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

Saturday, April 27, 2013

The Newness at RLT Collection!

There's tons of NEWNESS at RLT Collection!  Yes! Yes! Yes! People ask me often do I sleep? I think I do, but I know for sure that I never stop thinking. Often times I will get up in the middle of the night to work on a bracelet design that is floating in my head.  I'm supper excited about my latest additions to RLT Collection!

Can you say Mother's Day? Well it's around the corner. Just 15 more days and you will be searching crazy for that special gift for your special Mother or the women in your life that has been like a mother. I know I have a few of them; Women who didn't birth you, but birthed something in you.

Well, search no more. I discovered these WONDERFUL Mother of Pearls Gemstones and fell head over heals. These disc shaped Mother of Pearls are simply beautiful! Every mother deserves a Mother of Pearl Bracelet! I even kept one of each for myself, because I'm a doggie Mom.

These bracelets are a simple contemporary design. The luster of the gemstones speaks volumes. These Mother of Pearls are in black and cream and paired with an round two-tone Angelic Crystal and a metal bead accent!


Bracelet of the Week! Yes I said Bracelet of the Week!  I simply love playing around with gemstones. While perusing gem shows and bead shops I always discover a gemstone must have. Yet, must haves don't always make it into the seasonal collections when I sit at my bead board.

 Bracelet of the Week are bracelets designed with these gemstones; Must have gemstones used to create must have designs, but separate from my seasonal collection. 

The Hand of God Bracelet! The First Weekly Design! 
There are 52 weeks in a year and this Collection will consist of 52 different designs, featuring a new bracelet each week. Each weekly bracelet will be in very small qualities, from 1-10; and once gone there are no more. 

 A new bracelet will post every Sunday! Note: We began this Collection at week 18.

Because the bracelet designs are in such small quantities, we will be able to give you a price that is substantiality lower than the other bracelets in the seasonal collections, this way you can indulge in both. These bracelets will not go on sale because we have already given you the best possible price.

It will be exciting seeing what I design each week!
Spring Forward Collection! 
The Spring Forward Collection is Coming!! Fun colors of yellows, pinks, blues and greens just like Tulips. I came across these wonderful colors of faceted Jade Gemstones at a great price and I'm turing that great price back around to you. They will be a special purchase from $28.00-$48.00. 

 These bracelets are being loaded onto the website today and should be completed by Monday April 29th! You are going to want one in every color, I promise you! 

Last but not least. I have been burning the midnight oil trying to complete the major Spring/Summer  2013 Collection, "The Colors of Lake Michigan." Did you now that Lake Michigan can go from muddy grey, dark deep blue/black at night to beautiful shades of blue and green and even brown?

Well living in Chicago near the lake all my life, I was excited to design a collection paying homage to the wonder of this lake. I have captured the different colors of Lake Michigan with this collection. It will get you through the summer into the fall! This Collection should be on the website by mid-May!

See, I told you, there is so much going on with RLT Collection. I hope that you will drop by and check it out! Click Here for the Web Store!

Post Script! Monthly Give Away! Yes, that means  a free bracelet! Every 4th Friday of the month I will give away a RLT Collection Bracelet! But you have to follow the rule! See Below!

If you are not on Instagram sign up today Click Here! in order to qualify you have to follow RLT Collection on Instargam. Intagram is a wonderful new Socail Meida of Pictures and two weeks ago I signed RLT Collection up. My page will feature RLT Colleciton and speicals but also bracelet fashion and trends from around the world. How cool is that? So follow me @ RLTColleciton



at 11:56 AM
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