Tea for Two

February 11, 2016 by Sarah | Leave a comment

Just popping in to share some of our favorite tea accessories with you. Most are perfect for a pair of tea drinkin’ fools. XO

If your valentine loves tea, start by simply buying them their favorite blend (or the luxury blend that’s a splurge) and give it to them in a beautiful storage tin.

We love this electric kettle for our tea, coffee, and hot chocolate needs. There are a variety of cute designs out there, but if you know a tea aficionado, get them one with temperature control.

Thinking about flowers for Valentine’s Day? This poppy drink cover puts a smile on Katie’s face every time she uses it.

These Numi organic blossoming tea sets with a glass steeper pot make the sweetest gift too.

For someone who loves lose-leaf tea, an infuser is always useful. Win them over with this pixelated heart infuser.

Valentine’s Day = chocolate + tea. AMIRITE? We’re excited about these matcha dark chocolate bars from a company that’s working hard to produce chocolate with high ethical and environmental standards.

Can’t find a tea-flavored chocolate bar in your market? Try infusing their cup of hot cocoa with tea.

Serve your sweet their tea (or infused cocoa) on these beautiful marble coasters or this marble tray.

How about something for their apartment? A simple tea print for the wall? Or you can go for the absurd.

There are so many great mugs out there, we had to do a little round-up:

Have a Star Wars sweetheart? Why not tell them “yoda one for me“?
Katie’s one for understated love. You too? Get a “Meh” mug.
And she’s totally over hearing that moms love their kids “to the moon and back” (sorry if you’re one of them!). So this mug made her chuckle.
If you want to get all the adults chuckling, pick up this Animates mug.
Or if you want to keep it PG and stylish, grab a Haand cloudware mug.

Tea on the go is our favorite. How nice is it to open a steaming jar in the middle of a meeting or class? Pick up some biodegradable Tea filter bags, fill up your ball jar and throw an American made Holdster leather jar holder on it and you’re good to go.

DIY Bath Bombs

February 10, 2016January 16, 2018 by Sarah | 3 Comments

We love mixing and stirring potions around here. Check out the full beauty potion archive here. Click here for our Etsy shop full of lip balms, sunscreens and other natural goodies.

Today’s post is brought to you Kristin, our middle sister, she’s been known to make a simple craft or two. She actually makes lots of really neat decor. I think we’ve bugged her enough that she will be contributing here more often. Another thing about Kris? She gives the best gifts! Last year I was gifted the sweetest smelling candles and this year a whole pile of soaps and bath bombs. I’m making a mental note (and a virtual one?!) to get her candle recipe for you too, but we’ll start with what we have and that’s a fiz-tastic recipe for DIY bath bombs. Add that to Webster’s.

Garden Gin

February 9, 2016February 23, 2016 by Katie | Leave a comment

Tea is our ingredient of the season this winter. We’re using that as an excuse to sit down more often and relax over a cuppa’. Check out the entire tea archive. This post, in particular, is another one that calls for the use of Earl Grey (in ice cream sandwiches!).

I can’t believe that it took us two months to combine tea and alcohol, but the day is finally here! Today we’re sharing our take on this delicious cocktail from Sugar & Charm. As you’ll see, this drink is a complex mix of a variety of botanical flavors. The Earl Grey tea provides a dark tannin-filled foundation, and then it’s layered with lavender, lime juice, and just a hint of citrus, both from the tea and a sliver of zest. Honey adds just a touch of sweetness. Needless to say, this drink is far from the Long Island Iced Teas we all had one too many of in college.

I mentioned that the drink gets a hint of citrus from the Earl Grey tea. Traditionally, Earl Grey is a black tea that is scented with the addition of bergamot essential oil. The bergamot orange is an extremely sour fruit with a rind the color of lemons. It is not considered edible, but with the addition of sugar can be turned into marmalade. Earl Grey tea was first produced in England in the early 1800s in an attempt to reproduce the flavors of more expensive Chinese teas. Perhaps surprisingly, combining gin and Earl Grey, as we do below, is not a unique idea. Although it’s not as fashionable today, it was common throughout the UK, particularly in the late 1800s.

Earl Grey Tea Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

February 8, 2016February 18, 2016 by Sarah | 1 Comment

Tea is our ingredient of the season this winter. We’re using that as an excuse to sit down more often and relax over a cuppa’. Check out the entire tea archive and all our Valentine DIYs here.

Hey sweethearts! We’re baking with tea today. You can enjoy these earl grey tea cookies alone or with ice cream as a sandwich – that’s the route we’re taking. The toasted tea adds a warm, sweet flavor to the buttery cookies. They’re so simple you don’t even need a mixer.

