i've bought really comfortable sandals before but didn't like the way they looked and i also felt weird when i was wearing them.

so for me i'd rather have one or two great pair of sandals (aka meets all my sandal requirements) than a closet full of shoes that hurt my feet when i wear them! i do think they're a little pricey, but after having them for a few months and getting a LOT of wear out of them (they're the only sandal i have currently!) i can honestly say they're well worth the money.

happy sandal-wearing! :)

also my dress is from francesca's. i can't find my exact dress on their website, but i linked a similar one (i also tried the linked dress on and it was a hard decision between the one i bought and that one!). they have a lot of floral dresses right now!

my kiddos dresses are from old navy.

photos by the lovely: Photos by Cassie.

*this is NOT a sponsored post. i just wanted to share!

family photos

ever since i was a little girl (as in way before pinterest) i loved family photos. for my 13th birthday all i wanted was to take family photos...i think that may have been the only time we took any. we also all wore matching white shirts and jeans. it was cheesy, but i loved it. 

fast-forward to now and i make my people take family photos at least once a year. i want to remember these times when my kiddos are little and what matt + i look like while were young so we can look back when we're old and grey. i cherish all these photos. 

thanks for capturing our little family so well, Cassie! (photos by cassie)

dress: francesca's (my dress is sold out, but i linked a similar one that i love!)
earrings: i made them :)
hazel + eleanor's dresses: old navy
matt's shirt: old navy
my shoes: sofft

Eleanor Fay :: 6 month update

Hey sweet pea,

the bigger you get the harder it is to find time to write these! this month has been a really fun month with you, kiddo. you're six whole months! half a year! i remember loving this age with Hazel too...to be honest, the baby stage is hard for me. it's mostly sleepless nights, lots of feedings, and crying...but then it's sprinkled with sweet cuddles and coos and topped with an adorable smile and my heart melts. so we're starting to turn a corner here...the newborn stage is definitely behind us and we're sailing ahead. you've really and truly mellowed out and are one of the chillest babies i know. & oh my goodness. i'm so thankful. you're also SO happy all the time. it's amazing.

we've been traveling for a whhhhile. you've actually been traveling more in your lifetime than you've been at home. ha! traveling with two little ones can be a challenge. and it's definitely been that. i'm pretty tired, but praise the Lord you're really sleeping through the night! (besides when we were at Gigi's...you most definitely did not sleep through the night there.) you've met a lot of friends and family and we've found you're a pretty adaptable baby! you usually always have a smile on your face and you're even starting to get used to the carseat. if you have a good book (i.e. the very hungry caterpillar, Dora the explorer, 123 peas, etc.) you're usually pretty set.

Eating
you're eating solid foods and you LOVE it! bananas, carrots, apples, spinach, peas, pumpkin, green beans, chicken, pineapple...girl, you love it ALL. feeding you is always hilarious because we can never feed you fast enough! you're still nursing like a champ as well.

Sleeping
you're sleeping through the night! we're traveling a ton, so the first few nights in a new place is usually a little hard for you..but overall this month has been a game-changer. thanks for that, lady.

Temperament
oh E, you're such a doll! you're so sweet and giggly it's adorable. i'm so thankful for your chill personality.

Physical
-blue eyes
-hardly any hair...maybe in a year or 2 ;)
-3-6 month clothes/6 month pj's
-size 2 diapers
-starting to army-crawl (ah!)

Memorable
-lots of firsts! first time to NC and VA
-you've met so many friends of ours from college and our church in NC
-you and Hazel are starting to really play together (it's mostly her making you laugh)...it's adorable.
-first time meeting your great-grandparents (on both sides)

this month has been fun with you, nor nor. thanks for being a champ with all the traveling and new things and people. i love you so much, sweet girl!

always,


momma