Winter coziness and planning a tea!

 The past six months or so have felt incredibly fast. Feels like it was May, and then I was decorating for fall, then Christmas was here, and now it's almost spring again. 

I am a winter girl -- I come alive in autumn, and love the "ber" months with the festive vibes and holidays. And then I love January and February, with their reprieve from the holiday hustle and slow winter coziness -- curling up on the couch with a chenille blanket with my dog with my electric fireplace going. Living in Florida as I do, however, I dread the coming heat and humidity and look forward to spring about as much as a root canal.

When Christmas is over, I pack up the things that are chiefly Christmas -- the tree, ornaments, and anything red or with Christmas sayings. But I leave out plain garlands and greenery and pine cones, and replace red candles with white ones so that the house doesn't feel bare.

For Valentine's Day this year, I've been inspired to host my first-ever afternoon tea... well, actually, it will be more like a noon tea, as I want to be able to eat dinner and couldn't if I served tea at the traditional 4 p.m. hour.  And it will be on the 10th, since actual Valentine's Day falls on Wednesday this year and I do work full-time. It will be just me and my best friend Dori, so happily no pressure if I mess something up. 

My menu is going to be cucumber sandwiches and deviled eggs (first course), scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam (second course), and the third course is going to be a couple of different storebought cookies. I will be posting more details about the tea and give recipes next week. 

In the meantime, I picked up a couple of little things from my local Hobby Lobby to decorate for Valentine's Day. I never used to decorate for holidays other than Christmas -- rather I decorate for the seasons -- but I was inspired to do just a little something for my coffee bar and fireplace mantle. 

My 3-tiered tray on the coffee bar credenza

My electric fireplace with winter greenery, small logs, beeswax candles, and a tin heart for Valentine's Day. Please don't mind the basket of dog toys to the right.