Adagio Teas For The Most Discriminating Tea Lover

I want to tell you all a little something about my husband, Dwayne. He is the rough and rugged type who isn't afraid to work hard and get a little dirty. He also loves books, music and business. In recent years, he has become rather passionate about something we wouldn't have expected. He LOVES tea. He loves it to the point where he buys books on tea, researches them online, and drinks lots and lots of the good stuff every day. 

It isn't unusual for us to go out to a restaurant and he asks the server if they have hot tea. He believes in drinking hot tea after each meal to aid in digestion. Needless to say, he drinks quite a bit of hot tea. We were so lucky to get to try out Adagio Teas recently. They offer a wide variety of teas for every taste. Having Dwayne peruse the site was like sending a kid to a candy store. He was in heaven! 

It took him over an hour to place his order because he was overly excited about what to get. He took the smart route and ordered a variety of sample sizes which makes up to 10 cups of tea. This gave him the option of trying smaller batches so he could narrow down what his favorites are to order in a larger size next time. We actually recommend for anyone to do that as well. There's no need in buying a full size of a particular tea that you might not care for. 

We picked out a variety including chai, rooibos, green and Pu-ehr. He was very curious about the rooibios and honeybush, so he tried those first. He chose this small black tea pot and coordinating cups to steep the tea and make his actual tea drinking experience feel more authentic. I told you you loves his hot tea! 

One of his favorite tea tips is to add a small amount of local honey in the bottom of the tea pot before adding the hot water and tea. This way, the honey gets distributed into the tea so you don't have to add any after steeping. With some tea varieties, he doesn't bother with any sweetener at all. We actually reserve the tea leaves when he does not add sweetener after brewing, to add to his worm compost bin. 

The packaging is air tight and when you cut it open, you are hit with the distinct tea fragrance. I have to say, this isn't your ordinary supermarket tea. Those simply can not compare! Each packet of tea comes with brewing instructions on the package. You can adjust the amount according to your personal taste. So far with the ones he has tried, the suggested quantity and brewing times have been spot on. He has even experimented with mixing two types together to make a unique blend.

The taste of Adagio Teas is very robust and very true to what it supposed to taste like - pure and natural. You can tell that their tea comes from excellent crops by the quality you receive.

A few things that I really love about Adagio Teas is the amount of information they have listed with each variety of tea or tea accessory on their website. You can find out where they are sourced and read the reviews of verified buyers. This makes it very helpful when you need a little help selecting just the right tea. They sell most of their tea in loose, bulk packaging, but do offer tea bags/pyramids for those who prefer the convenience. My husband actually has a one cup tea ball so he can have his loose tea while at work. Again, we highly recommend starting off with some sample sizes to find which teas you like best. 

So far it looks like the green chai, decaf chai, rooibos, honeybush, and spearmint are the faves. You have to check out the Adagio Teas website because they carry practically every type of tea you would want. You can even design your own tea blends and containers. They have a lot of gift options, tea collections and brewing accessories. If you are a real tea lover looking for superior tea, you have to give Adagio Teas a try. Once you create your account and start making purchases, you can earn points toward gift certificates to use on the site. There's a dashboard where you can keep track of your orders, points, wishlists and more. They also have a tea of the month club and very affordable flat rate shipping of only $3.75 (you can qualify for FREE shipping on orders over $49).

Learn more about Adagio Teas on their website and stay connected on Facebook & Twitter for product updates and promotions.

Disclosure: I received a gift code to spend on products for review purposes and all opinions are my own as always. 

Top 10 Christmas Gifts for the Special Guy On Your List

Women get a bad rap for being picky present-openers but, when it comes down to it, men can present their own challenges during the holidays. They certainly don’t drop as many—ahem—hints as women do about what they might want. Plus, men tend to be more the type to go ahead and buy themselves the things they think they need. If you’ve reached your “challenge accepted” moment in the relationship, we can help. Read on for 10 Christmas gifts for the special guy on your list.

1. Totally Ticket Time 

While something your man can physically open is great, an experiential gift can be equally as wonderful (if not more!). Get your main squeeze tickets to see his longtime sports team, his favorite band, or a play at your local theater. The huge bonus of going this route is that you get to go, too!

