Summertime Tea at Muir's Tea Room

Pull up a chair and come to tea...

Muir's Tea Room, Sebastopol, CA

Last Saturday some friends and I went out to afternoon tea at Muir's Tea Room in Sebastopol, CA. It was quite a drive up there but the company was well spent. The draw of going to this tea room is that everything on their menu is entirely vegan. I'm not a vegan myself and do enjoy cream with my scones and milk in my tea but for my friend who is vegan, this was a big draw.

My friend made reservations in advance and we met up early for the drive up. Unfortunately, we ran into a lot more traffic than we were expecting but when we called the tea room to let them know we were going to be late they were very accommodating about it.

The tea room is housed in a charming cottage framed by a stunning garden out front. Since I didn't make the reservations I don't know this for sure, but it appears they offer seating in the main house, on the front and back porch, and in the front garden. Our table was waiting for us in the main house at a window overlooking the front garden.

Despite only offering vegan fare they have a pretty extensive menu that includes everything from full tea service, smaller tea offerings, a la cart finger sandwiches, full lunches, soups, salads, as well as sweet and savory pastries and desserts. For tea this day I split the Hope the World Tea (a tea for two) with a friend. It included two pots of tea, two cups of soup, two small salads, three finger sandwiches each of our choice, a "sausage" roll to share, two scones with "clotted cream" and jam, and an assortment of petite desserts.

Tea started with two pots of tea. I chose chamomile since I knew that would be a tea I'd be okay not having milk for though I am curious what they would have offered for milk if I asked. Next the soup was brought out, a tomato bisque, soon followed by a pear and walnut salad. When the soups and salads were done the tea server came with a three tiered plate of our sandwiches, a sausage roll, scones, and petite desserts. For sandwiches we chose the pear and walnut sandwich, which like its name was a sweet and nutty open faced sandwich on a rye bread, a pesto tomato sandwich which came on white bread, and a sandwich called field roast which had a meatless patty with avocado and garlic aioli. The pesto tomato sandwich was the best followed by the meatless patty sandwich even though you can tell is was a meatless patty. The pear and walnut sandwich was alright but wasn't my favorite. It was a little bland to my taste. When we got to it, I was a bit disappointed by the "sausage" roll. Not because it was a meatless "sausage" roll and tasted much like the meatless patty but because there was only one that came in our tea for two. We cut it and shared it but it was strange to see they only gave us one. The scones, slightly lemony poppy seed flavored scones, were good and I couldn't tell they were vegan at all but they really failed I thought in their "clotted cream". The clotted cream did not resemble clotted cream at all, and when I asked my friends at the table if the clotted cream was okay because mine was slightly citricy in flavor and I thought it might have gone bad, my friends said, I thought it was butter. And so the "clotted cream" was somewhere between this weird citricy flavored gooey spread and a salted butter type spread. Also, for our scones we only got the smallest dollop of this "clotted cream" each and an even smaller dollop of jam to share for the two scones between us. Needless to say, I was not able to finish my scone at all. For dessert there were six pieces of petite desserts, all different, all really hard to split when having a tea for two. I would have preferred that they serve us two servings of three desserts which would have been easier to split or just ensured that the desserts were something that could be cut easily. Instead the desserts like the powdered shortbread cookie were too hard to cut, or the many chocolate desserts they served were really sticky, gooey, and messy when trying to split. Also, while the chocolate desserts and chocolate covered petit four were delicious and I couldn't tell they were vegan at all, the shortbread cookie and mini cupcake definitely had a distinct flavor to it. I think the server said the mini cupcake was gluten free which could be the reason for the flavor I was tasting, but the cookie also had the same kind of undertone in its taste. Perhaps that one was also gluten free. Or maybe it was just because it was vegan.

Overall, it was an interesting tea. Not terrible, but definitely different. If it weren't for my vegan friend I really wouldn't have had any reason to want to try a vegan tea... in fact when she suggested going to a place for vegan tea I had assumed she would have vegan tea and I would be free to have regular tea, so I admit, it was a bit of a surprise up to the day before when I looked this place up, to see what was in store for tea. Muir's tea room did a great job on the presentation; the sweet cottage and gorgeous garden were a treat to see, the fable wildlife theme prevalent throughout the interior of the tea room was also cute, the server was attentive and we were even greeted by who I assumed was the owner or manager at the end of our tea to see how we liked our tea. But for me, being a person with no dietary restrictions, I really did miss my non vegan food offerings for tea and was very much aware of how the food was different. This is probably a paradise for vegans wanting tea and I'm glad my vegan friend got to have a proper vegan tea but vegan tea is not really the thing for me. 



Outfit of the Day:

For tea this day I decided to wear my Trashy Diva Honey Sun dress in Steel Magnolias. I wanted to be sure to get to wear this dress out this summer since it has a super cute criss-cross back that is perfect for summer. I paired it with a pink MAK cardigan which I got from either Modcloth or Trashy Diva a few years ago, a grey camisole underneath for extra modesty which I got from Ebay a few months ago, and a pair of white kitten heels by Gabriella Rocha from Zappos from several years ago. For a finishing touch I also wore a pearl and beaded bracelet I got for my birthday from my step mom, white and silver floral stud earrings I got from Forever 21 a few years ago, and a beautiful magnolia hair flower I got from the Etsy shop, Rose La Mer, during an Etsy shopping event in San Francisco last Christmas season.

Trashy Diva Honey Sun dress in Steel Magnolias- Front View

Trashy Diva Honey Sun dress in Steel Magnolias- Front View

Trashy Diva Honey Sun dress in Steel Magnolias- Side View

Trashy Diva Honey Sun dress in Steel Magnolias- Front View

Trashy Diva Honey Sun dress in Steel Magnolias- Front View

Trashy Diva Honey Sun dress in Steel Magnolias- Side View

Rose La Mer Magnolia hair flower, Etsy- Close Up

Awesome Ebay Finds!

