Music.

I touched on this in my recent About the Author post…about how big of a role Music plays in my life. And then I said I was gonna do its own post, buut that’s kind of a loaded topic for me. So I figured- I can just share in increments! For this one, we’ll be discussing my all-time favorite albums and my all-time favorite songs. Deal?

Thanks to Google for these images. (cheesy smile emoji) During the Pandemic, there was a small trend going around that asked for your top 6 favorite albums. That’s why I have 6 of em… Here are mine, from number 1 to number 6.

ALL-TIME FAVORITE ALBUMS, NO SKIPS!

1. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill

2. II by Boyz II Men

3. Dreams of Freedom: Ambient Translations of Bob Marley in Dub by Bob Marley

4. Calling All Lovers by Tamar Braxton

5. The Places You Gave Come to Fear the Most by Dashboard Confessional

6. Rock Steady by No Doubt

I have been trying to get them all on vinyl, tho my collection started late and I’ll have to dig through crates to find 2 of them since they probably don’t/won’t make em anymore. Such a different sound on vinyl!! I didn’t know about him yet when that trend came about… So for an Honorable Mention, I’ll put down Something to Feel by TEEKS! (Do yourselves a favor and look him up!!)

Okay, now, for Favorite Songs… I have a playlist on my phone called #1s and for some reason I stopped at 14. I thought I had 15…? But I can’t seem to figure out what the 15th song was or would be. So, we’ll stick with the 14! Haha.

  1. “On Bended Knee” by Boyz II Men
  2. “Love and War” by Tamar Braxton
  3. “I Refuse” by Aaliyah
  4. “Hold On” by H.E.R.
  5. “Easy On Me” by Jessie J
  6. “Circles” by Tamar Braxton
  7. “Impossible” by Christina Aguilera
  8. “Love of My Life” by Brian McKnight
  9. “Empty Boxes” by Tamar Braxton
  10. “Lost One” by Jazmine Sullivan
  11. “I Was Here” by Beyonce
  12. “To Be Loved” by Adele
  13. “It’s Over” by Drop’n Harmony (DnH)
  14. “Gone” by Kelly Clarkson

As you can tell, I love me a good strong ballad. I love songs that tell stories. I love songs with a great arrangement. And, I love songs with a healthy crescendo!! Soul is my genre of choice (even named my daughter after it), but I listen to almost anything + everything. R&B, Hip-Hop, Jazz…etc etc. Lots of Lauryn (no favorites of hers cuz I love em all), lots of Teeks, Eli-Mac, HER, Adele, Alicia… P!nk, Selena, Chris Brown… Freddie Mercury, Mariah Carey… 2pac (clean versions), Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera… Bruno Mars, old school 90’s hip-hop, original underground rap artists… Stylistics, Chicago, Stevie, Smokey, Luther… 112, K-Ci & JoJo… Boyz II Men OF COURSE in heavy rotation… J Boog was my kids’ first concert, Anuhea, Kolohe Kai, Fia, Sammy Johnson, Josh Tatofi… I used to be maaajorly into Reggae. Selecta Bam Bam was my favorite, Matisyahu too… And Freestyle, of course. “Take Me in Your Arms”, “Can’t We Try”, “If You Leave Me Now”…

So now you know my music preferences. What does it tell you about me? Hehe. I’m curious to know!? Leave in the comments here, or DMs on IG, or on Threads.

So…we were supposed to do a Surprise Tea this past Sunday, but that fell through. It was the first Sunday I was available during the Tour, so when reservations opened I booked it right away. It said nothing about being Easter-themed. Sweet. But when I went to check my confirmation- yeah, it was Easter-themed. Bummer. I wanted to try their ‘normal’ tea service, so we’re waiting… Still no calendar out from our May Spot, so I may just have these 2 months off. Not my favorite because I like to make my time count. And I’m DEF not rearranging the entire Tour cuz of these 2 Spots… I’ll just add em in when I can. Aaanyhooo, since there was no Tea Review post for you this week, I thought I should at least pop out an Author one for ya. I think I’m gonna keep adding to these Music ones as I am moved. Increments, like I said.

Thank you for taking the time to read these Get To Know Me ones! Still funny for me to talk about myself, but I’m slowly refining the balance of what I want to share and what I need to keep for me. This is the internet after all. And I’m sure you’ve seen/read those posts on monitoring spirits (“trolls” I think they’re called). They could do what they want…hi guys! (wave emoji) Donate while you’re here hehe! (wink)

See my loyal Readers + Subscribers whenever the next Tea happens! mwa

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Leg 4 Updates

[photo by Lady T]

We’re currently 6 months into this Leg. Everything was going smoothly until February hit. That’s when the schedule mess started with Beacon and Spot 53. Little did I know, that was just the beginning… Now, my Spot for April has paused its tea service and my Spot for May doesn’t even have their calendar open yet. (sigh) I check on two surprise/last minute squeeze-in locations (to see if I can still make my time count and do those), and I’m having a hard time even getting through to them. I didn’t want to make any changes for my June visit, because that’s a popular one for my guests (stay tuned for that one!) who are already anticipating that time… So, I check on my July Spot and their website says to make reservations on OpenTable buut when I do- OpenTable says the restaurant has not yet registered with them to accept reservations!? Ay-yay-yay!

As of right now, I did get into one of the surprise* ones (there are 3 in total currently, that could always change) and am currently on the waiting list for another. I’m just gonna have to wait until my April Tea Spot is ready to start offering tea again and fit them in whenever I can. Also still waiting for May’s, so I can schedule that one…which I feel bad that my guests aren’t going to be given the usual amount of time in advance that I like to give. I’m hoping my June Spot won’t give me any problems, and will just deal with my July’s when I get there. All my Spot numbers will be thrown off and topsy-turvy tho, which I don’t like. But what can I do? I guess I’ll manage that one too when it comes down to it. [*when I say “surprise”, I really mean unscheduled or last-minute addition to the Leg.]

Aside from all this (second sigh), I’m hoping the next 8 months of this Leg introduces me to new exceptional places. I’ve already found 2 really good ones, The Caviar Co. and Beacon Grand Hotel, so I’m happy about that. Also thrilled to hear such great feedback from you guys!! I love hearing about reservations yall have made to try Spots you’ve heard about on the blog! That brings me so much joy, forreal. And if you follow us on Threads, you’ll see that I’ve been posting about new (and returning) countries viewing the website from all over the world!! It’s the absolute coolest thing. Hello to our Readers in Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Lebanon, Portugal (which could have easily been my Sister cuz she was there recently!), Australia, Ireland, Finland, Singapore, Sweden, tons of you in Egypt, Taiwan, Russia, and Namibia!!! And I’ve only been posting on this for the past 2 months…so there’s definitely been more. I SEE YOU ALL and am blown away that this little blog has reached all the way over there!!?! Say hello in the comments or our DM’s, we’d love to hear from all of you!

Everything will work out for this Leg, as it usually does…and I will see you all in our next Review! LOVE YALL SO MUCH. Thanks for sticking around!!

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Thank you so much for reading about our Tea House Tour! If you are moved to contribute to our visiting more Tea Spots for you, here’s where you can make a one-time donation! Thank you in advance!

Thank you so much for reading about our Tea House Tour! If you are moved to contribute to our visiting more Tea Spots for you, here’s where you can make a monthly donation! Thank you in advance!

Thank you so much for reading about our Tea House Tour! If you are moved to contribute to our visiting more Tea Spots for you, here’s where you can make a yearly donation! Thank you in advance!

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