A Mother's Day Tea.....with My Guys

My husband and son planned a Mother's Day surprise day out for me today, a day early. I didn't know where we were going, what to wear, what shoes to wear for comfort (were we walking alot?) or what we were eating. All things a woman needs to know!

But I went with it and dressed in a t-shirt, jeans and flip flops. We arrived at Sonnenberg Gardens in the quaint resort city of Canandaigua, New York for a Mother's Day Tea. The other ladies' were dressed in spring dresses and some in fancy hats. There were mostly women and children there, some with two to three generations of women of their families at their table. Sonnenberg Gardens is a grand 1800's mansion that is public supported and holds different events throughout the year.

Aside from my husband and son there were two other men there with their Mom's. I was a little uncomfortable with how I was dressed but was so proud of the fact that my guys would even take me somewhere where they could really be uncomfortable and um, bored! It was clearly a ladies' thing but my husband knows how I love the era, culture and atmosphere that an English tea and this mansion presents.

There were servants in full dress and we sat in this corner of the library of the mansion.

It was a five course meal served over two hours! My guys were troopers! It was quite the feminine meal with the shot glass size portion of fresh fruit, the thin slices of pound cake and scones, the finger sandwiches and other fancy morsels on the plate, the teeny portion of sherbet with a raspberry on top and the tiny assortment of cookies at the end. My husband even drank the tropical orange tea out of the English bone china tea cups.

It wasn't the meal for a growing 15 year old boy but Michael ate it with a smile because it was my day.

After the meal we walked freely around the mansion upstairs without most of the rooms roped off. We could walk in and see everything up close. This beautiful room reminds me of my grandmother's bedroom.

There were bathrooms in every room and each one was all white tile with old fashioned porcelain fixtures.

This dark green room had a gorgeous crazy quilt on the bed and another one on the bench at the end of the bed.

A gentlemen's trunk valet.

A hat cupboard.

Another great all white bathroom...this one with a touch of pink to match the intricate details in the tile.

A large room with a cradle. Most rooms had fireplaces too.

Gorgeous dresses were hanging in two of the bedrooms.

The balcony on the second floor with animal skins.

And more stuffed birds and small animals in this glass case. A little freaky!

Outside Spring finally arrived in Upstate NY! We walked the huge grounds back to our car.

These kinds of details were all around the outside of this magnificent mansion.

The Carriage House

They deserved this! Thanks to my husband and son for a very nice day out to celebrate Mother's Day.

And for my really nice gifts....

A keepsake centerpiece from the Tea

A handmade pair of silver earrings from an Etsy artisan.

I hope you all enjoy your day tomorrow and that it is as special as mine was today!

AnnMarie xoxo

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