Fun Tea Fact!

Hey All!

Fun tea fact for the morning!

Yogi Ginger tea is the best herbal and natural treatment for tummy aches or indigestion.  It is the only caffeinated tea I drink occasionally because it is the best natural remedy to tummy aches.

You can find this tea at Trader Joe's.

Just thought I would share!
xoxo Sarah

Banana Bread...

Hello Everyone!

So last night, I made Banana Bread for the first time!  It is super delicious.  I usually make banana bread from the box from Pillsbury.  What type of banana bread do you like to make?  Do you like to make muffins?  Do you have any good banana bread recipes to share?

But this recipe I found on allrecipes.com.  

Here is the recipe below:

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas

Directions

1, Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Lightly grease a 9x5 inch load pan. 

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.  In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar.  Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended.  Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten.  pour batter into prepared loaf pan. 

3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the load comes out clean.  Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.  

Ta-Da!

xoxo Sarah

Downton Abbey

Speaking of my love for England and everything about it...

I just had to share this amazing show Zachary and I started watching this year called Downton Abbey.

SOURCE: HERE

I am not kidding - it is phenomenal and I suggest everyone see it!  Believe it or not, it is on PBS.  It part of the Masterpiece Theater collection on their network.

The first season is on Netflix OnDemand if you would like to watch it!  And you can watch the second season which just aired its season finale, two Sundays ago at this website:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch/index.html

Just to give you a little info on it, it's about a British Noble family - the last class of nobility before the Great War - and how this family interacts with society and how their help/servants interact with the family.  There are so many great relationships through out the show - such scandal, romance, suspense...it's the best.  I cannot lie!

Ok just had to share....

Watch it!
xoxo Sarah

Tea of the Week!

Hello All and Happy Monday!

During my travelling week extravaganza, I stopped by my friend Katie's house to play with her and her daughter and Katie reminded me I should write about the tea I drink!

SO!  That is what this post is about.  I think every Monday I will post about the "tea of the week."  So this week, my tea of choice is "Well-Rested" decaffeinated tea from Trader Joe's.

Any tea from Trader Joe's I find to be great!  They are cheap and delicious.  After a long day of work, All I want to do is come home to Zachary, sit-down, watch some Glee, and have a cup of this tea.  It makes me relax and just calm down after a hectic work day! I usually let my tea seep for 5 minutes in the hot water that I get from our tea kettle.  

Fun Fact - depending on if my throat feels dry or not, I add a spoonful of honey to make it a little sweet and smooth!

I had to show you a picture of my mug that I recently got when I was in MPLS.  I have a small obsession with British Monarchy and this one store we went to, Patina, had all this great British memorabilia.  So I got this mug that has the Queen's crown on it.  It's officially from England too!!!  

Any who - going to check on my banana bread in the oven right now!   Will post some pics of that when it comes out nice and warm!!!

Keep Calm and Carry on!

xoxo Sarah

My Sister...

Today I am in Wisconsin finishing up my week long work/home visit to the good state of Wisconsin.

I decided to write today about my sister Kate.  She is clearly my best friend and the only sister I have.  She is wicked smart and funny when she decides to open up.  I wanted to dedicate this post to her and why I love her so much.

So here are 10 reasons, she would appreciate, why I love her:
1) The fall in front of McDonald's on the way Up North
2) Bye, Bye Miss American Pie
3) Kenny - "Conviction of the Heart"
4) Amy - "Hats"
5) Shania - I have no idea - just that Dad is obsessed with her
6) Queen of Victory, Pray for Us!
7) Barbie Super Nintendo game
8) N64
9) The Kalahari
10) Sisters.

Kate - I love you and am so proud to be your sister and the fact you are going for your MBA right now, I couldn't be more proud.  I miss and think of you every day.

Love you forever,
xoxo Sarah

True Love...

So this week like I stated in an earlier post, I have had to travel for work up to Green Bay for career fairs and to work at our corporate offices.  Since I was going to be coming up here, I decided to spend some time with my Grandpa and stay with him since I don't get to see him very often and I thought he wouldn't mind the company.

