Last Saturday I did something I rarely do, two things actually; the first was to take a little money I’d been gifted – and purposefully saved for just this day – and I have myself a little shopping spree… I spent a whopping 44.60.

The second thing was in order to pull off this spree I went out in public during “the holiday season”; something I have shied away from since the end of my retail career 6 years ago.   I have a rather strong dislike for shopping in general, an equal feeling about crowds and am highly sensitive to a variety of chemicals and scents which makes a trip to most stores an unpleasant – and sometimes miserable – experience. However, the lure of said holiday season sales was great and so as to stretch my meager dollars off I went.

The reason for this wild spree was pretty straight forward, between breaking them via my natural grace and normal wear-and-tear I was in need of some new bake- and cook-ware and I have seriously desired my own little tea station in my room for a few months now.

I’m currently sharing a house with a friend and my second floor bedroom also does duty as my retreat, my office, my exercise room, my lounge and my recreation room. Having tea at the ready without having to make ‘umpteen’ trips up and down the stairs on physically “bad” days seemed like a terrific idea (I can honestly say, three days in, it was a terrific idea – I totally adore my tea station.*pats self on back*).

I was blessed with good weather, the company of my daughter and nice sales people. The crowds were not too horrid and I only had to battle the dreaded cinnamon-oil dipped pinecones of doom (don’t get me started on the damn pinecones) in one store, so, overall, a good day shopping. I found a fabulous set of glass baking/cooking dishes on sale that totally fit my needs and budget plus I got to go to one of my favorite stores ever, Harbor Freight, to buy a hot plate and kettle.

It was all awesome, however, the best part, the cherry on top, was that our local Grocery Outlet had received a selection of ceramic coffee cups – the ones with the silicone lids that look like take-out coffee cups – the spiffy, much-coveted-by-me-for-months now ceramic coffee cups that have been retailing a ridiculous 10 – 15 bucks were there, within my reach for a mere 3.99.I had to have one. I was willing to give up food or gas or buying pet sea-monkeys for one of those cups. And get one I did, the last orange one even, a lovely, lovely cup and its mine.

Once home I puttered around my room, arranging this and that to get my tea station up and running. I set up the hot plate on a trivet for safety, washed out my new kettle, opened up my assorted teas and placed them in a pretty basket I had on hand. After washing my kettle and setting it on the hotplate I was ready for my inaugural boil. In just a few short moments and only steps from my comfy chair, I was brewing my fist cup up of tea – Sleepytime from Celestial Seasonings – in my brand new ceramic cup; so shiny.

Once the tea had steeped, I removed the teabag, poured in a little sugar, stirred and carefully secured the non-slip, no-spill silicon top to my cup. I then settled in with my blanket and book, got my feet up in just the right way, the pillows propped just so and then, as I went in for my first drink, it hit me: my new cup is, in fact, a sippy-cup for grown-ups.

Talk about coming full circle, however, having now downed numerous cups of tasty tea from it I can honestly say I YMy Sippy Cup!

One word of caution, not surprisingly the ceramic cup gets pretty hot when boiling liquid is poured into it, which with my oft-cold hands is a total bonus but if you’re sensitive to heat you might wish to shop around and get one that also has a built on silicone “cup cozy” – similar to the paper sheaths they use at the fancy coffee huts. Happy sipping everyone!