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.
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.
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
In the blogger world you meet some people you can live without and others you feel like you've known forever; just good people all the way around.
That's how I feel about Johanna Cook aka MommaCuisine. She is down to earth, fun and most of all just a kind hearted woman. And personally I think she was black in another lifetime and I tell her that often.
Her website is http://www.mommacuisine.com if you want to learn more about Johanna. She's a wonderful cook and a wonderful person!
She's been supportive of me in so many ways. She wears my bracelets in her videos and many of her Social Media Events to give me more exposure and she has even cooked a meal or two during those long IV ordeals I have. Well, I'm asking you to help her.
P. S. RLT Collection is having the best SALE Ever. I'm revamping the entire website and cleaning house. There is something on sale in all the bracelet categories. Check them out. Plus take an extra 10% off the entire sale at check out. The Coupon Code is Diva. My website is http://www.rltcollection.com Don't forget my book, The Politics of Respectability. The reviews have been great! For an autographed copy Click Here. You can also get it in paperback and Kindle at Amazon Click Here.
I'm so excited that I haven't been able to sleep for the last few nights! I'm headed to the largest and most powerful Blogger's Conference in the country, Blog Her. I missed the International AIDS Conference because I couldn't afford it. Registration was $975.00, not including travel and hotel. I was sitting around last week all sad, then I thought about missing BlogHer12 too and gloom set in. I had to shake that sadness and made a decision right then, if there was anyway I could work it out I had to go to Blog Her. I had to make it happen. Well, the Bible says we have not because we ask not and sometimes you have to let your pride go and I did just that. You can miss your blessing holding onto unnecessary pride.
I learned that a couple of years ago, when my speaking engagements went from 5-7 a month to 5-7 a year and I lost my book deal with Hyperion Publishing. I had to face reality. I downsized my life #ForReal I went from a 3 bedroom apartment to a studio and buckled in for the long haul. The economy hit me hard, people just weren't bringing speakers like in the past. Not only was everyone's money funny, but AIDS is not the sexiest topic it had been in the past. But, downsizing my life didn't do anything for my Purpose. I was sitting in my studio apartment looking at the walls.
I had to face the fact that God called me to do a work no matter what the conditions. I got a push from my bestie Luke, to take my message and brand to Social Media. I also started thinking about blogging, but I was nervous about it and got a push or two. I have to give credit where it's due. I got a push from another Blogger, who was following me on Twitter, who has since become my friend, Dwana. And Honestly, Luvvie from the Red Pump Project pushed me even further and put up my blog site in a day and then I got great advice from beauty blogger, Afrobella and as the saying goes, the rest has been history.
I wasn't traveling all over the country anymore, but I was still doing the work. I start my day on Twitter and Facebook and then write my blog. It was a ready made audience to take my message of self-love, self-worth and prevention; while challenging stigma and shame around HIV/AIDS with my candor, transparency and honesty.
In Just two years, I have grown by leaps and bounds, with most of the growth this last year. This blog gets about 30,000 visits a month. People are reading it too. The amount of time a person stays on my blog is 4-5 minutes which is major for a blog. My YouTube has over 120,000 views, I have over 7,000 followers on Twitter and my combined Facebook pages have 11,000 followers.
I'm the only person in the country hosting Tweet-Up's with an HIV/AIDS theme. I made the cover of the Chicago Tribune and BET News did a story on how I use Social Media for HIV/AIDS education. It's been a world wind these last two years. Who knew? I sure didn't but the point was that I was open to the possibilities. Open to taking my message to Social Media, whether I got paid or not.
I don't have any sponsors or any big names behind me. I do it all on my own, not because of me, but because of what I have been called to do. We get so stuck on the right time and conditions. When in reality the time is ripe the day God plants that seed in you to do the work. We just have to be willing to do the work, in spite of the conditions. Conditions are just for show anyway. It's a great thing when you can brag, but your gifts are not for bragging, they are for using.
So I have no shame! Most days, I'm sitting at home in my PJ's Tweeting and Blogging and using my gifts to help enrich the lives of others. My purpose is far greater than my pride will ever be. There is an internal peace that I have knowing that I'm gifted and God wants to use my gifts. With no sponsors, my brand has grown beyond what my eyes could even see.
So I'm headed to Blog Her! I didn't have the money, but I asked. I put it out there in the universe and my Twitter/Blog Followers have made it happen; My Besties Markeeda and Luke chipped in too. I'm blessed to have two good friends who believe in me and sow into my work.
I'm not going to Blog Her to party, in fact, I've not been invited to the best parties nor am I going for the wonderful swag bags and giveaways. I'm going so that I can grow and when I grow, you grow. Yes, I'm hoping to find the right sponsors, thats the perfect fit, but if I don't I'm cool. I know for a fact that I will absorb all that I can, so I can continue to grow my brand.
I'm not even ashamed to say that I wouldn't be going if on my own. Things are tight and I will be pinching pennies to make my spending money stretch. I'm just proud that I moved beyond pride and put my desire to go to Blog Her in the universe and within one day, I was able to register and purchase a plane ticket! THANK YOU!
