Talking tea and books in an Irish pub

The Senoia Variety Club, a women's group in nearby Senoia, asked me to come speak to them about Dyeing for Attention, my newest book, and last week, I was happy to do so. Over the years, I've become known as a "tea lady" locally, which is fine by me, so organizers told me they were encouraging their members to wear tea party attire if they liked. The meeting was held at Maguire's Irish Pub, a great restaurant there in Senoia, and when I arrived early to set up my books, I couldn't help noticing that they were placing vintage teacups on the tables, along with tea lights and some candy. I thought that was such a fun and simple way to "tea-ify" the space, and of course I had to go check out the teacups, like this one with a basket of roses on it.

This one whispers "spring" to me, and that pretty yellow handle sure caught my eye. I've never seen a teacup like this before!

The striking blue coloring of this teacup caught my eye as well. I'm betting it's very old.

As the fifteen members began coming in and greeting each other, I couldn't help noticing they had a good mix of older and younger ladies, which certainly bodes well for any club. And see that lady in pink with her back to the camera?

That would be my friend Alice Ramsey, who is legendary in this neck of the woods. She's retired now, but Alice was still a flight attendant with Delta when she got diagnosed with breast cancer, and after her treatment and recovery, she became quite the advocate for other women going through breast cancer. One day about twenty years ago, she decided to ask Delta's CEO if the flight attendants could wear pink uniforms each October to help raise money for breast cancer awareness, and he said yes! Whenever I fly Delta in October and see the pink uniforms and ties, I smile, knowing that my friend Alice started it all (her original pink dress now hangs in the Delta Flight Museum). She also heads up a local group called the Pink Posse that serves those going through cancer treatment, and whenever you see a flash of pink around town, it's probably Alice, up to something to raise awareness!