Tea Time

Tea... my favorite drink of all time... cold sweet tea in summer, steamy hot tea in winter... any time, day or night, any type of weather... a cup/glass of tea always comforts and soothes my soul.

I'm a southerner, therefore I grew up drinking sweet tea my whole life.... probably even in my baby bottles!  And no one makes better sweet tea than my Aunt Edie!  Until very recently I never would order or purchase tea in restaurants because the taste was horrible and the tea was never fresh brewed.... in fact, to this very day I usually have a stash of my own tea bags in my purse with me at all times because restaurants don't carry the tea I prefer... but thankfully several restaurants have started to fresh brew their ice tea and what a difference!!!  Last summer I was seriously addicted to McDonald's sweet tea... I had to have a cup every single day.  McDonalds serve their sweet tea in large styrofoam cups... and if ordered 'with extra ice'.... that cup of tea will last all day long!

Now that it is cold and in the winter season, I drink several pots of hot tea made from infused fresh tea leaves.  I drink hot tea all year round, but in the wintertime I have more than just my daily pot of hot tea each morning, and find myself drinking several pots of this delish tea all day long.  My preference is white and/or green tea's... but an occasional cup of chia, peach, orange blossom, vanilla pear or other flavored tea is enjoyable too.

There is this wonderful company "Tevana" who sells every sort of  tea imaginable, tea accessories, honey and any possible tea related item you can think of.  They have adorable stores located in malls where you can browse, sample, and learn about different teas, and methods of tea making for hours on end.  I love the name "Tevana" because when in these stores, you really feel like you are in Tea Nirvana!!!!  Tevana is also available for on-line shopping... not near as much fun.... but if you live in a remote area like I do, and don't have access to one of their stores... this is definitely the next best thing.... website address is "teavana.com".  Their sales associates are very friendly, well trained and knowledgable of all their products and always have plenty of time for their customers no matter how many tasting samples they have to prepare.

Funny story tho about my first visit to a Teavana store..... and.... I'm glad to know I am not the only person who has this same story.... I have heard this same story from 3 other very close dear tea loving friends as well.... so I will share and hopefully prevent other tea lovers from this same tea shopping fate!

Teavana purchases their teas from all over the world... some teas are only harvested 5 days a year.... some teas are made from hand rolled individual tea leaves, and some teas are easily harvested and transported.... sooo the price of the teas vary greatly.  In Teavana, the teas are sold per oz.... NOT by the tin.  But not knowing this on my first trip into the store to purchase tea... all I see is the prices of the tea... which vary by blend.  They also sell these tea tins that keep the teas sealed tightly and guarantee their freshness and shelf life.  There are fancy tins, small tins, tall tins, plain tins and of course the sealed foil bags that most tea purchases are packaged in.  The tea tins really do keep the teas fresh, and are a one time purchase since they can be reused over and over.  So.... I decide right away to purchase a tin with each tea blend so I can store this expensive tea properly.... thinking that the price of the tea is the price of the tea in the tin.  But Oh no no no!!!!  The price of the tea is per oz and the tins hold 6 - 12 oz of tea!!!  The one tea I selected was $15, the other was $23.... and I'm already thinking.... WOW!!!!  That is really pricey tea.... but.... I know this particular tea is a good tea with very healthy benefits and worth the extra cost over the grocery store.  And I'm also thinking that the tin of tea will last a good 6 months, thus.... the tea doesn't seem quite so expensive when you break it down per cup instead of per tin.  So as I'm fishing out my wallet and adding up my purchases.... thinking I just spent $50 on tea and how the heck am I gonna explain this to my husband... the sales clerk announces my purchase total is $249..... I seriously.... dropped my jaw and said..... WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!  And then I start laughing at how ridiculous that total was and how funny it will be when I hear what mistake the sales clerk made to bring my total that high!  But OH NO..... no mistake was made..... $15 X 6 oz = $90!!!!!  YIKES!!!!!  But now...... it's too late to change my mind because they have already pre-mixed my tea selections into these tins and I am now thinking.... Well.... don't I look like a big idiot with egg on my face and how the heck do I get myself out of this mess?  So...... I did the only thing I could think of..... I paid the cashier and drove home uber carefully with these two tins of 'golden' tea in  my car.

