a peek inside the fishbowl

It seems unfair to single out one Christmas gift of many lovely gifts, but I wanted to share this because I am really enjoying this David’s tea sampler right now and I think many of you would too.

I should qualify this all by saying that I like tea well enough but I’m definitely not a tea aficionado. I have even attended a guided tea tasting with an expert and although I was suitably impressed (turns out there is a LOT to know about tea) it didn’t change my habits or result in an upgrade of my purchasing habits. The teas I drink include some of the usual brands you find at the grocery store and STASH brand peppermint tea. Peppermint tea is good for the tummy and as far as I know, this brand is the best tasting and has a lovely sweet finish. But I digress.

When I unwrapped this sampler pack of David’s top 12 teas on Christmas morning I was pleased… and intrigued! I’d tried a few teas from David’s but never really settled on a favourite and hated the idea of buying a whole can of tea I might get tired of. I find it weirdly intimidating to go in there too.

The sampler flavours have all been great so far. I really enjoyed Budda’s Blend, Cinnamon Rooibos, and Super Ginger. Most recently, I cracked open the Cold 911 blend. I was saving it for a sore throat and sniffles and unfortunately, today was the day. I can’t honestly say whether it’s destroying my cold (one can only hope) but it was definitely an enjoyable tea!

Each little container has enough tea for two cups. For some of brews, I was able to use each batch of leaves twice, making this a pretty decent value.

I would love to know if these little guys are refillable too. I have an email in to their customer service, so I hope to find out soon. Do you have a favourite tea? Hit me up! I’d love to hear about it.

• 1 Woman, 12 Months, 52 Places, nytimes.com
• The Best Skin-Care Trick Is Being Rich, theatlantic.com
• The surprisingly bright future of retail, fastcompany.com
• How to properly feed a hungry pack of Raptors, theglobeandmail.com
• ‘Dry January’ Has Benefits All Year Long, smithsonianmag.com

I reread yesterday’s post and am a hair’s breadth away from deleting it. I’m not entirely sure I made any sense.

–

Normally, I’m not really into New Year’s resolutions. I suppose it’s because I haven’t felt like I needed to make them. Well, this year I do need them. I need to hit a reset button on my physical and mental health and this is it.

I have a feeling that resolutions are really only interesting to the person doing them, so I am going to keep the blather to a minimum. I will say this: I am doubling down on my resolve to keep my daily habits. I am also undertaking a Dry January and started a Facebook group for gentle support and encouragement in a judgement-free zone. So far, it’s been very positive. Send me a message if you want more information about this!

What else? For the month of January, I am:

• Exploring my (new) tea collection from David’s Tea and kicking my afternoon coffee habit to the curb. I had the best night’s sleep in ages last night. I can’t even remember the last time I woke up feeling refreshed.
• Not going to the gym, not even once.
• Sticking with MyFitnessPal diary app and tracking my food properly.

In terms of creative projects, I’ve started a video project that logs my year in one second increments for 365 days. (Here’s the website of the app I’m using.) I have two days under my belt so far and am really excited about the potential here.

I am half considering buying a chin-up bar and subscribing to Headspace. If you have experience with either of these, I would love to hear from you.

Happy New Year, my fishies!