A Good English Cuppa

It's been a crazy last few weeks, first travelling home for the weekend which turned into a week then returning to New York for 5 days before heading out to Kansas for Thanksgiving and to be reunited with my college friends in what is a big visitation weekend at Hesston. My days and body are very confused on the ever changing schedules but I'm pretty sure that today is Monday which can only mean one thing: it's recipe time!

I'm not going to get all fancy this week, this isn't even going to be a recipe for food (although I do have some great dessert recipes I've discovered... stay posted!). This may be cheating since it's a drink and drinks are commonly made in mugs... but my recipe for the week is simple English tea in a mug.

Yes it's simple and maybe this version of tea is cheating on another level because it doesn't involve a kettle and stove and whistle but tea means a lot to me. You see, my granny was born in England and although she moved to America at just 6 months of age, she was very English, her mother having grown up and living in England until that point. And what is more English than tea?

Grannie passed on the tea-loving gene to my mom who also raised my sister and I on it. Our coffee maker was even turned into a hot tea maker as my dad slowly gave up on anyone else in the house liking coffee.

Growing up, I might be greeted in the morning with a hot cup of tea to 'help me wake up slowly'. Whenever I was sick or feeling down, a cup of hot tea was always the answer and would be quickly delivered by my mom or my grannie. Before school started each fall, my grannie would host a tea party for the girls in the family, my sister and I, Mom, my youngest aunt, and my younger cousins. Whenever we would stop by Grannie's house after school, have a sleepover, or after a big family meal, a nice cup of hot tea was offered. At our tea parties, Grannie would educate us on the etiquitte of tea and always have a few different choices of tea. Sugar cubes were always on hand because that was the best way to sweeten tea.

Back-to-school tea party - many years ago

My wonderful Grannie passed away almost a month ago. It's hard to believe it's been that much time already.  It's been a crazy, surreal, emotional few weeks. I don't want to dwell on all that though. The important thing is her life, I know she's in a far better place now and all we can do is remember the good times and happy memories. It is also important to keep her memory alive through the little things and, for me, one thing that will always remind me of my grannie is hot, English tea.

I don't use a kettle and stovetop. And I don't have sugar cubes on hand or beautiful china teacups. But the taste is the same and that is one of comfort and warmth and love.

Hot English Tea

Fill a mug almost full with water. Microwave 1 1/2 minutes. Place 1 teaspoon loose-leaf basic black tea (I like English Breakfast) in a tea ball, tea bag, or tea infuser of some sort (or use a pre-made, storebought tea bag, of a basic black tea such as English Breakfast. But PLEASE don't use Lipton :P ) 

Place the tea bag into the hot water and steep 3-4 minutes, depending how strong you like it. Remove the tea bag and squeeze out the bag with a spoon. Add sugar to taste (1 Tablespoon if you're a lady in my family ;) ) Add a splash of milk (about 1/2 Tablespoon) and stir. 

*Tea etiquette: Only add milk to basic, black, English tea.

Curl up with a good book, sit and look out the window, use it in the morning to "wake up slowly," or invite a friend over to join you, set out some cookies and sweet bread and enjoy your tea.

<3 Ashley

Last Day at Resource, First Day Off

Well, this was my last week at Resource. And really I couldn't have asked for a better one!

Monday, I took lunch by myself and walked around DUMBO, taking pictures and checking out the shops. I've done a little exploring around the area but usually with another intern so it was nice to look around leisurely and go into some of the stores where I had only window-shopped before. I really like that area of Brooklyn, of course it's the only area of Brooklyn that I've been to... But it's artsy and picturesque with cobblestone streets and cute shops. It's right by the water and more urban, so I'm told, than the rest of Brooklyn. I'll definitely be returning in the future :)

For my final project, I was creating a directory of businesses to go on the Resource website, entering a lot of information mostly and making sure everything was working and linking properly. I finished that up yesterday morning and then went through a bunch of files that I had, making sure my boss had the most updated versions of some other projects that I had worked on pieces of.

At lunchtime yesterday, four of us went out together. I broke down and got a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich at Bridge Fresh, which was the best I've had here in New York and actually a really great deal. We ate under the Brooklyn Bridge and had some great convo and lots of laughter. It made me a little sad to be leaving the other interns and also kindof wishing that that lunch could be my last, just because I enjoyed it so much.

Then, around 5, I got my wish! We all got an email saying that the office would be closed today and everyone was just to work remotely (from home). Since I had finished up what I was doing and my superior was on a photo shoot today and yesterday, I was done! We all left the office at the same time and I said goodbye to the interns as the walk over and subway allowed. By the time we were actually on the train it was just Janet and I, and with the promise of visiting and getting coffee soon, we  also parted as I transferred trains at W 4th Street.

Thus ended my time at Resource. Although there were ups and downs, I can honestly say it was an awesome experience! I learned a lot, had some great experiences, met a lot of cool people, and even made some friends through the whole thing. There was no grand exit, there never is, but I still had a pretty perfect last day. Had the office been open today, Janet and I both admitted we had planned to bring in cookies and maybe there would have been a little more recognition of the fact that someone was leaving. But I think that the way it worked out was for the best. Especially because it gave me a day off today. Which there is no way I would complain about!

Today was my first day off in 3 1/2 weeks!! It was a much-needed day to sleep in and get some stuff done around my apartment. I made banana bread-muffins, did laundry, tried some new mug recipes (get excited for next Monday!!) and did quite a bit of cleaning. All in a leisurely fashion of course with plenty of Pinterest distractions, of course :)

It's strange to think that it's over-- the very reason that I moved to New York. Now more than ever I wonder, what's next?! Only time will tell... but hopefully by the end of this week I'll know better :)