Celebrate Romance Every Day: SOS Aloha 6th Anniversary (Part 2): An Old Fashioned Tea Party

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

Last week, I shared how I discovered romance books in the Netherlands (link).  Following our NATO assignment, my family moved to Fort Meade, Maryland. I worked part time, enabling me to volunteer with the Officers' Spouses' Club.

In January 2007, Fort Meade celebrated its 90th Anniversary - the spouses' club polished its silver for the gala.  This inspired the post commander to suggest the spouses' club host an Old Fashioned Tea Party. As the Vice President for Social Events, I took the reigns to execute her idea.  I recruited spouses of senior officers to host tables using their own tea sets. They took it one step further to create themes:

- Bal-TEA-more table hosted by an Army spouse as Wallis Simpson, a native of Charm City)

- Scotland Forever hosted by a Navy spouse who lived in Alba

- Boston Tea Party hosted by an Army spouse from Bean Town

- The Best Damn Scones table hosted by a Canadian spouse
- Children's Tea Party hosted by an Army spouse with a miniature tea set

Duchess of Bedford

Public Domain (link)

As my friends embraced the themes, I researched the history of afternoon tea.  From Historic UK (link),

Afternoon tea was introduced in England by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, in the year 1840. The Duchess would become hungry around four o'clock in the afternoon. The evening meal in her household was served fashionably late at eight o'clock, thus leaving a long period of time between lunch and dinner. The Duchess asked that a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. This became a habit of hers and she began inviting friends to join her.

I named Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, as the honorary hostess. As a fan of historical romance, I was familiar with English titles and sought to educate the other spouses. I located a "brief run down" of English titles from romance author Jo Beverly (link). I contacted Jo to ask her permission to reprint the article for the tea party. Jo not only gave me permission, she also donated two books to giveaway. Jo's generosity inspired me to invite romance authors from the Washington Romance Writers (link). I was over the moon when many accepted my invitation, including Binnie Syril Braunstein, Diane Gaston, Sally MacKenzie, Cathy Maxwell, Mary Jo Putney, Tracy Anne Warren, Hope Tarr, and Rebecca York. I also invited Kathryn Falk, Lady of Barrow and founder of RT Book Reviews - she took the train from New York.

I encouraged the spouses to dress the part by offering one raffle ticket for each "vintage" item, including  hats, gloves, pearls, and "must haves" in a purse, such as compact, atomizer, and linen handkerchief.  My appeal was too successful that I had to limit spouses to 10 raffle tickets - they were all decked out for the occasion!

Finally, one of the spouses researched the genealogy of Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, and discovered she was a distant cousin of General George G. Meade, the civil war hero and namesake of the post.  It was fate!

This event demonstrated that readers want to connect with authors, laying the foundation of my blog to come.

General Meade, third from left, in 1863

Commanders of the Army of the Potomac

Public Domain (link)

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  What is your favorite flavor of tea?  Mine is Chamomile.

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, March 19, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, March 20.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Check out the Old Fashioned Tea Party in the Fort Meade Soundoff at this link.

Next week:  SOS Aloha's 6th Anniversary (part 3):  Andrews AFB, RT, and RWA

Aloha to Tracy Anne Warren and THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

As I watched the NFL playoffs, I noticed some commercials are funny ... and some are silly.   Tracy Anne Warren gives us a peak into a Madison Avenue ad agency in her new contemporary novel, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, available January 7:

From New York Times bestselling author Tracy Anne Warren comes a sexy and romantic new contemporary series about corporate combat in the boardroom and under-the-covers passion in the bedroom...…

Idealistic good girl Madelyn Grayson believes in doing what’s right. Even as a high-powered executive in the mad world of advertising, she doesn’t cut corners, making her ad campaigns sizzle without having to burn anyone along the way.

Rival exec Zack Douglas never wastes an opportunity to land the next big deal—especially when it benefits him. A bad boy with a reputation to match, he has no qualms about doing whatever it takes to get ahead, no matter who gets in the way.

When a hot promotion pops up at their company, both Zack and Madelyn wind up on the short list for the position. But as the two square off, they discover that being heated rivals in the office makes for scorching bed play behind closed doors. Will Madelyn’s steamy, secret affair with Mr. Vice make her compromise her ideals—or worse, lose her heart.

I posted my five star review of THE LAST MAN ON EARTH on Goodreads (link).   This is the first book in an exciting new series about The Graysons ... I am looking forward to reading more about this family!   

One endearing scene from THE LAST MAN ON EARTH takes place at a Florida beach resort ... so I am giving away a special beach prize.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about commercials - print, TV, or Internet - do you have one that you think is funny and/or silly?   For me, the Old Spice commercial with moms stalking their sons on dates is silly (link).

2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, January 11, 10 pm in Baltimore.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, January 12.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City

To learn more about Tracy and her books, check out her website at tracyannewarren.com.