A few weeks ago I kindly got sent a box full to the brim of gorgeous teas from The London Tea Company and these past few weeks I've been going through all the flavours and drinking them but lately the weather has been warm and I've been favoring chilled drinks.

Confession time - I'm not actually a big tea drinker even though my blog is called Nerdy Tea Girl. I like iced tea & green tea though & drink them regularly. So I guess I do drink tea, just not every day. I just prefer a glass of iced water. :)
From time to time I do like a cup of fruity herbal tea and this box was jam packed full of sweet smelling teas. It was absolutely gorgeous. Of course there were black teas & green teas as well. 

Lets start with the two boxes. White Tea Pear Tatin & London Breakfast.
London Breakfast is my favorite drink out of the entire box of teas. It really is a classic tea and tastes better than PG Tips. When I want that rare cup of tea, I reach for a bag of this. You can sweeten it with sugar and a dash of milk and ooh la la, the perfect brew. London Breakfast starts from £2.20 on their website.
Pear Tatin is a White Tea with a hint of ginger. Now I'm not fond of ginger in teas, it's far too strong of a smell but I had a great time trying out this flavour. I must admit I'm adventurous with food but not with teas.
Sencha Green Tea is a lovely tea to drink. I'm quite the Green Tea drinker, so I approve of this one. ;)

Vanilla Chai is one of these teas that have a very strong smell. A smell that made me not want to try this at all. It's a black tea so you are able to put sugar & milk in the cup too and that's exactly what I did. And I must admit, it was rather tasty. The smell was still abit weird for me but it was really nice with 2 sugars and some milk. I suggest you try this.
I drank Raspberry Inferno and left most of it. I wasn't feeling this cup of tea at all. Which is a shame as it has such a lovely smell. It has a tiny kick of chilli which isn't too strong and I was surprised by this, I went head in thinking it was going to burn my mouth! Pure Rooibos is a beautiful tea. You may add milk if you wish as well, which I think I will try next time around. You must try a cup of this!
    

Peach and Rhubarb is a tea which can be drank ice cold. Perfect for a summers day. Fruity & light and perfect for me. :D I'm a green tea drinker & this tea was right up my alley. I love feeling healthy after drinking a cup of this & it has a hint of pineapple & mango. Delicious. Earl Grey. What can I say about this. It's Earl Grey. I love a cup of this in the evening.
     
The Peach and Rhubarb packet was suppose to be Chamomile tea! Wuups, I made a photo mistake. 
I must admit, I still need to try these teas out. I'm not the biggest fan of all three flavours. But don't knock something until you've tried it! :D
I would like to thank London Tea Company for making such wonderful teas. You can buy their range here

The London Tea Company have given me a 20% discount code for you lovely readers. use londontea on your first order. Please note that this is not redeemable against discounted or sale items.

London Tea Company - Twitter | Facebook | Shop

Ta-Ra

Jess

Casa Antonio

Ciao Blogger-rinos.
I was invited to celebrate a birthday at Casa Antonio. An italian resturant in Benton. I've been here before, many years ago whle working at my very first job for the council and it was beautiful then as it is now. I wish I could have gotten better photos of my food but I was too busy enjoying it as well as the atmosphere and beautiful decor.
The decor was a range of deep shades of green, red, yellow and brown. With pieces of Italy dotted around the place and pretty printed leaves running up the walls, it really felt like I had been transported to Italy for a day. A place I would love to visit one day. I'm a lover of Pasta, the accent & the italian renaissance. Ooft.

We had the 3 course meal special which was £6.95. Which included a starter of soup or potato skins & both are delicious by the way. I chose Minestrone soup & my partner had potato skins. The main meal was a choice between a pasta or pizza ,anything else and it was £1 etc on top. I chose a Tomato Meatball dish with tagliatelle it was veramente buono and for dessert was ice cream. I chose chocolate of course as that's my favorite flavor out of Strawberry, Vanilla and Chocolate. I should have asked for a combo of Chocolate & Vanilla Swiiiiiirrrrrl. Boo-ya. ( Hehe, Orange is the new black reference there for you) For drinks I had water with ice & a orange squash. I don't like anything fizzy while I'm eating and always prefer my drinks icy.

I would love to come here again and take more photos of the decor. It's priced really well. For two of us it was £17. And the staff there are just lovely. :)

If your ever in the North East - Newcastle, check out Casa Antonio in Benton. :)

Arrivederci!

