Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Blood and Chocolate

(Before we begin, please allow me to thank the following for their wonderfully inspirational collage sheets and blogs:
Marsha of Tumblefish Studios
Karen of The Graphics Fairy
Kirsi of Itkupilli
Cristina of Asunder Ephemera and
Hollie of Holliewood Studios
And especially to My Dear Mr. V for his amazing photos of shadows and spiderwebs, which I then turned into wallpaper and tablecloths for The Tearoom. Thank you, My Love!)


Dearest Friends of The Tearoom,
Tonight, there is something so special in the air, isn't there?

I am so glad you have made your way through the fog...

I welcome you to the annual Halloween blog party, which is hosted by the brilliantly creative Mademoiselle Vanessa of A Fanciful Twist. Please be certain to visit her party, as well as the other participants in this creative gathering of souls, here in The Aether.


I have been so remiss, Dear Ones. I have hosted Teas of the Aether for you with so many types of tea and so many sweets, but I had not yet given a special tea, just for my friends who love chocolate. So, please sit, make yourself comfortable and indulge in that which is rich and dark, sweet and irresistible.


The Tearoom is simply enveloped in the scent of chocolate tonight...
It just might be Kusmi's Chocolate Tea! I imagine it must be just perfect with cream and sugar. Or a cloud of vanilla-scented whipped cream...

Our treats are from The House of Pierre Hermé, where I am happy to introduce you to his newest macaron flavor: Caraquillo. It's an intriguing mix of chocolate, coffee and anise, dark and warm. It comes to you in one of his newest macaron boxes, designed by Nicolas Vial, embellished with a lovely chocolate-colored kittykat! And please, won't you help yourself to some lovely chocolates too! (Did you notice how slick and gorgeous Monsieur Hermé's new site is? I have been sadly remiss in pointing it out to you before, so I hope you will take a moment to browse and dream now...)

Ladurée's new macaron flavor is Black Forest! They describe it thus: "Its mahogany shells contain a delicious chocolate ganache combined with cherry jam and tasty bursts of cherry-flavoured Kirsch." I'm sure this is sublime! Black Forest is one of my favorite flavor combinations!



Our special guest tonight is Mademoiselle Madeleine. She specializes in growing a particular type of flower. She developed a variation of the dragon lily, which is spectacular, but generally smells very bad! Her variation has kept the lush, beautiful color and shape, but changed the fragrance to chocolate! As you saw when you had a seat, she has gifted us with them for this very special Halloween soirée and the entire Tearoom has smelled wonderful all day! Merci Beaucoup, Mademoiselle Madeleine!

As promised, Lina shares with us tonight some of her photos from her recent trip to Transylvania!



The lovely hotel where she stayed...


And, nearby...The Chocolate Garden. Along with the marble chocolate pansies and white chocolate tulips. The very special Chocolate Dragon Lilies are growing there as well.

As you saw when she returned to The Tearoom, she had spent much time in the rays of the full moon, which gave her skin that lovely pallor...

What a lovely beach it was...All of the girls she met seemed to have their own beautiful beach cabanas.
They seemed to spend a lot of time in them during the day, but at night, they came out to play in the moonlight and surf.

The moon looked on as the beach balls bobbed in the tide....
So sweet...
But what do you think those odd sea-birds are?

Here are some lovely pictures that Lina took of her new friends that she met there at the beach...







Lina tells us that she feel very compelled to return there soon, perhaps to stay. Oh, we hope not, we would miss her so...
LINA! Why are you standing so close to me?....
You really are making me quite uncomfortable...



(To Be Continued...)

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Halloween Blog Party 2011!


Hello Again, Dear Friends!
As promised, I'm back tonight to announce that I will happily be participating in the Halloween Blog Party on A Fanciful Twist again this year!!! The date is October 22! I am so very excited and I hope you are too! Simply click on the button on the right for more information and Vanessa's fantastic post announcing the party! Spooky thoughts are already churning in my head!! I hope you will join me and the rest of the participants this year!!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Fog Creeps In On Little Cat Feet . . .



Won't you join me, Dearest Friends of The Tearoom? It's a quiet, foggy night. Doesn't the fog make it feel quite cozy in here?

Last year, at this time, it was quite a bit more lively, but this year, I hope you will not mind a bit of quiet.

In the background floats the haunting notes of our playlist for the night:
Violet Town by The Church
Under the Milky Way by The Church
Temperamental (Pull Timewarp Remix) by Everything But the Girl
As the Rush Comes (Gabriel & Dresden Chillout Mix) - Motorcycle
Ohureo by Baka Beyond
Svefn-G-Englar by Sigur Rós
Terrorist by The Teardrop Explodes

And of course I have treats...



