Thanks so much to all of you who entered our Teavana giveaway. I’m happy to announce that the winner of the Classic One Cup Infuser is… Leen Isabel!

Here’s what she said…

To take the stress off at work, I bring my tea set with me! Just my loose leaf tea, my favorite mug (with little black cats all over it), and an awkward little mesh strainer.

It’s like bringing home to the office and the fragrance it creates while steeping is wonderful. 🙂

And to cope with office place madness, I drink a fantastic mix that has ginseng (for energy), St. Johns Wort (for stress and anxiety), rooibos, apples, lemongrass, cinnamon, and other lovely fruits and herbs.

Congratulations Leen! Contact me at info@isabellawrence.com to redeem your prize. I believe your ‘awkward little mesh strainer’ may be put to rest once and for all. 🙂

In these wintry months, nothing soothes and refreshes like a steaming cup of tea. We all know by now the many benefits of drinking it. All those antioxidants keep our immune system in check and studies have shown that drinking tea can help control the free radicals that can lead to heart disease and cancer. A more surprising fact however, is that it’s a rich source of flouride. In fact, green tea has more flouride than flouridated water. Who knew?? So in addition to doing good things for your insides, brewing a cuppa can do wonders for your smile too.

Because I want you to start off the new year in the best of health, I am giving away this wonderful Classic One Cup Infuser from Teavana. I recently bought one of these for myself and loved it so much, I thought you might like one too. What makes it really great is that the openings are teeny tiny – virtually no leafy parts or stems can get through. If you’re like me, you love loose tea but hate the twiggy bits that can escape a traditional strainer.

If you would like a chance to win this infuser, share with me your favorite way to enjoy tea in the comment section. I’ll choose a winner on Thursday. One entry per person please. Don’t leave an anonymous comment and only folks living in the continental U.S. will be eligible. It’s not that I don’t love you, readers in other lands, it’s just a shipping thing.

Here’s your chance to learn the ins and outs of wedding photography. Larry and I will be teaching again at The Julia Dean Photo Workshops in Hollywood. Our course is called, “The Big Picture: Fresh Approaches to Wedding Photography”. This 4 day workshop will encompass everything from marketing to shooting with a story in mind. We’ll be photographing a real-life couple on the third session giving participants a chance to add fresh images to their portfolio while learning how we pose and interact with clients.

If you love taking pictures but aren’t ready to enter the trenches of wedding photography, Julia Dean has wonderful beginning and intermediary courses. Her roster of instructors is truly stellar, we’re talking some serious luminaries here. We are honestly dumb-struck every time we are asked to teach at her workshops.

For a complete list of courses and more information about our class visit her website.

Buy 1 get another half off. Have sweeter words ever been written? Not even the Bard himself could have conjured up a phrase more melodious and filled with promise.

I went in for something sensible and practical and came out with something altogether not.

Hope you indulge a little this weekend!

The weather was clear and spirits were high. It was the perfect day for adventure…

Charlie’s mission – take his plane where it had never been before.

Of course, a co-pilot is absolutely mandatory.

Before he knew it, his plane was flying over the entire city!

Once back on land, Charlie received a very warm welcome.

Being so adventurous can sometimes be exhausting…

Charlie turns the camera on the reporters. His reviews were obviously, awesome.

For the ride home, Charlie wisely chose a more reliable mode of transport.

When faced with the unknown, hope is just as reasonable as fear.

If you’ve made the cake featured in my previous post, then you will have found that you are left with perfectly good but extra pieces of cake from the tops that you cut off. A trifle is the perfect way to save those extra bits.

This is my mother’s recipe. She made this at every big family celebration when my sister and I were growing up and now our husbands love it as much as we do. Being a busy mom, she made hers with store bought ingredients so to keep the recipe authentic, I did too. (Except for the cake in this instance, but by all means, if time is tight, buy yourself a small chocolate cake at your local supermarket.)

Your ingredients are:
Kahlua, chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, chocolate chips and canned whipped cream.

All you are doing is assembling…
•First break up a few pieces of cake and place them in the bottom of your trifle bowl or cup. By using a cup, you can omit the Kahlua if you are serving this to children.
•Pour a splash of Kahlua over the cake bits
•Plop a bit of chocolate pudding over the cake
•Sprinkle a few chocolate chips over the pudding
•Spray a layer of the whipped cream
•Repeat all of these steps until you reach the top of your serving dish.

I’ll usually finish my trifles off with a sprinkling of grated chocolate but chocolate chips would look really charming too.

I hope you’ll try this easy, delicious recipe. This may just become your family’s favorite!