Back at the beginning of March, I wrote this post entitled You’re Ovary Acting in aid of Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and pledged to hold my own event to raise funds and awareness for gynae cancer charity, The Eve Appeal. Having set the date for my Make Time For Tea charity fundraiser, I figured I’d best tackle two of my all-time personal pet hates: coffee and cooking.

I know most humans are drawn to coffee like cats to catnip, but for me it’s a major turn-off: the aroma, the bitter taste, the tar-like appearance. Just…no. Similarly, the very notion of trying to conjure up a Jamie Oliver creation in 30 short minutes is completely alien to me – I mean why would you even put yourself under that kind of undue pressure? Just thinking about pans bubbling over and utensils clattering is enough to bring me out in hives. The thing with cooking is that there’s just so much effort involved. You do the maths: take a gazillion ingredients, add several different cooking durations and temperature requirements, sprinkle in a few distractions such as Facebook and the telly, then subtract the luxury of enough time…equals so many opportunities for things to go pear-shaped. Far too much admin, if you ask me.

Fortunately, my distaste for all things coffee and culinary is countered by a love of tea and eating, so with a little determination I was able to overcome my lazy-girl issues and get cracking with the preparations. Well, it’s all for charidee, mate, after all. As my partner Andy imports coffee for a living, he supplied the good stuff (I’ll take his word for it), then I rolled up my sleeves and got my bake on…

Now I doubt Mary Berry will be fearing for her job anytime soon, but I have to say my lemon drizzle cakes (yes, plural!) came out remarkably well – so much so that a couple of friendly neighbourhood mice (or perhaps it was my parents), scurried in and nibbled one of them and I had to bake another. Weirdly, I didn’t mind at all – having overcome my concerns about the edibility of anything I could create in the kitchen, got past the faff of having to buy all the various cake-making components and worked out how to grate lemon zest without reducing my acrylic-nailed fingertips to bloody stumps, I actually began to relax and enjoy the bake. There may have been a flour cloud above my head and sticky lemon juice on every available surface, but licking the bowl was heavenly and the finished result made up for all the mess.

Whilst I cooked up a storm in the kitchen, my family rallied round to help get my house tea party-ready: mum loaning me the best family china; dad repainting my battered garden furniture that has definitely seen better days. My sister took one sceptical look at my child-unfriendly house full of angular units and breakables and began carrying out a full risk assessment…quickly concluding that a trip to her place to collect enough primary-coloured bits of plastic to open our own branch of Toys R Us was required. (Later, when I clocked her easing grubby little mitts off my travel memorabilia and back towards the toys I was extremely grateful for her contribution).

Zipping round the supermarket for some prefessionally-baked back-ups, I was aware of the judgemental glances of other shoppers; eyes sliding away as I clocked them peering at the cake mountain in my trolley: lemon meringue pie, swirly strawberry cheesecake, scones, red velvet cake, Taste The Difference carrot, morello cherry bake (that one was delicious, by the way) – you name it, I bought it. I looked like some crazed sugar junkie on a bender. I slung in a few bottles of prosecco for good measure and I was good to go.

On the morning of my event I awoke early to prepare the treat-filled feast for my guests. Having performed yet another last-minute supermarket sweep, the spread was looking even more bountiful: baked goods balanced on every surface. Sprinkling heart confetti on the table and adding flowers, I stepped back to admire my handiwork…

My sister, mum and cousins were my first guests to arrive. A special mention must go to my cuzzy Lucy Blake, a cake-baking whizz, whose impressive cupcakes complete with Eve Appeal logos and edible glitter drew gasps of delight from my guests.

Hungry ladies began arriving in their droves and we finally allowed my little nephew Hayden to get stuck into the cake table – something he’d been slyly attempting for the last hour, his mum and I swatting him away until the other guests arrived.

All my nail-biting fears of no-shows, mumbled apologies and texts of regret dissipated as the doorbell chimed; the tea was poured, the cafetière plunged and cakes gratefully eaten. Neighbours popped in, friends dutifully appeared; there were even a few surprise appearances and tears.

