Personal Update and More Giveaway Item News

It's been a rocky few weeks. I became so preoccupied setting up this event, I wound up forgetting to take my medication for 2 weeks. That led to an unhappy reaction and dramatic mood swings. But I'm alright. I've been focusing on taking my pills and taking care of myself. The event planning had to go on the back burner for a bit though, just so I could refocus and recover. Then, when I tried to renew my prescriptions, I found the note my doctor sent my insurance allowing me to take name brand over generic pills expired, and there was some run around with that. Luckily it's been resolved. I just want this month over... until I realize this month ending means I need to have some things in place and ready to go. Only a few days of August left.

On the upside, I received the tea I ordered from DryadTea! It smells absolutely amazing and I wish I'd been able to order a sample for myself. I confess I've never had her teas, but she comes highly recommended by Twitch.tv tea lovers. She cares about her tea so much, she even tells you on the label the appropriate water temperature and steep time for the best flavor.

There are three varieties of sample sized tea, two in each flavor, and two tea infusers. These will be made into two sampler kits for the giveaway. The tea varieties are: 

• Awaken Tea: "A dark black tea blend, created to aide in waking up. Roasted Mate, a delicate blend of black tea and a touch of cinnamon all lend flavors to this tea. It is suggested to take this tea with milk and sweetener."
• Dischordia: "An Amazing blend of green teas, flavored with mint, basil, ginger, elder flowers, and more. Amazing hot or cold, perfect to calm the nerves or an upset stomach."
• Sweet Dreams Tea: "A very tasty blend of green rooibos, chamomile, valerian, rose hips, lemon balm, and lavender. All blended to promote relaxation and sleep." (Herbal and caffeine free)

Each sample bag holds 3 ounces (about 85 grams) of loose leaf tea, enough to make 3 servings per bag.

The infusers also have beautiful charms attached, so you can have a stylish mug waiting at the table. One is a genuine ammonite fossil. It is a dark brown base color, whole and unsplit with a hanger securely drilled into it. No worries about it falling off the chain or the hanger coming unglued. When the light hits this fossil just right, it has a gorgeous red flash. I confess I wanted this for myself. It's nerdy, shiny, cultured... shiny....

The second infuser has an adorable sleeping black fox crafted from glass. It is rather large and has good heft to it, no worries about the chain slipping into your mug for lack of weight. The design has a very nice liquid flow to it, and offers more of a suggestion of a fox. Perhaps more of a fox spirit. Perhaps using it to steep your tea will infuse luck as well as flavor.

Both sample kits will have the same teas, only the infusers will be different. You can check out DryadTea's Etsy shop, as well, if you don't want to wait for a chance to win a kit. She sells a huge variety of teas, beautiful infusers, trivets for your tea bags and infusers to rest on, and even some wood burned boxes. On Twitch.tv, she can be found streaming her pottery creations.