2. The Way to His Heart is Through His Tummy

You’ve heard this a million times and, unless you’ve found the exception, most men really love to eat. Hopefully you’ve scored one who loves to cook as well. Even if you have, though, you could turn the tables and make him a meal. Another alternative would be to hire a private chef to cook a romantic dinner in. Lastly, the health nut guy in your life would likely love a membership to a home meal service, like Blue Apron or Home Chef.

3. Accessories, Accessories, Accessories

These are the kinds of thing that men often forget to buy themselves. From a new watch that he’s wanted to replace for some time like this hyper masculine JORD wood watch to jewelry (personally, we think men don’t wear this enough), this will be something he’ll love because he likely wouldn’t have gotten it for himself. Allow him to let his personality shine through with a men’s underwear from Stance. These undies definitely put the “fun” in “functional”.

4. Trip the Light Fantastic

Have you been itching for a trip? Of course, buying your loved one a vacation is no small gift by any means, but if you’ve both been talking about it for a long time and you’ve got the means, there’s nothing better than a weekend (or week!) away together. Whether it’s a quick jaunt to the mountains or a trip overseas, this will be something you’ll both treasure forever.

5. Go for the Gadgets

Again with our sweeping generalizations, but there’s no denying that a lot of guys love their gadgets. A new iPod touch, a super sleek smart phone case, or an iPad mini are rarely, if ever, going to go to waste in the hands of a man. Need some inspiration? Simply head into your Sharper Image for gift ideas you might not have come up with on your own.

6. Man Crates

Have you heard about these things yet? This is the dude version of the gift basket. From the Grill Master Crate and NFL Barware Crate to the Personalized Whiskey Crate and the Slaughterhouse Crate (don’t ask), there literally is a man crate for everyone.

7. Clothes

Your man would likely prefer to watch whatever sporting event is being televised than go shopping, so buying him clothes is doubly awesome. You’ll not only help him to be more stylish (right, ladies?), but you’ll also save him from a chore he likely does not enjoy.

8.  Let Him Choose With Bespoke Post

A monthly subscription service like Birchbox for Men is already fantastic, but the reason Bespoke Post takes it to the next level as there are a number of different gifts that men can choose from. So you’re getting him a gift but he still gets the metaphorical remote. It’s a win/win, right?

9. Booze, Bro

While this probably isn’t recommended if you’ve been dating for years (when something a bit more intimate might be appropriate), booze is a great gift for guys when it’s early on in the relationship. If you’ve already done the whiskey thing, opt for tequila.

10. Grown Up Stuff

Let’s face it—many men are resistant to growing up, so they might still be carrying their money in a big wad of cash and their work papers in a backpack. Help your man move on to the next level with a stylish money clip and/or briefcase.

Have a special guy in your life? Get him one of these special gifts during the holidays this year and watch him react with delight.

From the Marriage Files: Dating your spouse

Life gets hectic almost all of the time. We have to juggle children, work, activities, bills and other life obligations. It can weigh heavily on a marriage. Although I don't make any resolutions for the new year, I did make a vow to have more dates with my husband in 2013. We both realize how important it is for us to have time together, away from the kids. Ever since January, we have taken time to go out alone whether it is for lunch, browsing the stores or just for cocktails. Having that alone time has brought us closer together and it is nice to engage in intimate conversation and a little laughter. So far we have managed to stick with our dating arrangements. The key to making it happen is to not plan it. We just randomly decide, "hey, do you want to go have dinner or catch a movie?"

Of course there are those times that my hubby looks up Columbia SC Flowers and surprises me with a gorgeous arrangement. After 19 years of marriage, he still buys me flowers. Having them delivered is a romantic touch as well. Just this past weekend, Dwayne asked me out on a date in a formal way. It was so sweet! It's also fun to get all dolled up and even wear heels to have some fun time away from the kids. Even if you don't have a lot of extra money, it is so worth squeezing out a few dollars to go out on a date with your honey.

Do you date your spouse? What do you usually do?

WORX GT 2.0 Trimmer & Edger As Seen on TV | Does it really work?

Do you ever get caught up in infomercials and think, "I NEED that!"? That happened to my husband when he saw the WORX GT 2.0 rechargeable grass trimmer and edger. When he found out that our neighbors both next door and behind us got one and highly recommended it, we went out and purchased one. I was so skeptical because of how light weight it was. How can this thing that even I can easily use do the job? 

It took under 10 minutes to complete the assembly and we let the battery charge overnight before testing it out. The trimmer is very quiet, very different from traditional gas powered ones. I couldn't believe how quickly my husband blew through our edges and how amazingly clean and beautiful it looked! He trimmed all along our garden beds, shrubs and fence line with ease.

