The where and why of this...

First, I want to explain why I decided to start a blog. Especially since blogging is not such a popular thing anymore, I have always been a late bloomer. I majored in writing. I always wanted to be a writer, but like most English majors, I went into teaching to pay the bills (which sounds so silly, as I write it, but it’s true). "I can teach during the year and write in the summers,” that is what I told myself when I decided to get my teaching certificate. Well, the certificate turned into a master’s in education, and education became my career. Writing seemed to take a back burner during the last six years I have been teaching. Add to that a divorce, a new relationship, and a new baby, and writing was not even a thought for the last six years. I miss it a lot, even though I never thought I would be a successful writer, it’s something that I have always loved to do for myself. It helps me get my head together, clear my mind, and just makes me feel like I have accomplished something. Even if no one reads my writing, it’s therapeutic. I don’t go to shrinks, I have sometimes been known to pour my heart out to my sister or friends over some vodka, but for the most part, I like to write out what I am feeling.


My other love is food and cooking. I love to read cook books; I actually read them cover to cover. I like to think about flavor combinations and how I can change or tweak recipes to make them my own. I love watching the food network. Although most of my friends and boyfriend cannot understand why I love it, they don’t complain when they taste what I cook. I have watched the last six seasons of Top Chef religiously, I almost creamed my pants when they showed Joel Robuchon. I, like Eli Kirshtein, thought he was a unicorn. The thing I love best about food is going to a good restaurant because as much as I love to cook, I love to be cooked for, and waited on even more!

I moved to Las Vegas because they had an abundance of teaching positions, and actually offered bonuses to teachers to move here. Having just gone through a divorce and wanting a change, I decided why not...packed up the truck and moved to the city of lights. Reality set in when I discovered that people here are a lot different than people in the North West. There is a huge focus on body image, there is a huge emphasis on how much you make, and there was a tendency for most men I dated to lie through their teeth. All things I was not so happy about. Just about the time I considered moving back to Washington, the economy crashed. Teaching jobs were non-existent, I was totally upside down in my mortgage, and there was no way I could sell now. I was lucky to have a job at all. It looked like I was stuck in Vegas for awhile. I did not take it so well at first. I am a pessimist by nature and tend to focus on the negative whenever possible. I found myself slipping into a “stuck” feeling and I have never been one to deal with that well. I like to be able to move on a whim, and travel when I want. Being suck made me want to move even more. Then something changed. I met a wonderful man from Alaska, and we started a relationship. He is probably the most opposite from me that is possible. He is a true optimist, always looking at what is good about a situation. Now I am not about to say that he saved me from a world of pessimism, because I have never ever believed in that “man saving the woman” scenario, but he did succeed in helping me change my way of thinking, just a little bit. One thing I have always said is “if you’re not happy change it,” which is one reason I have moved fifteen times in the last ten years. Since I cannot move, and I am stuck here for awhile, I might as well make the most of it.


What is good about living in Las Vegas…not the people (well not all of course, I have some great friends here), not the crowds, not the bars, not the casinos (they are all the same after awhile), not the fact that their are slot machines everywhere, even in the grocery stores, not the bands, (no small bands come to Las Vegas, we only get the Celine Dion or the White Snake reunion bands …but that is another rant), not the scenery..brown, brown, brown…

I know! It’s the food. We have some of the best chefs and restaurants in Las Vegas! I mean where else in the world do you have over twelve Michelin starred restaurants located on one street? The Las Vegas Strip contains so many good restaurants, not to mention the great restaurants located in the rest of the city. I have decided that since I am here for awhile I might as well take advantage of what Las Vegas has to offer. I plan to visit a Michelin Starred restaurant once a month for a year, and you…lucky reader get to hear all about it. (that is if anyone actually reads this) This project will also give me and my boyfriend some much needed adult time together, as we just had a baby (he is almost 5 months). It will also give me a creative outlet, since my most innovative creation has been the song I made up to sing to Alex as I am changing him. (think of the song "Single Ladies" by Beyonce) "All the stinky babies...all the stinky babies...put your legs up oh oh oh... If you smell it then you better put a new diaper on it..." I don't ever want to lose that creative side of myself, even if it is horrible, and hopefully through this project, I can find my writing voice once again.
Any feed back, comments, or criticism are always welcome.
thanks,
~ The Wanna-Be Foodie