The Importance of Tea?

As December begins, 

I am reminded of this time 

last year 

when I attended a winter tea.

***

I knew about two people at the table.

Yet, when the guests arrived, everyone acted as if they had known each other for years.

As if,

perhaps,

they had all once been

terriblyclose

friends

who just so happened to decide that they should all get together and meet for tea.

for tea.

***

A whole afternoon spent with strangers who felt like friends.

Talking, laughing,

crying, sharing,

listening.

All because of a 

kind friend,

an open home,

and some cups of tea.

***

I just 

really, really,

really

believe in tea. 

***

For One White Singing Hour of Peace. . .

Because life is just so terribly noisy sometimes.

Barter

by Sarah Teasdale

Life has loveliness to sell,

 All beautiful and splendid things,

Blue waves whitened on a cliff,

      Soaring fire that sways and sings,

And children's faces looking up

Holding wonder like a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell,

Music like a curve of gold,

Scent of pine trees in the rain,

Eyes that love you, arms that hold,

And for your spirit's still delight,

Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness,

Buy it and never count the cost;

For one white singing hour of peace

      Count many a year of strife well lost,

And for a breath of ecstasy

Give all you have been, or could be.

Now on Facebook!

If you care to "like" be lovely. on Facebook, the following is a link to the official page which will contain updates as new entries on the blog are posted.

Thank you!


Be lovely's Facebook page here!

The Message of Tea

Tea time is a

celebration of beauty,

a celebration of friendship, 

a celebration of life.

Because sometimes we get distracted from life by life,
  amidst the noise
have some tea
and
refresh.

For more information about how be lovely was a project for the Girl Scout Gold Award, 

click on the following links:

Be lovely--A Girl Scout Gold Award Project  (Project plan and purpose)

Retrospect.   (Thoughts about project after completion)

Feeling Beautiful.

. . . and you have no reason to not feel in such a way. :)

Presence.

         

       

                                     

                         

L O V E.

                                     

         

                              

 

OoOoh, New Things!

Currently in progress is a video containing thoughts about something lovely. . .

. . . Stay tuned! 

Feel Beautiful!

       

       

                                       

         

Retrospect.

This blog was initially started as an addition to a Girl Scout Gold Award project.

****

When I read the above sentence, I think:

 W O W.

Because be lovely turned out to mean so much more to me than just a project for an award. 

The purpose of the Gold Award is to share something that you think to be important with those around you, to share a message. 

My message has definitely been shared!

If you have not yet read the past entry explaining what my Girl Scout Gold Award project was about,
you can follow this link to read about my project and its purpose:
 Be lovely--A Girl Scout Gold Award Project.

As an update to how my project's presentation went,
The following is the answer to one of the prompts that I had to answer in order to submit for approval on my Girl Scout Gold Award project,
"Describe how your Girl Scout Gold Award impacted the community" :

My project impacted the community by bringing people together through tea. Tea time encourages celebrating of friendship and beauty and allows for minds and hearts to open. Holding an afternoon tea for any who cared to join brought members of the community together to take a break from life, clear their minds, and fellowship with others despite knowing them for years or for minutes! I heard much positive feedback from many in attendance; such as attitudes of appreciation and a wanting to continue to carry the message of tea throughout their own lives. 
My Gold Advisor even shared with me that I encouraged her Girl Scouts to hold a tea for younger scouts!
 The message of tea is branching out and that is one way of how my Gold Award has impacted the community.

 It's surreal for me to think that the project has since been completed and went through as a fantastic success!
What started as a phrase in the back of my mind ACTUALLY turned into a reality. 

But more than that, I'm in awe at how much support I received from those around me. 

So many people gave themselves to this project. 

I love how together the community came!

The fact that so many people were willing to help a simple Girl Scout with her project

AMAZES me.

It's been over a month since I completed my project.

While it was nice to step back for a while and recuperate after all the stress that came with getting it all to work out, I am ready to step back in to writing entries.

I checked my blog feeds today and I had new subscribers and page views--

it means so much to me that I have support; 

that somewhere, someone is interested in what I have to share and put into the world. 

If people are continuing to read, then I will continue to write.

Because even though my Gold Award project is over, my mission is always ready to continue.

Thank you. So much.

YOU truly are lovely.

Y O U.

It's True.

Indeed.

Indeed.

Some Encouragement For Your Day.

Be lovely: A Girl Scout Gold Award Project.

As a Girl Scout Ambassador,

I have the opportunity to help my community (and world!)
by
 identifying a problem
and
finding a way to bring awareness to that problem.
I have chosen be lovely to be my Girl Scout Gold Award project.
The following entry is more depth into the
concept,
informational aspect,
physical aspect,
and
sustainability
of my project.


The goal of be lovely is to “inspire the essence of elegance.”
In today’s society, it can sometimes be difficult for girls and women to express who they are.
The choice of a woman deciding to carry herself in a traditionally feminine manner is often looked down upon;with such negative connotations as the practice makes a woman look weak or is demeaning to her gender.  Be lovely wants to rid of that state of mind and show that femininity is nothing to be looked down upon, but rather something to be celebrated; that choosing to embrace femininity does not mean “weakness,” but rather it shows grace, charm, and pride in being a lady.
A strong lady.
The idea behind this project is not only what the above states, but also
to show girls and women how beautiful being female is,
to celebrate our individual and collective beauty as women,
 and
to inspire the essence of elegance--
to be lovely.

To express more of the ideas behind the concept of this project, I have created a blog on which I post entries consisting of quotes, pictures, and thoughts that express the ideas of be lovely in an inspiring way.

For the physical part of my project, I am hosting a tea in February 2014 at a local public library.
There I will welcome the community to enjoy afternoon tea with me as I present my
Girl Scout Gold Award project.

No matter how a lady chooses to express herself, afternoon tea is a simple way to
show elegance
 and
embrace that aspect of being feminine.
Afternoon tea provides the opportunity to take a break from the business of life to refresh one’s mind and body
(this way, it will be much easier to go about life with a positive attitude:
“Elegance is when the inside is as beautiful as the outside” - Chanel.),
or to show love through hospitality (another way of conveying classic elegance) by inviting friends to join you for fine conversation over delicate treats and cups of tea--this time is sure to consist of friendship, open hearts, and celebration of beauty!

  It would be wonderful if more ladies could keep the tradition of afternoon tea time, but unfortunately not everyone can. Of the assortment of reasons why, one reason is that not every girl or woman has access to a tea set.  For this reason, I am putting together a basket consisting of the following items:
 A table linen; a tea pot; four tea cups; four saucers; and a scrapbook-style booklet explaining my project, the tradition of afternoon tea, and simple tea time recipes and ideas for hosting an afternoon tea for a small group of people.


This basket will be donated to my local public library and presented the day I host my afternoon tea.  Whoever wishes to may check this basket out from the library and have the ability to host an afternoon tea.
Thus keeping the tradition of afternoon tea alive along with,
 and more importantly,
the values behind tea time.

Photo credit: via Pinterest

Butterfly You.

A Lovely Attitude: Conveying Beauty.

Just So You Know. . .

A Woman is a Woman.

To paraphrase the wisdom from a lovely woman I met the other day. . .

Girls and women express who they are in different ways. 

And that is wonderful. 

Because within each girl there is diversity, 

but at the same time, 

as females,

 we all

- no matter how or how often we convey it -

have the potential to and natural ability to 

carry the essence of elegance.