Teas I'm Loving Right Now

It's Friday y'all, but no Fab Friday Faves today (I seriously have not left the house all week so I don't have very many favorites).  Instead I thought I would share some of my favorite teas of the moment.  I'm still really into the warm, wintery teas (by the way the weather is in Florida, it will be cold enough for them for a couple more months!) most of these teas are available to order online or in your local stores, so give them a try, they are all delicious! 

David's Tea is probably my favorite tea company.  It is a Canadian company, but slowly stores are popping up in the US, mostly in the North.  Of course you can always order online, but it is so nice to  be able to smell and try the teas in person.  If you are traveling through Canada, Toronto airport has an awesome location (and it's really close to A&W!)  My favorite teas of their's right now are Candy Crush (a candy cane chocolate blend), Caramel Shortbread (I got a small pack of this for Christmas and really need to order more, I don't love Caramel but this is amazing). You really can't go wrong with anything at David's tea, I haven't met a flavor I didn't like.

Caramel Shortbread

Candy Crush

When I lived in the NYC area, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf was one of my go to places for a hot drink while walking around the city.  Now every now and then, when I'm lucky I will run into one in an airport.  My go to was always their Winter Dream Latte and the Strawberry Green Tea latte. (also both really good iced).  I have made several orders over the years for these 2 teas, and have also bought their vanilla powder to make the lattes (of course they are never quite as good).  The teas on their own are so good though you don't need it.  The Strawberry Cream is a light refreshing green tea and the Winter Dreams is pretty much how it sounds, a dream of black tea with cinnamon and cloves. 

 Tiesta Tea is a pretty popular brand that in the US, you can get at a lot of grocery stores and Target.  I love a lot of their tea, but right now I am drinking this green tea that is so flavorful and tropical.  I try to have a cup of green tea every morning instead of another cup of coffee.  Their teas are marketed to help with certain things like this Slenderizer, Relaxer and Immunity.  You can also buy pre made bottles of their iced teas now as well and they are delicious!

Celestial Bengal Spice is my mom's favorite tea so I always have some kicking around and I love it before bed time.  It's a very spicy dark tea that instantly makes me feel relaxed and warm.  Its very similar to a Chai and is delicious with some milk too. 

Trader Joe's is obviously one of my favorite places to shop, and every now and then they bring out a new tea that I have to try.  Recently they came out with these two, Harvest blend (similar to the Bengal Spice) and Well rested (this tea is magic for making me sleepy).

Yogi Tea is another really popular brand with a ton of flavors, but I am loving this Green Tea Kombucha right now.  Nothing super special about it just a really good tasting green tea.

Twinings is a classic brand and you can never go wrong with it. Their green tea lemon has always been one of my go to favorites. 

Living in Florida, Sweet Tea is like a religion.  I don't like my Sweet Tea overly sweet so I love Southern Breeze Sweet Tea.   They have several different flavors, lightly pre-sweetened for really reasonable prices.  They have a great Instagram account too with lots of contests and deals.

I recently discovered a little tea shop just down the road in Dunedin. Flying Cloud has a huge selection of over 120 teas and so far I haven't tried one I didn't like. They also have a really cute little store filled with fun tea accessories and they do tea pairings and tea parties.  Here are 3 of my favorite winter teas.  They do ship or you could just ask me to go get some and send it. 

Does anyone have any tea recommendations for me? I'm always looking to try new ones! 

Fab Friday Faves 1.11.19

Happy Friday everyone!  Just a quick check in, since its been a few weeks since a FFF.  Not much new here to report, I've been taking down Christmas decorations, playing with the foster bunnies (see below), and trying to get back into the swing of things after the holidays.  Josh has been quite sick with a cold for about a week now, he is on the mend after a trip to the doctor on Wednesday (he didn't have a choice, I was over the sleepless nights).  Everyone have a great weekend!  Its been a bit chilly here again but this weekend is going to be absolutely perfect weather and I can't wait to enjoy it!  Oh and I almost forgot, a very happy birthday tomorrow to my Auntie Lorri!