Two Bits

February 5, 2016June 17, 2016 by Sarah | Leave a comment

We want to break down these internet barriers and invite you into our lives and we’re hoping you’ll do the same. You are welcome to share a bit of your week or day in the comments, or if they’re better represented by a photo, tag us on instagram @liveseasoned

Sarah Here :

Happy Friday! Yesterday I was hit with a wave of sinus pressure that knocked me off my feet – literally – I just sat on my yoga mat for a few hours. I stretched, pondered, meditated, and just generally sat in a hazy fog of sinus annoyance. Today I’m going to try to work through it by writing about the Annapurna Circuit Trek. I was reminded of another beautiful, high-altitude adventure yesterday when my pop asked me for this image from Phu Chi Fah, Thailand:

Phu Chi Fah is a tiny village perched on the northeastern side of the Phi Pan Nam Range, a mountain chain that borders northern Thailand and Laos. There’s an amazing set of cliffs that one can hike up in the dark in order to watch the sunrise. It’s a spectacular sight as the clouds roll in looking like water. I’ve never been so cold as the hour I sat waiting on a windy cliff for the sun to come up. When it finally rose and turned the landscape into a warm orangey scene, I felt like the entire morning had been a dream. I was most intrigued by the weekend trading market that sprang up on the side of the mountain that Sunday morning. Driving through, I was glued to the bus window, vowing to return and explore the mountain market someday. That was five years ago, but I still think about it often. Then there was this amazing vegetarian restaurant that Saleem and I visited at least four times that weekend. The food in northern Thailand is unlike the rest of the country’s cuisine. So spicy and delicious. After lunch, we wandered into a shop that had at least a hundred different kinds of shoelaces. I was over the moon because I had been wanting black laces in these sneaks for over a year, but had been unwilling to spend more that $1 for new ones. Seriously, how much better do they look?The light in the bus terminal was just unreal, the whole weekend had been unreal. Can you spot the dog?

I’m off to write all weekend long. I may take a break to watch my Panthers destroy Katie’s Broncos in the Super Bowl! By watch, I mean I’ll make finger food to enjoy while I pretend to cheer for the team from my home state. Katie is probably just realizing now that the Broncos are playing in the big game…

Floral Lip Balm

February 4, 2016January 16, 2018 by Katie | 2 Comments

This is just one in a series of essential oil posts. Read this post if you’d like a basic primer on essentials, and this one for more information about carrier oils. Oh, and if you’d like more ideas for your Valentine, look here.

I have to admit, it wasn’t my idea to create a floral-scented lip balm, as I often shy away from flowery smells in favor of something spicy. Our sister Kristin suggested it, and then I smelled the rose essential oil, and well, now I’m hooked. And what perfect timing, because this is yet another way (in addition to our rose tea, cake, and jam) to give someone flowers for Valentine’s Day without actually buying the bouquet.

Since this is the first lip balm recipe that we’re sharing on the blog, it’s a little long-winded as I provide some general information about both the ingredients and tools needed to make lip balm at home.

Welcome February

February 3, 2016February 4, 2016 by Sarah | 7 Comments

On the first Wednesday of each month we like to pause and take a look at what’s going on in the world around us. We’ll highlight some nature and environmental news, give you a bit of inspiration, and ask you to partake in a monthly sustainability initiative with us.

With all of the snow that’s falling, there’s no doubt that we’re definitely deep in the middle winter, yet the slowly growing days are making it all bearable. Did you join us during January in trying to reduce your salt/chemical use when clearing the snow? Katie spent a boat-load of time shoveling her Colorado driveway. All of that exercise was fueled by her afternoon milkshake habit!

This month we’re excited to share our new challenge as well as a bit of inspiration and some stories that caught our eye in the news.

Rose Tea

February 2, 2016February 5, 2016 by Katie | 1 Comment

Tea is our ingredient of the season this winter. We’re using that as an excuse to sit down more often and relax over a cuppa’. If you’re looking for another way to spice up your black tea, check out our masala chai. Click here for our archive of Valentine DIYs.

Hey there, thinking about surprising your Valentine with breakfast in bed and a side of tea? No? How about just surprising him/her with an afternoon cup of tea? Either way, we have an idea for making that Valentine’s Day cup extra special ~ add some dried rose petals.

Doesn’t that look beautiful? Think about letting your sweetheart add the dried tea and petals to the boiled water themselves, that way they can see the delicate pink petals before they go in the kettle and lose their color. #itsthelittlethings

The rose petals will add a light floral aroma and flavor to any variety of tea. I prefer a black base, but this would also go well with the lighter flavor of a white tea.

All rose petals are edible, but not all are created/tended equally; be sure to purchase dried rose petals that were grown and processed without any pesticides or additional chemicals.

So simple, but so sweet for your special someone on Valentine’s Day.

Seasoned View: Vol. 22

February 1, 2016January 31, 2016 by Sarah | Leave a comment

Each month we share our Seasoned View. Snapshots of nature and daily life taken by the Seasoned sisters. Find our archive of past months’ views here.

IT’S FEBRUARY! WTF. This month is about working harder than last month. Planning on starting riiiiight meow. January had its perks though. I had the chance to visit the Everglades and Key West, Florida. Download some of these images. They’ll warm you up 🙂