Sunday Sips-December 20th, 2020

Hellllloooo! It’s the final countdown to Christmas! Can you believe it? Five more days with only eleven left in 2020.

Today I’m drinking this French Vanilla Roasted Herbal tea by *TEECINO* and it’s pretty good. I believe this is my second time drinking a tea from this company and I’m really impressed so far. Both were rich in flavor and color and the roasted aspect does a great job bringing it to life. This one came in a brand new subscription box I ordered from *Sipsby* during their black friday sale. I missed their flash sales where they sold boxes for only $1 but was able to get the one for $5 which is an amazing deal still. Their boxes come with free shipping too which is always a plus. I don’t get any kickback from them (COME ON SIPSBY!!) or get anything for free, I just like their subscription boxes and am happy to share. I actually snapped a pic of the entire box this time before immediately ripping into it like i usually do. These are all the tea samples this month that came for me.

When you first sign up, you take a survey then they pack you teas they think you’ll like. For the most part, I’ve liked them. There’s only a couple I can think of off the top of my head that I wasn’t big on. This box is a little bit more fruit-based than the others were so I’m interested to see if I’ll like these in the coming weeks. With each box they give you a card that says what you got, how to make each one, along with coupon codes for the brands provided in case you want to purchase more. It’s really fun to see what they recommend and even better having a new tea to look forward to. I gifted a wellness one to my Mother-in-law a while back and she loved it.

This week we were hit with a monster of a snowstorm here in upstate NY. Honestly we haven’t had this much snow at once since my family’s first year living here six years ago. We moved from southeast WA which was very similar to a desert so I was not used to it and we were not prepared. lol. It was actually pretty overwhelming since I was still nursing my youngest and my hubby was out of town about half of every month. Now though we’ve got a plow attached to our four wheeler and I can get our driveway clear in about 20 minutes. Since we moved earlier this year into a home with a flat driveway (our old one was the exact opposite of flat) and it’s about half the size, I should be able to plow in about 10 minutes hopefully. I say should because my hubby did not get the plow set up in time this year for the snowstorm on Thursday so it was a bit of a mess. Luckily my oldest is now a teen and was able to help me shovel some of the 2+ feet of snow on our driveway and walkway. Next time it should be a bit smoother.

Earlier this week I also started watching Outlander again. I watched it before with the exception of the last season (or two maybe??) and felt like starting from the beginning. OMG did I fall right back in. I’m obsessed all over again. I forgot! I forgot the chemistry between Clare and Jamie and I am so here for watching it all over again. That show is just so good. I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without a rewatch. The problem is I’m already stretched for time but honestly you make time for Jamie Frasier. That man. Oh, that man. So dreamy. So perfect. I’ve never read the books because they seem like even more of a commitment with how many books there are in the series and how long they are. I also could never find the reading order and gave up trying. Oh, well. At least it’s on Netflix for my viewing pleasure. Speaking of Netflix my daughters and I are still on our Julie and The Phantoms kick. That show is so damn good and i highly recommend it for all ages. I love it, my 10 year old loves it, my 6 year old loves it. My hubby and teen son don’t but they don’t like any show or movie that sings. lol

I still haven’t read anything although I did put a face historical romance on my nightstand in case the mood strikes or better yet if time allows. I think I’ve given up chances of that though with Outlander popping back up. I’m okay with that. I’m very okay with that. Again, Jamie Frasier. Yum. I also forgot how strong willed Clare is which if you’ve read my book you know that’s exactly how i love my heroines.

I’ve been listening to “I Just Wanna Be Sad” by Mia Sayoko on repeat. It’s so good. Her voice, the background music, the entire song is so haunting and beautiful. Emotional. Love it.

I put my debut novel Detour on a free sale for this weekend (which is still good and you can download your free copy *HERE* ) and it went to number 1 in the kindle free store in all 3 of its top categories! I didn’t know what to expect but it was definitely never number 1 of anything lol. I was so proud, i squealed and ran out my front door to yell it at my family that was building an igloo in the front yard. It was a great moment.

Detour can also be found in a real bookstore now as well. Signed copies are now being sold at The Bookloft in MA which i never expected in my wildest dreams. It was such a surreal moment to walk through the aisles where it’ll be sitting, awaiting the perfect reader to come along and adopt it. Did i just romanticize that? I did, didn’t I? I can’t help it. It’s literally what i do.

That’s my super big, fully-loaded week. I did get some good writing in too which felt amazing. I hope you have a nice holiday break if you get one, and a wonderful holiday season if you celebrate. Stay safe!

Ashley