We all saw that I got new hair, if you are on my Facebook or Instagram, but I don't think I shared my new glasses! I wanted a new pair to wear so I stop wrecking my tiffany glasses, and just for a change.   They are so cute, and they are a big change.



These are our new foster bunnies, Thomas and Oreo from Tampa Bay House Rabbit Rescue.  They are unbelievably sweet and well trained AND as much as I adore them, they are looking for their forever home, together. They love snuggles and exploring and snacking!



Even though I am sure most of you have seen it, I have to post my hair because, it's awesome.



This is just my 2018 Top Nine from Instagram.  Some fun memories from the beach, Saskatchewan, the Caribbean Festival, free Mac lipstick, Smudge and ice cream with Josh.



This one is a double whammy... My awesome new hat from MotherTrucker Co..  And its super cool even if you don't get the Merle Haggard reference.  Also the New Cinnamon Shortbread latte from Starbucks is really good!



January nails, just some beautiful merlot and some gold sparkle.  Classic!



Here are a few of my favorite nature-y pictures from the last couple weeks.  Brooker Creek Preserve this morning, Honeymoon Island sunrise a few days ago along with my shell haul from that morning and 2 Red Shoulder hawks on the fence by the school across the street on a foggy morning.

Today I'm linking up with:

/ Bright On A Budget / A Little Bit of Everything / Style Elixir /

*Recipe* Bacon & Cheddar Grits Quiche

For Christmas this year, for just Josh and I, I decided to try something different for my Christmas morning breakfast.  Breakfast after opening presents is pretty much my favorite thing ever, so it always has to be something epic.  Normally I do Wivesaver Breakfast, but I thought I would switch it up.  I am a huge Quiche fan, I have tried Quiche in different countries, homemade, different fillings, crust, no crust and when I saw this one with baked grits as the crust, I HAD to try it.  Grits are one of both me and Josh's favorite breakfast foods (funny probably 7 years ago neither of us had tried them) so it was a no brainer.  Doing all the steps correctly takes a little time, and it is NOT light on the calories,  but so worth it... If I do say so myself, the best Quiche I've ever had.

Ingredients

• 6 thick slices of bacon
• 2 1/4 cups milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup uncooked stone ground grits
• 2 tsp salt, divided
• 1 tsp black pepper, divided
• 2 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
• 6 large eggs
• 2 1/2 cups half and half
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup sliced green onion

Directions

Step 1

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Heat bacon in a skillet or in the oven until crispy. Drain and crumble. 
• Transfer 2 tsp of bacon drippings to a saucepan.

Step 2

• Bring drippings, milk and butter to a boil over medium heat.
• Gradually stir in grits, 1tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper; whisking constantly, 15 minutes or until very thick.
• Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes.
• Stir in 1 cup of cheese, let stand 10 minutes. 
• Stir in 1 egg, spread into a 9 inch springform pan coated in cooking spray (I just used a ceramic pie plate).

Step 3

• Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until set and browned.
• Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cup cheese over warm grits. spreading to edges.
• Let stand 15 minutes. 

Step 4

• Reduce oven temp to 325.
• Combine half and half, cream, onions and remaining 5 eggs, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper.
• Pour over grits and sprinkle with crumbled bacon.
• Place pan on foil lined baking sheet.

Step 5

• Bake at 325 for 1 hour 15 mins or until lightly browned and just set. 
• Let stand 20 minutes.
• Run a sharp knife around the edges of of Quiche and remove sides of pan or if using pie plate, just cut into pieces).
• enjoy!

I forgot to mention that I only made half the recipe.  Half is enough for 3 people.  I also did all but step 4 and 5 Christmas Eve and the rest in the morning to save time.

Christmas 2018

Well, another one in the books, Christmas 2018 has come and gone and even though we didn't have any family visiting we had a pretty great day.  Presents, a delicious breakfast and the beach.  I also went pretty all out with there Christmas decorations in the house.  It was quite shocking how many decorations I actually have, having them all in the same spot for the first time.  They house is so cozy I really don'e want to take everything down!  I thought I would share the decorations, my gifts and some photos from the day if anyone is interested!  I hope everyone had an amazing NYE and all the best in 2019!

