Tom & Alissa

I started this morning with yogurt/berries/granola (new carton of yogurt, which means cream on top!), a mug of Tazo Zen tea (because I didn’t have enough time to brew a pot of the loose lemongrass green tea I bought at the co-op this week), a softly glowing rosemary-mint soy candle from the co-op on the wine crates that double as everything-tables for us, and a little bit of time working on the couch watching the rain and appreciating radiator heat. It was rather lovely.

I got an email about the extra 20% off sale at J.Crew (there’s still nice things left!) and quickly bought this top in black, which has now sold out, because I’ve been eyeing it for months and I ended up getting it for something like $80 off the original price.

I really needed a black top for the summer. I have none, which is a serious problem in my wardrobe.

And now I’m at work; Tom ordered the Nick Drake “Fruit Tree” boxed set and it came yesterday, and I ripped it all to my computer and am loving it. This is perfect working music to keep me calm under stress.

Because I’ve realized of late that when I’m stressed out, I gripe to myself about having to go to work every day, or about having too much to do, and I don’t only make myself unhappy, but everyone else, too. And there’s no need for that. I have an excellent job with great opportunities that many other people would kill for. I think perhaps I’m just in need of patience.

So now I’m observing the loveliness at the Bodum site, because I want a way to brew one cup of loose tea (preferably both at home and at work) and am exploring options beyond the traditional tea ball approach of my youth. I very much like their Yo-Yo approach:

I’d need two, one for home and one for the office, but they’re rather reasonably priced.

I also really loved this:

That would make me happy, brewing on my desk at work.

But although I already have a really lovely set of espresso cups and saucers that I’m very happy with, these made me smile and wish:

Set of six for fifteen dollars. Come on, someone needs to buy them.