I’m drinking this tea out of my new birthday mug, and it’s been poured from my new birthday teapot. I have named the latter Freddie, after the character Freddie Miles in The Talented Mr. Ripley, because it’s fat-yet-elegant, showy and has weird colouring. Birthdays aren’t very gifty to me, unlike Christmas – I’d rather get together with friends and chosen family for activities and Symbolic Things. I prefer getting myself birthday gifts – small things I don’t really need, but that make me happy. So on Monday I was out all day on a magpie spree with my special sweetface Em. When I got this, they offered to deliver it for me. I mean. It’s a tiny teapot. It was hilarious. When it had been settled that it did, in fact, fit quite easily into my bag, they knocked €2 off. It really cracked me up.
My friend T. inspired me to pick this up (Hey T. – good news, I have enough to share!) She’s been ogling it for a while and I figured I’d do us both a service and act as a test subject. I wanted something fit for spring – complex, floral, but yet light and not too overwhelming. Mariage Frères definitely delivered on all accounts. First of all, this is a beautiful tea. Long, thin, needly leaves in various dark shades of green, the occasional light leaf breaking it up nicely, and an absolute abundance of lovely petals.
Scent wise, it excites me a lot, because to me, this is the spring counterpart of Marco Polo Vert – and that, to me, is the ultimate green tea for autumn, with its thick fruity ripeness. This has the same boozy character, but it’s a light, floral booziness. A perfect spring tea party tea – when I close my eyes I see tiers and tiers of dainty sandwiches and cakes.
I’m sometimes frustrated by teas that have no discernible, individual flavours, but in this case the multifaceted florality present in each sip is like a lovely, delicate veil of tea. It’s perfectly achieved, and I’m very pleased with this one. Like most Mariage Frères teas in my collection, it has a very clearly defined personality that grows on me with each sip.
Anyway, one of the Symbolic Things I did yesterday was to dye my hair for the first time in… well, forever. I have never altered my hair colour, ever, in any manner whatsoever, during my 34 years. We went with chocolate, tobacco and a dash of gold. In other words, just like my own hair, only without the greys that emerged overnight some time in late November. http://tinyurl.com/qe7jd58
I love my pervy old uncle Rick.
[Purchased at Dagnino in Rome, March 2014.]
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YAY birthday mugs and teapot!
also..HOLY CRAP your hair is gorgeous…
Happy birthday and I agree with Sil. Your hair looks amazing! Great color, but even greater curl!
(Not but. And. And even greater curl.)
Thanks, guys. <3 I think we went through a whole bottle of wine just doing those curls, haha.
i could stare at that pic alllll day long…
You can touch it if you wanna.
For a second I thought everyone was commenting on your pervy uncle’s picture. I’m sure you look fabulous! and tell me mooore about your birthday mug!
Oh my goodness, your hair is beautiful!! And, happy birthday!
Oh, uncle Rick is way prettier than me, I’m definitely not posting a picture with both of us in it.
I got my birthday mug at a somewhat unexpected place – Benetton! They’re currently doing a line of mugs with graphic prints that I really like.
The shape is simple, straight-up cylindrical with a simple handle. The base/background is white, and the pattern consists of circular shapes in a light turquoise. They resemble stylized daisies, with the white background showing through in the centre, and between the ‘petals’. They’re distributed symmetrically across the mug, and the ‘daisies’ in the vertical rows are kept together by very thin lines. I like how the pattern doesn’t go all the way up/down to the top/bottom of the mug, but that there’s white space along the edges.
…and here’s a picture for the sighted: http://tinyurl.com/mkxfpes
That’s a great description. The mug sounds lovely…and glad there’s a pic for the visually advantaged!
haha i love that keychange… visually advantaged. :)
Happy birthday, liberated Rapunzel! I love your hair way too much than is decent :D
You can also touch it if you wanna.
I’m happy you love Montagne de Jade because it didn’t work at all for me but I recognize it as a very high quality tea.
and of course you look like a princess with such hair !
It can sometimes be particularly frustrating when you find one of those teas you know are really exquisite and of the highest quality, and then you still don’t like them.
And nooo, not a princess – I look like a ninja assassin!
you’re a Ninja Princess ;)
YAY birthday mugs and teapot!
also..HOLY CRAP your hair is gorgeous…
Happy birthday and I agree with Sil. Your hair looks amazing! Great color, but even greater curl!
(Not but. And. And even greater curl.)
Thanks, guys. <3 I think we went through a whole bottle of wine just doing those curls, haha.
i could stare at that pic alllll day long…
You can touch it if you wanna.
For a second I thought everyone was commenting on your pervy uncle’s picture. I’m sure you look fabulous! and tell me mooore about your birthday mug!
Oh my goodness, your hair is beautiful!! And, happy birthday!
Oh, uncle Rick is way prettier than me, I’m definitely not posting a picture with both of us in it.
I got my birthday mug at a somewhat unexpected place – Benetton! They’re currently doing a line of mugs with graphic prints that I really like.
The shape is simple, straight-up cylindrical with a simple handle. The base/background is white, and the pattern consists of circular shapes in a light turquoise. They resemble stylized daisies, with the white background showing through in the centre, and between the ‘petals’. They’re distributed symmetrically across the mug, and the ‘daisies’ in the vertical rows are kept together by very thin lines. I like how the pattern doesn’t go all the way up/down to the top/bottom of the mug, but that there’s white space along the edges.
…and here’s a picture for the sighted: http://tinyurl.com/mkxfpes
That’s a great description. The mug sounds lovely…and glad there’s a pic for the visually advantaged!
haha i love that keychange… visually advantaged. :)
Happy birthday, liberated Rapunzel! I love your hair way too much than is decent :D
You can also touch it if you wanna.
I’m happy you love Montagne de Jade because it didn’t work at all for me but I recognize it as a very high quality tea.
and of course you look like a princess with such hair !
It can sometimes be particularly frustrating when you find one of those teas you know are really exquisite and of the highest quality, and then you still don’t like them.
And nooo, not a princess – I look like a ninja assassin!
you’re a Ninja Princess ;)