Expertise: Creative brand strategy, writing, the tea lifestyle (steeping, cooking, crafting, styling)
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Product: Aftelier Perfumed Teas 

Interests: Tea, cooking, design, jazz & blues, writing haiku, history of language, reading short stories and food blogs, antique shops.

Background: Freelance writer and creative business consultant specializing in the innovation of brands through social media/marketing strategy and creative copy. Tea enthusiast with a line of haiku teaware and a series of culinary tea classes. Founder of the blog Teaspoons & Petals.

Favorite meal: At a tea party, a friend had set out at her apartment bowls of fresh fruit and ginger yogurt, and a cake stand almost tipping over with homemade flourless chocolate cake and banana bread. Teapots and cups were steaming with chamomile and lavender tea and dabs of raw honey. Alice's party could never compare. 



Recent purchase: Vintage handkerchiefs and postcards from the 1920s.

Hidden talent: I love to sing anything by Ella, Etta, or Billie.

Book/film recommendation: Coco Before Chanel - Audrey Tautou is enchanting and effortlessly elegant.

Restaurant recommendation: Radicchio Café in Philadelphia.

If I had $20, I’d… Buy pots of flowering tea at a local tea shop to share with friends.

Transformative travel experience: A visit to Pompeii as a teenager. To have had the opportunity to step back in time and into the preserved, ancient world gave me a deep appreciation for history. I can still recall the first moment that my eyes met the frescoes.

Favorite neighborhood: This changes on a daily basis since I tend to be amazed by charming bits and pieces wherever I am. Ask me tomorrow, I may be in your neighborhood.

Dream holiday: Savoring a warm summer in Italy with my boyfriend (who will hopefully have taught me Italian by then).

If I could solve one problem, it would be: To support local libraries and sustain the art of exploring the world through the printed page. It’s so important to teach our children how to discover the magical adventures within the shelves.

I wish people cared more about: The elderly. They are the wise hearts, souls and minds.

Recent aha! moment: The importance of preserving family memories and traditions through tales and recipes. Many of my favorite childhood moments took place at the table or at the kitchen counter. Upon typing up my grandmother’s recipes (from her original cards tucked in a green Betty Crocker box), I started to build a handwritten cookbook with my mother that will someday contain all of her treasured dishes.

The world would be a better place if: We genuinely smiled to strangers on the street to simply extend a kind moment.