Planning a Little Tea Party

Hey guys!

So in celebration of me completing my Early Years Teacher Status I thought what better way to celebrate than to have a Tea Party with my closest friends. I wanted to post some ideas and create a little mood board including some cute ideas for a party, such as colour themes and décor. I love to look at other blogger’s party ideas so if you have any links to cute decorations feel free to comment and share!

I love the whole idea of an outdoor tea party theme, with lots of bunting and lots of flowers to create a bright and pretty area that’s relaxed and laid back. It needs a vintage/floral/bright theme running through it and a lot of summery colours and shades, as well as vintage tea cups and teapots! I’m inviting about ten to fifteen people, so something quirky and also relaxed is what I’m thinking of, it will have some lovely personal touches as well.

Here are some ideas for my party:

 

Now that I’d found a great theme for my party I need to get some invites out, otherwise said friends wouldn’t be coming. I need something fast and preferably something easy, and that’s how I came across paperless post. The idea of online invites is genius to me, a lot of my friends are online as well so it makes sense. I can’t believe the range of invites they have, and I have found myself browsing the website looking through all their beautiful designs. Check them out here!

Here are some examples of some of the wonderful designs:

The website is so cute and a good resource to inspire my party ideas too! It has some more quirky ideas rather than the bog standard ones you normally find, you can personalise your cards or invites and they even have the option of buying them or they have a range of free ones too if you have a budget for your party. I love them!

So if you have a party coming up let me know about it, and share your ideas I would love to see them. And check out https://www.paperlesspost.com/cards/section/invitations for some cute and quirky invites!

I look forward to hearing all about your party 🙂

Love Sophie x

The Benefits of Green Tea

Hello everybody!

So recently I’ve started what can only be called a change of lifestyle; I’ve joined Slimming World and I am making a conscious effort to lose weight. I’m on week three so once there is a significant change I’ll blog about it 🙂

One thing I’ve really got into during my ‘lifestyle change’ (I refuse to say diet) is introducing healthy foods and drinks into my daily routine, and so I’ve started drinking more green tea. I have always loved green tea (along with all other types of tea) but ever since reading lots of different things stating the different benefits of green tea I’ve made it part of my life. This post is a celebration of all things green tea.

Quick bit of information for those tea lovers, all tea is produced from the Camellia sinensis plant. The fresh leaves are steamed to produce green tea, whereas other types of tea go through a fermentation stage. Green tea has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries, to treat literally anything, from a headache to a more serious condition. They’ve definitely got the right idea!

Some of the benefits:

It contains B vitamins, potassium, folate (naturally occurring folic acid), magnesium and caffeine.

It has anti-inflammatory qualities, proven to reduce skin damage and improve wrinkles, as well as sun damage.

It lowers the risk of diabetes.

It kills bacteria; improving dental health and the risk of infection.

It burns fat; improving physical performance and boosting weight loss.

The natural caffeine improves brain performance, and is linked to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.

It combats cardiovascular disease.

It reduces cholesterol.

I’m sure there are many other benefits people who drink green tea have found, and there are many websites with information!

Having made this a part of my daily routine I can say I feel much more alert, my bloating has reduced and I feel happier which I know is part of my routine becoming more active as well, but I know green tea has played a huge part. I also suffer from a bit of anxiety and I feel like that has definitely improved. Whether that be the actual tea or the physical affects is making my mind a lot calmer and positive, either way I’m feeling really happy these days.

I would love to hear if anybody else has felt the benefits of green tea, or if they don’t feel them or disagree, so get in touch with your thoughts 🙂

Speak soon,

Sophie xxx

Teaday Tuesday!

Hello everybody 🙂

As I was in the health shop I came across this little treasure and I’m so glad I decided to try it!

One of my favourite flavours is coconut, so you can imagine my glee when I saw this tea sitting on the shelf much like a queen sitting in her throne.

It’s Green tea with coconut!

As described on the packaging, this tea is an ‘exotic combination of green tea and coconut with delicate lychee’.

When I first brewed the tea, I wasn’t hugely impressed by the scent it gave off, I couldn’t detect the coconut it had promised me. But like all tea, the taste is always so different to the smell.

What I found was this tea was soft, smooth and full of different flavours, all so delicate they weren’t overpowering.

