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

Thursday, December 15, 2011

My Thanksgiving Adventure!

The week of  Thanksgiving I had two wonderful things happen, my BFF Markeeda came for Thanksgiving for the first time and I had the opportunity to test drive a Buick La Crosse for the entire week.

They both were a hoot. The Buick afforded me the chance to do some things with Markeeda that I wouldn't have been able to, like shopping Black Friday. Now this was  my first time shopping Black Friday and it was a hoot. Shopping at 3 A.M. is surreal.

While spending time with Markeeda is always wonderful, I wasn't sure what to expect from the La Crosse since for the most  part, I've been a foreign Luxury car driver. It's no secret that I gave up my Jaguar, now two years ago, so the chance to just even have a car I saw as a blessing.

I must admit, from the moment they pulled up with the car I was bright eye. At first glance I was impressed with the sleek body of this car. It was fit for a Diva! Black on black was perfect, especially since black is my favorite color.  Sophie loved it too might I add!

Ok, so I'm not going to pretend that I know all these fancy things about cars cause I don't. I'm your stereotypical woman when it comes to that. But I gotta tell you I like this car! It reminded me of my Jaguar. The ride was smooth like a luxury car, but it had pick up when need be. It handled well in the rain, It didn't skid not one time.  That was a blessing because my BMW would skid in a second.

Oh and I loved the XM radio and so did Markeeda, she just lit up when she saw it. We used the GPS on Black Friday to get us to Kohl's and it was very easy to program. Yes, I went to Kohl's and fell in love with the Vera Wang Collection. Well, honestly, that's the only department I visited while there.

The features that I loved the most on this La Crosse were the side view mirrors adjusting on their own when I was parking, the radar telling me  I'm too close to another car when I'm parking and OMG that feature in the side view mirror telling me how close other cars are to me was the bomb.com. For me that blind spot is the worst thing about driving. Switching lanes in a blind spot is not cute.

I tweeted a lot about the car, you can follow my tweets on the hash tag #RLTDrives. I was delighted to learn that Buick even has a Customer Care Service on Twitter. Tweet them anytime and ask anything. I had a couple of people who said to me, that they love the car, but could not see paying the money for an American Car. They got a blank stare from outer space on that one.

So you think this car is the kind of quality you want in a car, but you prefer to help foreign economies rather than our own? Nothing wrong with helping foreign economies don't get me wrong, but gee.

 I don't understand the logic. You asked American car companies to do better, they meet your request but yet you can't see supporting them? That seems to be fools logic to me.

Any who, I simply loved this Buick La Crosse! I only saw one area of improvement that was needed, the trunk was smaller than I liked. Other than that, this car is a winner! But don't take my word. If you are shopping for a car, check it out.

I know one thing, it certainty helped to make my Thanksgiving weekend an adventure and in style might I add!






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