Vienna Summer Black Tea

I went tea-shopping with my mom a few days ago and going through the tea shop and smelling all the jars of tea was amazingly fun. Note: going to a tea shop that has jars you can open yourself is infinitely better than one with jars behind a counter that you need to get someone to open for you. I believe this is because your sense of how annoying you are being overrides the sense of fun derived from smelling tea leaves.

I'm a coffee kind of person born of a family of obsessive tea drinkers, but I also love tea and on (very) rare instances, will order it over coffee. Like when I want to be able to sleep. Once. And this behavior can be explained thus: the tea's name was Iron Goddess of Mercy. But when I'm at home, I almost always make tea for myself, due to the fact that I may have ruined my coffeemaker and anyway it was making somewhat weird coffee before that.

My parents are tea purists- especially my dad- but I like blending in a few things occasionally (like mint, rosehips, or chamomile) with your typical black, white, or green tea.

Vienna Summer Black Tea
My ingredients for this blend is approximately a ratio of the following:
4 tbsp black tea
1 tbsp rosehip
1 tbsp mint

Directions: Add an unknown amount to a teapot (I feel that I always disregard the package instructions that say to add 1 tsp or so for an 8 oz cup... I feel like I add 3-4 tsp, perhaps because I enjoy existin at the peripheries of life... joke). Boil water at an unknown temperature (although I do think I can admit I know black tea is supposed to be steeped at about 202-212 degrees-is this pretentious knowledge?).

Very simple and very delicious. I like the touch of mint, whereas I know my friend Ashley likes drinking mint tea straight up. That much mint flavor totally overwhelms me though. I think a bit of it is perfect. And no more. Unless you're trying to not only clear your sinuses but also your entire brain of every cobweb that has ever occupied it.

I'm not sure what effect the rosehips has in terms of taste, to be honest. But they photograph really beautifully.

some inspiration

[image from here]

I found some inspiring sentiments for today to consider for some goals, but more specifically, general life themes. (Also, I love the calm of this picture)

"Develop an interest in life as you see it: the people, things, literature, music--the world is so rich, throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls, and interesting people. Forget yourself." -Henry Miller

When asked in Matchbook what advice she would give girls to live interesting, stylish, and adventurous lives, she responded, "First, to have a companion in life to share things in life is fantastic. It can be a husband, friend, a partner. That is my way to energize. Second is... to explore, to travel, go to museums, go to films, find beautiful vintage books that are meaningful. Make your individuality and your identity strong--that not only will make you different, it also gives you ideas to create something that is different, and that is very important."

Also, an article from a traveler through some of eastern Europe that I like.

i am feeling like getting out of the city and living in the mountains where i can ski all the time and live in a cabin.

a picture I took in Switzerland, 2009

photo by pruginko

And there should also be a lake for kayaking in the spring. I have a friend who took a kayaking class in college and it was really hard for him. He claims it was because his partner had a hard time getting back in the kayak when it flipped over. Uh, why did your kayak flip over? seems an obvious question. However, he did end up getting an A-, which he clarified for me when I was laughing about the C that I thought he got. In kayaking class. He also took a vampire class. It was a communications class, but we called it vampire class. He had a hard time with that too. I e-mailed him a daily vampire reference... for two days. It turns out that I don't come across vampires as often in my life as I had once thought.

(I couldn't remember the first one I sent, so I had to go back and search "Vampire" in my inbox. The response I received from my friend: "Hahaha. Keep em coming.")

what heights of love, what depths of peace

Reading my cute friend's post about knitting made me feel inspired to write down some of my thoughts. After an entire summer of only making a pair of mittens (and casually crocheting a blanket) when I was on the brink of boredom (histology studying), the appeal of it is coming back to me full force. It's the season, certainly. In the back of my mind as a Chicagoan, there's the impulse to urgently knit ourselves into the warmth so callously denied us by harsh winters, to protect ourselves from the frigid cold.

But also, there's a simultaneous sense of both focus and also an allowance for distraction. What you get out of it can be molded to fit what you need by working on different projects. My ritual for as many mornings as I could manage the past few weeks has been to knit on my 3rd floor porch while listening to music and sometimes drinking tea. The back of my building faces an alleyway, which in and of itself has led to witnessing some interesting things, as well as the back of a sushi restaurant and behind that, a very busy street. It's not always serene, but I've noticed that each morning has its own character, its ebbs and flows. Sometimes, I just knit. Sometimes, when I feel that my thoughts are haphazardly shooting all over the place or disturbing me (and this happens often), I count. I make myself count how many rows I've done and try to make it to ten without losing track. The other morning, it took me from rows 50-59 to 110-120 before I was able to count to 10. But I didn't push it and finally, it was okay.

I have started reflecting on my progress, but I realized that I still haven't achieved a routine that I can maintain and an extremely effective way of balancing everything. But I also remember that it's only really been a few weeks since I've started trying and after a lifetime of semi-apathetically attempting and failing to set a routine, a few weeks is not going to be wholly curative. I have found some important things that bring me peace this season: knitting, reading, swimming, and baking. For a few weeks, that's not so bad. October tomorrow!