I'm Nikki, a creative old soul who loves tea time, tip-toeing through gardens, mounds of books, swaying to records, watercolors, sunset walks with our three yorkies, and star-gazing with Paul. This blog carries snippets of my life with just us two (five with Rusty, Lucy, & Ethel) - I hope it brings you happiness as you snuggle in with something warm and delicious and begin reading. Enjoy, friends!

the blog!

If I had to choose:

Tea Time Talk | Welcome!

I’m trying something new today! Welcome to tea time talk. This is where all the random things that would come up in chats with friends find its way onto my blog. Although my blog is becoming more and more personal and less and less restricted to just photography, I never felt right leaving you with a random thought type of blog post. My lovely cousin has her Coffee Talks where she writes more about personal things (she writes mostly about writing, editing, reading, entrepreneurial things, etc.), thus giving me the idea of this tea time talk. Since I’ve come up with a name for it and because you’ll now know what to expect when you see it, I don’t feel bad at all about writing random thoughts! It’s just as if I’m chatting with a friend (which I am :)). Shall we begin?

Pretend that you and I are having tea (and coffee). It’s a hot summer’s morning; we’re enjoying the cool basement air and cozy-ing up with pillows and throws on my grey couch, Miss Potter playing in the background, garden in view. Your coffeepot has just finished brewing your delicious morning must-have, and my teapot is just about finished steeping my usual British Breakfast. Creamer? Yes, please. A spoonful of sugar? Oh let’s!

I couldn’t sleep tonight! This post is being written at 3:52am and I’m wide awake. I think it has something to do with the fact that I made a pot of tea at 8pm and didn’t finish it until 9:30pm. Plus, I’ve been on some sort of creative kick lately and my head is just swarming with ideas – like when gnats are just hovering over your head or taking dives at your eyeballs, except these are wonderful gnats that are just trying to help you out. Paul and I might just be watching TV or surfing the internet (is that still a phrase?) and an idea will pop in my head. I’ll tell him what it is, he barely lets me get it out before he encourages me to “just do it, Beauty” (he’s really too nice with his nickname for me…except that my other nickname is “Stink”. It’s a term of endearment, I’m sure.) I’ll search for a pen and paper, write it out, and then for some unearthly reason, I’ll feel the need to start doing whatever it is that I’m thinking right then and there. And guess when these bursts of creativity come seeping through? Bed-time. C’est la vie.

I finally joined a gym! All throughout high-school I had my best friend as my gym buddy. We’d wake up early in the summers, meet each other halfway then walk to school together and exercise in the weight room. I loved that! I had someone to keep me accounted for, someone to talk to, to motivate me, etc. When I got to college I kept at it by taking fitness classes and thankfully I had another wonderful friend to exercise with. And then I met my dearest Paul and we all know what happens when you fall head over heels – weight room, shmeight room. :) And now 7 years later I’m back in a weight room, and so far it’s bliss (it’s only been two days – I’ll check back with you later this summer).

Did you hear about the Italian Festa starting today at Harriet Island?? Is anyone out there going?? I shall be there Saturday with my lovely Nana and aunties, ready to eat a lot of pasta, meatballs, and hopefully gelato (and I’m crossing my fingers the weather isn’t as horrible as it says it will be.) The last time I was there they had life-size cutouts of Dean & Frank – oh la la. :)

My brother and sister-in-law and nephews are coming back home to visit again!! I couldn’t be more thrilled! Do you remember our trip to NYC in May? Those boys just stole NeeNee’s heart and I can’t wait to see them again! I even get to host them. I’m stopping at an Italian grocery store after the Italian Festival to pick up some food for when they’re here – I’m planning on having the boys help me make homemade pizza, maybe meatball sandwiches…of course us adults will get to toast with Limoncello. I hear they even have a surprise gift for Rusty…oh my goodness, he’ll be so excited to see his cousins. ;)

On a business-y note but still in the realms of tea time talk, I really, really want to bring more life to the blog! I want to not only write posts to you, but write back to you via comments! I want to have conversations with you! You have no idea how much it thrills me when I see a new comment pop up – it’s like Christmas morning! So friends, how can I do that?? How can I chat with you more? I get comments on my posts on Facebook and I absolutely love them – how can I bring that conversation over here? Should I ask a general question at the end of a post?

Holey moley it’s 4:19am and I’m still wide awake. Will the madness never end?? And to make matters worse, Rusty just got sick all over the hallway. Oh goodness. Time to dash, friends!! Cheers to you! :) xoxo

  1. Toni says:

    I love your painting also! ;)

  2. Toni says:

    Here’s a (coffee) toast to you dear sister! To a wonderful add on to your already delightful blog! Tea Time Talk is you! Maybe asking questions to gain interests from your readers is a good start to conversations. Good idea! I love your gnat comparison by the way! Love you!!

    • Nikki says:

      Cheers, dearest!! :) Thanks for visiting! I agree – questions shall be added to my posts (or at least most of them :)). Well put! Love you!!

      PS. Thanks for the compliment. :) You made your sister’s day. :)

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