Monthly Newsletter: January 2023 (No.12)
This is the twelfth newsletter and monthly feature highlighting events, happenings, and general news of all channels of Our Technicolor Life.
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
Grinch Story Time Tea
We decked the halls with tea, treats, and many of our fan favorite Christmas themes in December at The Old Capitol Tea Room. In early December we hosted Grinch Story Time. This tea event is our most popular and a chance to meet Mr. Grinch, have tea & tea treats, and have an exclusive interactive story time complete with live music by Mr. Grinch and Martha May. Don't worry if you weren't able to join us this past December for this event, it is a fan favorite and will be back again next season.
Christmas Carol Radio Show & Tea
"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens is another annual December theme where we have our actor friends come over fully costumed to play several roles and create a radio drama version of "A Christmas Carol." Not only do you have your tea party experience hosted by the Dickens characters, but you are treated to a 55-minute staged radio drama of this classic tale.
White Christmas Sing Along
It wouldn't be the holiday season if we didn't host our White Christmas Sing Along Tea. We can't get enough of Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney so we hosted two White Christmas Sing Along events where we perform our "White Christmas" tribute featuring the songs from the movie such as "Sisters", "Snow", "Count Your Blessings," and more! This tea event is hosted by Bob & Betty and always a fun tea party to close out the holiday season.
Christmas Vacation Tea & Trivia
Another event we brought back after a year hiatus was Christmas Vacation Tea & Trivia hosted by Uncle Lewis and Aunt Bethany. The attire alone makes this event such a fun evening and the attendees this year did not disappoint. There were several Eddie's and even a table featuring Clark, Ellen, Eddie, and Kathleen all in their corresponding attire. We love being a place to dress up and go all out for a theme so thank you all for participating. The trivia contest was challenging, and we had a double tie breaker between Clark and Eddie and Eddie finally won out after being tied 22 out of the 23 questions with Clark.
At the end of December, we hosted 45 public tea events and 20 private parties and had over 1,500 guests in our home! The Old Capitol Tea Room is closed in January & 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 "tea-tre" 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.
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 towards the end of February 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.
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
Santa Claus, Indiana
In between our Grinch tea parties, we had the perfect holiday adventure with a trip to Santa Claus, Indiana. We even visited with the “Jolly Ol’ Elf” himself! In addition to our visit with him, we wrote official “Santa Letters” and a weeks later I actually received a reply!
We also met and bought a signed copy of “Santa’s Daughter” from Pat Koch (pronounced “Cook”)! This lovely 91-year old lady, along with her late husband, started Santa Claus Land, which eventually became Holiday World!
If you have never been to Santa Claus, IN, it is well worth a visit, and include the post office, museum and the Candy Castle in your plans. (When at the Candy Castle, be sure and get a frozen hot chocolate.)
One unexpected highlight of our afternoon was enjoying and participating in the story-time event at the St Paul’s Santa Claus church, built in 1880. The storyteller, Susan, was an absolute hoot!! She had everyone engaged in the story-telling and used over twenty volunteers from the audience. It was great fun!
Carmel Christkindlmarkt
After a crazy, busy week I wanted to take a drive on Sunday, so we ended up in Carmel, IN to check out the Carmel Christkindlmarkt. This very authentic German market was well worth the road trip! We truly felt like we were transported to Europe in many ways. We have visited Switzerland and to us it truly had a very Swiss feel about it. With favorite holiday foods from Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and other European countries the smells are glorious. The craftsmanship on display is amazing. And, they have a huge outdoor ice rink to explore your inner Dorothy Hamill or Brian Boitano.
The Market is free to attend, and parking is free as well. No tickets are required to attend.
This festival was voted as the #1 Best Holiday Market in the USA Today “10Best” competition for the third time.
Carmel is just north of Indianapolis. The market is open Friday thru Sunday 11am-9pm and Thursdays from 4 pm-9pm. It runs thru December 30. Closed on Christmas Day.
We also dropped by the elegant and ritzy Cake Bake Shop, which is just around the corner from the market. If I had the budget and space, this is what I would love to have the tea room look like. It is beautiful and the treats are incredibly tasty. Stop by the location in Carmel or the original Cake Bake shop in Broad Ripple that is so incredibly charming. I love to stop in for a slice of cake or lemon bar and a glitter cocktail!
The Glitz
Here’s to the ladies who lunch! We lucked out against getting a last-minute reservation at The Glitz! They book up quickly so I usually put in a couple different times/dates on their waitlist located on their website so my Mama and I can have a fancy girls lunch date during the holidays.
