Tea has comfortably settled into almost every moment of my day, as I sip it, write about it and cook with it. Although I was surprised that it hadn't found its way into the few restful moments when I'm not steeping and sipping. That was true until I discovered an "accessory for the senses."
Gina Wu, president and founder of Tea GW, graciously sent me two of her Tea-Filled Travel Pillows, one Rose and the other Jasmine. Each pillow is made with decorative silk fabric and filled with genuine, aromatic whole-leaf tea.
In a recent article, Gina noted that, "Just as drinking tea can promote a healthy lifestyle, it is believed that tea pillow can help to promote natural sleep, offer relaxing properties and a host of additional health benefits. Tea pillows are based upon the 5,000 year old Chinese tea culture and were employed throughout the earliest Chinese civilizations in order to maintain physical and emotional harmony within the body."
I carefully opened the box to reveal a white silk pillow printed with beautiful characters that I imagined spoke of dreaming sweetly and other peaceful phrases. As I gently rested my head on the delicate pillow, the jasmine aroma seemed to blossom around me. Although intended for travel, this pillow is the perfect decorative touch to your favorite chair. Simply pull the pillow close and escape to a peaceful, fragrant moment after long steep and sip session. The healing aroma with soothe your senses.
This is a must-have for a tea enthusiast and an incredibly unique gift for any tea lover!
Considering that Gina Wu thoughtfully sent me two of her lovely pillows, I want share the Rose Travel Tea Pillow with a lucky reader. Covered in poppy pink silk with a graphic leaf print, this luxurious pillow is the perfect companion to an afternoon of sipping white rose tea. Simply leave a comment below with your favorite tea memory and your email address by Nov 2nd, and I will randomly select and announce the winner on Nov 3rd in this very post.
Here's to dreaming sweetly of tea...
UPDATE: Thank you all so very much for sharing these incredible tea moments with me. Each story was truly lovely! I randomly selected a number bewtween 1 and 9 (the total amount of comments shared), and am happy to announce the comment #3, Marlena, is the winner of the tea pillow! Stay tuned for more tea giveaways in the next month.
Drinking rose tea during high tea at the Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong, oh what luxury...
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Posted by: Michelle | October 28, 2010 at 09:01 AM
My favorite tea memory was actually from about 5 years ago when I visited my aunt on the west coast. She has the most beautiful kitchen...warm yellow walls with white trim...and we sat there enjoying cups of tea and small cookies and breads and we were talking about how my grandmother, her mom, had always wanted to fly to the west coast and visit her and how she was unable to in her lifetime, but how it felt, in that moment, that she was there with us. It was a warm feeling.
Posted by: Jackie | October 28, 2010 at 09:39 AM
My dearest "Grannie Grunt" and I would walk down to the brook, carrying parasols of burdock leaves, to have tea with the fairies and water nymphs who lived under the bridge. We always had cookies and bread and butter with our tea. We would send a few of the cookies on a leaf down the brook, as the nymphs were very shy. She was a wonderful grandmother, so willing to enter into imagination.
Posted by: Marlena | October 28, 2010 at 12:29 PM
Yummy, i didnt know these pillows existed, but i'd surely love to take a little nap on one of those!
Tea memory? My dad's earlgrey leftovers i would steal as a little girl, and would pretend to be an old lady drinking tea with my dolls... writing this story i can still remember the scent of the cold tea...
Posted by: clémence | October 28, 2010 at 02:03 PM
My favorite tea memory involves putting together the favors for my wedding reception, which was loose leaf tea. My best friend and I made a blend for the occasion and sat around in her kitchen drinking samples and putting the tea in the little satchels my mom had made for me (over 200 of them!).
Posted by: Flora | October 29, 2010 at 11:56 AM
Just recently I was lucky enough to attend a Japanese tea ceremony; it was very beautiful, each movement so carefully orchestrated and performed. And the tea was delicious!
Posted by: Wehaf | October 31, 2010 at 12:48 AM
One of my favorite tea memories was when I was in a chinese restaurant in Toronto and had the usual free servings of green tea that comes with the order . They never add sugar in it and I ended up drinking the whole teapot . The same things happen when I went to a Pho Vietnamese restaurant and a Korean one where they serve cold barley tea , as well as Japanese .
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Posted by: va | October 31, 2010 at 07:56 AM
I have many tea memories but perhaps my fave is sitting on the train platform for the only late train in Japanese history - and drinking green tea from a vending machine and still loving where I was.... (you have my email-address)
Posted by: Deb | November 1, 2010 at 08:56 PM
My favorite tea memory as of late begins poorly but ends well. We were rejected from tea at the Peninsula in Hong Kong because despite my blouse and skirt, I was wearing Chacos which were incorrectly classified as beach sandals. We instead had an amazing tea at the nearby Sheraton!
Posted by: notesontea | November 2, 2010 at 07:37 PM