Monthly Newsletter: February 2023 (No. 13)
Welcome to Our Technicolor Life! We are a husband and wife team that lives a vintage lifestyle in full color through our many adventures in our tea room, travel, entertainment, and art. Follow along each channel that makes up Our Technicolor Life.
We are Jeff and Carrie Ketterman. During the day, Jeff is a General Manager with Kasgro Rail Corporation Management Division. With a fleet of over 500 heavy-duty cars, Jeff works daily to provide solutions to various needs of the multi-dimensional rail transportation industry. By day, Carrie is a painter, illustrator, and author creating murals, & paintings.
After closing up shop for the day. Jeff and Carrie host themed tea parties out of their historic home at The Old Capitol Tea Room, travel to festivals and vacation in The Not So Long Trailer, and have two bands, a 1950s style band, Rosie & the Rockabillies, and a 1920s style band, The Tin Pan Alley Cats. Each of these channels makes up our Technicolor Life.
TEA
The Old Capitol Tea Room is closed in February. We finally get to put the furniture back in place and enjoy sitting in the living room after the holidays! We had a lot of first timers join us this season and saw a lot of familiar faces as well. It's our pleasure to open our home to you and host you for our "teatre" events. This is a term we came up with where tea meets theatre. We strive to create a fully immersive experience from the music, décor, characters, theme, and overall ambiance when you come over for a tea party event.
Here's a sneak peek at what we've got coming up in the Spring & Summer 2023 Season!
Upcoming Events
The tea room really is our home. We were asked several times over the past few months if we did in fact live here. We do! We physically move furniture out of our living room and dining room area to set up the chairs and tables to host tea parties. It is a ton of work behind the scenes, but it is very rewarding to provide an experience of a themed tea party in a historic home.
That being said, when hosting tea events throughout the year, we don't get to really live in our downstairs space as it is usually set up for a tea event. Going into the 2023 season, we are planning to host more Friday & Sunday public events leaving a day off in between events to reset. Too many times in 2022 we overbooked, overworked, and underestimated the toll it would take on us physically, mentally, and financially as we put a lot of stress on ourselves and wear & tear on our home. I realized in August that we had overbooked ourselves and that 60 events were beyond what our staff (Jeff & I) could handle on top of our other jobs and responsibilities. While there won't be the sheer number of events on the calendar this year, we plan to offer multiple dates for our fan favorites and host "the best of the best" tea events in terms of overall theme.
Events will be posted on our upcoming events calendar with more heads up about the themes and when tickets will go on sale. The best way to find out about our events is here on the website. Events will be posted and tickets for sale under upcoming events before going to Facebook, so please be sure that you are subscribed to the website and read our monthly newsletters.
Private Parties
Our private party information has been updated with a private party booking form and booking availability. In 2023, private parties will primarily be hosted on weekdays and weeknights with limited weekend availability. We host baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays, book clubs, church groups, meetings, etc. The cost is $35/person (kids and adults) and include a traditional afternoon style sweet and savory tea tray made up of finger sandwiches, desserts, selection of 3 loose leaf teas, and tax. We require a minimum of 15 people to book a private party and can seat 32 comfortably between our dining room and living room.
There is a $100 booking fee to be paid in advance to secure your desired date. This booking fee secures your date, time, and two hours in the tea room. This booking fee is non-refundable and does not go towards your final bill. October, November, and December are our busiest months of the year and private parties are NOT available on weekends. We are happy to look at weekdays and weeknights during these months.
If you are interested in a private party, please fill out our Private Party Booking Form. We do require the $100 booking fee at the time of your booking to secure your date at the tea room. This booking fee is non-refundable and does not go towards your final bill. Final headcount and payment must be submitted one week prior to the event.
Private Party Booking | Our Technicolor Life
The private party booking form now includes party time frames for you to select. Our public tea events do take precedence over private parties. If we have a Friday/Sunday public tea event, we do not host private parties the Saturday in between.
Weekday Private Party Time Frames
12-2pm OR 1-3pm
Weeknight Private Party Time Frames
5-7pm OR 6-8pm
Weekend Private Party Time Frames
12-2 pm OR 1-3pm
TRAVEL
Mucha at the Speed Art Museum
One of my favorite artists is Alphonse Mucha. I love anything and everything Mucha. In the past I've created several paintings emulating his style. So, it was a given that we would eventually make our way to the Mucha Exhibit at Speed Art Museum in Louisville.
The exhibit it quite extensive and very informative. If you are a fan of his work, I would highly recommend it. Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist that lived in Paris during the Art Nouveau period at the turn of the twentieth century. His painting and illustrations of French actress Sarah Bernhardt brought his work to prominence in the late 1890s. I’m sure if you are not familiar with his work, you have no doubt seen his work, as it is used in various ways in fashion and jewelry.
Jurassic Quest
When I came downstairs with a dinosaur dress and a pith helmet on, Jeff knew some type of adventure was ahead. We finally got to check out Jurassic Quest, a traveling, animatronic, interactive, dinosaur exhibit at the Kentucky Exposition Center. It has traveled through the area before, but our schedule never allowed us to check it out until this year.
Jurassic Quest is world-famous, life-side dinosaurs that have been meticulously painted and animated to be realer-than-real. The exhibit included a Spinosaurus, T-Re, and a 50-foot-long megalodon. You can ride a Dino, create crafts, dig for fossils, and meet other smaller dinosaurs. Check out their schedule and ticket information at www.jurassicquest.com.
After visiting the dinosaurs, we paid a visit La Bodequita De Mima Cuban Restaurant and Rum Bar in Louisville for the first time. If you get the chance, try it out. Great food and amazing drinks. We will be going back there, soon. The drink menu was superb and we couldn't make up our minds what to order so we tried a few appetizers and sprit the Cubano sandwich.
I'm still thinking about all the deliciousness this one place had to offer and cannot wait to go back and try more of the menu items. The vibe is the best part, you are transported back in time to 1950's Cuba. La Bodeguita de Mima is a homage to the matriarch of the family, "Mima". Chef Fernando Martinez once asked Mima, how could we possibly cook for all our guests as passionately as you cook for us? She answered immediately, "We will simply continue to cook for our family, but now our family has gotten bigger." You will feel like one of the family and enjoy some seriously delicious Cuban fare and cocktails.
La Bodeguita De Mima Cuban Resturant & Rum Bar
275 E Market Street
Louisville, KY 40202
Circus
“Ladies and gentlemen…children of all ages…”
I think it’s safe to say, I secretly would like to run away and join the circus. IF I could be the ringmaster. The Circus came to town so we made an afternoon out of the occasion with a visit to Mornign Fork on Frankfort Avenue for brunch and then a trip to the circus.
ENTERTAINMENT
Rosie & the Rockabillies at Yew Dell
It's official, Rosie & the Rockabillies will be back for their 4th summer at the gorgeous Yew Dell Botanical Gardens in Crestwood Thursday August 3rd. This is such a fun summer concert series called Bourbon and Botanicals and you can get your tickets on the Yew Dell website. Check in about getting tickets early as this concert series sells out very quickly. You get to explore the beautiful botanical gardens, sip some tasty bourbon beverages, and of course hear some great tunes by Rosie & the Rockabillies. Stay tuned for other fun summer concert gigs!
Yew Dell Botanical Gardens: www.yewdellgardens.org