Life is beautiful.

There’s simply no other way to put it: life is beautiful. I feel exuberant, unconquerable, blissful, at peace with myself in this world. Inhaling, I’m going to take a second to latch onto this feeling and wrap my arms tightly around it. Exhaling, I’m radiating this feeling out to you through your screen. Reflect on something in your life that makes you feel confident, powerful and elated. Now, take that light and go shine it on the people around you.

Just to feel like this, it took a long time (yeah)

Just to look like this, it took a long time (yeah)

Long Time (Intro) – Playboi Carti (2018)

Celebrate good times, c’mon! I can stand up taller without the weight of the world on my back. I’ve rebounded from my job loss, left a city I hate, and have taken out a new lease on life in the Big Apple. Having defined last year with the word, ‘resilience’, I’m branding this year as the year of confidence. Confidence in myself and my ability to craft the life I want for myself and reach for possibilities beyond my wildest dreams. I feel more inspired than I have in months. The best word for this disposition is s’épanouir, which can be translated as ‘to bloom’. The definition is wonderfully expressive: the physical opening of the flower or a person ‘blooming’ or thriving in their own right. To me, it’s the feeling of emerging into the sunlight after a long, dark winter, the expansion of your imagination after being in a creative rut. Je suis une femme épanouie. I feel fulfilled, enlightened, inspired.

I’m itching to create in the kitchen. The move to New York has been occupying the real estate in my head for the past 6 weeks – packing my belongings, apartment hunting, setting up a new home and settling in. Not to mention learning the ropes of a new job on Main Street, there hasn’t been time for much else. It’s embarrassing to admit this, but I haven’t touched the stove in the entire month of March. My pockets hurting and my palate fatigued, I have this burning desire to invent something that excites my taste buds. Whilst I am passionate about food, I mentioned earlier this year that I’ve previously neglected the core of this blog/website/project: my writing. I’ve been longing to strip away the fanciful dressings and ornate settings and return to the the basics of expressing my passion for cooking, eating and beyond in words.

I’m excited about the new challenges I’ll have to surmount. In San Francisco, I had the luxury of a kitchen with extensive counter space and a kitchen island to boot. My apartment is New York has a fraction of the available space. My previous job catered breakfast, lunch and dinner, which alleviated the pressure of preparing food after long workdays. My current company doesn’t offer the same privileges, nevertheless, I’m looking forward to experimenting with meal prepping and forcing myself to be more strict with my food budget as it has to stretch farther to cover more meals during the week. My neighbourhood in San Francisco hosted a delightful (and economical!) farmer’s market where I sourced the majority of what I ate at home. My neighbourhood in New York is home to a variety of cultural grocery stores: Italian, Japanese, Brazilian, the list goes on. I’m tickled by the prospects and opportunities to add new cuisines and ingredients to my repertoire. Life is beautiful and what could be better than celebrating that with delicious food?