a new year. a new blog.

Well, it only seems appropriate to begin my first official blog at the start of a brand new year!  I'm not sure how this journey will go but I am very excited to be able to share my life with my family and friends - near and far! and anyone else interested in what I'm up to over here in beautiful Southern California.

As I sit here with the sunshine beating into the room, I feel spoiled! and also very sad for all my friends that are experiencing the heart of winter in upstate New York.  Since I moved to California five years ago, each "winter" has been bliss!  I hate to brag, but I hope all of you know, my door is always open if you need a little vaca from the cold.

Last year was amazing... I discovered the luv of my life, Kenjamin - or Jams, had been in front of me for quite some time.  Yes, a best friend turned luver!  Ah, I knew the moment I saw this picture :)

Him being a very talented artist and master of many different trades and me as the "master communicator" we have proven to be an unbeatable team.  We embraced our unity and combined our powers throughout the year and did various photo shoots, music videos, fashion shows, events - the sky has been the limit!  And don't you worry, there is much much more to were we will be going with all of that...Nothing but Greatness!

Our pug, Potato, who is now three, had five little puppies - the runt being the only girl of the litter and therefore, my new best friend Peanut.  She has proven herself to be a tiny ball of fire with a little personality of her own.  She luvs to play and cause a bit of mischief but how can you be mad at that little face...

My personal accomplishment of the year was quitting smoking.  A dirty, dirty habit that I forever blame myself for.  That being said, a slight shout out to all my friends in High School that believed me when I told them it was the cool thing to do... I am so sorry!  Much of the year was adjusting my lifestyle to be a non-smoker and to this day, I have not had one drag (Yay me!).  Hopefully throughout my posts, you smokers out there will be inspired to want to stop... believe me, you can't even begin to imagine how much time is wasted while smoking!

My passion in life is food.  I have been vegetarian, pescitarian and I am now vegan.  Changing the way I eat has in turn changed me for the better.  I feel very fortunate to have the support from those around me.  I am very thankful that Jams has joined me on the veg team (more on that to come!).  It has made cooking easier and much more enjoyable when we can sit down and actually have the same thing on our plate!  I have to say, there's nothing I luv more than the challenge of having our meat-eater friends over for dinner and serving them veg food!  They are very quick to tell their opinion, but when they eat the food I cook them, they always enjoy it!  Stay tuned for some amazing recipes and food pictures! 

Now, I'm off to enjoy the beautiful outdoors :)