I loved that I could taste coconut ever so gently, and I could taste the lychee which was very subtle. This tea made me feel warm inside and comforted, like I had a big fluffy blanket warming me right to my insides. Normally I stick to green tea in summer but this is definitely an all rounder.

I can even say that this tea has so many health benefits which all tie into green tea.

Just a couple of benefits of green tea:

• metabolism speeds up
• contains antioxidants and so detoxes your body
• soothes acne
• natural caffeine gives you energy

So give it a whirl, it’s worth it! And so cheap at £3!

Let me know if you have ever tried a tea with a coconut flavour, I’m intrigued to see if there are more gooduns!

Love,

Sophie xx

Teaday Tuesday

Hello everybody!

Firstly let me say thank you to the lovely people who read this, I started this blog as a way to write about what I love, particularly to keep me sane through my postgrad. It’s purely based on my own interests so to see people read my posts is really lovely. Enough of the sop now, I promise 🙂

On to the tea!

So this week has really taken a turn for the worse; frosty mornings and short days surrounded by darkness. I have spent a fair few hours in the cold waiting for trains, playing outside with the children at nursery and walking the dogs, and one thing that makes it more bearable is a lovely steaming drink to warm my cockles!

This week I have been loving Tesco Finest’s Vanilla Chai tea.

I first discovered this tea in Australia. I’d popped round to my gorgeous friend Nichole’s little place in Bronte and we were having a girly chill night. She made me a cup of tea (in the microwave, she didn’t have a kettle ha) and instantly I was in love. With the tea.

Today I chose to enjoy this tea as I was snuggled in bed reading The Hunger Games yet again, along with cuddling my lovely dog Molly. Heaven.

This tea is best without milk, and is definitely better from a teapot, as most teas are. It’s a very fragrant tea, and I would say it has a bit of spice to it which is why it’s perfect on a cold Winter’s night. The vanilla flavour is very subtle but takes it to a slightly sweeter taste, to take the edge off the spice.

If they bottle the smell of this drink, or made a candle with the scent I would buy it in a flash; to me it smells like Christmas time: cinnamon, star of anise, a distinct Wintery scent.

I would recommend this tea to those who like a herbal black tea, maybe you like green tea, or even lapsang souchong.

If you have tried this do let me know  what you thought 😀

Love,

Soph xxx

Teaday Tuesday!

Hello everybody!

A lot of people say that Tuesday is the worst day of the week. The novelty of Monday is over and the weekend looks so far away you can’t even imagine. The fun and well deserved rest of the weekend is all but forgotten and so continues the long slog of the rest of the week.

I totally feel that, but as a very positive person, I love a Tuesday, because I get to drink a delicious tea and write about it! I’m  currently curled up on the sofa with my little chum Molly, the fire is roaring and my tea is steaming.

I went for a very traditional Afternoon tea. This particular tea is from Whittard’s of Chelsea. I  must say that they are my favourite brand of tea thus far; I have spent many hours of my time browsing the shelves and trying out all of their teas.  This particular one was bought for me by one of my besties Amy, she knows my love for tea!

I won’t go on about the complex flavours and scents of this tea. I will just say it is quite light, very warming, yet the flavour is quite rich, with a hint of a smokey, slightly honeyed taste. This to me is the epitome of an Afternoon tea.

Enjoyed best with a mince pie ❤

Let me know what you think, have you tried this one? What is your favorite tea brand?

Love,

Sophie xxx

Teaday Tuesday!

Hello everybody!

Sorry it’s been so long, promise I won’t leave it this long again. Lots oof good things are happening so I’ll be writing lots of blog posts to share at a later date.

Back to the topic at hand; tea.

So like most of the people I know, I have felt a bit under the weather, just a bit snotty, sore throat and blocked nose. I also tend to feel very sorry for myself when I am even slightly ill, so I have lots of back up remedies for a case just like this. So along with the typical beechams and soothers, I swear by Twinings Soothing Camomile and Honey tea. I have always got this when I feel a bit groggy, and I can honestly say it works every time.

So this tea is quite mild in my opinion, you can taste the honey but not too much, and the camomile is just enough. I’m not a huge fan of ‘herby’ teas, but I really like drinking this one. It soothes my throat and generally relaxes me. I drink a cup in the morning which helps me perk up, and as it is naturally caffeine free I have a cup before bed and I’m out like a light.

Does anybody else drink this tea if they are feeling a bit poorly? What are your remedies?

Love,

Sophie xxx