I am sitting here watching the Marquette game with my Grandpa and we have just been talking about life.  I see how much he loved my grandma, who passed away a year ago last November 1st.  Since Lent started today, Ash Wednesday, it just made me really think about what true love truly is.  I look at my grandpa and grandma's relationship and I am able to see what true love is.  They are one of the best examples of what I want my marriage to be like with Zachary.  My grandma and grandpa were married for 64 years.  I just hope one day, I am lucky to live that long with my husband - truly in love.

I love my grandma - I miss her every day.  But my grandpa is a strong man, and even though his heart misses her I know he knows that she still loves him every day.

Grandma - I love you and miss you so much - I hope you always know that.

Grandpa - I love you and I am so happy and proud to be your granddaughter.  You are one of the strongest individuals I know and I look up to you and how you have lived your life every day.

All my love and prayers,
xoxo Sarah

Betty and Alpha Chompers...

Hello All!  It has been one crazy week here in my life.  I have been travelling for work so haven't been able to post as soon as I wanted to, but I wanted to post about the lobster night we had on Saturday to celebrate Valentine's Day!

For dinner, we boiled live lobsters, Zachary made a light pasta, and we had steamed asparagus and broccoli.  For dessert, I made a red velvet cheesecake.  Click here for the recipe - it was ridiculously great!  It was a two day process to make that cake, but it was totally worth it!

Take a look - it was delicious :)

Red Velvet Cheesecake - YUMMY!!!

The Lobsters - what a fun dinner!

Yum Yum

xoxo Sarah

Pizza Pizza!

When I started thinking of names for my blog, one thought crossed my mind to call my blog - "What My Husband Makes Me for Dinner" - but I decided to nix it because I like Sarah's Tea Box better!!!

Ok - so Zachary is a chef.  I tell him all the time he should be on Top Chef.  I think he could win - hands down...I'm probably playing favorites...but I really think he could do it!

So every Friday night, we have pizza and movie night in our household.  We either order pizza, or my favorite, Zachary makes homemade pizza :)  He makes his own crust, own sauce, slices up cheese, and puts on the most amazing toppings you can think of.

The pizza we had Friday night would be a house pizza if we owned a restaurant.  It is a sausage pizza with peppers and mushrooms...absolutely delicious!

Hopefully one day you will be tasting his pizzas at our restaurant that we want to eventually have :)

Bon Apetit!
xoxo Sarah

Movie Review...

What a an awesome weekend!!!

I can't wait to share pictures with you of Zachary and I making homemade pizza, live lobster, and this amazing Red Velvet Cheesecake....but...

I wanted to recap on the movies we watched that I had posted in my post before this:
1) In Time - Sorry mom, didn't finish the movie!  Great concept but didn't go anywhere!

2) Breaking Dawn Part 1- Love it. loved it, seen it already in the theaters but even better than I remembered!  I cried - yes I totally did!!!

3) Birds - Freaky and weird!!! if you like crazy psychological movies - this one is it.  I love Alfred Hitchcock.  I think he makes fabulous movies!  I love the movie Rear Window - if you haven't seen that of his you should!

4) An Affair to Remember - Hello Cary Grant - my new major heartthrob! Seriously - George Clooney I think might want to be him!  But Hello!!!!!!!!!!!   Great movie - Sad thought but in the end happy - any romantic should watch it - it's a classic!

Ok!  More posts to come on dinners and deserts from the past weekend!!!

xoxo Sarah

The Movies...

Hello all!

I am going to start off this post with my a quote from my idol, Audrey Hepburn:

"Everything I learned, I learned from the movies."

This weekend, Zachary and I are celebrating Valentine's Day and plan on spending a lot of our time watching movies which is one of my most favorite things to do.  It was one of our favorite dates to go on!  I love going to the movies.  

This weekend we plan on watching the following movies:

1) In Time -with Amanda Seyfried and JT himself.  We got this gift as a little Valentine's Day gift from my mom, dad, and Kate.  I am excited to see it - looks like a great SyFy thriller!

2) Breaking Dawn Part I - Yeah this one is all me :)

3) An Affair to Remember - A great old classic we are watching tomorrow night when we celebrate Valentine's Day!

4) Birds - Yes the Alfred Hitchcock thriller I have yet to see and have been putting off - Zachary recorded it OnDemand so we are going to watch it...I will let you know how that one goes!

