ladies that lunch

Its lovely sometimes

to get an excuse to do something really fancy

and grown-up and lady like.

To surround yourself with pretty things

and lovely company and delicious food.

To leave you day-to-day life behind

and just relax and have fun.

Afternoon tea does this for me.

And I absolutely love it.

My first experience of proper afternoon tea 

was a few years ago,

when I took my mum for Tea at the Ritz as a Mother's Day treat.

We had such a delightful time

and I was well and truly hooked.

We've been lucky enough to have afternoon tea at Harrod's as well

which was also lovely.

Since becoming a mummy myself

the time and the finances for these little luxuries have got a little tight.

But then I spotted that a venue quite near us, Prested Hall, offered afternoon tea

and thought it would make a lovely Mother's Day treat.

I knew the venue quite well as we had very, very nearly booked it for our wedding.

I knew it was beautiful and had lovely grounds

so a quick message to my "sister" to ask if she and her mum would like to join us

and a little plan was hatched.

The mums were thrilled on Mother's Day when we told them

that we were taking them out for afternoon tea.

The four of us like to go on little adventures and lunch dates

and we always have a blast.

After years of holidaying together

and quite frankly being brought up together,

Hannah really is the closest thing I'll ever get to a sister.

And when we are together we have Mummy Chrissie and Mummy Sally,

and it really does feel like we're family.

We were very excited when we arrived
and were shown into a beautiful little room
with all the table laid with all the afternoon tea trimmings.
There is just something so exciting about all the fancy china.
Probably because we just don't see it very much any more.

I really like the whole tradition of afternoon tea,
and the feeling of ceremony about it.
From the sugar lump tongs to the three tier cake stand,
I think it's all just lovely.

The food looked delicious right from when they brought it out for us
and it didn't disappoint.
From the yummy little finger sandwiches,
to the scones with lashings of clotted cream
to the quite frankly beautiful cakes,
it was all a complete treat for the senses.

And true to our expectations the four of us had a ball.
We left feeling full and giddy from having such a nice time.
Now we're just searching for the next place to try out. . . .