Winding through the lush countryside of the Bluegrass state, with stone fences and horse farms, the drive to Irish Acres is half the fun! Irish Acres & Gallery and The Glitz is not only a destination but a real experience. A meticulously renovated 1930s schoolhouse is brimming over with European and American antiques, collectibles, international giftware, and boutique items.
The Glitz is nothing short of breath taking with Kentucky limestone walls, trailing vines, twinkling lights and fabulous food with a three-course lunch, spiced apple spritzers, and unforgettable desserts. We love visiting here during the holidays and I’m so glad we could have a girl's adventure afternoon in Versailles.
New Year's in Savannah
Savannah, Georgia is our home away from home. We've been too many times to count, and I keep thinking about just finally moving us there. We've been so many times and I've read so many books about this beautiful city, I often help plan trips for others visiting Savannah. I love strolling the squares in the historic district and seeing the Spanish moss float above in the giant oak trees. We spent New Year's Eve in Savannah for the first time in 2018 and had the best time. After working so hard this year, we wanted to treat ourselves to another New Year's getaway and the first place I thought of was Savannah. Truth be told, I booked this trip January 1, 2022 and just kept my eye on the prize throughout the year. We stay at the Eliza Thompson house which is in the heart of the historic district on Bull and Jones, a block away from the famed Mercer-Williams House and two blocks from the entrance of Forsyth Park. The best part is once we are parked, we don't have to touch the car again because we can walk everywhere. We like to visit Tybee and Skidaway during the spring and summer but the historic district is where I want to be for this getaway.
On this trip we started with dinner at 1790 and soaking up the misty foggy squares along Bull. It was overcast and drizzly at times but the fog just added to the magic of the Spanish moss and ghostly vibes of the city. Breakfast is included at the Eliza Thompson B&B and you could not ask for a more lovelier breakfast setting than in their courtyard. We took morning strolls through and around Forsyth Park. Shopped at some of my favorite local shops including E Shaver Bookstore and The Book Lady, SCAD store, and maybe spent a little too long at Blick Art Supply on Broughton. We strolled the River Walk and grabbed some seafood at Fiddler's followed by more strolling the squares of Abercorn. We shopped at City Market and along Broughton as well as checked out the fabulous Prohibition Museum and a made a visit to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. I made us dinner reservations at the Olde Pink House and we headed downstairs to the lounge, Planters Tavern for the best live piano music. Then it was time to ring in the New Year's with fireworks down on the River Walk.
ENTERTAINMENT
The Tin Pan Alley Cats were booked for the Women's Club of the University of Louisville at Big Springs Country Club in December for their annual Christmas party. You just never know where you might see us next. We were booked for this party after the host had seen our full band, Rosie & the Rockabillies at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens for their Bourbon & Botanicals Summer Concert Series. We were delighted to add some live music to the Christmas party. To book Rosie & the Rockabillies or the Tin Pan Alley Cats just email us with which band you'd like to book, date of your event, and details about your event. Pricing for both bands available upon request, travel fees apply based on location.
Christmas Story Times
The week before Christmas is reserved for story time bookings. Once we finish our tea schedule, we offer story time bookings featuring our interactive readings of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Polar Express." We visit a lot of local schools in the area for these story times and make 2-3 appearances a day for 2 days, one day of Grinch story times and one day of Polar Express. These bookings include 2 fully costumed characters, audio & visual equipment when necessary for story time, and of course the story. These bookings fill up quickly and are based on location & time availability. To inquire about pricing just email at ourtechnicolorlife@gmail.com.
LIFESTYLE
Did you know we're on Pinterest? Check out Our Technicolor Life now on Pinterest. Jeff is always telling me to put together a vintage clothes, hair, and makeup tutorials so decided to finally give it a whirl. I receive a lot of questions about where I get my clothes and what kind of lipstick I use so I started sharing some of my favorite tools and products. I started sharing on Facebook and realized Pinterest is the perfect platform for sharing some of my favorite items. If you have a Pinterest account, give us a follow and if you don't its super easy and free to sign up for an account. Once there you can see some of the boards I've created such as Vintage Hair & Makeup, Modern Vintage Clothes, Modern Vintage Shoes, and we'll be adding camping supplies too!
Follow Our Technicolor Life on Pinterest!
This concludes our December as we move into the new year in Our Technicolor Life! Please explore the website and share with friends & family! This website our one stop shop for all of our events and information. Don't forget to subscribe so you stay in the loop and check out our upcoming events section right on the home page!
Yours truly,
Carrie & Jeff