The Perfect Blend

Welcome to The Perfect Blend!

Gabrielle Zevin's sweet novel is just the thing to warm your heart and take a restorative break after all the holiday festivities.  

To learn more about the author:  Gabrielle Zevin

Shelly's tea   August Uncommon Tea Biarritz

Candy's tea Asheville Tea Company Hibiscus Mojito

Find independent bookstores here.

***Don't forget we are adding a special episode New Year's Eve to celebrate our first season of podcasting***

Thank you so much for joining us.  Keep sipping and read on!

Welcome to The Perfect Blend!

'Tis the season and what better time than to read a new take on A Christmas Carol!  R. William Bennett's Jacob T. Marley is a look at Marley and what happened before and after his visit to Scrooge in the classic story.  Add this to your Christmas reading list and you'll keep Christmas in your heart all the year.

R. William Bennett

Shelly's tea:  Rosie Lee tea , mixed with cinnamon, orange peel and cloves

Candy's tea:  Winterberry Dream Black Tea

Welcome to our Twisted Tea talk!  We delve into our first series murder mystery book and we are both looking for our next one. Not only does this books have tea, lots of yummy food, recipes - we got to travel vicariously to South Carolina.      

Laura Child:  http://www.laurachilds.com

Shelly's tea:  Bold Black Chai from Republic of Tea https://www.republicoftea.com/bold-black-chai/p/v20747/

Candy's tea:  Insane Cinnamon Orange from the Tea Chemist  https://www.teachemist.com/product/insane-cinnamon-orange/53?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false

Join us, won't you?

Welcome to the Perfect Blend!

It's time to deck your shelves with some seasonal reads!  We're talking about James Patterson and Tad Safran's The Twelve Very Messy Topsy-Turvy Days of Christmas.  If you've read it, please let us know what you thought about it!

James Patterson:  https://www.jamespatterson.com

Tad Safron: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1475075/

Shelly's tea:  https://www.theteaspot.com/products/earl-of-grey-loose-black-tea

Candy's tea:  https://www.davidstea.com/us_en/tea/santa-s-secret-tea/10787US01VAR0057666.html

Welcome to The Perfect Blend!

Our book is Under a Gilded Moon by Joy Jordan Lake.  We wanted to finish up November with another North Carolina based read and this one was perfect!

Links to some of the  things we mentioned:

Joy Jordan Lake:  https://www.joyjordanlake.com/behind-the-scenes-gilded-moon

Low Country Tea:  https://august.la/products/low-country?_pos=1&_sid=e9496811d&_ss=r

Victorian Chai Black Tea:  https://www.spiceandtea.com/victorian-chai-tea.html

Biltmore: https://www.biltmore.com

The Grove Park Inn Gingerbread Event:  https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grove-park/things-to-do/gingerbread

Italian Mob Lynchings in New Orleans: https://www.history.com/news/the-grisly-story-of-americas-largest-lynching

Don't forget to subscribe and if you're feeling thankful, a review would be great!  We'd love to know what you're thinking and what you'd like to hear.  

You can also follow us on Instagram @theperfectblend_sc.

Have you ever overdone it at a holiday dinner?  Maybe you’ve tested the tenacity of your stretchy pants and are feeling the tryptophanic trance as you tilt yourself into the recliner praying you’ll be able to bend enough to get up for dessert.

Shelly and I are here to the rescue with some tea blends to have on hand for you and your company so you can enjoy your feasting without too much discomfort. And if you’d like, we’ve left a recap of some of the teas we have featured so far.

Shelly recommends Turmeric Tonic from the Tea Spot.

Candy recommends Simple Truth Organic Digestive with Peppermint, Fennel and Ginger; Traditional Medicinals Ginger Aid and Smooth Move; or Yogi Stomach Ease.

We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and can't wait to share new books and teas in December!

Welcome to the Perfect Blend! In this episode, Candy and Shelly continue to explore books set in North Carolina and share their thoughts on Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain.  They are intrigued by the mystery of Anna Dale, a 1940's artist selected to do a post office mural, who went missing. They discuss the power of art and how the characters move past  tragic events.  The girls also share their adventures in  Edenton, NC, where the explored the setting of the book.

They paired this book with some calming teas, Lady Lavender from The Tea Spot and Lemon Organic Everyday Detox from Traditional Medicinals. 

Shelly's tea: Lady Lavender , The Tea Spot

Candy's tea: Lemon Organic Everyday Detox , Traditional Medicinals

Diane Chamberlain's Website

List of United States post office murals

The Edenton Tea Party History Project

Welcome to The Perfect Blend!

Shelly and I picked a favorite that our good friends recommended.  Thank you Kathy and Mary!

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen takes place in our stomping grounds of North Carolina.  We thought it'd be nice to feature some stories from our neck of the woods.  As far as we are concerned, anything gardens and magic is a win as far as books go.  We paired our books with a peach ginger tea from Republic of tea and an interesting mixture of blue butterfly flower and Bigelow's Lavender Chamomile plus probiotic.

Shelly's tea:  https://www.republicoftea.com/ginger-peach-black-tea/p/v00580/

Candy's tea:  shorturl.at/aszDJ and shorturl.at/eIKOW

Sarah Addison Allen's website:  https://www.sarahaddisonallen.com

Thanks so much for joining us!  Make sure you subscribe so you can sit in and sip on with our latest book and if you'd be so kind as to leave a review, why we'd appreciate it ever so much.

Welcome to The Perfect Blend!

This week we are discussing The Dutch House by Ann Patchett.  It's a definite turn from what we have shared in October, but it's always good to stretch your reading chops and try new things.  This wasn't a happy joy story.  In fact, we wrestled with some of the characters and their choices.  My goodness, not the typical homecoming you'd expect.  

Shelly's tea:  https://www.winterwoodsteacompany.com/collections/loose-leaf-teas/products/old-town-licorice

Candy's tea:  lemon balm, spearmint, mason jar :)

Ann Patchett's site:  http://www.annpatchett.com

Welcome to The Perfect Blend!

This week's featured book is Douglas Adam's The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul.   We are both big fans of his work and were delighted to feature him for our final October book selection.  We've paired our story  with some delicious blends from Norskk and August Uncommon Teas.

Candy's tea from Norskk:  https://norskk.com/nordic-red-tea

Shelly's tea from August Uncommon Tea:  shorturl.at/doq57

Douglas Adams website:  https://douglasadams.com

Dirk Gently's I Ching Calculator:  https://hackaday.io/project/19883-dirk-gentlys-i-ching-calculator

We know you may not have gone where you intended to go, but we hope you find you've ended up where you need to be.