What kind of movies does everyone like to see?  Have you seen any good ones lately?  And good new ones or classics?

I want to know - so comment and let me know :)

Have a great Friday everyone!

xoxo Sarah

Team Edward...

Good evening everyone!  I'm up past my bed time tonight because I was cleaning and now am going to treat myself to my Breaking Dawn DVD.  If anyone knows me - they know that I am one of the biggest Twihards around.  I am totally Team Edward and have been from the very beginning.

Anywho - my cousin Kris is going to be TOTALLY jealous of this - but my Twilight soul-mate, Shannon from work, went to one of the Targets participating in a special promotion on Friday.  I was going to go with her but I was traveling to MN.  So - Shannon decided to go with her sister to get me this special promotion since she was going anyways to get this for herself.  So - we got the Breaking Dawn Part 1 DVD with a special surprise. We each got a flower from the Edward and Bella wedding from the movie set!!! YES it's real - there is a certificate of authenticity with it!  So I am excited to show you pictures of my one and only Twilight wedding flower!

Bite me! xoxo Sarah

The Library...

I have to say - I just LOVE the library.  If you don't go to your local library - I think you should stop what you are doing right now and go and register at your local library.

Not only are libraries nice to go just to get some quiet time - most libraries offer classes on different subjects that you can take in your free time!

I got a Kindle Fire recently and am able to download library books from my library's website right onto my Kindle!  It's a great feature to have so you don't have to buy any electronic books!

Zachary and I try to make a trip to the library once a week.  Last night we went, and I returned a book I finished on Friday that I am still gushing over - Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand.  Zachary's grandma, Nana, recommended this book to me when she was here visiting for Thanksgiving.  There was a long list of individuals trying to check it out so I finally just got my turn!

What a remarkable true story about the survival of a WWII bombardier in the Pacific.  It's an incredible - incredible book I recommend to every one!  You need to go out and read it - like yesterday!

At the library last night, I picked up two books that I am excited to read - Winter's Palace which is a fiction story of Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia.  I also picked up a book about the true life of Queen Elizabeth II.  I have a crazy obsession right now with British Monarchy - so if you know any good books, let me know!!!  We also picked up the entire discography of Michael and Janet Jackson and Miles Davis.  I am very excited to start listening to these great tunes on iTunes.  Don't worry I looked for Whitney's discography but it was all out!

Anyways, if you like to read, here are another couple of great books I recently read:
1) The Best of Me  - Nicholas Sparks
2) The Help - Kathryn Stockett
3) The Hunger Games (all three of them ) - Suzanne Collins
4) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close  - Jonathan Safran

Enjoy!!!
xoxo Sarah

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

So for our office party, we could bring in sweets for Valentine's Day.  I decided to make Oreo Cheesecake Cookies.  I found the recipe on the browneyedbaker.com.  What do you think?

Here is the link for the recipe: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2011/03/22/oreo-cheesecake-cookies/

Below is some of the batch I made last night - Enjoy!!!

xoxo Sarah

Be My Valentine...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  I was way behind this year, so I wasn't able to send out any Valentine's!  So this is my Valentine to you!  Happy Valentine's Day!

Today at work, we had to wear red, white or pink and bake something sweet!  I made oreao cheesecake cookies from browneyedbaker.com - she is genius I swear!  I will post some pics of those cookies a little later.

I just had to share though what Zachary sent me today at work.  I have such an amazing and loving husband.  I got a beautiful floral arrangement today delivered to my office that I was so surprised about.  Not only are the flowers beautiful but so is the vase - made from Mercury glass which I LOVE!! Way to go Z on the choice of vase!  Zachary and I are celebrating Valentine's this Saturday night when we cook live lobsters together - can't wait to post about that experience.  But tonight, we are going to the library and pretending like it is any normal day!

What are everyone's plans for Valentine's Day?  Does anyone do any sort of tradition at all?  Is anyone going out?  Are you throwing a party?  Are you watching a movie or playing a game?  I want to hear so let me know!

Happy Valentine's Day All - to my family and friends - I love you very much!

xoxo Sarah

My Valentine's Day flowers from Zachary!

