Tea Time and 29

Royal Albert (Old Country Roses)

Today was my birthday, so I wanted to share a bit of that in today's post. For my birthday, I received my china dream come true: an Old Country Roses set from Royal Albert! It actually took up residence in our home on the 4th of July when Nick took me to pick out the patten I wanted, but being a more traditional person, I didn't allow myself to use it until my official birthday today! :) To go along with the beautiful china, I broke out the sample of Harney and Son's, "Birthday Tea" blend that I purchased with my last order. I was saving it especially for my birthday to have something to look forward to. 

This is a unique blend to say the least. Upon opening the package I thought I was really going to dislike this tea because it smells a bit reminiscent of children's cough syrup. After brewing it however, everything steeped into a wonderful, fruity tea with a gorgeous red color. So, don't let the initial scent before brewing throw you off to this tea if you are wanting to try it. Once steeped, it's quite lovely. The ingredients are listed as: Hibiscus, rosehips, decaf Ceylon, raspberry flavor, blueberry flavor, pomegranate flavor, vanilla flavor, spearmint, peppermint, marigold petals, cornflowers, natural and artificial flavors. 

Overall, I'm enjoying this tea. I'm currently winding down the day with another cup of it. While it is good, there are others prefer more, so this won't be a repurchase for me right now. This would make a cute addition to a birthday gift for any tea lover though. The full size comes in a fun, colorful tin with 20 sachets and you can order it from the Harney and Sons website. This sample I used is loose-leaf, which I prefer. 

The ride on the way to dinner earlier. One of my favorite things about Summer,  is the lush green trees that line the roads. (I wasn't driving.) 

Birthday shenanigans with Nick.❤️

Annual birthday picture with Ranger and Mykelti. 🐶

Birthday goodies from my love and the furbabies. 

Tea & Tunes Tuesday!

For tea time today, I'm sharing the one that I've been enjoying most recently. This blend is, "Paris" from Harney and Sons. It's a delicious black, loose-leaf tea. I drink this one straight without adding anything to it. It is such a delicious, well-rounded tea. It is a black tea with hints of a slightly fruity note. It contains vanilla, caramel, and bergamot, and tastes a bit like a fruity Earl Grey tea. 

I typically steep this for 5 minutes. As you can see, the bag is empty, and this tea was well loved! This was a $2 loose-leaf sample I purchased from their website during an order several months ago. Let's just say it was excellent, and I have already repurchased it! I do find that their loose-leaf teas taste better to me than their tea sachets, so that is my preference when purchasing them. 

This tea is also available in decaf as well, so you can enjoy either the normal caffeinated tea, or decaf if that is what you prefer. I highly recommend this blend! 

For music today, I'm loving, "Bloom" from The Paper Kites. 

Ten Things Tuesday

1. It's the simple things in life: cup of tea, a good laugh, nice company, funny movie, my puppies, so on....that make me really happy!

I took these tonight. Aren't they cuties?!
Mykelti, Rosie, and Ranger

2. I'm currently burning Candles by Victoria's "Cinnamon Gingerbread Latte" candle. It smells amazing! I plan to do a "wax review" video on it soon.

3. Hair clips are bad hair day saviors!

4. My dogs enjoy chasing the laser pointer more than my cats. It's so funny to watch them bounding around the house trying to chase after the little red light that they think is a bug!

5. When I went to the doctor yesterday, the receptionist called out a lady with the exact same name as my sister. So of course, I stood up and looked around for my sister, only to realize the lady just coincidentally had the same name as her. (Slightly embarrassing!)

6. I'm obsessed with Harney & Son's Hot Cinnamon Tea! I highly recommend it to all of you out there who adore tea as much as I do! 

(You can pick it up in the cafe section of Barnes & Noble bookstores.)

7. Today I got fitted for braces for both of my wrists. I'm supposed to wear them when I sleep and during the day. Apparently, my immune system is attacking my nerve endings in a rather painful way, so having braces on my wrists might help a bit. We shall see if they're worth the annoyance! 

8. I love quirky, whimsical coffee mugs! I'm planning on doing a video/blog post soon to show you all some of my very favorite ones. 

9. After a lot of tears and soul-searching, I've decided that I would rather keep my friends few and genuine, than have unnecessary fake, toxic friendships that do not add to the quality, joy, and happiness of my life. It's a tough lesson to learn, and even harder to cut the metaphoric string when you care about someone. When they continually cause you more grief than happiness though, it is  the right thing to do when you really look at the big picture. True friendship is not selfish. It should add joy and happiness to your life. A true friend should be there to be build you up out of love and care, not cause you misery. Life is just too short for drama. The older I become, the more I've discovered that I'd just rather not have any, nor associate myself with it. On that same note, I've also grown to appreciate and cherish the sincere, amazing friendships that I do have. They're such wonderful blessings in my life! 

10. Am I the only person out there who is absolutely going crazy to see the movie, "Warm Bodies"? I think it looks adorable! The previews remind me a bit of the, "My Boyfriend's Back" movie that came out in the 90's.