lady whistledown would approve

this year for mother's day, the old lady and the bean and i headed back to the biltmore for something super fun:

the tea was set up in the room we'd seen the last time we were there for the bridgerton experience, and it looked really lovely.

i was allowed just one selfie before we headed downstairs to check in and be seated.

there was a really nice selection of flavored teas, and we opted to try them all in whichever order our server suggested.  

the amuse bouche consisted of a "spiced pineapple flummery," and you know i wasn't really all about it but it was pretty.  the old lady took the fruit off the top of mine and i found that the cream underneath was really tasty, so it was still a win in my book.

the rest of our tea was served in this pretty little three-tiered tray.  there were freshly baked scones with jam and clotted cream and pieces of queen's cake on top, with sweets on the second tier.  there was a pistachio cake, a rose-flavored macaron, a piece of chocolate cake, a meringue-topped fruit tart and a lilac petit four.  and the savory sandwiches included salmon on pumpernickel with a dollop of caviar, a chicken tartelette with truffle essence, an egg salad sandwich, ham & cheese and of course, a cucumber sandwich made with boursin cheese.

we got the server to take a better picture of us afterwards, and yes - i am wearing the same dress i wore to the bridgerton experience and the bean is taller than both me and her sister.  heh.

back at home, there were flowers and presents and a sweet card - and then later, dinner by the hub, who did all the shopping, prepping, cooking and cleanup.  

it was a really nice day spent with my family - quiet and relaxing and exactly the way i like it.  happy mother's day, indeed.

getting spoiled on mother's day

i'm super late with this post because - well, let's face it, i've been terrible about blogging lately.  i've got to get back into the groove, because while we're still on lockdown there are still fun things to share!

anyway, my mother's day was really lovely.  a few days before, i'd placed an order with a local baker who was offering delivery of afternoon tea packages.  we've been missing going for tea and this was pretty much the only option we had (although of course, after we ordered this one we came across several more opportunities for tea at home packages, oh well).  and while the hub was out picking up some breakfast for us, the delivery was dropped off at the front door.

the poor hub.  he tried so hard to find something extra delicious for brunch, but because it was mother's day and a few local favorite spots had just opened days before for pickup they were all swamped and not accepting any more orders.  instead, he picked up breakfast burritos from one of our favorite greasy spoon drive-thrus and some caffeine from the nearest starbucks.  it was all delicious and it was nice to sit in the back yard and enjoy the beautiful weather as we ate.

and of course, i got my mimosa.  heh.

we busted open that afternoon tea package not too long afterwards.

there were freshly baked scones and a mini jar of strawberry jam:

homemade shortbread, which was light and flaky and really good:

crispy, sweet meringue kisses:

of course, there were teabags with detailed instructions for DIY.

i never did get around to taking a picture of the other box, but it contained slices of lemon pound cake, a sponge cake with strawberry filling and three macarons.  the whole thing was nicely presented and everything was really good - not the same as going out for tea, but it was as close as we were gonna get.

that mimosa put me right to sleep, but did you expect any less?  i did manage to wake up in time to enjoy some pool time, though.

later, the hub headed to the grocery store and came back with all the stuff to assemble kabobs that he bbq'd for dinner.

the old lady and her special friend had brought me a pretty pink bag that contained a cute new t-shirt with a floral print (which was significant because we'd just had a conversation about how i'm not a big fresh flowers fan, because while i think they're beautiful we all know that i'm a plant killer with a black thumb), some super comfy sweatpants (because we're still all in loungewear mode 24/7, right?) and a pretty, sparkly lip gloss.  the bean made me an incredibly adorable animated e-card that she won't let me post, and the hub said that the gift he'd ordered had been delayed.  he gave me the option of finding out what it was that day or waiting until it was delivered, and while i'm typically an instant gratification kinda girl i decided i wanted to be surprised.

a few days later, he and the bean handed me this box:

and when i opened it, this was inside:

woohoo!!  and it turns out that the band he'd picked out to go with my new watch was what had caused the delay.  apparently it was so fabulous that it'd been on backorder, but that's okay because it was totally worth the wait.

happy mother's day, indeed!

spending mother's day down south

mother's day started off great, with everyone getting to sleep in for - well, a really long time.  the old lady came home from a night away with her special friend celebrating her birthday bearing a gift...a delicious boba tea that came with this lid:

our plan for the day was to head down to carlsbad for the last day of the flower fields that always look so pretty on instagram.  it seemed like a pretty solid plan...

except that we hadn't thought of the fact that EVERYONE ELSE AND THEIR MOTHER would also have thought of the same thing.  there was a ton of traffic and trying to get into the parking lot looked to be just the first hurdle in getting near the acres of colorful blooms.  and look at the crowds!

i don't know how the old lady managed to snag this without any cars in the way.  'murrica!

this is the closest we got before we just decided it wasn't worth the trouble and headed off.  bye bye, instagram moment:

we stopped for a starbucks, where i apparently got another gift:  a new name.

we decided to just keep on driving towards san diego.  while it was gray and gloomy at home, it was a beautiful day in san diego county.

this is where we ended up stopping to walk around and hang out.

we hadn't been here in ages.  it was fun to walk around and look at all of the old buildings, and stopped in this shop at the bean's request.

you know she had to do the candle dipping thing.

 we walked around aimlessly for awhile.

the restaurants were, predictably, super crowded.  we put our name in at one that seemed a little less hectic and ended up walking through the cemetery as we waited for a table.  random, i know.

dinnertime!

the reviews were pretty mixed, but the tacos i had were pretty good.  this was the surf & turf:

and then we caught the last bit of daylight for a family selfie before we hopped back on the freeway to head home.

mother's day 2018, check!