I Heart MPLS

This past weekend, I went to visit one of my really good friends from college Megan in Minneapolis, MN!  It was sooooo much fun!!!  Friday night we went to this amazing Italian restaurant where we had gnocchi with pistachios and Gorgonzola.  It was melt-in-your-mouth good!  On Saturday, we did a little shopping in Uptown  and then went to Maple Plain to visit the Mevissen household!  We had sooo much fun and such great food!  Then on Sunday - yes we did this- we spent the day at Mall of America - aka MOA!

It was just so great to catch up and be with Megan and reminisce about great times.  I can't wait to see all my girls at the end of March when we get together up in Green Bay!  Wish you were all there this past weekend but I will see you so soon!

Here are some pics below from the weekend...Enjoy!
xoxo Sarah

At Megan's apartment visiting with Kerri and Brian, visiting the Mevissen household (same day we found out Whitney Houston passed away - hence the sad faces!), and at the Mall of America!

I'm Every Woman...

On Saturday, I was so saddened to hear about the death of Whitney Houston.  I know -I know - People are probably asking, why would I be sad I didn't even know her? I know - I am a dork too...I understand...

But the reason is- I found my voice in her music.  I remember singing "I Will Always Love You" for the first time in my best friend Michelle Miller's house, at a birthday party of hers with all of our friends at the time - Hallie Jaeger, another hometown friend of mine, took turns singing that song with our big voices.  I sang this song so much to my mom and to people - they were probably really sick of it :)

I remember being in my parents living room when I was younger, COUNTLESS TIMES, singing "I'm Every Woman" Or "When You Believe" by Ms. Houston and another great - Ms. Mariah Carey.

I remember putting on dances for my mom to "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."  I remember discussing with my mom numerous times how Whitney Houston had the best God-given voice ever to be heard.

The way she sang was with no effort - it was just perfect.  I know the later years of her life weren't the most memorable or desirable, but in all - She helped me find my belt in my voice - her music helped me realize I could sing with such power that I shouldn't hide it - I wanted to have her voice.

I had a dream - that if I ever made it to American Idol, I would sing "I'm Every Woman" with her on the stage.

I recently read a book for work about finding your strengths and focusing on those and making those your best attributes.  They used the example of Rudy, the Notre Dame Football player, and how he probably should never have been a football player because that was not one of his strengths - unlike Joe Montana who also played for Notre Dame and became one of the best quarterbacks of all time.  I was reflecting at this point of the book on how I could relate it to my life.  I looked at high school when I stopped playing soccer and started focusing on music.  Even though - Soccer was a love of mine - It wasn't my greatest strength - Singing and music were!  I know my dad was really bummed I stopped playing soccer, but I know in his deepest hearts, he knew I needed to focus on singing.

What I am trying to say here - is that because of singers like Whitney, Mariah, Billy Holiday, Etta James, Amy Grant :), Diana Ross, I fell in love with music and singing - it became my strength.

Ok Sorry for the lengthy post - but I just wanted to share my thoughts on the event....

Thank you for letting me share with you...

More to post soon on my trip to MPLS to visit one of my college besties - Megan!!!

xoxo Sarah

My Tea Box...

Hello!

Welcome to my blog - its my personal blog to allow a little light into my life.  I wanted to explain the title of this blog a little bit.  Recently, I stopped drinking caffeine and have been focusing on becoming as healthy as possible - mind, body and soul.  So to curve that caffeine craving, I have started drinking tea every morning when I go to work and a cup every night before I go to bed.  I drink decaffeinated tea only - but love hearing about what other teas are out there.  The other reason I chose this title is one of the fondest memories of my mom when I was living at home in Mequon.  Every night after school or on the weekends, my mom would warm up a cup of Lipton Original Tea and drink it in this old Christmas mug of hers whether it be winter or summer.  The mug is now tea stained.  Whenever I saw her with her cup of tea, I knew she was relaxed and happy and that is one of the best memories I have of my parent's home. 

I am so excited to start this process.  I am not on facebook, so I still wanted to stay connected to the world somehow!  I have been playing around with blogs for a little while now, and I wanted to make my own.  I hope to share knitting creations, recipes, pictures, stories, quotes, good books, good movies, and so much more that will show you what I am currently up to in my life.  Thank you for taking this journey with me and sit back, relax, and enjoy a cup of tea!

xoxo Sarah