I'm telling you, your gifts are larger than what you think is the right time to use them. Your purpose should be larger than your pride. I dare you to step out there and watch God blow your mind. You may not become famous, or you just might. You may not make a fortune or you just might. But for sure, if you don't you will miss the opportunity to bless others with what you have been gifted with. That for me is what life is about, PURPOSE.
If I never get another feature in a magazine or TV; If my bank account stays at a monthly average of $200.00, it's all good. I will continue to do what God has called me to do. I will continue to grow and be the best me, so that I can share my best with you.
I will be Tweeting and Blogging while at Blog Her. You can follow my HashTag #GrowingRLT The general Hash Tag for Blog Her is #Blogher12 There is lots of good stuff there, especially for those of you who are trying to grow your blog.
Please keep me in your prayers. Long, continuous days are tough on my health so I need all the good energy you can send my way. And Lawddd y'all know I'm gonna miss my baby girl Sophie. She has already started looking sad... She will be Tweeting while Mommie is on the road working :) You can follow Sophie on Twitter Here
Post Script: If you want to support me, you can buy a bracelet from my Collection. There are new markdowns, plus an extra 10% off the entire sale. The coupon code is Diva, Click Here! You can buy an autographed copy of my book, The Politics of Respectability, Click Here! Or you can just donate to my blog on the donate button... #IcannotdoitAlone
I love being a blogger and everything about it. It's definitely the new media; A way for ordinary people like myself to reach the world.
I'm so glad that I stepped out on faith a year and half ago with my blog because it has certainly paid off. Nope, no money, but I've met a lot of wonderful women through my blog, which has forged some wonderful friendships. But most importantly, I've been able to touch lives world wide that I never would have if I hadn't started blogging.
Venturing out into this New Media was scary because I never saw myself as a writer. I am undeniably a speaker. But if the truth be told, when I first started speaking, I didn't see myself as a speaker either. But in such a short time, I have been able to take my message to places I would have never on the speakers circuit. And on the other end, it has increased my speaking engagements.
To think that I didn't even believe I could do it and now my blog has been nominated as a Valuable Blog by CBS. I'm grateful for the strangers on Twitter that encouraged me. This one woman, Dwana, not only encouraged me, she started sending me e-mails about blogger/social media events and tools to help me make my blog the best it could be. At first I thought she was crazy, but then I finally met the face behind the tweets and e-mails and the rest is history, as they say.
Dwana and I have become very close and she is still trying to make my blog the best it could be, while working a full time job, blogging at her own site, Healthier, Happier, You @Houseonahill.Org, and the managing editor for Chicagonista Blog all things Chicago. But I think her most important job is raising her teen soon, I fondly call the Prince.
Raijean, Nikia and Kim at a Fashion Bloggers Event
It's been great hanging out in the bloggers world. Three of my favorite fashion/lifestyle bloggers are Raijean, Nikia and Kim. Together we are our own rat pack. While we have lots of fun together, we also support the growth of each others blogs without any ugly competition. Nikia's blog Chi Town Fashionaita also made it to the the CBS Blogger Finals in the category of, "Everything Else." You can vote for her here.
There are some bloggers who never Retweet others blog post or give them any kind of PR because of fear that their blog will not shine. But all of us, Dwana, Raijean, Nikia and Kim, do our best, support others and let our own work speak for itself.
The thing is, blogging is a way that we can share with our readers the best of what we know. It also focuses us to be our best. You will see us out and about learning all that we can. While some people take blogging loosely; A way to share what's on their mind, some of us, try to move beyond our own boundaries to provide diversity in our information.
To help my blog grow, I have attend Afternoon Tea at the Peninsula Hotel, sampled tons of teas, read up on dating, sex, sexually transmitted diseases, clothes and beauty and at the same time, attended serious Bloggers Conferences, like the one hosted by Chicagonista. I'm even keynoting a bloggers conference in October, Show Me The Blog, in St. Louis, MO.
Conferences, are an opportunity for me to learn and share with other bloggers as a way to help my blog grow and be the best it can be. Theses conferences are a great way of sharing information and bonding in a way that inspires you to be the best blogger that you can.
I'm happy to have forged a wonderful friendship with Bloggers at the top of their game. But equally important, I am glad that I moved beyond my fears and self-imposed limitations to allow God to use me through this new form of communication. Someone asked me on Facebook one day, "Where I get my topics?" Honestly, I just let God lead me. I'm never sure from day to day what I will write about, in spite of the fact, I have tried to work from a blog schedule like many bloggers do. It does not work for me. I just begin typing and God does the rest. But in doing so, I try to share the fullness of what I know from self-love to the best of life as a way to help enrich the lives of my readers.
Thank you for helping to make my blog a success by your readership!! Please help me grow continue to, share my blog with everyone you know. And don't forget to VOTE everyday until September 9th. Thanks! You Rock!
I'm going to admit that sometimes I tend to self-isolate. This is especially true when I'm not feeling good. And that's how it's been lately. It seems like I can't get ahead of this darn illness. As soon as we figure out one thing, there's yet another complicated issue on the table. It becomes emotionally draining on top of the physical discomfort I'm facing. Sometimes I'm so over it that I just shut down. But yesterday I was reminded yet again that I cannot go it alone.
