sunshine, please come back soon.

I'm at the point now where I have to continually remind myself that I love snow and winter. The problem isn't the cold and the fluffy white stuff, though. It's the fact that the sunshine has disappeared and won't show its warm face. I love bright and cold winter days, when the sun is shining down from the clear blue sky onto a brilliant blanket of snow. But these gloomy not-quite-cold-enough days just drag me down.

To keep my spirits up, I'm writing my spring cleaning list (to be begun as soon as the windows can be opened), looking up places to go snowshoeing, planning my garden, and drinking floral teas. Specifically, Berryblossom White by Tazo Tea. SO GOOD. I have my amazing friend Becca to thank for introducing me to this tea, way back when we were still in college. Okay, that wasn't way back, but I graduated almost two years ago, so....

And I just remembered that I have homemade dandelion wine to try! I'm nervous...it's probably terrible. But I hope it tastes decent. And that it tastes like summer, even though I'm not a huge fan of the summer temperatures.

Of course, Valentine's Day is just around the corner, too. I've never been a huge advocate of the Hallmark holiday, but hopefully Nate and I can do something fun. At the very least, I'm going to cook us a fun dinner. I found a recipe for red wine pasta which looks and sounds delicious. I also plan on making some heart-shaped doughnuts for breakfast. Though those might have to wait until the weekend when Nate doesn't have to get up at 3:30 am.

How are you keeping back the weather blues? And what are your Valentine's Day plans?

Current Obsession

My current obsession is tea. I just bought a lot of it. Adding to the collection that I already had, I think I now have ten different kinds of tea to choose from. More will be added, of course. Tea is my drink of choice in the colder months.

The book in the pictures is awesome, by the way. You should read it. The tea I'm drinking is called Winter Spice, and it is sold by Twinings of London. It is an extremely soothing chamomile blend. Good on a cold night after a difficult day (like I had today...good gracious!), or even after a day that went well. 

I'd like an order of pure academia, with a cup of Earl Grey on the side.

So. I have completed the first day of classes in this, my senior year of college. Do I feel accomplished? Maybe. I suppose more so than I did a few years ago. In all honesty, the answer really has to be yes, because I have accomplished much between my senior year of high school and now. I definitely have learned much, broadened my horizons, and stretched my brain to the breaking point (nearly).
I had three classes today. My Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule is annoying only because all the classes are right in a row and I don't have time for lunch! The bright side to this is that I'm done with classes by 2 pm. Much better than last year when I wasn't done until 4 pm. That was awful on Fridays.
Pretty sure I'm going to love Music Theory, though it will be kind of difficult. This is good, though. I need a different type of a challenge, and a musical one is certainly welcome. Latin will be a challenge, as well, since I've never learned another language. I really, really love Latin, though, and it is taught by my advisor and favorite professor here at Concordia. Definitely a plus! My last class of the day is English: Its Cultural Development. Call me a nerd, but I love the idea of taking an entire semester to trace the development of the English language from it's very beginnings in Old English (which is more of a Germanic language than anything) to our Modern English. Middle English is interesting, anyway, because that's very French-influenced. See, there I go already acting like an expert on the subject! I'm not, I promise. I just happened to read a book about the language's history a few years ago. It was excellent.
I've had my nightly cup of tea, and I suppose it would be best to say goodnight. Bach's Cantata #43 is heavenly, by the way. Then again, anything by Johann Sebastian Bach is epic.

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, and speculation at a standstill. ~Barbara W. Tuchman

"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea." ~Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady.

Hot beverages have always been my favorite. Could be why I enjoy wintertime so much; it is supremely satisfying to sip a steaming mug of coffee, cider, chocolate, or tea. There are other hot beverages, of course. But tea...oh the beauty of tea. The silkiness of taste, the calm which pervades my cold body when I take a sip. And nothing goes better together than tea and books! There never was a more happy couple. Except, perhaps, coffee and books. I'm not sure which is better.

As for tea, I don't think there has been a tea I've tried that I haven't liked. Peppermint is usually my favorite, especially around Christmastime. I also love lemon flavored tea. Earl Grey is a must. Even Chai tea is amazing when combined with the right amount of milk.

Tea

Adagio Tea

Stash Tea

English Tea Store

The Republic of Tea

Upton Tea

Teavana

Golden Moon Tea

Revolution Tea

Celestial Seasonings

Bigelow Tea

Tazo Tea

Argo Tea

...and many more. Hop on over to Google and type in tea and see what you can find!

Actually, George Orwell, author of the dystopian novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, wrote what I might call a short treatise on tea. You can find it here.

I'd go to New York City simply to go to Alice's Tea Cup. What an exquisite little shop! I want this, by the way. Donations, anyone??? :-P

A plethora of books have been written on the subject of tea, which seems appropriate, since I've already stated that books and tea are rather inseparable. Try amazon.com.

One of these days I shall make this Teapot Cake:

"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. And whoever this "Earl Grey" fellow is, I'd like to have a word with him... "

~Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek, The Next Generation.

"The mug from the washstand was used as Becky's tea cup, and the tea was so delicious that it was not necessary to pretend that it was anything but tea." ~Frances Hodgson Burnett, "A Little Princess".

One last website, if you haven't seen enough of tea already! Tea Land