I wasn’t quite sure what story to lead on Cinnamon tea for the month of October. Not to mention I am a bit behind on this post now that we have landed in November. But I feel this is all for good reason. I think that the last two weeks of straight work on and off set has written the story for me.

Cinnamon is a universal flavor to almost everyone. It’s one of the all-American spices that highlights the foods we find in the average supermarket; cinnamon toast crunch, cinnamon buns, coffee cake, red hots, French toast- the list can simply multiply itself 5 more times. It’s universal in other cultures too; Vietnamese cinnamon spice, Chinese 5 Spice, Cinnamon in Arabic spice blends, heck my Italian Grandmother even cooks with cinnamon! Harney and Son’s cinnamon tea is the best example of the usage of cinnamon. It’s sweet when paired with sugar, it’s bitter when you’ve steeped it for too long, and it’s savory all on its own. It channels itself through food in many ways. But, I also believe that it can relate to the themes of life. And I finally realized why this tea was perfect for October. There was a moment of realization while away on the west coast last month, working for nearly 2 weeks straight. There were moments that I realized life was like cinnamon- savory, sweet, and bitter. Moments that taught me so much.

The all nighter I pulled alone while everyone went to bed responsibly. I carried glass carafes full of liquids and heavy props up and down the stairs quietly. I got maybe two hours of sleep in before the alarm rang for another 15-hour day. That was Bitter. Yet all those moments of laughter over compensated for the intense days we had. Those long delirious laughs kept me going, even when I didn’t know what I was laughing at anymore. I sound crazy right? And altogether I savored the experience to its fullest. The shows, the talent, the 15 plus hour days, my team, the beautiful home we stayed. Everything. And literally, after it’s all said and done this week, I WILL be drinking a cup of cinnamon tea, pretending that it feels like fall on the east coast although I still feel like I am on the west coast. Cinnamon too has a story to tell if you can find the relationship.