Reader, welcome to Afternoon Tea! As a self-confessed hopeless romantic and anglophile to the highest degree, it is one of my deepest sorrows that I am not one to regularly partake in the privilege that is afternoon tea. Although I often enjoy a cup of Earl Grey on slow afternoons, my chipped mugs and sliced bananas are poor substitutions for the Spode china and brilliantly colored petit fours that would abound in an authentic ceremony. As such, I invite you to a virtual celebration of the elegant pastime that begs us to appreciate beauty and focus on being present. Here, you will find a somewhat jumbled collection of my revelations, reflections, and that which I relish from the week. So please, brew a warm pot of tea, procure for yourself an array of scones and biscuits, and peruse with me what is lovely in life.

Thanking the Academy

What does it mean to thank the Academy? To do so is to extend a breathless word of overwhelming appreciation to a higher power, to a force second only to the Universe in terms of its ubiquitous and enigmatic presence. As such, here you will find my own earnest appeal to make my gratitude known – a profound and dreamlike thank-you to that manifestation which is omnipresent, alluring, and all-encompassing. 

• Sitting on my roommate’s bed, talking late into the night.
• Movie night, and then movie afternoon the next day.
• A sister sleepover.
• Walking down Lamar for green juice.
• Coffee with a sweet friend. 
• Shopping at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods for heart-shaped jelly beans and gluten-free cookies.
• Margarita night with my roommates.
• Walking the lake with my sisters.
• Popping home to see my parents.
• A phone call with my long-distance best friend to catch up.
• Laughing hysterically as my roommate hyped up her dessert…then dropped it on the floor. 
• Matt’s El Rancho with family friends. 
• A dinosaur themed birthday party celebrating one of my favourites.
• An incredible on-set experience. 

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things…

In an unending effort to live just as my icon, Ms. Julie Andrews, below you will find my own weekly compilation of that which brings me just as much joy as “raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens”. 

• The Arctic Monkeys’ album, “AM”. I know I am late to the party, but I have been playing it non-stop this week.
• This jacket, which is a perfect dupe of the Free People one (…I own and love the Amazon version! It is most certainly lower quality, but warm enough and oh-so-cute). 
• This cozy knit set…I live in it and need all the colours.
• I have been coveting this hat for months now. I love the bear (not only because it is also my nickname). 
• I just bought this dress for a wedding in March, and I can’t believe I have to wait another month to wear it. Stunning! 
• Fresh flowers by my bedside has been the practice of late that inspires me to keep my room clean. There is likely a cheaper way to motivate myself, but I have yet to discover it. 
• My favourite nail colour is OPI’s “Rich Girls and Po-Boys”. Such a fun, pretty blue!

Seven-Day Design

A word (or two) of wisdom to guide the upcoming week. 

Immortal Echoes

• “I think him capable of everything.” – Albert de Morcerf 

Evanescent Intentions

• This week, I will be chill. 

Reader, I try to speak to you with some semblance of formality, if only out of respect for our infrequent tete-a-tetes. I try not to use phrases that might appear in my most casual vernacular, such as chill. I try to address my feelings with more specificity than is allowed by that word, despite forever preaching loyalty to the elastic and abstract. 

And yet, Reader, I desperately need to chill out. I am in a state of heightened emotion at this juncture, with the unknown looming so near. That which I can not control I tend to avoid, but I fear it is time this strategy makes a quick exit. 

Albert de Morcerf (one of the many literary loves of my life) said of his friend the Count that he is capable of everything. Marie Antoinette had her cake and ate it, too. These Frenchmen may be legendary, but they were no less human than I, and if they are capable of holding the world in their hands, am I not likely within reach of the same privilege? Is it not possible for me to strive for the success of which I dream and the tranquility which I need? I think not. 

So, Reader, brief though this message may be, I feel it strongly. I will focus in the coming seven days on pursuing a state of chill, and I will wish the same for you.

Love,

Lettie Anne