I saw a fellow blogger and Twitter friend, The Cubicle Chick, tweeting about being in Chicago, so I invited her to tea and cupcakes. Another Twitter friend, Curvatude, joined us. But by the time Sunday came around, I was dragging. It took everything I had to pull it together. But the fact that she was from out of town made me push forward.
Cubicle Chick and Curvatude
Since being on Twitter and blogging, I have met some awesome women! Social media has done wonders to help me expand my work around HIV/AIDS. But, it has also helped to expand my network of friends. My therapist used to tell me that you're not gonna meet any new people stuck up in the house, and I'm learning that's a fact! So Sunday I pressed my way and met up with The Cubicle Chick, a lifestyle blogger, and another lifestyle/fashion blogger from Chicago, Curvatude, and we had a blast!
We started out at Starbucks but decided that we needed to get some real food in our stomachs before cupcakes. I was grateful that Danyelle, aka The Cubicle Chick, treated because I was so broke I couldn't pay attention. But after an hour of chatting over brunch we ended back down the street at More Cupcakes and Starbucks.
Over tea and cupcakes, we talked about everything from A to Z. It was really great to share freely with two women who use social media the same way I do. Sometimes there is so much competition between bloggers that it makes you mad. In fact, my trust has already been violated in these ten short months, which has made me skeptical.
But they both shared information to help me step up my game. I am forever more grateful and have already begun working on those suggestions. Soon to come will be weekly videos: A Day In The Life Of A Diva Living With AIDS... And yep, you will see me without make-up #ForReal. Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube Channel. I need all the support I can get!
We bonded in those four hours. And we laughed and laughed and laughed. I'm sure a few of Starbucks' other customers were over us, but it didn't matter to us. This was not a time for put-ons. Each of us let our hair and guards down as we fellowshipped over Red Velvet cupcakes and tea...
And yet again, it was confirmed for me, that there is no darn reason I should go it alone. There are some good women out there who will lift you up and add value to your life. They both renewed my faith that everybody ain't a user... And we laughed so hard, I'm sure we increased the serotonin to help make me a little more happier in this difficult time full of health challenges. Remember, no matter what you are going through, you cannot go it alone. Sometimes it may be the least expected person to help lift you up. Be open to the possibilities, because you cannot go it alone!
Without a doubt I always meet a young adult, who says to me, "I heard you speak when I was in ___." It can be anywhere from 8th grade to 12th grade and it tickles me pink. It's so special to see them all grown up, telling me that they are happy I am still alive and that they were in some way impacted by hearing me speak. It confirms the importance of my work and it warms my heart.
Raijean's 30th Birthday Celebration
And that's exactly what happened this past summer. I was at H&M checking out their AIDS awareness clothing line and some fashion bloggers, who were also there saw my tweets and before I knew it, we were standing on the Mag Mile for well over 30 minutes chatting.
Well, midway through the conversation one of the young ladies said to me the she reads my blog and follows me on Twitter and that she was happy to see that I had not changed one bit since she heard me speak when she was in high school. She went on to explain how I had touched her deeply. I liked that child instantly. Not only was she singing my praises, LOL, but she had this wonderful style about her that I liked instantly. At that time I was in the middle of planning my first Tweet-up; she offered to help and she kept her promise.
I started hanging out with Raijean Stroud and other bloggers over the summer. The blogger world is very small. We all know each other, but honestly, we have paired off into groups of women that think alike and have similar values. Once I got to really know Raijean I discovered that she had heart disease. HUH? But she was only 29. It took a minute for me to digest it all. But in a nutshell, she was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy. It's a weakening of the heart muscle or a change in the heart muscle structure. Basically, her heart wasn't pumping right which led to congestive heart failure in 6 months.
This baby was given a dual defibrillator to detect any cardiac arrhythmia. The doctors are not quite sure of the cause but it's the law of her land right now. She takes 8 pills a day. And she has to continue to lose weight. She has about 50 more pounds to go. The thing that I like most about Raijean is that she has taken it all in stride. She's always been a Diva and she has not allowed her health to interfere with her fabness!
Honestly, I am so proud of her. She has not stopped one bit. She's a single mom raising a "man child," as she puts it, who is two. She never slacks on her fashion blog and she is building her brand as a fashion critic. She is doing that thang!
But it's one thing to do for you, it's another thing to do for others. Raijean is stepping up her game to bring awareness to heart disease. She was recently asked the be a spokesperson for the American Heart Association. But she is taking it a step further with the launch of her own organization, Bleeding Heart, promoting heart health awareness, one heart at a time.
This Tuesday she is having the official launch party for Bleeding Heart and I will be there dressed all in red as she has requested ready to work! Who would have thought, I touched her heart 15 years ago; she has touched my heart with both her friendship and support of my work in HIV/AIDS prevention and education 15 years later.
Please join me and others as we support Raijean in her mission to educate about heart disease. You can also support her Bleeding Heart Project on Twitter and on Facebook .
Tea began as medicine and morphed into a beverage of choice!
I don't quite remember when I fell in love with tea but I do remember the most 
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 
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.
