Is That Your Natural Color?: Alice & Me in Scone Wonderland

I'm a scone fiend. I'm not ashamed to admit that. Carbs and me, we're best friends. I'm not one to jump on the low-carb bandwagon. Hell no. Never. I need that crusty, flaky, chewy goodness.

Baguettes, bagels, croissants and last but certainly not least, scones - I want them all. In vegan form. Yes, it's still possible to enjoy all of this heavenly breadness in vegan form. If it can be made, I will find it.

And find it I did. This time I hit the scone jackpot. It was just an accidental find. I was out walking one day when I passed the cute storefront with the purple awning with a sign that beckoned for the curious to come inside.

I'm curious. They must have been talking to me.

This was Alice's Tea Cup, Chapter I. Located on the upper west side, it is described on their website as New York's most whimsical tea house.

I walked in and saw a wonderland. Cakes and cookies lined the counter. The wall was filled with giant tea tins. But the highlight was right there under the glass. Scones. And more scones. And then there it was....the vegan scone.

I was sold. I didn't even care what flavor it was, I bought it. Sometimes I get a little too excited. I don't even remember what it was other than delicious because it brought me back. Again. And again. And again.

I started to go every day. I got the scone card. A scone card! Buy 12, get one free. I bought one for me and one for Mike. Then my mom caught wind of my habit. She wanted in.

Every day I looked forward to my trip to "the Cup". Sometimes I'd even get tea. Rose Sencha.

I would walk down the street with my pink bag and people would stop me, recognizing my bag. I once even tried to sneak a few scones home but my mom saw the pink bag and called me out on it, asking if I remembered to get her one.

I also knew the people that worked at Alice's Teacup. There was Alice (really), who is sweet and Jasmine, an actress and incredibly awesome. They knew me too.

Which led me to realize that my everyday scone habit was getting out of control. I knew I had to take it down a notch. I knew I had to scale it back to just a few days.

But which days? There were good scones and bad scones. How would I know? What if I missed the double-chocolate cinnamon day? The lemon poppy seed day? The chocolate banana day? I wasn't sure I wanted to take that chance.

Lemon Poppy Seed for sharing

Until the weather changed. New York City in January. Cold. Very cold. What if I walked the 7 blocks for my scones and it was a pear walnut scone day? Did I really want to walk in the cold for a "bad" scone day?

The cold helped break my habit and the phone helped me decide which days I would make the trek. I call daily, get the vegan scone of the day.

Yes, I'm obsessed. When you find a good thing it's hard to let go.