The Latest in Chocolate: Chocolate Tea

I'm sipping NUMI's organic Pu-erh Tea.

The box informs that "Puerh is an ancient healing tea picked from 500 year old organic wild trees in Yunnan, China. Puerh has more antioxidants than most green teas...This velvety infusion combines black Puerh tea and organic cocoa. Accented by whole vanilla beans and sweet orange peel, this decadent blend is rounded off with a nutmeg and cinnamon finish."

It's a dose of warm, comforting, rich chocolate at zero calories. Can't beat that. NUMI's Chocolate Puerh is more pricy than the others, at $8.99 for 18 tea bags, but many of us spend $4-5+ for a cup or tea or coffee anyway. It's worth it. The only problem is, after finishing a cupful, I crave a chunk of the not-so-healthy stuff.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being perfect, I give NUMI's chocolate tea an 8. 

Note: NUMI's isn't paying me to advertise their product, though they might consider it.

Stay warm, and have a great Thursday.

DuPont, A Packers Fan: Sundays in My City

Hi, friends. I'm jumping in on Sundays in My City, hosted by the extraordinary UnknownMami. Visit her blog here for a scenic worldwide tour.  Today, I have pictures of the first week of 2013 in my hometown, Chico, CA.

Our town mascot - whose actual name is DuPont (I just learned this, and DuPont is a male cross-dresser) was ready to cheer on the Greenbay Packers because...

..Packers Quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, does Chico proud. He's from this city, and Rodgers didn't disappoint last night. Congratulations on defeating the Minnesota Vikings, Rodgers! (Sorry, Pearl.)  [Photo stolen from Yahoo News page]

                                               
Feline friend, Mojo, attended my New Year's Book Launch party.




 

 

Others, in human form, attended too. It was a great way to start a new year. I hope 2013 has been a good one for you, too, so far. 

Thanks for visiting. Be well, Happy 2013, and go Packers! (Disclaimer: I am not a sports fan. Not until now.)

Interview with Justin Bieber! IWSG

Welcome to the first IWSG (Insecure Writer’s Support Group) of 2013. Alex J. Cavanaugh  founded this group to provide us with a safe venue for expressing our vulnerabilities and offering each other support. We're posting on the first Wednesday of every month. Please check out Alex’s blog to visit others’ posts. It’s a great group.  Join us, if you haven't already! All that's required is an insecurity or two hundred.

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Robyn: We had a lot of big-name celebrities last year. So I wanted to kick-off this year’s first IWSG in a really exciting way, with the biggest star of them all. Instead, I bring you Justin Bieber.

The audience boos. I’m sorry - Robyn lowers her voice to a near whisper - but nobody else was available on such short notice. Robyn raises her voice again. Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s welcome today’s guest, Justin Bieber! Silence fills the studio, as Justin strolls onto the stage, carrying a pink make-up bag and waving at the audience. Suddenly, a loud, uncontrollable girlish scream echos throughout the building. The camera zooms in on the culprit: a baby on her mother’s lap. Embarrassed, the mother swaddles her baby and walks out briskly. Robyn and Justin exchange a lukewarm handshake and take their seats.

Robyn: Thanks for visiting today.

Justin: Sure thing. Leaning back in his chair, Justin opens the make-up bag and pulls out a compact and lip gloss. He grins at the mirror and begins applying layers of lip gloss.

Robyn:  Justin, how did you feel about Google naming you the 7th most popular woman in the world? 

Justin:  Well, there are always gonna be haters out there. I’m cool with that. I can’t always take first place, or even sixth. He giggles and resumes lip-gloss application.

Robyn: Yeah, tough break. So, today’s this year's first meeting of the IWSG. Do you know what that stands for?

Justin: Uh, I worship Selena Gomez? Justin smiles proudly, humored by himself.

Robyn: No, we’re insecure writers. On that note, I want to lend support to my insecure writer friends. That’s why I invited you here. See, I recently published my first book. I was going through a dark time, and I hadn’t planned on publishing my poetry, not yet at least...Justin removes a container of Selena Gomez hair gel from his make-up kit and begins rubbing it on his hair...but I looked through my poetry and decided I had enough for a book right now. Then I emailed this amazing artist and blogger, Robin Mead, and asked if she’d partner with me. She agreed. Within two months, I was a first-time published author. It’s an awesome feeling to have ignored all my insecurities. I rose above my circumstances and just did it, you know?

Justin: Oh yeah. Well, me and my mom used to live with mouses before I became famous. One morning, no joke, this is really gross. You won't believe it. But in my sofa bed, because we couldn’t afford a real bed for me -

Robyn interrupts: Yeah, I knew you'd have something to share about this topic, Justin. That’s why I invited you.

Justin stops talking, ready to address Robyn’s questions. Cool, okay.

Robyn: Yeah, I figured you could speak to the experience of surviving tough times, getting knocked down and then again, yet rising above it all with grace and dignity. How did Selena do it?

Justin: Some things, I don't talk about. But, like I was saying, we lived with mouses, and one morning when I woke up -

Robyn: I'm afraid we’re out of time. Thanks, Justin.

Justin, looking at the audience: Well, would you like a song before I go? The audience remains silent. Justin shrugs his shoulders.

Robyn: Sorry, we’re just not Beliebers here at Life by Chocolate. But thanks for your time, and please know that tons and tons of people really, really love and adore…Selena Gomez. Give her our best. 

Justin: Okay. He waves at the two people (now sleeping) remaining in the audience, and struts off. 

The camera zooms in on Robyn: My friends, we might not be Beliebers, and Lord knows we aren’t, but we must be believers. So shut-down those nagging insecurities and just go for it. Keep dreaming and writing and moving towards your goals. Amazing things will happen. Have a great, successful New Year. Believe in YOU.