Tis the season.....

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Tis the season to be jolly... roasting chestnuts on an open fire, sleigh bells ringing, parties, friendly gatherings, gift giving, and a host of other joyous activities.  With festivities like these in the air, why are we all so stressed. 

There is a wide range of stressful holiday experiences. From difficulty in finding parking at the crowded malls to the loneliness of spending that first Christmas without a departed love one... feeling guilty about the gifts we cannot afford to give... the fatigue...feeling anxious about an addictive family member's behavior... children shuttled between divorced parents or worse yet, forgotten. The list of stresses can go on, but you get the idea.

All the holiday advertising portrays the spirit of Christmas as something that can be wrapped into the perfect little package and that your life can spark if you just give this one gift.  These ads affect our emotions, our behavior, our attitudes and our self-esteem.

The positive side to all this is we have choices.  We can choose to reduce our "holiday stress" by making the right choices for ourselves and not the advertisements. Perhaps limiting some of your commitments, sticking to reasonable budgets, avoid excessive eating and drinking, working out, and sleeping might make things a bit more dazzling.

Take time to enjoy this time of year by choosing something more simple.  Try sipping tea or hot chocolate by the fire and reading, go for a walk in the woods especially after a snow fall, or have lunch with a friend.  And when was the last time you played in the snow!

   

Nature is so good to us.

                               I love all the colors and tastes of fall.

In the beginning....

The beginning, a point in which all things must begin. To begin can be exciting, fresh and, at times,  uncomfortable.  In fact, it may take us completely out of our element or confuse us as to which path we should choose. We can research, develop and follow a plan only to change the path we have chosen and realize the beginning is not always about making the right choices, but rather making the choice to learn, grow and evolve from the choices we have made.

Drink T began conceptually several years ago when I was blessed to have a memorable cup of lavender tea while vacationing in Europe.  I spent a lot of time visiting as many tea houses as I could sampling tea.  After returning to the United States I continued my search only to realize good tea was not as appreciated as it was in other parts of the world.  I began collecting thoughts, ideas, sketches, pictures and recipes which I placed neatly into a binder.  Not sure as to what I would do with the binder I kept collecting.  Time after time I stayed with what I knew, what was comfortable; interior design and architectural sales.

Months would go by and I would pull out this binder to review its contents. Sometimes discarding ideas and adding new ones.  Life's path took me in many directions sometimes adding travelers along the way, like my two children Austin and Lauren, friends and family.   Then one day while traveling a new path, a gentle breeze carried two leaves and a bud where they landed into a cup I was holding with a message.... OK so there was no breeze carrying tea leaves with a message, but I had to lighten things up a bit. The truth of the matter was this binder with all this stuff just kept bringing me back to the lavender cup of tea.  The history, the thought process, the art, the appreciation of a substance whose intention is to be savored and to nourish our bodies was something I wanted to be apart of and celebrate.

And celebrate I did.  I began a very lengthy journey learning and discovering tea.  I read, attended seminars, consulted with tea aficionados and anything else I could do to learn about tea.  I started to research the growers and their estates or gardens tasting my way through some of the most savory and not so savory tea I have ever had.  The more tea I cupped the more I learned.  The more I learned the more I wanted to share. 

I hope you will join Drink T and discover the world of exceptional savory tea as we discover, learn and share together all that tea and each other have to offer.  Let each day be a celebration.  Go ahead and drink from the fine china you have been saving for a special day.

Cheers!