Tea Time Tuesday...

I know, I know, I know...it's Wednesday, not Tuesday...

So, I was going to start Tea Time Tuesday next week as I will have a new tea to review, however I really want to share this particular tea shop that I have found and fallen in love with!! In general, tea time Tuesday is going to cover all aspects relating to tea, whether it is actual tea or simply tea products, shops or other related items. I am sharing this post today, instead of Tuesday, because I have been thoroughly impressed by this particular company. I was impressed by the tea they produce, but also by their customer service.

Tea For All Reasons (http://www.teaforallreasons.com) is such an amazing shop! I would say half to three quarters of the loose leaf tea that I own comes from this store. It also produces two of my all time favorite teas, Dowager Countess and Catherine's Blend. I was originally impressed when my friend came in with the Catherine's Blend tea and let me try a bag. It was such an incredible blend and I knew in that one cup that I needed more.

They have the website I linked above (click on shop) and an Etsy Store (https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeaForAllReasons). It doesn't matter which shop you go through, the prices stay the same although I think the web shop may have some more items. The prices may seem a little high, but this tea is totally worth every penny!! The bag of tea also does last for a while (a 2 oz bag lasted me for quite a while!).

The other reason I highly recommend this store, as if the wonderful tea wasn't reason enough, is their customer service. They are truly customer oriented! When I ordered off of Etsy, they sent me a message just to check in and let me know my order was on the way. I just recently purchased a larger amount of tea from them and Marsha immediately sent me an email to say thank you and then a later email to let me know that they weren't able to get it out that day, but would the next day!! When I ordered form the webpage, I originally had ordered when they were on the Christmas Break. I knew that it would be a little while before the tea was shipped out and I was ok with that. A couple days later it had shipped (while they were still on a Christmas Break)!!

I honestly have nothing bad to say about this company and love them! If you are a tea drinker or lover and are looking for something new to try, check them out!!

Monday Morning Quick TIps

Welcome to the inaugural Monday Morning Quick Tip post! I am very excited to start bringing these posts to life and to share my passion with you! This first post is going to seem almost like common sense, but a lot of times I feel like this is really where it all starts...

Have you ever looked at your office (home or work) or your garage and said to yourself, "I really need to go through everything and clean it out"? Or maybe you looked at your closet (which could be overfilled) unsure of what to wear and how to find a good outfit. You may have wanted countless times to organize and clean out, but have never fully completed the task. It can be so overwhelming to look at everything that needs to be gone through and put away, that the task may not even get started before it is stopped. Or, you can convince yourself that the space it working well already the way it is (which it really could be).

This morning's tip is to START SMALL. Start with one section of a larger room. If you are looking at your office, make a goal that only one small section of the office is what you want to achieve in a certain time period.  If that is clearing off the paperwork and clutter from your desk, then that is what you want to achieve in the time set aside. However, make this goal reasonable and specific. Instead of "clearing off the paperwork and clutter from the desk", choose to "file necessary paperwork and shred/toss unnecessary paperwork". This type of goal is a perfect one to list as a weekly activity. Or, if you are looking at your closet, start small by organizing shoes, accessories, or short sleeve tops.

You may now be thinking, this was kind of a common sense tip that doesn't add much to what you already know. However, a lot of times I have seen people try to completely re organize a room in one sitting and quickly become frustrated that they don't seem to be accomplishing anything. They don't always remember that if you start small and do one portion at a time, you will see the improvements and be less frustrated at the end of the project.

Big Exciting News!!

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well! As the title suggests, I have some very exciting news! This blog is going to start featuring posts from and about my new business. I have turned my passion and love of organizing and home decoration into a business (well I'm just starting to turn it into a business). I know that the posts have not always been the most regular on this blog, but that is going to slowly start changing! Fort Copper now represents myself as an organizer and home decorator.

I have a couple new weekly posts that I am going to be doing. I will start with Monday Morning Quick Tips. These will simply be short posts with tips, tricks, advice on decor and organization. I will also be doing Flower Fridays, which will be information and pictures of the weeks flower arrangement. Eventually, I will integrate Transformation Thursdays (before and afters) and Tea Tuesdays.

This blog will still have some lifestyle portions (such as Tea Tuesdays and book posts), but I will be starting to post more and more towards my business. Organizing and decorating is such a passion of mine and I am excited to start sharing it with you!

Oh the flowers!!

I have become very interested in flower arrangements...I think it's part of my need to put things together and see how individual pieces can fit together. Or I just like to put pretty things together :) Either way, I have started doing these arrangements for the past couple of months. 

My favorite flowers are Lillies (any kind), Cottage Roses and Hydrangeas. Cottage roses are the flowers I work with the most because they work with just about any flower or on their own and they are the easiest to find and buy. I also work a lot with Carnations (as you will see below). I normally do two different arrangements, one in a larger case and one in a mason jar, that way I can use a good amount of flowers and I can put them in different areas of our house. 

One of my favorites is my most recent arrangement. It includes Cottage Roses and Alstroemerias: 

The orange cottage roses were a great find (and the same color from some of our wedding roses) and I was happy to work with a great filler flower. 

I have included some more of my favorites below: