Fun and FlirTea

Have you ever experienced something so awesome that when you got back to your regular life, everything else just sort of fell off the wagon for you? Well, that’s where I’ve been the past couple of weeks.

I had such a wonderful time exploring the UK, meeting people, and visiting old friends that when I got back to the US and my job, I became consumed with doing my job and nothing else. But now it’s back to business and being awesome!

Today I’ll tell you about a fun tea shop I discovered in Warwick (a small town relatively near Birmingham to give you a vague geographic location). Attached to the Lord Leycester Hospital, a now-museum historic building in Warwick, I walked into the tea room about 5 minutes before they were scheduled to close. I felt bad and asked if it would be possible to get a cuppa despite the time and they were extremely gracious to allow me to take my time. Still feeling bad, I decided to just order a simple English Breakfast so I wouldn’t have to inconvenience them further. (more…)

Hey-yo! Here I am, typing this post away from merry old England! It has been quite a ride so far, to say the least.

It’s been difficult to find the focus I need for this first post of my adventures. Part of it is that many of my adventures so far have been within pubs and restaurants, not in tea shops. In fact, there has not been a single day on my trip so far that does not feature me in a pub having a few drinks. Literally.

I was interested to find, when wandering about London, that tea shops are not nearly as common as I had hoped. There were quite a few coffee shops, but most of those simply had a selection of bagged Twinings behind the counter, and I’ve already had plenty enough of that to be satisfied. To be fair, I hadn’t exactly done advance research into tea shops around London, so I was wandering blind.

I did go to the British Museum and, in the Japan section, found a really neat set of old tea tools and a mock-up tea room. They were very cool! (more…)

I know I don’t normally put any commentary on my Friday Photos, but today I shall! Just a fun note to highlight the fact that I’m totally posting this quote today on purpose because I’m currently in England! So look forward to some posts about British tea shops and adventures in the coming weeks!

Image by Hallie Torrey
Quote source

Wow folks. Sorry I’ve disappeared all of a sudden! I will be updating things here more thoroughly soon, but I just wanted to give a quick post to let you know I’m still here and Fun and FlirTea is still rolling!

The past couple of weeks at work have been NUTS, to say the least. I’ve been working on a project for the past number of months where my California-based online store is creating a website in the same category for the UK. This site just had its soft launch on Monday and I’m currently gearing up to head to the UK to work for a week or so and then attend the wedding of two dear friends of mine.

What this has meant is extra long hours in the office, working from home most evenings and weekends, and the rest of my time is spent organizing everything for my impending trip and trying to get enough sleep.

In any case, I’m planning to get a bunch of Monday NovelTeas lined up for the next few weeks and will likely be posting from the UK with random tea thoughts and insights, maybe even some tea shop reviews!

Also, sorry for the downtime! In my crazy life, I didn’t get my emails in time with the information I needed to update to bring the site back up sooner. Things will be better after this!

This week, I’ve been a bit behind on stuff. I kept thinking, “What should I write about for Fun and FlirTea?” when it hit me… The reason I’ve been so behind is because I’m busy enjoying my life. So why not write about what that means? As much as I love tea, and as much as it is a major component to many of my most enjoyable times, I also have a lot else going on in my life.

[On a slight sidebar: I recently posted on my personal blog about balancing my personal and work lives and how it's more difficult now that I enjoy my job more. Someone commented about how they don't see why there needs to be a distinction if I like my job. Just because I like my job doesn't mean it should be the only thing in my life. I feel the same way about tea and other such pleasures.]

In any case! Since you all already are fully aware of my penchant for tea, it’s time I shared a little about the other pleasures in my life.

1. Watching a good TV show

I’m notorious for getting entirely too caught up in a good TV show. Especially if it’s already got multiple episodes or seasons out. I start watching from the beginning and just can’t seem to stop watching. There are even a few that I re-watch the entirety of periodically (I just re-watched Buffy and Avatar: The Last Airbender - also in that realm are Gilmore Girls, Firefly, and more!). I’m also big into Game of Thrones and spent last night catching up on the most recent 3 episodes (so goooooood). Not to mention my deep, abiding love for Doctor Who and the new BBC Sherlock. Excellent! And addicting. SO ADDICTING.

2. Reading a good book

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