A timely collaboration with those lovely folk at TeaTourist meant that as well as my trusty PG Tips, I also had an abundance of interesting herbal tea blends to offer my guests. Available as a one-off purchase, a thoughtful gift or a monthly subscription, the company selects an array of carefully-crafted artisan teas from various respected suppliers and then delivers them to your door in a slimline box that fits easily through the letterbox, so no hanging around for deliveries. The complementary taster box I received included some intriguing flavours such as Chocolate Orange and the cinnamon-tinged Mulled Apple Brandy – although my favourite of them all is Rose and Strawberry. Each taster sachet has enough for four cups and includes information about the tea as well as the company who produce it, along with a discount code if you’d like to repurchase directly. Seeing as there’s a subscription box for just about everything these days, it makes sense to have one for tea too. (Use code FIRST10 for 10% off your first box).

By mid-afternoon the first sitting of tea-guzzlers had thinned out, so there was just time for a quick washing-up session and a replenish of cakes before round two. By this point I was buzzing: partly due to the sugar rush from all the cake-sampling, but even more so upon seeing my strategically-placed collection boxes overflowing with crisp banknotes. Way to go, ladies!

To add to the warm fuzzy feeling that gave me inside, Mother Nature provided a warm fuzzy feeling on the outside: Thursday 30th March turned out to be the hottest March day for five years, enabling us to spend the entire afternoon in the garden eating yet more cake and quaffing prosecco. High five, Sister!

The final guests left at 6pm, so I kicked off my shoes, had a cup of Wilderness Honeybush from my TeaTourist box and totted up the funds raised. The cash on the day totalled £265, with another £298 via my Just Giving account, giving a grand total of £563! Add to that the 25% gift aid and the total raised climbed to £703.75! How cool is that?! A pretty productive day, if I do say so myself…

So on behalf of The Eve Appeal and myself I’d like to say a huge and heartfelt “Thank you!” to everyone who donated to my campaign – either in person or online. Your generous contributions will enable this fabulous charity to continue their great work: protecting women’s health by helping prevent gynae cancers.

The word I’d use to sum up the day? Much like the cakes themselves actually:

“Sweet!”

The post Make Time For Tea – in association with TeaTourist appeared first on Life: A Birds Eye View.

The invitation to test the Essential Teatox 14-day detox couldn’t have landed in my inbox at a better time: a few days before my eventful trip to India.

To me, this was a green light to scrap the beach yoga and instead indulge in all the calorific curries and Kingfisher beers my little pot-belly could handle, safe in the knowledge that immediately upon my return I could flip the kettle on and brew up some evil-tasting concoction that would magically melt away the evidence of my gluttony.

Now I’m not overweight – my BMI is 22 – and at almost 6ft tall I have a lot of body to fill, BUT – having turned the big (whisper it!) 4-0 this year, I’ve decided to take a bit more care of myself. Let’s face it, the only place a muffin top looks good is on a muffin. And I’d been no stranger to the M&S bakery…

So I ditched the cigs and am eating my veggies like a good girl. Unfortunately ‘smoke-free’ is not synonymous with ‘sugar-free’: my taste buds – suddenly reawakened – start twerking furiously at the prospect of a cinnamon bun. I’m no GI (Glycaemic Index) Jane; I’m more familiar with Kettle Chips than kettle bells, admittedly. But I’m getting there. Kinda. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I love a prosecco (or 3), and I’m still partial to the odd Big Mac, but Rome wasn’t built in a day (and neither was Gisele’s body).

So I was sitting on the beach in Goa, eyeing my physique appraisingly. Hmmm, hardly the stone cold fox I’d envisaged. More an urban fox. You know the ones: weathered; mangy-looking; furiously tearing open rubbish bags with their teeth in search of scraps; existing on a diet of old tea bags, sandwich crusts and discarded bacon rind…and perhaps the occasional small child if they can squeeze through an unlocked suburban cat-flap.

“You’re in shape, darling,” soothed Andy, in an attempt to rebuild my flagging body confidence. “Oh yeah,” I replied, resignedly…..”the shape of a barrel,” vowing to take action upon my return…

As soon as I squeezed (sideways) through the door when I arrived home, I tore at the packaging with my teeth (see, fox?) and scrutinised the contents. Hmmm. The teabags themselves are aesthetically pleasing: silky little pyramids; high quality. It was the contents that I was more dubious about: bits of bark and plant material. Well, it certainly looks organic, I thought. A few minutes later I took a tentative sip of my new brew…..and was pleasantly surprised. I expected rank-tasting swamp water….but it’s actually….very nice. No involuntary screwface. The licorice sweetens it nicely, and there’s no bitter aftertaste. Result!