Jess

July Goals

It's July?! Where the heck did June go? This year seems to be going quite quickly. Maybe's it's because this year has been full of events that I'm not use to doing. Next month is my wedding and the month after that I'm off to Eurogamer in London. Exciting stuff. As you know from an old post, I like to set personal goals each month for myself. Sometime's it turns into a To-Do list rather than a set goal list.
I also keep a notebook handy for checklists. I'm a list girl. And I bet you are too.

June wasn't that eventful. I celebrated a few birthdays, checked a few items off my Wedding list & played games for most of the month. July is all about finishing wedding planning, losing weight & making the most of summer.

Lose Weight
My biggest goal right now is to shed a few more pounds before the wedding in August. My dress fits but it's a bit too snug in some areas. Today starts the day of my soup diet. I love soup and I could live on veggie soup for days. The plan is to eat a healthy breakfast, soup for dinner and snack on fruit or have a light salad. Of course I went out and bought a ton of soup, from Mushroom to Beef & Veggies to Minestrone. And half a week's worth cost only £2. Not only am I trying to slim down but I'm also saving money by not buying junk food & takeaways. I hardly drink alcohol, so my calories don't come from that. But I used to snack alot. Whether it was chocolate or sandwiches. It was always the wrong foods. I did snack on fruit occasionally but this time I'm sticking to it. Perhaps after this month of dieting will change how I eat food.

Go Outside
This also ties in with eating healthy. I need to put down that playstation controller, turn the laptop off as I can watch Pretty Little Liars anytime and just go outside. Take a walk. Photograph the place around me. Go to the beach,  Anything as long as I'm outside and hopefully with the weather heating up this will tempt me to go outside more. I've vowed that even on the days I don't wanna get out of bed. I will make myself get dressed and go for a walk. The exercise will do me good. Hopefully I can get into a good routine. (There is a likely chance this will never happen, I'll give it a go)

Finish Getting Wedding Stuff
There is still work left to do and this is the month to finish off loose ends to do with my wedding.
Food needs to be bought for the buffet, Tony's ring & suits needs buying. I need someone to do my hair, I need to make two flower bouquets. I also need an underskirt and a bolero to cover up my spotty scarred arms. I need to finish paying off the wedding & get a venue for the party as well as decorations. This should be done within in the next two weeks. Fingers crossed.

Decorate Passageway
I've lived here for almost a year and the only room that's been painted is the bathroom. I'm quite sick of the last tenants grubby magnolia walls. We need to finish off the passageway, paint the bedrooms & redecorate the living room. It's time consuming & I usually don't have the money to get finishing touches and the paint. So my goal this month is to completely finish the passageway. From fixing those bullet holes (long story) to freshening up the paint. I will make this a home to be proud of.

Clean Clean Clean
I'm quite lazy when it comes to cleaning. I leave Tony to do most of it. So my goal of this month is to take charge and clean the house everyday and not tell myself "It can wait till tomorrow" because it never gets done. Let's give this house a spring clean. :D

Read Read Read
I told myself I would read 3 books a month a few blog posts ago. And this never happened. In fact I've read about a chapter of Will Grayson, Will Grayson and then started to read manga book Attack on Titan.
I have tons of books. I need to just sit outside in the park across my house and enjoy the sunny weather with a good book & a drink.




And these are my main goals for this month. Of course there will be little goals here and there but I think this is enough for one month.

Do you have any goals this month?

Let me know in the comments :)

Ta Ra

Jess

Tea Pigs Matcha Super Power Green Tea Drinks!*

Hello everyone!
It seems that almost everyone in the blogging world has had TeaPigs before. If you haven't, hop on board because TeaPigs are uh-maze-ing. I recently received their new Super Power Green Tea drinks in the mail and oh boy was I excited to try these out. I thought I would try out the Apple flavour first and I have to admit, it wasn't strongly flavored with Apple as I thought it would. You get the flavor of the tea, which isn't bad at all. 
I love green tea, I used to drink it all the time but lately I've only started drinking tea again & I always preferred chilled drinks so I chilled mine in the fridge so it tasted like Iced Tea with a hint of Apple but all the goodness of the Matcha. I actually felt good about myself while drinking this. Is that strange? Since it's now Summertime, drinking these Super Power Green Tea drinks, chilled, is heavenly and I suggest you try them. I've also perked up slightly from drinking. I can't wait to drink the Elderberry & Grapefruit flavors.

