Austin Texas hold a special place in my heart. I have been visiting for over 20 years. You see, I’m one of those people who still has friends from high school. And one of them lives in Austin.   For years, before I started drinking hot tea, she would drag me with her to Starbucks for her afternoon coffee. So I can really blame her for my mug collection. She’s also the one who introduced me to Tea Embassy. Once I begin drinking hot tea and started using loose leaf teas, it was a match made in heaven. Several years ago, another friend from Houston moved to the Austin area. And yet another friend from online lives there as well. It’s nice to have one city where I can go visit three people who are important in my life. I’m sure there’s a way to tell when I got this mug by the design on it. But that doesn’t concern me. I love visiting Austin and this mug reminds me of my friends and the fun times I’ve had there.   ...

I have visited California several times in my life. From San Diego in my early 20s to visit my grandparents, San Francisco multiple times, wine country and the redwoods, Orange County, and Disneyland. Michael and I usually don’t revisit destinations as we have so many that we want to visit. Wine Country is an exception. We returned in 2015 as empty nesters. We stayed in Calistoga and found some of our favorite wines. But this isn’t about the wine. During this visit, we flew down to Irvine to visit a friend and see southern California. Michael rented a motorcycle so he could ride with Leo. While I joined them one day, that was enough for me. I rented a car and headed up to LA for a day.  I hit the major sites, Hollywood sign, Walk of Fame, Rodeo Boulevard. My favorite spot being the Tar Pits.  Thus my Starbucks dilemma. I could have gotten a mug for almost every city. I love the mugs, but I don’t need hundreds. In this case, I settled on the state mug.......

Boston   As a teacher, I had the ubiquitous collection of coffee mugs given as presents over the years. But for the longest time I didn’t drink a hot beverage in the morning. So many relegated to the duty of pen and pencil holders on my desk. And many were donated and given away.   Then I started drinking hot tea and I had a few mugs. But my friends all enjoyed Starbucks. So when visiting friends I would go into Starbucks. And I noticed the travel collection. It seemed the perfect souvenir, portable, useful, and still  reminder of the places visited. These are the mugs I’ve collected over the years. Most days they do stay on display in the china cabinet. Mainly because they don’t hold as much as my Bellatrix mug. So hard to pick today’s mug., each one is a memory! I think I’ll start with Boston. While it was the most recently acquired, it has the strongest ties to me.  M y daughter Amelia and her husband James now live in Boston. As I enjoy my te......

Welcome to Tea With Me. Over the next few weeks I’m going to be sharing my morning tea with you. Since I am at home, I can enjoy my tea is a real mug, not the stainless steel insulated model I use at school. I will be featuring the mugs I have collected on my various travels. Most come with the story. Today’s mug is my favorite. It is Bellatrix Lestrange. I admit she is probably my favorite villain. Maybe it’s the actress. Maybe it’s the storyline. Maybe it’s because I can relate to the wild and untamed curly hair! This is the mug I use every day when I have time to sit at home and enjoy my tea. It is oversized, so no need for a refill. It is a think ceramic, so it keeps my tea warm for a long enough time. It is just perfect. I promised a story.  I originally bought this while visiting Universal Studios in Orlando. I had it for a couple of years when we had a hurricane in Florida. The short story is my friends were stuck on a cruise and their two daughters were h......