My husband did indeed give me 'one of those' looks.... but when I explained that my extravagant tea purchase breaks down to just $1.50 a day AND it is a healthy product that I immensely enjoy.... how could he complain when he himself drives to starbucks for a daily cup of 3.00 coffee??  The tea really did last 6 months and really did stay fresh in those tins.  I have since refilled my tins a couple of times since then...  and I enjoy each and every cup of this pricey expensive healthy tea everyday!!!  My husband in a wine connoisseur and enjoys shopping and drinking wines from all over the world.... I'm a tea connoisseur and I enjoy shopping and drinking teas from all over the world.... to me it's a wash... tit for tat kinda of thing.  Fortunately my husband gets it and understands my love of tea.

Do go browse Teavana online and see all the tea related products available.  I will also say the white honey and the natural sugar they sell are AWESOME too.  I love the honey on my toast and the raw sugar is delish in tea.  I usually drink my hot teas unsweetened.... but at night as a sweet treat I put a few nuggets of the raw sugar in the tea... yum!  I have one of the cast iron tea pots they sell and love it!

All this tea typing has made me thirsty for a pot of tea..... I'm going to go put the kettle on the boil and brew a pot of Jasmine Dragon Pearl tea and relax... why don't you put your tea pot on too and lets enjoy a cup-o-tea together cause it's TEA TIME!!!!

Baby Shower

This weekend my very dear cousins held a dual baby shower for my two daughters who are expecting their babies in the next few weeks... and I want to give a HUGE shout out THANK YOU to everyone who participated in putting this event together for us.  You would think my cousins (all sisters... Debbie, Sherry, Connie, Nancy) did this kind of thing professionally because it was sooooo well done!  They worked together like a well oiled machine!  The food was amazing and DELISH, the decorations were adorable and just too cute for words!!!!  THANK YOU also to my Mom and my Aunt Edie for all their help and contributions too!  My girls and I are truly soooo blessed to have such a wonderful loving family!

Wedding Showers and Baby Showers are always such wonderful events because there is just sooo much love in the room at each event.... however.... I gotta say.... I think Baby Showers are lots more fun because everything is so darn cute, cuddly, and soft!  The games played at such events are of the 'much giggling' kind, and definitely not for the timid or shy.  The games are meant to be silly and evoke lots of laughter.... this shower definitely hit the mark on this!

I have been the hostess of several showers in my lifetime, so I know how much work and thought is involved in putting on such a great party.  You start with a theme... then you decide on the menu, games, prizes and decorations that are needed.  Just gathering and purchasing the items needed for a shower is exhausting... much less the work of all the cooking and putting up of the decorations!

At the shower event this weekend all you saw when you looked around the room were smiling happy faces having a wonderful time!  There were four VERY pregnant young women in attendance (two of which were the guests of honor) and all four young ladies looked completely normal from the back view, but when they turned around all you saw was HUGE bellies of baby.... hilarious!!!  Also in attendance were an 18 month old toddler, a 5 month old infant, and a week old newborn.... there were Momma hormones all over that room!!!!  All the baby bellies got rubbed, patted, kissed and talked to.... a couple of times the bellies responded with kicks and movement to the joys of those whose hands were caressing the bellies at the moment!  The toddler, infant and newborn all got lots of attention as well.... there were plenty of arms, laps and bosoms in the room that wanted to hold, comfort and cuddle the wee ones!

Time is drawing quite near when the babies will start arriving.... in fact... I'm 20 days away from flying to Akron to await the arrival of our first Grandson Henry!  The countdown has officially begun... and it's less than a month away!!!  YIKES!!!  And only 48 days from when I fly to Cincinnati for our second Grandson Liam's arrival!  The time will fly by and it won't be long until my blog posts are full of funny, cute and sweet stories of what these babies have done, or are doing.  YES!!!!  Beware!!!  You have been warned!!!  I AM going to be one of those Grandma's that think everything these babies do is just too precious not to share!!  :  )

Again.... THANK YOU BUNCHES to all who gave their time and effort to show my girls and I how much we are loved and how much these new additions will be loved too!  You are the BESTEST!!!!!