I don't quite remember when I fell in love with tea but I do remember the most special moments of me drinking tea. I was eighteen years old and I went to live with my biological mother for four months. I had just met her months earlier and it was awkward for both of us. She and her ex-husband lived a very quiet life in Boulder, Colorado. He was a professor at one of the universities and she was a housewife. After years of drug addiction and being in and out of jail, she deserved the break. I was homeless so she and her husband agreed to let me come live with them. Each evening my mother and I would find a spot in the living room with a cup of tea and a book.

Now, years later, I'm a self proclaimed tea expert. I start each day with a wonderful English Breakfast tea to get me going. As the day progresses, who knows what wonderful tea I will crown queen. But for sure, I have at least three cups of tea a day. And yes, when I can, I have tea everyday at about 3:00 P. M. I love to invite my friends over for tea and cupcakes and so far everyone thinks it’s a delightful experience. I am always in search of the best blend of tea. Yes, I’m a tea snob, I prefer loose tea but I do like some bags also. I have learned not to judge a book by it’s cover. Some bags can be quite nice. And yes again, any Diva knows, what you drink your tea out of is very important.

Tea for me is a way of life. It's wellness for the mind body and spirit. Here, I will explore every expect of tea possible, with a high concentration on wellness. I will review the best teas, the best places to have tea, the best ways to brew tea, the best tea accessories, what tea goes best with what foods, and the list goes on and on. I plan to share my passion for tea with you. And I've been told, nothing I do is ever boring so be prepared to go on this tea journey with me.





RLT Collection Tea Ball Frosted Clear Beads!

Mint Medley by The Persimmon Tree Tea Company

About This Tea:

Until recently I had never drank Peppermint Tea made with loose leaves. And Honestly, I will probably never go back. The freshness of loose Peppermint Tea cannot be denied. When I open the can of Mint Medley, From The Persimmon Tree Tea Company, I feel as if I stepped into a garden of peppermint leaves. It is a perfect blend of organic peppermint and spearmint leaves grown in the US.

Mint Medley has become a favorite and I find myself reaching for this tea tin almost everyday. It is great for on-going nausea. The health benefits and endless. It relieves muscle aches, headaches, migraines, stress. And now that it feels like someone is sitting on my chest and I have a mean cough, I'm sure it will help to relieve some of this congestion in my chest. Mint Medley has been in my tea cup more than any tea as of late. It has really helped with my winter cough, congestion related to this bout of pneumonia. You can read my full review on The Persimmon Tree Tea Company Mint Teas.


RLT Collection AIDS Awareness Tea Ball!




Welcome to my world of books! As an pre-teen books changed my world. I fell in love with the writers of the Harlem Renaissance period and the more I read the more I wanted to read. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It spoke to my own degradation and gave me hope for a better tomorrow. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

I love to read! Inside a book I escape into someone else's life. There is something wonderful about turning to the next page of a wonderful story. Something intoxicating about the smell of the book and the story it brings to life. Reading brings me joy, and these days with my health in the balance, I find solace in my books.

I spent hours in my bedroom sequestered with the door closed reading the classics from the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes, Larsen, Hurston, Wright and Baldwin. Books became my escape and my salvation. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

Reading is the one thing that the pain of my life could never take away from me. It was the thing that helped to make it better. And even today, living with AIDS, books continue to be the safest place for me. It’s the one thing that belongs to me that AIDS cannot take away from me.The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS.

The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS. I have read hundreds of books from many different genres and I will pick the best of my reads over the years. I warn you, it will not be exclusively white or black, male or female, fiction or non fiction, it will be all of them.

I’m so excited and I’m grateful to everyone who wants to be a part of this venture. We already have 110 Book Club Members. You can email me @ RLTReads@raelewisthornton.com. The Twitter hashtag is #RLTReads. We can make this book club as wonderful as we want to make it. Who says that Oprah has to have the only ownership to a wonderful book club?

This Month We are Reading In My Fathers House by E Lynn Harris


Read along and join our discussion July 19th at 7 pm CST







For more Tea with Rae "Vlogs" Click here to visit her youtube channel

Friday, May 20, 2011

I Am Not A Whore!

I am not a whore! But it's true, I've been having sex almost as long as I've lived. I broke my virginity when I was 13, which was a decision I made based on what I thought I knew was the best decision for me. It was a totally wrong decision based on faulty information.

I am not a whore! But at 6 years of age I was raped repeatedly... And my rapists names changed over the years, but the rape remained the same... And by the time I was 9 years old it was common for me to wipe blood and semen off my 9 year old vagina.

I am not a whore! But by the time I was 18, I knew that I knew I could please a man in bed and I took some misguided pleasure out of that fact.

I am not a whore! My decision to break my virginity at 13 was connected to my rapes from ages 6-9. You see, I was taught by actions and deeds from the men in my family that this is what you do for love. This is what you do when you love someone and when you have a "special" relationship.

I am not a whore! Simply because my mother called me one to justify why she remained in a relationship with a man who was grabbing my breast. Her low self-esteem fueled my low self-esteem.

I am not a whore! As a woman I was taught by society that I  must find the right man to love and protect me... No matter how successful you are, your life is not complete without that man!

I am not a whore! I used to believe that the love of a man was the best thing since sliced bread. But then I learned that bread molds... And in the end self-love was the best love.

I am not a whore! I used to believe if I choose wisely, i.e., rich, accomplished, fine, educated, Christian, it would keep me safe. In the end, I learned that the only thing that can keep you safe is you...

I am not a whore! But I used to think sex was love.

I am not a whore! But I used to think that chemistry with a man was friendship.

I am not a whore! This was faulty thinking... based on information I convinced myself was true to justify what was untrue.

I am not a whore! I was actually 29 years old when I first understood that what I thought was "normal" behavior was not. I remember it as if it was yesterday. I said to my therapist, "I've always been this sexual person. I've been having sex since I was 6 years old." And she said, "Rae, how does a 6 year old have sex with a 20 year old?" I cried for two weeks for me... The woman who had no idea that all these years she had been raped and not just having sex.

I am not a whore! It took almost another 15 years to cry for the little girl who never knew what it was to be a little girl.

I am not a whore! But it took even more years to actually learn what healthy behavior was.

I am not a whore! But it took even more years after I learned what healthy behavior was to actually practice healthy behavior.

I am not a whore! It took a desire, years of prayer, therapy and practice to actually be healthy.

I am not a whore as I move into this second phase of my life! At 49 years of age as of this Sunday... Getting ready for my next half century, I know for sure, that I am bigger than any label society can ever give me.

I know for sure that I not only know better, I can actually do better... And I do!!

I know for sure that my life and self-worth is greater than any man. And, I prefer to be alone then to give up my self-worth ever again. For years it was taken. And then for years I gave it away... But I have it back now and no one will ever run away with my stuff again.

I am not a whore! But a wonderful child of God! Shaped in God's perfect image...


Post Script: I hope and pray that what you think you know is truth... Otherwise, faulty information will leave you wounded and broken... Don't explain it away... Don't make excuses.. Face it on it's face value... The Bible says, "The truth will set you free!" This I also know for sure...

at 9:16 AM
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