Our dessert tonight comes by most gracious permission of Joyti of Darjeeling Dreams (Thank you, Joyti). She has the most wonderful blog full of her own recipes for delicious desserts, complete with beautiful photographs. Tonight, won't you please have a piece of her blackberry and champagne cake? And to drink with it? A lushly scented tea, Trois Fruits Noirs (Three Black Fruits) by Betjeman & Barton of Paris, perfumed with the scents of blackberry, black currant and bilberry. Won't you please help yourself to a cup waiting for you in the samovar?

As a special treat, my love Mr. V has agreed to share with us some photographs he took of the foggy evening outside. . .















And so in quiet repose, we spend a Halloween evening in reflection, wrapped in the fog, warmed by candlelight and the steam from your tea.

Now, if you will please excuse me. The Countess' teacup is nearly empty. . .



"They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." -Edgar Allen Poe

Happy Halloween

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Midnight Carnival

Dearest Friends,
Welcome Once Again to The Tearoom!

Oh, I have waited so long for this!
I have counted my pennies.
I have counted the days on the calendar!

And now it is here!

I am so very happy to see you again, my dearest friends!
I have been away too long.

Do you still have the ticket I gave you earlier?
Here are the rest!

Welcome to The Midnight Carnival at The Gossamer Tearoom!
I am so very happy to be part of the festivities at Mademoiselle Vanessa's Halloween Party at A Fanciful Twist! Don't forget to visit her and the other attendees!

What is your favorite thing to do at a carnival?
Wouldn't it be fun to begin by having our fortunes told?

Please step right this way!

This is Madame Circe, teller of fortunes, revealer of futures...

This is the card she has drawn for you...

(Sometimes Madame Circe surprises us by telling us not just what we need to know for later, but what we need to know right now.)

So many fun things to do and see!

Don't miss the Tightrope Walker
Mademoiselle Bon-Bon Oiseau!
(And, no, I don't think it's cheating to be a tightrope walker if you have wings! It just makes it a bit easier!!)

Please follow Mademoiselle Blanchette de Noire, Mistress of the Menagerie...

These animals are a bit unusual. But do not let their appearance frighten you...

(I promise they do not bite!)

Wouldn't you love a ride on the Cherry Velvet Ferris Wheel?

Or on the Magical Flying Cars?

I'm sure you are ready for a treat.
Please walk this way...

This is Mademoiselle Absynthia...

...She is so happy to see you and would like to offer you a delicious treat!



Our extra-fun carnival would not be possible today without the inspiration and images by some of the most talented people I have ever known. I am so grateful for all of the lovely people I have met here and with great pleasure, I would like you to meet some of them:
-Marsha of Tumblefish
(Thank you so much for all of the fresh inspiration! I hope you like what I have done!)
-Jerry of Shadowhouse Design
(Thank you for the great backgrounds!)
-Kathy of KF Collection
(Yes, I will be letting you know when we are in town next! Thank you!)
And hugs to my dear friends Marie-France, Julia and Kirsi:
-Marie-France of Marie's Freebies and
nigéArt
-Julia of Cemerony and Cemerony Share
-Kirsi of Itkupilli
And thank you so much to those I don't know as well, but appreciate so much all the same:
-Cristina of Asunder Ephemera
-Alison of Harmonica Goldfish
-Karen of Graphics Fairy
-Sabrina of Sabrina Zanetti

Our Dear Friend Mademoiselle Moon sees us home, dressed as an antique doll, such a sometimes spooky, sometimes silly friend she is to us!

And so we wish "Good-Night" to our new friends of the Carnival!

Happiest of Halloweens to all Friends of The Tearoom!

Betty

Monday, October 12, 2009

Ooooooh....Spookily!


Dearest Friends,
The Month of Spookiness is upon us and in honor of it all, The Gossamer Tearoom will be decorated in all of its spidery-web finery! First, don't forget about the bound-to-be fun blog event at A Fanciful Twist this coming Saturday! Vanessa throws just the best blog parties!


And next, I am so very happy to announce that my very dear friend LuLu of Coastal Sisters and I will be having a joint blog event on Halloween Day! We will both be posting some especially fun and spooky goings-on at each of our respective blogs! Keep checking back for even more details!



(By the way, if you haven't seen it, the first image above is from one of my favorite movies ever, Jean Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast". Please find your way to watch this sometime in the Halloween season. It is gorgeous and creepy at the same time and one of my favorites!)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

It's The Spookliest Time of the Year!



(At least that's what my Dear Mr. V tells me!)

Dear Sweet Soul Vanessa of A Fanciful Twist is having another extra fun blog party, this one entitled "Halloween - A Hauntingly Magical Celebration" and she is holding it on October 17th. Of course, I have asked to participate! I love Halloween and cannot wait for the festivities! In fact, it is entirely possible that there will be two Halloween celebrations at The Gossamer Tearoom, but there will be more on that at a bit later time! For now, I am just so excited about Vanessa's party! Please spread the word!

Wishing you a wonderful night, Dear Friends!

Betty