I Spy Friday featuring Afternoon Tea

It's Friday and I'm heading off to Brit Mums Live! 

I can't tell you how excited I am and not nearly as nervous as last year.

They have a great line up of speakers including Kirstie Allsop and Katie Piper.

Tonight is the presentation of the Brilliance in Blogging Awards 

and I'm a finalist in the Travel Category.  (Have I mentioned this before?)

I'm not being trite when I say I have no expectation of winning,

but I'm really tickled to be a part of it all.

We got an email telling us to sit up close to the stage just in case.

I usually hide in the back.

I'm so glad that my dear friend Gina will be there with me.

On our agenda is champagne and giggles.

She always makes me smile and I'm so thankful for this blogging thing

or I might never have met her.

Inspired by this post by one of our favorite bloggers Aspiring Kennedy

Gina treated me to afternoon tea this week at 

The Drawing Rooms at The Ampersand Hotel.

We were immediately charmed with the tea room.

I love the bright, jewel-toned colors and the quirky artwork.

 I desperately need to have the giraffe in a champagne glass for our new place.

We decided to try both the Classic (£21.50) and the Chef's (£23.50) Afternoon Teas and share.

They also offer a Cream Tea (Scones and Tea) for £7.

We were there for a leisurely two hours and many people came and went.
(The place was never empty, I just managed to capture these shots throughout our visit.)

Everything was wonderful as you can imagine.

The best part was the company.

There is just something about meeting up with a girlfriend for a nice, long chat/rant/gossip/laugh to click everything back to where it should be.

I confessed to her that Matt and I had just had one of those weekends where

we were bickering constantly.  She said "But, on Instagram and Twitter it looked like you were having so much fun!"  We had a big eye roll and laugh about how different reality is from what we sometimes put out there.

I'm so guilty of putting only the good stuff out there most of the time.

But, it's not because I want to fool anyone or pretend I'm something that I'm not.

Trust me when I say that I have the same struggles as every woman,

relationships, body image, confidence, anxiety, PMS.

(And what the hell has happened to my neck?)

I think it's just the voice that has naturally developed as I've created this blog.

I want you to go away feeling uplifted and inspired to experience something new.

Just like I felt after having afternoon tea with my sweet friend, Gina.

 

Have a lovely weekend, dear friends!

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Gina was sweet enough to treat me.  We received no compensation for our posts.