Tea art and Lovejoy's Tea Room in San Francisco

Hi tea lovers!


This weekend my boyfriend and I went to Lovejoy's Tea Room in San Francisco for a rare treat. I discovered the tea room online by accident a few weeks ago  and wanted to go, but noticed there were no open reservations for 3 weeks. We put our names in and the day finally arrived, we drove up to the city from the peninsula and got really lucky with the parking and walked right into a tea wonderland. Every space in the building was decorated with tea related items. I must have seen 300 teacups in that room. The decor was amazing, but the best was yet to come!!

I ordered vanilla lavender black tea and oh my goodness it was amazing. In fact, I can't stop thinking about it. As well as the tea I had the "savory tea" which includes two finger sandwiches and a scone with cream and jam, the good ole English way. My boyfriend was not impressed when I put cream on both sides. Apparently, in England you only put cream on one side, then jam on the other and you put the two halves together like a sandwich.

The sandwiches I ordered were probably the best sandwiches I've ever had in my life. I'm not exaggerating, either. I had coronation chicken- which is also a common British sandwich made of chicken in mild curry mayo. If you're American and reading this you probably just thought "gross." That's what I thought too, until I tried it when I was living in Wales and I became slightly obsessed. The combination of that, lettuce and soft bread is absolutely delicious!

I also had a salmon, cream cheese and caper finger sandwich and those were really excellent as well. My boyfriend had horseradish and roast beef and turkey with English mustard. I didn't try the turkey, but the roast beef and horseradish was pretty good.

After we came home from the tea room I felt really inspired so I decided to paint a tea pot. It turned out so well that I think I'm going to put it on my etsy store. After I painted this I decided that I wanted to do more tea related art in the future. What is something you'd like to be painted? Let me know what you think of my painting!! PS if you like the painting below, you can buy it Here!!

Gifts for Tea Lovers

Leah's Spring Tea Giveaway

International Giveaway!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Hi friends! Since I had so much fun last time with my giveaway, I thought I'd do another one. I have two prizes this time. The first prize is a hand painted tea bag by artist Ruby Silvious (find her website here). She has donated this beautiful work of art for other tea lovers to cherish and enjoy. The second prize is Matcha green tea. I'm doing this giveaway with Rafflecopter, which makes it easier for you to enter and easier for me to find a winner. I've done a short interview with Ruby about the amazing prize she's donated. Below is the prize that can be won and then let's have a look at the interview...then to the giveaway process!

Copyright Ruby Silvious

Above is the stunning painting done on a teabag that can be yours if you win the giveaway! Now to the interview with the amazing artist, Ruby.

Leah: How long have you been creating art?

Ruby: As early as five years old, when my Japanese great grandmother taught me how to fold my first crane. On the paternal side, I was inspired by my father, who was a self-taught artist and calligrapher. I remember drawing a portrait of my youngest sister when I was 15.


Leah: When did you start experimenting with painting on teabags, or pistachio shells, as I've seen?

Ruby: Two years ago, I read about a community in South Africa that produced handmade products out of used tea bags. The idea of reusing something that I was tossing out everyday, and creating something beautiful with it, fascinated me. By then I already had a collection of pistachio shells that I had been doodling on with markers when I discovered the common denominator. I've been working with recycled and discarded materials ever since. In addition to teabags and pistachio shells, I also paint on egg shell shards and origami-fold paper bags and crumb wrappers into mock brassieres. It's been fun!


Leah: How can people see your art if they're interested in purchasing it?

Ruby: Local museum shops in upstate New York carry my tea bag designs. You can also purchase my art on my website: www.rubysilvious.com


Leah: Why do you want to giveaway a piece of your art to the other readers?


Ruby: People have this notion of what traditional art should be. By bringing new life to everyday, familiar things, I hope to inspire new forms of creativity.


Leah: What's your favorite kind of tea? How many cups of tea do you have a day?

Ruby: I am, by no means, a tea connoisseur. Twinings' Earl Grey tops my list of favorites, with Ambessa's Choco Nut Blend a close second. I drink 2-3 cups a day and I prefer bagged tea - for obvious reasons!

Thank you so much to Ruby for donating this amazing work of art and for answering the interview questions. For those wondering, last giveaway winner Gary is very pleased with his prize. He sent me this photo of him with the tea a couple weeks ago:

Leah

Reminder and Update: Free Tea Giveaway

Hi readers,


Just wanted to remind you of the tea giveaway. The deadline to sign up is approaching. I've moved the deadline to sign up to the 20th because I want to make the most of it! On the 20th I will announce the winner and post a video of the announcement/drawing and of the prizes! It's a little over 2 lbs of tea!


Go here to the original post for the details! Good luck.

PS- if you've signed up, make sure you've activated the subscription. You have to click a link in the email you received. Otherwise it shows up on my list that your account isn't active.




Leah

No matter how you brew it, it's still tea!

No matter how you enjoy tea-loose leaf, tea bag, tea infuser, teabag in a teapot, loose leaf in a teapot it's all the same in terms of drinking tea. What counts is that if you drink tea you're apart of this amazing community of tea drinkers, whether you choose to embrace it or not. For me, making this blog has connected me with thousands of people daily who have one simple thing in common with me-we're tea drinkers. It doesn't matter what you look like, what ethnicity you are, what gender, what sexuality, tea unites everyone for the same reason: it's a lovely habitual practice in our lives that is a pleasantry for many reasons. I even find the ritual of making tea a pleasant one.

To tie in with what I've just said, I recently had an unpleasant experience on Twitter with two people who shall not be named who called my blog incorrect, and stupid, to put things lightly, because I had recommended bagged tea. To these people, I was not a proper tea drinker if I had anything to do with tea bags.

But that's just silly, if you think about it. Tea bags have been around for years and years and it's because they're incredibly convenient. Some of my tea in my cupboard right now is bagged and half of it is nicer than some of my loose tea. In the world of tea, it's not how you make it, it's that you drink tea and that's all that should matter.

Seeing as I've put myself out there on a public forum, I can expect to have run ins with people that like to tear others down to build themselves up. That's just how the internet is. However I don't have to let it hurt my feelings and I won't. Cyber bullying is never okay and I wish more people on the internet understood that. From what I've experienced, people who bully online would never have the guts to say 95% of what they've said online, in person. So maybe next time you find yourself in a tricky situation online, consider this: what will come out of me being rude to another person? Will it better me as a person? Will it make me more successful? The answer to those questions is no, and always will be. Think before you speak, and for tea's sake, tea is tea, no matter how you steep it!

Here's a photo of me enjoying my tea at my mother's house during Christmas

Leah