Guys…here we are…. 6 months later from my last post… again! I absolutely need to write up a little update on how we’re doing as a fam of four because, holy smokes little Bowen is already 7 months old and cute as hell! But every time I sit down to do that I get slightly overwhelmed and a little emotional. haha I will soon though, for sure! For now, here are some pics. I know they’re Christmas, but these are the most recent fam ones we have (andddd they’re pretty cute so I gotta share!)
In the meantime, I wanted to share a little love on the most popular bevy in the world (after water). I’ve been consuming a LOT of tea lately. More than usual for a couple reasons. We’re in the thick of early morning wakes with Bowen. He’s sleeping through the night just waking up a BIT early for my liking so we’re trying to push that back a bit but that takes time, and so… I’m sleepy and welcome the extra caffeine (I feel like I’ll be sleepy for the next 20 years though). Secondly. I’m trying to cut back on booze during the week (failing for the most part) so instead of wine or beer once the kiddos go to bed, I’m drinking more tea!
Okay, so firstly, I need to give a huge shout out to Lemon Lily tea.
I found these guys a few years ago, at a local market (I think) and I’ve been a huge fan ever since. Lemon Lily makes 100% natural and beyond organic teas which are free of artificial flavours, glutens and GMOs. They are also nut free, vegan (YAY!) and fair trade. I’ve been a loose leaf tea fan (snob) for the last 15+ years, but I found some of the companies I originally loved are using way too many sweeteners in their tea and I just don’t love that. Plus a lot of time in these flavours there’s sneaky milk ingredients hiding – so I LOVE that I just automatically know that Lemon Lily products are all vegan and I don’t need to deep dive in the ingredients of every tea before purchasing. Way to go, guys! Thanks for making things easier for this mama.
Every year for Christmas, my mum in law gets a ginormous bag of their Jasmine Pearls green which has been a fave of mine for a LONG time. I have at least 1 cup of this every day. If you are a green tea lover and you’ve never had jasmine pearls, you gotta try em! They’re one of the pricier teas out there, but SO worth it, and can be steeped at least twice.
Another fave of mine from Lemon Lily is the Coconut Espresso which has recently been discontinued. When I noticed this, I messaged the company to ask if it was coming back and Jason (the owner) was so kind and said he actually had all the ingredients to make it, it just wasn’t one of their most popular so they pulled it from the site. But because I loved it so much, he would blend it up for me and send out (HOW kind!!!!) If you are a coffee lover trying to get into tea… this could be your jam! It’s DELISH with a splash of oat milk, or as a latte.
The other thing I get regularly from these guys is their matcha powder. It. is. FAB. They have many different options I’ve yet to try, I have stuck with the standard ceremonial matcha and always have it as an oat milk latte. FAB!
Recently, Lemon Lily started doing superpowder blends and hot chocolate blends. Truthfully I haven’t tried these yet but I have some on the way and I can’t wait to test them. Raeleigh loves having tea and ‘babycinnos’ (frothy oat milk) with me, so I am sure these hot chocolates will be a huge hit with her and I LOVE that they’re not loaded with garbage so I can feel good about having them with her. Stay tuned for the review on these!
Another place I learned about a couple years ago is Sloane Tea.
Their creamy oolong is to DIE for. I found them because one of our local shops here carried them and a friend of mine gifted me some for my birthday a couple years back! Instantly hooked! This is another pricier blend, but soooo so worth it. I am a huge fan of oolongs but I’m picky and this one is soooo so delish. I have also had their Earl Grey and Sencha Green – both were quite lovely.
Lastly – I found Sipology through a mutual friend of mine and April’s, and I enjoy many of the teas they have! They have all organic teas and use no artificial ingredients which I love. Some of these blends do have milk ingredients so I do have to read through each one, but I found some I love! A few faves of mine are:
Butterscotch Chai
Toffee Caramel Pu’erh
Coconut Matcha
Vanilla Matcha Sticks (super convenient!)
Alright – what am I missing!? Are you a fellow tea snob thinking that I’ve missed the boat here on one of your fave places? I would love to hear about it!!
Thanks for reading ! And I’ll be back soon with an update on the fam (and maybe some mom hacks I’ve figured out as a mama of two now!)
xxx
Andrea