He says that it is a powerful tool and is ridiculously easy to use. He found a new toy and I am not mad about this one at all! It cost us about $120 and is worth the investment. The best part? It is battery operated and you never have to mess with the gas can with that oil and fuel mixture. We are so pleased with our purchase and plan to buy the newest Worx power tool that came out called the Jaw Saw. If you need a new grass trimmer/egder, we highly recommend this one! You can order it online or do like we did and buy it at your local Lowe's store.

Most husbands have a beer fridge. Look what mine has...

Our family took a trip to Charlotte a couple weekends ago to celebrate William's 5th birthday. Our first stop was the Bass Pro Shop. Actually, we went there 3 times that day! It is Dwayne and William's favorite store. I think they could spend hours in there if you let them. They both enjoy father and son fishing time so me and the girls went our way and the boys stayed at Bass Pro Shop.

When we met back up, I see a styrofoam cooler in Dwayne's arms. I just gave him "the look" and he goes straight into "the pitch". He tells me that the fishing season was getting ready to start and how it would be a good idea to grow his own worms. **Insert stinky face here** Well what is a wife to do... you have to let men do man things from time to time. I listened to his very convincing pitch along with dozens of reasons why his idea was so brilliant. I let him purchase his funky little worm growing foolishness. I won't say that there wasn't any eye rolling involved. 

He ended up not being able to use the styrofoam cooler kit because it was too big for our mini-fridge so he use some of my old food storage containers instead. He poked tiny holes in the tops of the containers.  He purchased some sort of packing material that you add distilled water to that has the food the worms need inside the mix. All that was left was to add your own worms.  

It is all very disgusting to me but I am still amazed at how quickly they have multiplied! I won't talk about Dwayne's debacles with some escapees.

I have told him that as long as I don't have to do anything with his worm growing experiment, he can have at it. Of course the business man in him wants to start selling them. I can't deal with this dude sometimes! I suppose there are worse hobbies he could be into.

And yeah, he is that serious that he has dedicated "worm water". I just can't....

SO, what crazy little hobby does your spouse have?

Wordless Wednesday

When the boy is with his dad, all is well in the world... until they both get hungry at least!

Adding to my cast iron cookware collection

If you have been a regular blog reader or you follow me on Facebook, then you would know how much I love to cook and bake. I have fallen in love with cast iron cookware in recent months. I currently own the big, two-sided griddle/grill, a small frying pan and now a large, deep pan (great for frying) and a shallow pan (great for steaks and for days when the big griddle is too much).

My hubby actually brought them home as a surprise. He bid on them and bought them at an auction. How thoughtful was that?! I am so excited that I have so many different size options and these will get plenty of use in the years to come. I am so happy they are pre-seasoned as well. Hopefully I will be able to properly maintain all of my pieces to be able to pass down to my kids. 

You will be seeing some upcoming recipe posts using my new pans in the near future :-)

How chicken got me a husband (True story)

I can remember in late Summer of '91, Dwayne and I went to Miami Beach to take a dip in the ocean and have a little cook-out . We took along food, drinks and a small charcoal grill. I had pre-seasoned some chicken wings to cook on the grill. Dwayne and I were very young, so he really had not really tasted a lot of my dishes. This was the first time he would get to try my barbecued chicken wings. He took his first bite and closed his eyes. He yelled out how good it was and he was amazed at my cooking skills. He then goes on to tell me how me could totally marry me because I knew how to cook chicken. Can it get any more romantic than that? Turns out he was dead serious. The man loves his chicken cooked just right! 

Speaking of chicken, I wanted to share the latest product I tried courtesy of Lawry's and BzzAgent. It is the Lawry's Santa Fe Chili Marinade. I poured the marinade on some chicken wings and added a few dashes of garlic powder, Lawry's Seasoned Salt and some cracked black pepper. I let it sit in the refrigerator for about an hour and then I cooked them in the oven using the broil/bake method. 35 minutes later we ended up with some of the best tasting chicken wings my family had ever had. I regret not cooking more of it because they were just that delicious! I highly recommend you try it out for yourself.

Stay connected to Lawry's on Facebook .

I received a product samples and coupons because I'm a BzzAgent. All opinions are 100% my own.

