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

Saturday, August 11, 2012

#TeamMulu *Throws Confetti*

I joined Mulu and I'm addicted already! So I'm #teammulu! Team Who? What? Well, Blogher12 was a wealth of knowledge and I'll be filling in the details next week.

Anyhoo, walking the exhibit I met a ton of people who talked to me about making money through my blog. Ok so I got connected with Mulu. It's sort of like Pinterest but ummm sooo much better because you can earn money from it.

My Mulu Sale Diva Collection!
So you become your own curator of collections and if people click the link and buy the item you get a small percentage. How cool is that? It's an affiliate program for everyone! You can set up your Mulu shop to donate to a cause or to umm donate to your own Diva fund!

So I set up my Mulu store and I have something for everyone. This is a cool way to support me and my work. Y'all know I'm a one woman show and everything helps to keep me afloat in the work that I do.

So I have everything from tea, books to bath products. Y'all know how I love body cream.  And I have the best clothes picks. You can get all the RLT Reads Picks and the books I think are the best reads ever. You know that you were gonna buy them anyway, why not buy through my Mulu store?

Now, Markeeda told me that I needed to put some clothes up that people can actually afford and not just look at the pictures. *RME* Ok, Ok, Ok, I got over myself and I tried to keep it real, for real. So my Sale Diva, Grab Them Now collection are sale items I've found, but you gotta act quickly before it sells out!  How cool is that, I'm doing all the leg work for you. All you have to do it click and buy.

I even have a Budget Diva Store, RLT Classics and Seasonal picks and YES, I have over the top Diva picks! There is even a RLT Wish list in case I have a secret admirer. Sophie even has a collection of her fav things that you may want to try for your doggie. I will add weekly and keep my store fresh!

Ok, so I sort of wanta keep Mulu to myself and just have you buy from my store because it's hard out here for a pimp... #ForReal #ForReal and  Lawd knows I need every percent I can get.

But the truth of the matter, I'm just not that selfish. You can also set up your own Mulu Store, just Click Here and get started. You don't need to have a blog, you can simply let your friends know your Mulu URL once you get set up! If they like what you like, it's a match made in heaven. You can earn the money for your Fav charity or your own Diva Fund.

For me, I am my own charity. I don't have any sponsors or big funders behind me, so any funds I make through any of Social Media helps to keep my Social Media efforts around HIV/AIDS going.

Bottom Line, My Mulu Store helps to put food on my table so I can have the energy to keep all this knowledge coming that I give you on the blog!

That's real talk! People be on something when they want me to donate to other AIDS causes. God bless everyone's ministry but my internet to write these blogs has to be paid too!

So you can join Mulu or you can support my Mulu at my store. Either way, check it out and spread the word. Click Here! Also, other ways you can support me, is to Tweet and Pinterest items you like from my Mulu Shop to give me a little PR... 

My store is http://Mulu.me/RaeLT happy pinning, happy shopping! Also there is a Mulu link in the right bar of my blog... Just click there....
at 3:15 PM
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