In the evening, I steel my tastebuds for the PM blend. Again, to my surprise, it tastes fresh and sweet. The detox is simplicity itself: a tea each morning and a different blend every other evening. I made the decision not to adjust my diet or exercise regime at all for 2 reasons:

1. I don’t diet or have an exercise regime, and
2. I wanted to ensure any results were 100% down to the tea.

Over the coming days, I find myself looking forward to my Teatox. I know people are always sceptical about these things, and I was too, but I swear I saw an uplift in my energy, and my mood, within a few days. Even if this was partly the placebo effect, caused by me feeling all virtuous and thus projecting a smugly satisfied glowing aura, then surely even that’s a good thing?

The list of ingredients is impressive, all renowned for their energising and slimming properties, so I’m convinced there’s a bit more at work than my imaginary shiny halo. Judge for yourself:

The programme costs £19.99, so 95p per cup: a third of the price of my usual coffee-shop skinny hot choc with chocolate sprinkles (and yes, I’m fully aware that there’s really no such thing as a skinny hot chocolate thank-you-very-much), and leaves me feeling far more energised than the over-priced Starbucks sugar-rush that’s soon followed by a crash. The only place I lose weight with my regular beverage is my purse, as I empty all my hard-earned coins onto the counter.

As the tea tastes so good, I leave the teabag in whilst drinking to make it as strong as possible, and even find myself topping up the hot water a further few times to really get the most out of each bag. This is not in the guidelines, but I figure you may as well get maximum benefit and value from the detox, right?

A week in, and I’m feeling great. On a night out with my girlfriends I feel confident and happy in my silky dress and get a few cheesy compliments from some randoms in the pub. I’m not in the market for a new fella, but it’s nice to be appreciated nonetheless, hey?

Working in retail at Christmas time is flat-out busy, and I often resort to double-dropping Pro Plus in a desperate attempt to pep up my flagging energy levels with caffeine (since I hate coffee and you need arms like Popeye’s for the mammoth stock deliveries), but during the detox I find I’m awake before the alarm and don’t feel tired during the day at all. My sleep is better too: although I still wake up super-early, I’m not waking as much during the night.

At the end of the 2 weeks, I’m sad to see my tea supplies come to an end. I haven’t lost weight (unsurprising, considering I’ve had fast food a few times, boozy nights out with the girls and my usual sneaky snacks), yet I definitely feel less bloated, more energised, and happier overall with my figure.

Would I use Essential Teatox again? Yes – particularly before a holiday or a special occasion. Who knows, next time I may even combine it with a healthier diet and some exercise to get the maximum slink-factor. Stranger things have happened (erm, it begins with T and ends in ‘rump’).

Oh, and did I mention I’m also a Victoria’s Secret model now? Best keep schtum for the time being – it’s such a secret that even Victoria doesn’t know…

Seriously though, I’m bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and feeling fierce. So you wanna be a Stone Cold Fox?  Get Teatox 

Use code TEATOX10 for 10% off when placing your order.
For a chance to try the 14-day Teatox for FREE,  enter my competition here.*

UPDATE: This competition is now closed and the winner has been chosen at random. Congratulations to Kirsten Hyde – your Teatox is winging it’s way to you!

Find more opinions and reviews on Essential Teatox via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

*Competition T&Cs:

– the competition will run from Monday 5th December until 11.59pm on 30th December GMT.
– entrants must be UK residents aged 18 and over.
– all entries to be completed using the Rafflecopter link above.
– all entries will be checked and verified.
– the winner will be chosen at random from all valid entries.
– the winner will be announced by the 5th Jan (emailed as well as via social media and as a blog update).
– the winner will have 72hrs to respond with their details, otherwise a new winner will be picked following the same procedure.

Thanks for entering – good luck!

Sam x

Fancy reading my back-story before you go any further? You can find my other blogs at:

www.costaricachica1.blogspot.com
www.samgoessolo.blogspot.com
www.mummymission.blogspot.com
www.worldwidewalsh.blogspot.com

Follow me:

Twitter: @SamanthaWalsh76 (Life:ABird’sEyeView)
Facebook: @lifeabirdseyeview
Instagram: @lifeabirdseyeview

The post Wanna be a Stone Cold Fox? Get Teatox! appeared first on Life: A Birds Eye View.