How to get rid of a headache naturally

Yesterday I had a terrible headache that would not go away. I woke up with it and it persisted all day long. When the hubby got home from work, he automatically knew I was in pain. It was the kind of pain that makes you stretch your face with your fingertips in odd ways and press your forehead to try to find some relief. He insisted I needed to rest my eyes for a few minutes. It was already 6:30 in the evening so taking a nap was not an option for me. I did lay down for a minute though. Dwayne came over to me and grabbed my foot. He gently pressed his thumb into the bottom of my foot near the arch. No lie, I started feeling my headache breaking up instantly. He then started to apply pressure to different parts of my feet and within 2 minutes my headache was completely gone. It's amazing how effective this method was. Just figured I would share this with you guys.

Have you ever tried this method to rid yourself of a headache? Did it work for you?

Is my what nasty?

The other day my son was doing something that really annoys me to no end that I think every member of the male species does... touching his 'man parts'. I told him I thought it was nasty what he was doing and he responds "Is your penis nasty too?". I told him that girls don't have a penis and that our private parts were different. I realized that we have not had the conversation yet about the differences between boys and girls. Being the active, typical boy William is he just sort of moved on to the next thing. My husband heard our brief conversation and starts to laugh at me. He says that maybe it was better I explain that to him since I might handle it better. MEN!

My Pinterest is now linked to my junkie corners

I have a confession. I love to clean. I really do love to clean. Clutter makes me feel nervous. My house is very plainly decorated. Actually, my house is not really decorated.. more like void of a bunch of crap everywhere. Everywhere except... I have this little problem (so my husband thinks). He says I have an obsession with having tiny, junkie corners in several places in our home. I admit, I do. I have a tiny pile next to my bed, at the foot of my bed, in the family room... you get the idea. You are probably wondering what exactly I keep in my little piles... Everything from clothing, coupons, receipts, nail files, pens... nothing is exempt except trash. I have spent the weekend ridding my house of my junkie corners. Yep, everything is in the right place. No junk anywhere in sight. I have declared (no promises) that I will make an effort to cut down on my little bits of junk. Maybe.

Since it was a 3-day weekend I took some time to chill. I did some cleaning and cooking but for the most part I sat my little self down and relaxed (I think). I have recently started getting into Pinterest. I find myself pinning for hours some days. If you are already on Pinterest then you know just what I am talking about. If you are not then what the heck are you waiting for? So this is where my smart talking husband comes in. He says that Pinterest is filling my void for my junkie corners. He says now I can have virtual junkie corners thanks to Pinterest. Sadly, he is not lying! ;-)

How in the world did this happen?

Yesterday morning I was dropping my daughters off to school and heading back home to gather my things so I could go to the store. I was driving about 25-30 mph since I was exiting from the school speed limit. As I was coming around a curve on the road I hear a very loud pop in the back of the car. I was stunned and not sure what it was. Lucky for me my car speaks to me when things go wrong. I looked at the screen and it said to check right rear tire pressure. I watched it go from 33 to 1 in a matter of seconds! I had a flat tire. Thankfully I was in a familiar area and found a safe spot to pull over on the side of the road. I called Dwayne and he was there in what felt like only 5 minutes. Thank goodness! He very quickly took off my bad tire and put on the spare. He showed me what appeared to be either a flattened nail or piece of metal sticking out of the tire. Now it was off to Walmart to get a new one. I am so happy I always buy the road hazard protection so at least I didn't have to pay the full price for a new tire. But check out what they found that was the culprit in causing my tire to blow out...

This is a screw driver without the handle. When they showed it to me I freaked out and could not understand how it happened! As a matter of fact, the tire installers were laughing and amazed at how this huge piece of metal even got inside my tire. The funny part is the flat-head tip of the screw driver was sticking out of the tire so this meant the blunt end is what penetrated it. Crazy!! 

To show just how big the screw driver was I put it next to a pen and a nail file. The guys at Walmart said they have seen things the size of a pin or an average nail pierce and ruin a tire but never anything as large as a screwdriver! It was a crazy way to start my day and I am thankful I was in a safe area and not driving at a high speed. 