I love our Christmas tree/fireplace/mantle area this year!  It was so cozy, and it is cold enough in Florida this year to make good use of the fireplace. In The second picture you can also see the Santa and reindeer I added on to the fireplace door using Chalk Couture paint and stencils.

This was the first tree I put up and probably my favorite.  It was decorated with all sea and beach themed ornaments, and with a garland I made of shells.  I really am considering never taking this one down! 

Thank you to everyone for the Christmas cards!  We broke a record this year for sure and I love getting cards!

I made this little snowman from some leftover Halloween pumpkins and he turned out so well.  I used sea glass for the eyes and mouth, an Olive shell for the nose, Turban shells for the buttons and some driftwood for the arms.

This is my bedroom tree, and its the first time I've had a bedroom, AND I will never not have one!  It was so relaxing and pretty to lay and look at. and yes there is also garland on the headboard.  

This is my little Peanuts musical set.  Check out the video, its so cute!  I got the 4 human characters and lights at Hallmark last year during Christmas clearance.  Josh got me Snoopy this year as part of my Christmas present.

A bit of my snow globe collection.  The 2018 one was a gift from Josh and I got the Snoopy one on clearance at CVS on Boxing Day.

I bought a set of 250 snowflakes and put them on almost every window and light fixture.  They look so pretty.  

Smudge in her Christmas toque.

Mom got me this candle years ago, and it smelled so good I was saving it.  I decided to light it this year and I never knew there was this beautiful Pinecone in it!

I love my little Charlie Brown Christmas tree on the breakfast nook table!  And you can see my Christmas cactuses pre-bloom behind it.

My stairwell Christmas tree and one of my ceramic trees.

Entryway.

This is the gorgeous table runner that my mom made for me last year.  So in love with it, I wish I didn't have to put it away.

We did pretty well outside this year, but after Christmas I went to Walmart and bought all the lights so next year will be epic.  You can also see my blow up Snoopy, one of my gifts from Stephanie and Steve.  In the nighttime picture you can see one of the projectors we had out.   We had another one but it was almost impossible to take a picture of.

Some more Chalk Couture on the door (the snowflakes and truck), the sign I made at Aerie Lane, and  both of my homemade wreaths. 

My pink Christmas cactus that waited until the 26th to bloom.  The White one bloomed on the 30th.

Our coffee table with the Christmas coasters my mom made.

I made some Pillsbury Hot Cocoa buns Christmas Eve.  They were delicious and they look so cute in this pan.

We did our Christmas dinner on Christmas eve so I didn't have to cook all day of Christmas Day.

We went to Indian Trails on Christmas eve (one of the top 10 neighborhoods in the US for Christmas lights) and these are a couple faves. 

Christmas morning:

Smudge trying out her new blanket.


Some stocking stuffers:

Necklaces from mom

All My Chrissy stuff.

Watch from the Marstons

Stuff from Stephanie and Steve. got my Maine mug finally!

Awesome stuff from Miranda and the gorgeous ring that was in the bath bomb.  Really hard to take a good picture of it but I love it.

Toothbrush and Snorkel gear from Josh.

Got a few mugs!

my 2 favorite David's teas from Michelle

Best margarita glass ever from my parents

And the best tea pot from my parents.

The piece de resistance, 4 bags of loads of ketchup from Michelle.

And a pretty sign from Michelle.

Mean Girls flamingo bag and tea towel from mom and cute tank top from Nicole.

Silk pillow case from Josh.

Managed to remember to include the deep freeze from my parents.

We got awesome beach chairs from Stephanie and Steve.

I know I missed some gifts and various gift cards, ornaments and my teapot (previously seen on my blog) from grandma. Thank you to everyone for everything, I am so grateful!

And NYE in Palm Harbor!