It's only taken 13 years, really! I have wanted a tea shop for that long; I kept notes for that long on what I wanted and how I'd get there (have the notepad that proves it). Lists included a location that would ultimately be a small town for Olde World Tea Company-not the original name, but let's not give up all the tea shop secrets; I may use the original name later on. Also the steps in starting out which included leaving a very good job, going back to school, working at local restaurants, etc.

My husband and I found Smithfield almost 3 years ago, a tip from a wonderful gentleman, thank you! Once we got here, we fell in love with the quaintness of the town and the kindness of its community. Meeting the merchants (to name a few Bob & Laura from Laura & Lucy's, Robbie from The Painted Garden & Boutique, followed by Mr. & Mrs. Winn of Winn's True Value, etc ) sealed the deal in us wanting to be a merchant on main street, no other place would seem appropriate for Olde World Tea Company. After a serendipitous call to Laura & Lucy's, we moved next door 4 months later.

We worked steadily on the building for two long years and mostly on our own, thank goodness for those wonderful days that friends came by to rescue us from ourselves: Ron, Rebekah, & Ryan; Dennis & Marylou; John, his son Bryan & his uncles; Ross (aka foreman), Paul, and perhaps not physically helping us, but guiding us through faith Robbie & Sheila, and for all the little extras, Laura & Bob; Leslie and Bobby. Oh, and of course many thanks to my brother in law Joey, media, website, extraordinaire. Hope I didn't forget anyone.

The shop is cute, it's thankfully open and it will surely go through some growing pains, changing as it gets to the place it needs to be to satisfy the needs of all our customers.

We hope in all the changes that Olde World Tea Company will go through that it won't simply be a tea shop, café, or tea room, but most importantly be the place that you can find some solace along with a perfect cup of tea.

The water's boiling, the scones have just come out of the oven and as I look out the kitchen window the birds are chirping and my thought is how awesome it is that we could make our dreams come true…come on out and share in them, see you soon.