A Tea Party in Paradise

My family love being in Oahu and are so grateful that we had our annual trip there a week ago. We just got back from there a little less than a week ago.  People always ask us if we have family there since we go there so often.  We do not have family that live there, but we do have good friends that we visit with each year that feel just like our "ohana."  So for the next few posts I am going to share with you some of the friends that we met up with as well as the RAKs that we gave to each other. I think it would be fun to end each post with a beautiful picture of a place that we visited along with a picture of ono food that we ate.  The first friends that I met up with while my hubby and my kids spent time at the beach and by the pool were my friends that I met through a tea swap.

We have an annual tea party together.  This year we went to tea at 1024 located in downtown Honolulu. I always enjoy keeping in touch with them throughout the year through chatting on Facebook and/or through our e-mails, but it's way more fun of course to chat with each other in person. Here is my beautiful place setting
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I ordered lychee black tea.  It was pretty good but my favorite was what two of my friends ordered- a pomegranate tea.  (BTW, every time we go for tea we try each others tea.)  With our tea we had scones, sandwiches, 

and dessert. 

After having a nice time enjoying our tea party and "talking story" we exchanged gifts that we made for each other. This is what I made for each person in their favorite colors.  Here is the front of the tea pot

and the back with a pocket where I put a tea bag.

I made the tea pots using two different dies from Stampin Up. I saw a post on Sandy Hancock's blog and just added my own twist to it by adding the cherry blossoms. I also gave each person a package of cookies to enjoy with their tea and some paper flowers as part of their gift. Here is what each of the ladies made. 

As you can see the 5 ladies are very talented and creative. I always look forward to seeing what each person comes up with.  After we exchanged gifts we chatted a bit more and went our separate ways except Fran and I.  Fran and I went shopping together at three craft stores- Flora Dec, J's Knick Knacks, Cute Stuff. Stay tune for a post later this week for some of the items that I purchased.  Mahalo Brenda, Dori, Fran, Melanie, and Robyn for taking time to have a tea party with me, for your friendship, and generous and thoughtful gifts.  Of course a big mahalo goes to Fran for a fun afternoon of shopping together.  Since I already posted plenty of pictures today I will end here.  Until next time!