Afternoon Tea in Chicago’s Peninsula Hotel – Everything You Want To Know

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Time for a tea party!

My minifashionista loves a good tea party.  Whether it is at home with princess playmates and pretend tea set, or to celebrate a birthday, or in London (her first fancy afternoon tea), she (and I) are always up for a little afternoon tea.  So when daddy proposed the grand and impromptu idea to enjoy a little afternoon tea during our stay at the Peninsula Hotel in Chicago this summer, we excitedly agreed to it!

The setting

We just love the beautiful restaurant, located in the lobby of the hotel with its dramatic floral arrangements, 20 ft. high, floor-to-ceiling windows, and elegant atmosphere.  It’s certainly the perfect place to celebrate a special occasion or just to celebrate the everyday like we did!

(this picture taken from Peninsula’s website)

The menu

The afternoon tea included a delectable sampling of savory and sweet bites.

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For the adults, sandwiches included the traditional variety: salmon and cream cheese, egg salad, tuna fish, and cucumber.  The middle tray included 2 scones and the top tray featured all the pretty desserts and treats.  As you can imagine, it took all my willpower not to start there first!

For kids

Everything was so perfectly pretty that the tiered tray just begged for a picture.  Juliet enjoyed ordering from the kid’s menu which also featured a decadent afternoon tea with treats including: gummy bears, jello shot, and her own collection of bite-sized pastries and chocolates prepared by the Peninsula’s world-renowned culinary team.  We should note that children’s, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free afternoon tea menus are also available upon request.

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French fries, baby burger, a ham and cheese sandwich shaped like a teddy bear, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich slice rounded out her plate. When she accidentally dropped her PB&J, the waiter jumped to offer her another one.  What service!  But he didn’t just come back with her replacement sandwich.

The surprises

He returned to also magically place the Peninsula bear on her seat without her realizing.  She discovered it moments after he left and was left curious as to how he got there.  When she asked the waiter about it, he playfully guessed that the bear must’ve jumped up onto her chair when she wasn’t looking, hoping to find a new home!  Juliet was ecstatic to find a new friend to enjoy tea with and she quickly introduced him to her pet bunny.  Together we all had a grand old time! The tea selection is vast and impressive ranging from oolong, herbal, green, black teas.  And we found that ordering one afternoon tea set, and one children’s set was enough for the 3 of us to enjoy as a family.

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And what made the afternoon tea even more memorable was the live music that we were treated to!  chicago peninsula hotel tea, chicago peninsula hotel, afternoon tea at peninsula hotel

A cellist and violinist serenaded us!

Location and times

The Peninsula Hotel in Chicago is located at 108 E. Superior St. between N. Michigan Avenue and Rush St.  And afternoon tea times are:
2:30 pm, 4:30 pm (Mon – Sat) and 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm (Sun). $65 for the adult tea order and $39 for the kid’s portion.

We highly recommend this AND the chocolate buffet served Friday and Sundays (7pm-10:30pm)

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We hope you enjoyed this insider’s peek into the Peninsula’s perfect afternoon tea!

Click here to read about how to plan a kids’ tea party – princess style!

Click here to see the teddy bear tea party we planned!

Click here to see the first tea party for toddlers that we hosted at home!

Easter Posh Play Dates

 

I’ve never celebrated Easter so enthusiastically until becoming a mother.  There is something that is just so sweet and special about seeing your child get dolled up, hunt for eggs and interact with the Easter bunny.  This year, we were so excited, we celebrated all week with special activities, crafting, bunny desserts and a series of what I call posh play dates – highly stylized play dates with a dress-up theme and sponsors involved.  Read on for ideas and inspiration on how to host your own Easter themed play date or party this year!easter party planning ideas, easter party planning tips, easter decor, easter party ideas

Using items we already had from her bunny-themed HOP-py 3rd birthday party, we decorated our house in fun pops of colors and created an enticing dessert station.

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It consisted of straw-bunny smoothies, a jelly bean tasting, cookies, cotton tails (cotton candy on sticks), bunny trail mix, rock candy, chocolates, Peeps, and fruit to nibble on.  My daughter said after tasting the black jellybeans that they were “rotten…something bad happened to these.”  hahah  I’m not a fan of licorice flavor either!

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For entertainment, the kids had a bunny hop, Easter egg hunt around the living room, and coloring pages that Miffy sent us.  how to plan a kids easter party, easter party inspiration, easter party ideasThe beloved bunny, Miffy, also sent us tees for all the girls to style, the cutest coloring book, and ears to wear at the party!  Plus we received Miffy PJs for Juliet to sleep in.  Look at the girls doing the bunny hop on my couch!  I’d be hopping too if I received this awesome basket of surprises!

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The Easter basket also included the most amazing, supersized Easter eggs by Zuru.  They’re called 5 surprises and they are so much fun for the kiddos to open up!  Does anyone else out there have kids who are obsessed with opening up tiny packages with these little presents? The girls kept squealing for joy!  The surprises skept coming and included fun girly items such as, mermaids, princesses, hair accessories, bracelets, hair ties and glitter glue! I highly recommend them for your girl’s Easter baskets!  Last year, we got J a real-life Easter bunny.  So of course, we had to bring her out for the kids to play with and take pictures with!  The bunny hung out at our decorated kids’ cafe before hopping off to play some hide and seek with them.

Oh what FUN we had!  Read on here, to see what else all the Fab Kids are hunting for (in terms of fashion).  There is still a week before the big holiday!  Let me know in the comments how you and your family are celebrating!

Or read here for 6 tips on hosting a bunny-themed party!

 

 

 

Special thank you to Miffy and Zuru for sending us fabulous gifts to share with our littles!

As always, all opinions expressed are my own.

 

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