Monday, December 21, 2009

Best of 2009: Tea, Word, Shop, Car Ride

Tea of the Year

I'm a huge fan of tea. My mom has always been a tea drinker. As long as I can remember my grandparents have usually preferred tea over coffee. My grandma always yells at my mom for leaving her tea bag in for too long.

My favorite tea of this year is Rooibos from Ula Cafe in JP. I've enjoyed many conversations with friends over a cup of this tea and it's always delicious. The tea is actually very pretty dark reddish color and slightly sweet on it's own. Between the color, flavor, and aroma, rooibos is absolutely my favorite.

Word of the Year

At the beginning of the year I chose my "One Little Word" for 2009. Breathe. I don't know that I've paid enough attention to it this year, at least not consciously. My year was filled with so many changes and exciting things that I wanted a word to remind me to take a step back and appreciate it all, to let things happen, and to not sweat the small stuff.

Now looking back on the year, although I wasn't constantly thinking of my word, my word has great meaning to me. I've never been great with change and this year came with tons of change. I feel like I've been able to handle the unexpected with more grace than I can usually muster, and learned to roll with the punches. Having Dane in my life has helped me immeasurably. He has a calming effect on me and makes embracing my word much easier.

Shop of the Year

This goes to The Vintage Pearl. I discovered this amazing crafter through several other blogs and fell in love with her customized jewelry. My first purchase from her shop was for my Mom. It was the circle pendant with the names of my sisters, me, and my parents. I gave it to her for Mother's Day and she absolutely loved it.

Knowing how much I loved it, Dane bought me a pendant with our names on it later in the year. And a few months later, I entered and won a giveaway on her blog which got me another necklace! I love seeing the new things this talented woman comes up with and I'm sure I'll continue to spend money there next year.

Best Car Ride

There's actually a few that I can think of. First one that popped into my head was the car ride back to my parents' house after our rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding. My newest favorite song came on and my sisters and I blasted it and sang the whole way home. It was just one of those fun moments together that we could be silly and let loose before the craziness.

Next comes the trip to Penn State in October. It was a really long drive, but for me it was filled with so much anticipation. Besides going to a Penn State game, which would be my first college football game, I was going to get a chance to experience what Dane so often talks about. Penn State will always be a huge part of his life. All his closest friends are those he met in college. I wanted to see what it was all about. The drive down was really beautiful and filled with fall foliage to look at. At the end of the drive was an amazing trip.

Last, I have to add the recent drive to Vermont to visit my best friend. Dane and I went on a very impromptu trip to see them where they grew up despite the blizzard that was threatening and last minute planning. Driving through the snow covered mountains up to the northern kingdom of Vermont was gorgeous. It was almost hard to pay attention to the road when there was this amazing landscape in front of you the whole time.



1 comments:

rachaelgking said...

Um, THANK YOU for introducing me to the Vintage Pearl.

My wallet, on the other hand, would like a word. ;-)

 
template by suckmylolly.com