There are a few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

Henry James

White linens, ornate blue and white china and stately silver adorned the tables in the tea room at Hicks and McCarthy. Soft aromas of tea and pastries wafted past us as we sat down at our table. Quiet excitement filled the air. We felt fancy. And hungry!

My good friend Allie came to visit this week from Ohio. She just spent a year battling non hodgkin’s lymphoma, is now in remission, and came to encourage and refresh me  as I walk through a different, yet similar situation in life. We drank coffee at Javas, went out to lunch, sat outside in the beautiful sunshine and our last day together, we went to tea. Hicks and McCarthy serves High Tea in the afternoon and my friends Mikey and Virginia work there. It seemed like the perfect conclusion to our fun week.

The food was ridiculously amazing. The scones were the perfect blend of crumbly and moist. Covered in creme fresh and raspberry preserves, we couldn’t get enough. Little sandwiches cut into delicate triangles also adorned the tiered plate and beautiful tarts and pound cake finished off the meal.

We laughed and ate and told stories and pretended we were fancy, talked with British accents, and ate some more. We were stuffed by the end. So good!

I have amazing friends. I can’t even begin to describe that to you. But the way they stick by me through thick and thin…I couldn’t do it without them. I can’t believe that in our short lives we have walked through so much together. High school, college, deaths of loved ones, happy weddings, cancer, bombs…They’ve been by my side through it all. God knew that I couldn’t do this life without them! I am so blessed!