FOR THE LOVE OF THE JOURNEY

Hi y’all! This week marks one year since I gave Simply Delish Eats its name and decided to really pursue blogging. Bear with me as this isn’t a typical recipe post. This is my I’ve made it a whole year and really want to reflect and share with you all how I got here post. I really can’t thank YOU enough for being here, I am seriously so grateful for every single one of you here reading. Sharing with and connecting with you all is why I love doing what I do. Also thank you to my large glass of Wente chardonnay for helping me write this post.

​I went to college at The University of Texas in Austin. I loved it. Almost every minute of it. My social life was thriving; the parties and the city were amazing. I was so proud of my school, there is such a sense of camaraderie in being a longhorn and it is truly special to be a part of. (I know this goes for a lot of schools, not knocking anywhere else, just love my alma mater)! The one thing that was so tough for me to stomach was that I really didn’t know what I wanted to do, hell, I still don’t, but I’m getting closer every day. I’m sure some of you can resonate with the thoughts that were constantly running through my mind… “what do I want to be when I graduate”, “am I doing the right thing”, “I hope I’m not wasting money by studying this”. Sound familiar? Now don’t get me wrong, I was very passionate about some things, namely interior design, still am, but I was terrified to get so specific with my major and throw all my career eggs in one basket. I finally landed on studying corporate communication. I loved it. It turned me from an avid hater of public speaking and communicating outside of my comfort zone into loving to branch out, share my ideas, and be confident in myself. I am grateful for that, but a lot of it felt like personal character gain and not necessarily like this is my career path, yay!
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I gave myself a grace period to keep up my work from home job and enjoy life for a couple months. I decided this would be my time to enjoy the possibly last days of my life before I was on a big girl work schedule and start narrowing down my options on what I wanted to be. The only issue was I didn’t even know what to search for or what I would be good at. I felt educated and like I could take on any task, could learn anything, and do any job, but wasn’t quite sure how to translate that into the work force or convince anyone else of it. To be very honest I got bored as hell, but I wasn’t quite ready to sell my soul to corporate America. I had a lot of time to fill and there were only so many home décor projects I could work on, only so much job hunting I could do each day before going completely effing insane, and only so much “pacing” I could do. I was living with two of my (still) best friends at the time and decided to fill time by cooking for them. They paid me for groceries and when they came home from graduate school and work (yes, they had it together better than I did) there was dinner on the table and we hung out as a framily. We would watch our shows, eat whatever I cooked, pour some wine and just chat about our days and life and gossip and it was everything. I think that’s what I love most about cooking, a meal that has a little heart put into it brings everyone together to actually chat and enjoy each other’s company. I started typing out my recipes and take horrible quality photos and put a blog together. I didn’t give it a name or put any heart and soul into it. I simply saved my recipes online. It gave me something productive to do besides job hunt. This went on until the holidays at which point the only thing on my agenda was a girl’s trip and enjoying my absolute favorite time of the year in a total state of funemployment.

So, how did I end up in California? My family moved to Livermore, CA (home to Wente!) the year I graduated college. I went home for the holidays that year and did something I never thought I would do…I simply decided I would not be leaving. I got used to visiting every few months and exploring all the Bay Area had to offer, it became a second home to me. Don’t get me wrong, the move was HARD. I miss Texas Every. Single. Day. I miss my friends, I miss Austin, I miss good ol Southern hospitality, and I miss tex-mex and southern food. I decided to stay because I adore my family and I needed a change of pace and thought that the booming Silicon Valley would be a more fruitful job market. I spent the first few months twiddling my thumbs, doing exactly what I did in Austin, cooking for my family and job hunting. I eventually landed a job in a men’s fashion merchandising buying department. I love my job, I feel like it is totally my thing. The same week I started my job I met the love of my life. That week changed everything, I felt like my life was finally falling into place. It was at that time that I decided to abandon the idea of blogging. I was working on building my relationship, building my career, and building my social circle in a new state. I no longer needed a “filler hobby”, or so I thought. A year ago it became pretty evident to me that blogging had become more than a hobby to me, I really and truly missed it. I went from needing it to feel complete, to not feeling complete without it. I wanted to go home and photograph whatever recipe I whipped up and share it with the world.

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Simply Delish Eats was born a year ago and for the past year I have worked week in and week out to develop and improve it. I’ve come a long way in my website skills, photography skills, and have been able to connect with a lot of you which truly warms my heart. I feel a great sense of pride in spending “free” time working on something I'm passionate about, something that others enjoy, something that is mine and only mine. This blog isn’t part of my relationship (it sure doesn’t hurt it though, Jas loves the cooking!), it’s not part of my career, it’s not part of my family, it is something that is totally and completely mine to get lost in.

I know I have a long way to go when it comes to this whole blogging thing, but I’m pretty darn proud of how far I have come. I am celebrating this past year and celebrating my journey the best way I know. With a glass… or maybe, a bottle please don’t judge! of Wente chardonnay. Aside from blogging, my job, and my relationship I have fallen head over heels in love with the world of wine since moving to California. I love Wente not just for their wine, but for everything they stand for. They are a family run winery that believes in loving what you do and believing in your journey. I totally resonate with their spring it forward philosophy. Lastly, I love them for being down the street from me for a glass of wine whenever it may have been needed during my whole “find yourself” process here in California, trust me when I say some wine helped me get through it all!
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If you live in California I highly encourage you to give Wente a visit. 
If you live elsewehere, click here to find their wines for sale near you.

To learn more about the Wente Vineyards, click here. ​