My Two Favorite Teas- Tazo and PG Tips

      There is nothing like an afternoon cup of tea. The British have a tea time and so do I. My tea time is always around 2:00 in the afternoon. This is the time of day that I start to fade. I am a morning person- early bird gets the worm- sort of girl. I generally can not sleep past 7:00 AM so by 2:00 I have been working seven hours and really need a pick me up.

     I had an amazing coupon for Tazo Tea and decided to take a risk on the Cucumber White flavor. Oh my goodness it is good. It is a little minty, yet crisp with a hint of citrus. Dare I say like being at the spa? This is my new favorite herbal tea.

     Black tea is one of my comfort foods. My mom used to give it to us when we were sick. Always with cream and sugar. My favorite black tea is PG Tips. I find it less bitter than the American Lipton tea. It is sometimes hard to find in the States but we have a Cost Plus- World Market in my town so I can always find it there. 

     

    I hope that you will give them a try and pour a cup around 2:00 so we can enjoy tea time together. 

    

 

Facebook Business Page Now Open

Today I opened up my Business Facebook Page. And in honor of the opening I wanted to offer everyone a glimpse of some of my creations so you will have an idea of my style and get some information as to what the future holds for My Tangerine Chic Etsy Shop. Enjoy your visit!

Handmade Tags

I call these fortunettes. They are vintage spools and each one has an inspiring quote
wrapped around it. Great for a little gift for friends or family.

More Handmade Tags

Hand Sewn Paper Bird Ornaments

What the top of the spools look like

A bit of everything

     This is just a portion of what to expect in my shop. Of course I also have my vintage treasures, buttons, seam binding, cabinet cards, and other lovely vintage items to choose from.

     I am also setting up a shop to sell prints and cards of my original drawings. Both shops are still a work in progress but you gotta start somewhere. Have a joyfilled day!

Love As I Know It

     I woke up this morning thinking of Mr. MM.....as usual.

     As I was lying there with my thoughts it occurred to me that one of the differences between soul mate love and the love I have had in the past is that love with Mr. MM brings out the best in both of us. We cheer each other on during difficult times instead of blaming each other for the difficulties. Even when times are tough and there are lots of scary changes in our future we still tell each other we are grateful for our relationship. We do not go a day with out saying I love you. Even when we may be irritated with each other.  We are grateful to have each other as it would be much more difficult if we were not together and going through the same experience.

     We tend to take turns having bad days. If he is stressed I am cheering him on and looking at the bright side. If I am stressed he is telling me everything is going to be better than okay once we get through to the other side of it.  The foundation of our relationship is that we are best friends first. We want the best for each other. We want to see the other person happy and are willing to do what it takes to get there.

     Don't get me wrong....we have had some extremely difficult times in the last 2 years. And I mean the kind of times that put your relationship to the test. But we passed the tests with flying colors. We learned that no matter the circumstance, we will love each other through it. The difficult times have made our trust in each other deeper and our relationship and love for each other even stronger. We both know that the other will not run away or get angry at the first sign of trouble.

Me & Mr. MM= Soul mates

   This soul mate love is new to both of us. We are both in awe of it all the time. We talk about how blessed we are to have it. Neither one of us believed that this type of love existed outside of fairy tales and romantic movies.But here we are....together....living it out....best friends...taking on the world. 

   

Pinterest Addict

    Hello, I am Christina and I am a Pinterest Addict. I have almost 5,000 photos "pinned" and just over 500 people "following" me. It is the first place I go when I wake up in the morning after I make my coffee.  I would like to invite you to a glimpse of my addiction today. I hope I am a bad influence on you and you get the addiction too. If you would like to follow my account go here, or click on the titles below and they will take you to a few of my boards-but be careful you may never leave.

  1. Simply Lovely Board

2. DIY Board

3. My Creative Journey Board

4. Inspiring Journal Page Board

5. Eat Dessert First Board

6. Thoughts On Life Board

7. My Jake Board

I Am Stronger

   I wanted to share a quote that really inspired me while times were tough. I can honestly say that now that I am on the other side of the pain this quote is so true. I hope this resonates with you in some way today. 