The side of the bottle quotes -
"Matcha is a superhero among teas. 100% ground green tea leaves from Japan- essentially a super concentrated green tea containing natural green tea flavouroids (catechins) Matcha tea bushes are grown under lots of shade which boosts their chlorophyll content. The hand picked leaves are ground up by granite stones to a super fine poweder. So when you drink matcha, you're ingesting every little bit of green tea goodness. Thats why we call it super power green tea"

I can see myself buying a bunch of these drinks from the website. I really want to get a pot of Matcha powder for myself to add to my drinks but it's a tad pricey at the moment for me. I would adore the Matcha Pot set that includes a whisk and a glass! Hello Christmas present (or wedding present ;) ) The set is priced at £32.50, a 30g box of matcha tea is £25, a 2g sample is £2 and the super green drinks are priced at £1.89. 
At the moment, anyone who joins up to the website's newsletter gets 10% off their first purchase but can only be used in the first 7 days! Excellent *Taps fingers together like Mr Burns*

Check out their other teas aswell! In the package I also received a teabag of their Lemon & Ginger tea. It was very strongly smelled, I might give it a go. Don't knock it until you've tried it. According to the website, this can be an iced tea drink, so I will definitely try this one chilled! I'm also loving the glass tea pot and cups you can buy in their shop! 

Let me know which is your favourite drink from TeaPigs! :)

Ta-Ra

Jess

Purr Boxes*

Hello crazy cat ladies and bloggers! Today I'll be reviewing... or rather my cat will be reviewing the latest box around, Purr Boxes! Purr boxes are the purrfect subscription box for that feline you love. Now before we start I must say, my kitty got to this box before me, ripped it to shreds and ate half the box. So there are items that have been gobbled and are missing. I will try my best to describe the items that are long gone and enjoyed very much by the cat! Also check Zazzles's youtube video at the end of the post.

Purr Boxes kindly sent me a box to review & Zazzles was the purrfect tester.



What is a Purr Box? 
Purr Boxes are monthly boxes full of goodies for your cat. This includes toys & treats for £9.95 a month with free delivery when purchasing a monthly subscription and £1.99 when buying a one off box. Not bad, ey? There boxes are perfect to slot through the post box...but arn't cat proof. Even though they have assured me that this is the first time a purr box has been ravaged at someone's front door by their feline friend. Zazzle's just got a little too excited about receiving his first ever bit of mail!
Now onto what was inside the box. I couldn't photograph the packet of Catnip or Cat Grass as it had been destroyed, well mainly just the catnip. The grass is safely tucked away ready for the packet to be patched up and planted in a pot. :D

 
Firstly there was this adorable felt bow, if only Zazzles could wear it, because bow ties are cool. Right? Next up was this cute mouse toy that Zazzles did manage to get out of the box and play with, so he enjoyed that! And my favourite item in the box were the Tea for Mews. That's right tea bags for cats. You make it like you would do with any other tea bag, brew it, let it cool down and give it to your cat. Either your feline buddy will drink this healthy catnip drink or just bask in the glory of it's smell next to his or her's bowl. Genius. Just imagine a cat with a monacle, newspaper and a cup of tea for mews! We also have two pieces of wood that I'm not sure what they are used for but I'm sure Zazzles will chew on them? Are they for chewing or something else? Let me know in the comments!

EDIT: The wood is compost pellets for the grass



Next up was this cute sequined feather star catnip toy! Now, Zazzles has been known to be flamboyant with his toys. He likes the pink fluffy feathers on a stick so he was very keen on this sparkly number!
I'm aware that there were more packets of Webbox food sticks. Zazzles mucnched his way through Cheese, Malt and Fish flavoured sticks. Salami was the remaining packet as it was near the back of the box and he hasn't been able to get it yet, the little scamp. Obviously these went down very well! And so will the dreamies when I open them. He is quite literally like the cat on the advert, you know the one. Where the guy shakes the packet and the cat comes running though the walls. Yep! Shake any packet and Zazzles comes running. When he is a good boy I will give some to him but for now he can just bloody well wait.

And lastly, the box. Cats LOVE boxes. I know this one does. :')

So apart from the Grass, Catnip and 3 packets of food sticks eaten, it's been a pretty successful box! Zazzle's was quite excited, he even left a trail of empty packets around the doorway for me to find.
Check out his little youtube video of him inspecting the rest of the box. :D
I have to say, I'm rather impressed with Purr Box. For £10, you do get quite a few things in the box & when you notice the price of some of these items in shops. It's worth it. And it's purrrrrrrfect for cats! Honest. ;)
Get a Purr Box here


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The Wedding Diaries: Budgeting & Bits 'n Bobs

The big day is almost upon us! I've bought my dress and I'm currently waiting for it to be delivered. I'd show you a photo but my fiance reads my blog and I don't want him to spoil it. I managed to get my dress with a big help from my fiance's mum. I greatly appreciate her coming to my rescue. Of course after I was able to get my dress, I started to get very excited. The overall cost of my dress was £59.
I had a dawdle in Home Bargains, knowing fine well they sold wedding bits and bobs such as postboxes, bunting, napkins etc so I bought 30 bubble wands for the favor boxes & a cake slicer and knife for £4.98. Now that's definitely a bargain. I'm still needing chair & table covers and pretty bunting for the party venue though.