I got to thinking and realized I am so glad I am one of those moms that gets fully dressed (sometimes even with make-up) to drive the kids to school! :)

Spouse guilt and the stay-at-home mom

I have been a stay-at-home mom for 17 years. I admit that I take my mothering gig overboard at times. I do a lot for my children..after all I am a stay-at-home MOM. Last night Dwayne took me out for dinner and drinks. It had been a few months since we went out on a date night so we were very much overdue for one. It was a great evening except for the couple times that I was looked at with a tad bit disgust because I was having discussions about the kids. I was not trying to talk about them that much...it just sort of happens. I am with 1 or more of my children for almost 24 hours of every day. Isn't it only natural for me to mention them to their dad? Well after last night I realized that I need to watch that when it comes time to having that alone time with the husband. I feel so badly for not making our evening enough about him...about us. I really have to work on that. We do plan on making date night a regular event so we stay connected.

If you are a stay-at-home parent, have you encountered the same issue we have? Do you go out on dates regularly?

Only my husband would do this

Dwayne was drinking his cherry soda the other day aka his "brotha drink". I will never understand why he likes to put his glass in the freezer with soda and ice in it. It stayed in there for days. Brie got tired of looking at it and let it thaw out on the counter and then poured it out. Does anyone in your house do this sort of foolishness?

Sometimes I just want to say....

I am sure some of you will not be surprised to know that this post is about my dear husband Dwayne. He gets these ideas in his head sometimes and because I am a great wife, I humor him. We live on a pond and he LOVES to go fishing as often as he can. Our pond has all kinds of fish in it although we have never eaten any out of there before. I took him to the store so he could buy some new fishing supplies. He was going to wait until it cooled down a bit this evening to see if he could catch anything. That was all he was supposed to do.

How about an hour before he went out there he starts rummaging through MY kitchen looking for items to cook fish with. He went on and on about how he was going to catch the fish and get it straight into some hot "grease" as he calls it (country ain't it?). I'm sorry, when we lived in Miami we used to catch fish and eat it all the time. Here in South Carolina, we just go up to Publix or Kroger and buy it ready to cook. I will spare you all the gross details of his stanky fishes he caught. I cleaned the 3 fish he brought in and cooked them. He sat at the table feeling like a King, bragging about his catch. Then all of a sudden things got quiet. Very quiet. I asked him if everything was okay. He looked at me out the corner of his eye and said next time he wants fish he will just send me to the store to buy it. I just giggled a bit and almost said "I told you so". He knew he lost this one. I am going to talk about him for a very long time. Sometimes men get into this "manly-man, I want to conquer the world" state of mind and as a good wife you just have to let them have their fun. I am quite certain Dwayne learned his lesson! Now I am off to go get the fish funk out of the air :)

Am I in the Twilight Zone?

Today has been what I would call a perfect day. I got up earlier than normal which I like very much. Early is good. I drove the girls to school and saw the husband off to work (early). I went to Kroger this morning and I swear I was the only customer in the entire store. William behaved like an angel today. No fussing, no rudeness, no destroying the house, just angelic. He even took a nap this afternoon which is rare. It was completely silent in the house. I prepared a wonderful dinner and even watched One Life to Live at the normal time. I don't have to pick the girls up until 5:30 today. I have all my housework done (even laundry & dishes). My inbox is on ZERO. All my obligations have been met and my account is balanced to the penny. My husband has been calling me periodically throughout the day cracking me up with his foolishness. This has been a perfect day :)

Romance in Whoville

The other night big daddy came into the bedroom and told me he wanted to give me a relaxing foot rub. I told him that he worked so hard that day so I would take a rain check. He insisted that he wanted to do it and that I better take it while it is being offered. So I graciously accepted his kind offer. My husband has his romantic moments and I thought this was one of them. He tells me to throw my feet across his lap so he can put some of that big daddy magic on me. He feels under the covers and realizes that I have socks on. I tried to reach over to pull them off and he insisted he would take them off. Suddenly I hear "WHAT THE HELL? Are you from Whoville or something? Dr. Seuss is missing some socks!" Oh my husband... He didn't have to say I had Whoville/Dr. Seuss socks. HAHAHAHA!!! That's your boy!

*The stripes are really blue and purple but the blue came out looking white on my camera from the flash.

Y'all better not be making fun of my socks either!

When watching TV with me...

I have a very simple rule for when Dwayne watches television with me. He is not allowed to watch:

• reality TV (unless it's a fishing or nature show)
• comedy of any kind (especially Kathy Griffin or Monique)
  
• Tyler Perry films
• Nancy Grace, Wendy Williams or Geraldo Rivera
• inappropriate cartoons- Family Guy, South Park
• No MTV, BET or VH1
• no gossip or talk shows
  

I know, I'm so mean and boring :)