Enjoying Life Post-Op with Sunshine and Shaken Iced Tea.

I first discovered iced tea when I was 14 years old, and went on a roadtrip around the deep south of the USA. It was everywhere, in all the cafes and shops. I discovered a taste for Snapple and Lipton and all those amazing home made ones in the little country diners. I got back to the UK and ever since then I’ve been obsessed. During the day I don’t drink many drinks other than water, but every so often when I need just a little something more interesting, I always go for iced tea. Lemon and Peach are my favourites. So when I heard Starbucks were bringing their famous Teavana Shaken Iced Teas (that have been popular in the US for a few years now) to the UK, I was pretty darn excited.

A coupla years before that roadtrip I found Starbucks’s cream Frappuccino’s, I was about 11 years old and they’ve been there for me ever since then through good times and bad. A cooling comfort blanket of creamy sugary goodness. It’s funny how you can develop such a fondness for a coffee house, and how you can get way too excited about new items on the menu (is it just me who feels the need to try every seasonal new sweet treat? And every seasonal Frappuccino and Refresha flavour? Also hello over-excitement every year it’s time for #redcups.).

Many of you know that I was recently in hospital, as I had surgery to remove very enlarged lingual tonsils that were blocking my throat and impacting my day-to-day life. A week after the operation I ended up being rushed back to hospital when something in my throat ruptured and, to put it bluntly, I had blood pouring out of my nose and mouth at an alarming rate.

Last weekend I was allowed out of the house for the first time in over a week, and it was the first time I felt well enough to walk further than from the living room to my bedroom. As you all know from this blog, I’m usually the type of person who is on the go non-stop, I’m always busy and living life to the full, so to feel so ill was a bit of a shock and made me feel so helpless and miserable. I have pretty awesome friends, with one of my oldest and dearest friends stopping by to offer hugs and a beautiful bunch of flowers, and another coming all the way to Guildford to take me for my first outing after my hospital visits.

Phoebe and I have been firm friends ever since I started working at my current agency 2.5 years ago. We even went to Paris together last summer! She moved back to Brighton last year so I don’t get to see her very often these days, but she came up to Guildford after work on Friday, and after an evening of catching up and watching old James Bond movies, we woke up bright and early on Saturday for a day of sunshine, ice-cream, and iced tea.

I really adore Guildford. Other than our two years in Australia when I was in high school, I’ve lived here since I was two years old. It’s full of happy memories, and every time I walk down the high street it makes me smile. Phoebe had never been to Guildford before, so I showed her around and we grabbed a couple of Teavana Shaken Iced Teas from Starbucks to take to the Guildford Castle Grounds. The Castle Grounds are beautiful in summer, the flowers are incredible, and it was so relaxing sitting on the grass and watching the oldies play bowls, and gossiping about all of the new and exciting things going on in our lives.

I was feeling pretty rough and weak still, but I was determined to make the most of the sunny day after being stuck inside for so long. I’m so glad I did, because we had the best time! It’s amazing how wandering around your favourite town, armed with your favourite drink and an awesome friend by your side helps to lift your mood so much and make you feel 10x better!

We had a look round the shops and picked up a few cheeky sale bargains, and then stopped off for a Froyo before heading home for lunch. After lunch we headed to Shere with my parents and Dylan. Shere is the cutest little village just outside Guildford, and it’s our favourite place for a wander. It’s also home to the best ice-cream shop EVER. So we unashamedly had an ice-cream…even though we’d had frozen yoghurt earlier. I mean, life’s too short to not eat ice-cream, right?

We then dropped Phoebe back at the station, and went home so I could have a rest after my busy day. I’m so grateful to Phoebe for coming to visit, and SO happy I got to make the most of a sunny weekend and get out and about again! It was pretty darn hot, and my Shaken Iced Blackberry Mojito Tea Lemonade was the perfect way to cool down, while Phoebe loved her Shaken Iced Peach Green Tea!

I’m not a huge fan of hot teas (I only drink Peppermint and fruity ones), so sweet iced teas are great for people like me, and summer is the perfect opportunity to have the excuse of “it’s too hot for tea…” and drink iced tea instead 😛

When we lived in Perth in Western Australia, I went almost an entire year without my beloved Frappuccino as they don’t have a Starbucks in Perth. When we went on holiday to Sydney for my 17th birthday, I had the biggest caramel cream one to make up for it! As you can see in the photo below, I was very happy about this. I always thought Starbucks could come up with nothing that was better than the Frappuccino…but I’m telling you now, their new Teavana iced teas are total game changers…and great for anyone who can’t drink dairy products!

My tanned-fresh-faced-Starbucks-loving 17 year old self…

The Teavana brand is all about using the highest quality pure teas and botanicals in the world, chosen with great care and blended for extraordinary flavours, and their Shaken Iced Teas are honestly delicious and such a refreshing low-calorie treat to cool down in the summer months. The cooling iciness also helped soothe my sore post-op throat! Thank you Starbucks for partnering with me for this post, and THANK YOU for finally bringing Teavana iced tea to the UK! It’s totally unfair that the USA get to have all the best things 😉 *cough: all the best Frappuccino flavours*

Catherine Lux

Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.

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