I'm always scouting for a great bargain whether that be through an awesome sale or someone selling an awesome dress on ebay for a great price!

Recently, I got super lucky on ebay and found two great dresses at a great price.

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress:

My first find was a Bernie Dexter Rocketship dress (also sold on Modcloth as the Space Mod-ity dress). I have long admired Bernie Dexter's dresses but had yet to buy any. When I saw this dress on ebay in my size going for only $40 I decided now was the time! Since I've never tried on any of Bernie Dexter's dresses I didn't know how the sizing would work out for me. I'm a pretty solid size large, unless it's a brand that runs small like Steady, so I decided more than likely this dress should fit. But then also, I wasn't sure how the sleeves would be. Usually sleeves on a cotton dress can be a bit of a pain since the cotton has little to no stretch. I was a little apprehensive.

When this dress came in the mail I saw that it was perfect! Perfect in every way! The design on it was so cute, the quality was great, no damages, no spots or stains, and the sizing was perfect! Even the sleeves fit perfect! It turns out Bernie Dexter knows what she's doing with designing dresses! I have to say, I am really impressed with the fit of the sleeves. The sleeves fit with lots of room for movement without looking like there's lots of room! No football player arms here! And no restricted movement/sausage casing arms either! Just perfect comfort and style!

This dress is a light blue fit and flair dress with sleeves and a full flared skirt. There are cute little rockets printed though out the dress: rockets with diagonal dark orange and salmon colored stripes, rockets with light yellow and dark yellow diagonal stripes, rockets with light blue and lighter blue diagonal stripes, turquoise rockets with light blue diamonds/harlequin patterns, and light blue rockets with yellow diamonds/harlequin print. So many rockets! And they are all lined up with each other making a striped pattern of rockets on the dress. The sleeves are cuffed in white with decorative button accents on each sleeve and the neckline has a slightly triangular collar in white which also is accented with a button. The triangular collar gives it a bit of a atomic 1950's sci-fi vibe, especially reverberated against the rockets print of the dress! The buttons on the sleeves and collar are white plastic buttons with a geometric texture though out its body and a hint of sparkle with a rhinestone center. The look is finished off with a thick white patent leather looking belt. This dress has a back zip and two small hidden pockets! It is made with 100% cotton for easy care and wear!

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress- Front View

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress- Front View

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress- Side View

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress- Back View

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress- Close Up Collar Detail

Bernie Dexter Rocketship Dress- Close Up Side Detail

Patent Leather Like Gabriella Rocha White Kitten Heels To Go Perfectly With the Patent Leather Type White Belt

Pinup Couture Havana Nights Dress in Warm Toned Cabana Stripes:

The Havana Nights dress in warm toned cabana stripes by Pinup Couture is probably one of my most surprising dress finds on ebay. I say surprising because it's one of those dresses I've seen online without too much thought about it and then saw it selling on ebay and thought it was cute enough to bid $48 on especially when it was new with tags still. But when I got it in the mail, it completely blew me away! This dress is a fit and flared v-neckline dress made out of a cotton/spandex blend... and that's where I was led astray. Thinking it was a mostly cotton dress I pictured it would be your regular run of the mill cotton dress, more or less light weight, with a decently flared skirt. This dress is anything but your regular run of the mill light weight cotton! This dress is super dense! The bodice is made of super thick cotton and is lined with a silky black material. The skirt is equally as thick and the weightiness of the material helps completely to keep the shape of the skirt.

The colors of this dress are orange, pink, purple, brown and yellow. The stripes are arranged in a chevron pattern at the bust, back, and in the skirt. The dress comes with a matching grommet belt that finishes off the look. This dress also comes with pockets! As impressed as I am with this dress, one thing I found odd was that there are no belt loops on the dress. It happens, but I wish it didn't.

I got this dress in my usual size large which fits a little tight in the waist but other than that, the fit is just fine for my 39"-31"-38, 5'3" frame.

Pinup Couture Havana Nights Dress- Front View

Pinup Couture Havana Nights Dress- Front View

Pinup Couture Havana Nights Dress- Side View

Pinup Couture Havana Nights Dress- Back View

Pinup Couture Havana Nights Dress- Close Up

Casual Saturday In A Dress

Last Saturday I went out with my mom and sister to a nice casual lunch then came home in time to go out with my husband to a friend's baby's birthday party.

I needed an outfit that was both casual but also presentable enough to be party-ready. How to do this? Throw on a dress! After all, dresses are awesome that way: casual, yet dressy all at the same time.

And so, here it is...

Outfit of the Day:

For this outing I wore a Modcloth exclusive designed by Modcloth co-founder and chief creative officer herself, Susan Gregg Koger. I actually found this In the Mood for Dots dress on ebay for quite a steal at $30 last year. I paired this with some navy capri leggings from Forever 21, a pair of peach flats from Gabriella Rocha, and topped it all off with a vintage headscarf from my mom, and voila! I was good to go!

In the Mood For Dots Dress, Modcloth, Front View

In the Mood For Dots Dress, Modcloth, Front View

In the Mood For Dots Dress, Modcloth, Side View

In the Mood For Dots Dress With Peach Cardigan, Modcloth, Front View

In the Mood For Dots Dress, Modcloth with Peach Cardigan, Side View

In the Mood For Dots Dress, Modcloth With Basic Tortoiseshell Shell Cat Eye Sunglasses, Amazon