Alaska- A New Place For My Heart

    I am taking a break in my story to let you all know that Alaska is in my future. In less than 2 weeks I get to meet my fiance ( A.K.A Mr. Mountain Man) up there and spend time at our cabin hanging with great friends while we look for our second home in the town of Soldotna and get Mr. Mountain Man --from here on out known as Mr. MM-- signed up for University of Alaska. The best part is the time I get to spend with Mr. MM of course, but boy I can not wait to get to our little cabin in the hills and snuggle up to a fire, listen to some good music, have a glass of wine and put my nose into a really good long book- Anna Karenina here I come.

     There may be a lot of changes happening in our lives that can be stressful at times but being in Alaska more often is definitely a HUGE bonus in this new adventure we are taking. I am feeling very grateful that I have a partner that takes things one day at a time and doesn't lose his cool when the going gets tough. He cheers me on when I get anxious and reminds me daily that with our love and team work we can do anything.

Depression

Continued from February 7th, 2013.............

      

   Weeks before I told my husband I wanted a divorce I had started going to therapy. Now I know some people think therapy is a bit much, or that it's too touchy feely, but I was desperate. I have suffered with anxiety and depression ever since I hit puberty as a teenager. It is hard to admit this in such a public forum but I am at a point in my life that I am ready to share the real me, and part of that real me is anxious and depressed sometimes. At the time of my divorce I was so full of anxiety and depression that I was having a hard time even getting out of bed. That is what I mean when I say I was desperate. I had to find out why I was in such a deep, dark hole before I couldn't get out of it. 

     When I first started therapy I didn't know why I was depressed. Sometimes there isn't a reason for it. Sometimes it is that the chemicals in your brain are not firing the happy chemicals so anxiety and depression can take over your thoughts and feelings. Or sometimes you are in such deep denial of what is happening in your life that eventually your mind and body have to take over in order for you to be desperate enough to make a change before you no longer can make a change. I have been on the abyss quite a few times in my life. With depression so bad that you think the only way out is to leave this world. I am not proud of these thoughts. They scare the crap out of me. But that is what my brain says when I am depressed. You want out of your misery and the misery you think you are causing the people you love. Depression lies to you and makes up the most negative thoughts you could think about your life and the people in it. It is cunning and a thief of joy. 

    To Be Continued...........

   

To Live a Life of Passion

     I have wanted to live this quote for the last 5 years but could not figure out how to get out of my every day rut of going to work at a job that sucked the life out of me, to make money, to exist in a marriage that was bad. For some reason turning 38 years old was my magic "time to make changes" number. It is when I started to really question the life I had made for myself. For heavens sake, what was the point of living this unhappy, unfulfilled life for another 38 years?

    So I started BIG! Really big- I told my husband I wanted a divorce. It was really scary and the most difficult thing I have ever been through. You know how some people say divorce is the easy way out? Well it's not, not easy at all. It is heart wrenching, painful, sad, overwhelming, exhausting, and out of this world scary. Yet at the same time it freed me up for joy. Joy I had never had. There was this little place in me that started to open up to the possibilities of what a joyful life could look like. It gave me the chance to actually be myself again. To reconnect with the young woman I used to be- full of life, a risk taker, traveler, lover, giver, and artist. It also freed me up to be a better mother to my children. More available to give them the love and joy they deserved too.

    It has been 5 years since my ex-husband moved out and 3 years since our divorce was final. My life continually becomes more fulfilling every day. I am not saying I haven't had difficult times that I wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep for days. I have had a lot of those. But I have less and less of them as time passes. I have more joy in my life than I did 5 years ago. All because I questioned myself if I was living up to my full joyfilled potential.

To Be Continued...........

Spread Joy

      I am the type of person that gets joy from giving joy. One of the things I love about the blog world is that there are like minded people out there that want to spread joy. I love seeing little acts of kindness in the world whether it be the cyber world or the real world.

     In our town we have a lot of public art and frequently someone will put a scarf or hat on a sculpture and decorate deer sculptures at Christmas time. Here are some examples of a few of the 30 plus installations we have-

Art by Richard Beyer

Big Ears by Joe Halko

Migration by Hai Ying Wu

     This always makes me smile so I wanted to find a way to make others smile and for them to pass it on.  I found this little joy spreader download over at www.kindovermatter.com. I doctored it up with a link to my blog and will have these little joy spreaders in my car with some tacks so I can post them all over Bend. It is a small gesture that only took a few minutes to make and print out. Guaranteed to make some people smile with joy!