it all started after i saw emma. autumn de wilde’s adaptation of emma had me swooning over pastels, manners and 19th century pin curls. after leaving the theater, i decided (while walking to the parking lot) that i was going to celebrate my birthday like a jane austen heroine… i was going to have an emma themed picnic in the park! there was to be tea, socializing and croquet! i was deep into planning this picnic (i bought the croquet set) when COVID-19 took over. as the precautions for this virus became essential, my birthday picnic would have to wait. so i put a pin in my pinterest board and began social distancing.
my vision…
this was going to be a birthday that i’d never forget. it would be the birthday i celebrated without my twin, the birthday where everyone had to stay 6 feet apart and the birthday where i couldn’t get toilet paper… so to make the most of my quarantined birthday, i asked some friends if they wanted to join me for a virtual tea party on my birthday. the plan was to get dressed up (to go nowhere), drink tea and socialize (virtually).
last sunday, i woke up to a picnic in my living room that my sister and brother-in-law had put together for my birthday. yes, i cried. they had stayed up all night baking and staging an emma themed picnic. the conroys had gifted me with a fortnum & mason picnic hamper filled with all the goodies to make for a proper picnic and tea party. my heart nearly exploded. i can’t begin to explain how grateful i am to everyone who made this birthday one that i would never forget, despite everything.
“it is such a happiness when good people get together- and they always do.”
Miss Bates
Emma, Volume 2, Chapter 3
THEblog 