I don't quite remember when I fell in love with tea but I do remember the most special moments of me drinking tea. I was eighteen years old and I went to live with my biological mother for four months. I had just met her months earlier and it was awkward for both of us. She and her ex-husband lived a very quiet life in Boulder, Colorado. He was a professor at one of the universities and she was a housewife. After years of drug addiction and being in and out of jail, she deserved the break. I was homeless so she and her husband agreed to let me come live with them. Each evening my mother and I would find a spot in the living room with a cup of tea and a book.

Now, years later, I'm a self proclaimed tea expert. I start each day with a wonderful English Breakfast tea to get me going. As the day progresses, who knows what wonderful tea I will crown queen. But for sure, I have at least three cups of tea a day. And yes, when I can, I have tea everyday at about 3:00 P. M. I love to invite my friends over for tea and cupcakes and so far everyone thinks it’s a delightful experience. I am always in search of the best blend of tea. Yes, I’m a tea snob, I prefer loose tea but I do like some bags also. I have learned not to judge a book by it’s cover. Some bags can be quite nice. And yes again, any Diva knows, what you drink your tea out of is very important.

Tea for me is a way of life. It's wellness for the mind body and spirit. Here, I will explore every expect of tea possible, with a high concentration on wellness. I will review the best teas, the best places to have tea, the best ways to brew tea, the best tea accessories, what tea goes best with what foods, and the list goes on and on. I plan to share my passion for tea with you. And I've been told, nothing I do is ever boring so be prepared to go on this tea journey with me.





RLT Collection Tea Ball Frosted Clear Beads!

Mint Medley by The Persimmon Tree Tea Company

About This Tea:

Until recently I had never drank Peppermint Tea made with loose leaves. And Honestly, I will probably never go back. The freshness of loose Peppermint Tea cannot be denied. When I open the can of Mint Medley, From The Persimmon Tree Tea Company, I feel as if I stepped into a garden of peppermint leaves. It is a perfect blend of organic peppermint and spearmint leaves grown in the US.

Mint Medley has become a favorite and I find myself reaching for this tea tin almost everyday. It is great for on-going nausea. The health benefits and endless. It relieves muscle aches, headaches, migraines, stress. And now that it feels like someone is sitting on my chest and I have a mean cough, I'm sure it will help to relieve some of this congestion in my chest. Mint Medley has been in my tea cup more than any tea as of late. It has really helped with my winter cough, congestion related to this bout of pneumonia. You can read my full review on The Persimmon Tree Tea Company Mint Teas.


RLT Collection AIDS Awareness Tea Ball!




Welcome to my world of books! As an pre-teen books changed my world. I fell in love with the writers of the Harlem Renaissance period and the more I read the more I wanted to read. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It spoke to my own degradation and gave me hope for a better tomorrow. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

I love to read! Inside a book I escape into someone else's life. There is something wonderful about turning to the next page of a wonderful story. Something intoxicating about the smell of the book and the story it brings to life. Reading brings me joy, and these days with my health in the balance, I find solace in my books.

I spent hours in my bedroom sequestered with the door closed reading the classics from the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes, Larsen, Hurston, Wright and Baldwin. Books became my escape and my salvation. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

Reading is the one thing that the pain of my life could never take away from me. It was the thing that helped to make it better. And even today, living with AIDS, books continue to be the safest place for me. It’s the one thing that belongs to me that AIDS cannot take away from me.The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS.

The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS. I have read hundreds of books from many different genres and I will pick the best of my reads over the years. I warn you, it will not be exclusively white or black, male or female, fiction or non fiction, it will be all of them.

I’m so excited and I’m grateful to everyone who wants to be a part of this venture. We already have 110 Book Club Members. You can email me @ RLTReads@raelewisthornton.com. The Twitter hashtag is #RLTReads. We can make this book club as wonderful as we want to make it. Who says that Oprah has to have the only ownership to a wonderful book club?