Somewhere down the line, I found myself on pinterest. I know. I know. Big mistake but I did get alot of cheap wedding inspirations! I don't have alot of money to spend, in fact this whole wedding is a budget wedding. I'll probably end up on a episode of superscrimpers or the likes but it's not about how much money you can blow on a wedding, even though that would be blissful, it's about how you spend the day with the one you love and everyone around you. Anyhoo, as I can't afford a big flashy photobooth. I've decided to make my own. I have the camera, the back drop and the tripod. All I need is some photobooth props and away we go! I'll also be printing off a checklist of cute camera shots people can take. With things such as "Take a photo of a cute couple" & "Take a photo of the bride & her bridesmaids laughing". I think it's a cute idea to get people to take out their own cameras & make some memories.
I shall be taking the laptop, buying a spotify premium account so I can listen offline and making a wedding party playlist to hook to the speakers in the venue. Waaall-a. Instant DJ area. Just let spotify do the work & save about £100 not having a hired DJ.
I've also decided to make my own flower bouquets. Gathering fake flowers & ribbon from wilkinsons or various craft shops will help the cost a great deal.
As for the food for the buffet, lots of family are helping out and I will be making some geeky yummies too, because it can't be a Jess & Tony wedding without having something geeky on display. :D
I'm going to try and make childrens activity books so they don't get too bored after running around and making bubbles everywhere.

I have so many ideas that I can do. Ahhhhhhh. Of course I shall have a BIG blog post about the event. ;)

but for now...

Ta-Ra

Jess

Wantable June Accessories Box*

Hello everyone! I recently got contacted by Wantable asking me if I would like a box to review and I said yes! Wantable have three different boxes to choose from, Accessories, Beauty & Intimates. I chose Accessories due to the fact there are plenty of make-up boxes around and I really don't need any more make-up at the moment as I'm happy with what I use. I also chose this box because I hardly have any accessories for the summer and I thought it would be perfect to try out new jewellery that I wouldn't normal pick up in stores. Wantable are based in the USA and have recently just started to ship to the UK. You may have seen a few reviews around the blogsphere. Wantable also choose what's going inside your box according to what answers you give during the sign up process. Questions from "Which type of accessories do you like" and "How do you feel about this type of style" I love how this box is personalized and with that added touch of putting in your name in the box too!
Wantable is $36 for a subscription and $40 for just a single box. Every box has full sized products, even the make-up box. But is this too highly priced for what is inside?


The Wrap Bracelet - $26
This is one of the first things I see in the box and it really catches my eye. It's perfect for summer time and the colours are beautiful. It also doubles up as a necklace which is wonderful and as soon as I took it out of the packaging I put it straight on. Now I just need a nice outfit to pair with. I would have picked this up in a shop if I saw it. I love the peachy pink tones of the leather look with the gold metal & white and blue contrast.

The Ring - $18
From first laying eyes on this, I've really disliked it. Not to everyones taste but the feel, look and the fact that it's a stretchy ring just make it look cheap and horrible. Especially for the recommended price. I would never pick this up at a high end store never mind a shop like New Look. This photo actually makes it look better than it is.

The Gia Necklace - $36
This necklace was packed away in a nice velvet envelope. I really liked it, it's not the type of necklace I usually go for. I like dainty necklaces that sit nicely at the collar bone. This necklace was big, chunky and made a statement. Unfortunately I would have loved this if it wasn't for the fact the chain's didn't match up where they were attached! I like everything to be perfect and I think it was made to look like this but I don't like it. There were also black marks that can only be described as marker pen on the pearls and due to the heaviness of this necklace, while photographing for these blog photos, the clasp snapped. As you can see in the photos the string was stretched and then I picked it up to move it and it snapped on me. I'm gutted as I really wanted to wear this necklace! I've gotten in touch with Wantable, let's hope they will reply. I will edit this post when they do :)

EDIT: Wantable replied to my email and are kindly sending me a replacement. Lovely customer service from them!

Looking at other wantable boxes, I felt like this box could have been better. I was highly disappointed in the ring and would have prefered something different. Overall I feel like even though the jewellery is highly priced, I proberly wouldn't buy this box. I was super excited to try something new and I'll probably only ever wear the bracelet now.

What do you think? Have you got a Wantable Subscription Box? 

Ta-Ra

Jess

*This box was gifted to me for reviewing, all thoughts are my own