Perhaps it’s my English roots.  I love tea.  On a winter’s afternoon, nothing is quite like warming your soul with a hot, comforting, cup of tea.

But it’s also more than just that cup of comfort while you curl up on your couch with your dog tucked at your feet.  There’s also the gathering.  Going to tea.  This idea of tea as a meal not just a beverage has been around since the 1800s in England where it came into fashion as a way to break the hunger in between lunch and dinner.

I went to tea often while I was living in Chicago, for it was quite the thing to do to meet your girlfriends at The Peninsula {‘The Pen’} or The Drake for tea.  Meeting for tea was different than meeting for lunch.  Lunch was formal and rushed and often used for business, where tea was leisurely and romantic.  Not romantic in an intimate sense but in an artistic or literary sense.  Over tea, my friends and I would laugh and share ideas, thoughts, dreams.

These days it’s my daughters pretend ‘tea parties’ I attend rather than a formal tea that involves actual tea and treats of the non-plastic variety.  And sometimes I get the boot when the stuffed pink puppy dog decides at the last minute “she” wants to attend.  I have a girly-girl daughter who loves all things pink and dress up and fancy – and of course this involves tea.  When it was time to plan her 5th Birthday party, I knew it was going to have to be a tea party.

But just having a real tea party for little girls wasn’t that simple.  Sure, all of her wee friends she was born with in Chicago just have their real life tea parties at American Girl (which is set up for just that type of thing) to mark a special birthday or occasion.  Here in Michigan it’s not so easy.  We don’t even have a restaurant that serves a daily afternoon tea – let alone one that would have the tea pots and cups required (and – because little girls don’t actually drink tea – hot cocoa to fill said pots).  Well, a dear friend of mine told me I should call The State Room (which is a nice restaurant in the conference center run mainly by the MSU School of Hospitality) because they actually do have a formal tea they serve a few times a year and she was sure they would be able to do just what I wanted.  After some back and forth, it ended up working out perfectly and my daughter finally had her real life tea party!

While I did sort of miss having the treats and goodies on three-tier platters set around the table (although, a group of 5 year olds wouldn’t be able to reach anyway) it didn’t matter at all.  The beautiful tea pots, star-shaped grilled cheeses, fruit skewers, petit-fours, macarons, and decorated cookies were a huge hit with this preschool set.  They behaved like little ladies, giggled, talked, and added sprinkles to the whipped cream in their cocoa.

I miss gathering often with my friends for tea.  I miss the relaxed formality of it all.  There are some who say you can’t have a proper tea without lemon curd or clotted cream, to that I now say ‘phooey.’  I think tea is really an act of sharing.  Sharing your conversation, your laughter, your nourishment and (most importantly) your friendship.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on tea.  Please share your favorite tea party story in the comments below!