This Month We are Reading In My Fathers House by E Lynn Harris


Read along and join our discussion July 19th at 7 pm CST







For more Tea with Rae "Vlogs" Click here to visit her youtube channel

Friday, December 31, 2010

My Last Say In 2010 From My Heart!

Today is the last day of the year and I'm so freaking excited that I'm up at 5:30 a.m. writing a freaking blog. But I couldn't shut my mind down to fall back to sleep so here I am giving you my last thoughts of the year. First, I want to say THANK YOU! Your support this year has been overwhelming. We are nine months into this blog project and by everyone's standards, it has been a whopping success. I could not have done it without you... It's true, #IcanntdoitAlone. I Heart You!!!

So now that I've given you your roses, let me give you a  reality check.  On Twitter I've created a hashtag #FuckinFriday. It's the day when people fuck without thinking. Now you combine #FuckinFriday with this being the last day of the year, I smell double trouble. Yes I know some of you have big plans for the night. Yes Lawd! And I know gettin that last lovin of the out-going year and new lovin for the next year is on the top of your list. STOP lying, if you can get you "some" tonight, you will.

I want to remind you that HIV is lurking in a whole lot of penises and vaginas. You can't see HIV cause it's on the inside of the good stuff between their legs. Yes it is! I been when you doing that thag it seems like the best thing in this freaking world. And, Oh Lawd, if your lover really knows what they're doing, you're think you are in heaven. STOP lying, this is real talk #ForReal #ForReal.

The thing is, you can't see HIV, that Bitch is invisible but it is lurking around seeking to devour and destroy. Yes, I've done the best I could with what I got, as with most people with HIV, but this is not the life I would have chosen for myself.  But, it's a fact... if I coulda, woulda, shoulda, don't mean a damn thing in the real world. This is the only life you got! If you fuck around and become infected with HIV, you will alter the course of your life forever!!!!!

And don't tell me you are in a monogamous relationship or that your man/woman lovessss you! That's some shit you have made yourself believe. If the penis ain't in your pocket, you have no idea what it's doing when it ain't with you.

To have sex without a condom and you are not married, you are a FUCKIN fool! And I believe that there is no man, women, pussy or dick worth your life. No one can fuck good enough that I would want to get HIV. Bullshit ain't nothing! So wrap it up tonight!

Be prepared, while you out shopping for that fabulous ensemble, pop into the drug store and buy some condoms. And ladies, if your man say they are to tight, well, Lifestyles sells super sizes. There is NO excuse. I'm pleading with you to bring the old year out how I would want to you, to want to live in the new year. Loving yourself enough to keep yourself safe. It's not enough to love and support me. You must love yourself enough to do right by yourself. I do what I do so you will never have to live this hard ass life.

If you have never used a condom with your partner, tell them, explain, you are bringing in the new year in how you want to live for the rest of the year. I promise you, If you give your partner a choice, NO sex or sex with a condom, they will say yes. And if they don't, then why are you fuckin someone who does not respect the choices you are making about your body. The fact is, 38% of all newly infected persons are infected by people who didn't know they were infected. The fact is, every 9 1/2 minutes a person becomes infected with HIV in the United States. Don't let that person be you tonight! Use a Fuckin CONDOM!!

See you right here, next year!!! Love you!!

RLT Up-Dates:
RLT Reads Book Club: Save the date! January 12, 2011 7pm cst, 8pm est,  will be the first discussion of our first book, What Looks Like Crazy On an Ordinary Day. I am in the process of setting up a chat room on the blog for the on-line discussion. I will announce the next book the same week. It will be a pick in honor of Black History Month. We will discuss it at the end of February.

Tea With Rae: Everyone who has entered this raffle to have High Tea with me so far is from out of town. I know there must be someone in Chicago who wants to have this experience. High Tea at the Peninsula one on one with me. But you cannot win if you do not enter... So stop putting it off before the deadline passes you by.





at 6:33 AM
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