My journey, getting from there to here...

It has been a long time since I last posted on here. I have moved to a new blog site on my own domain which I have included in the previous post. The purpose of this message is to let you know that this blog contains a very personal piece of my history. To get a really good understanding and to see where I came from (and how I got to where I am now), you need to start at the beginning! Scroll down to the very bottom of this page. Along the way you can see all of the photos of me and how I transormed! When you get to the bottom, start with 2007. The beginning of my journey!

If you want to see anything more current, you will need to go to my new site http://inspiredmind.ca/wp/.

Thanks for reading!

Pia

New Site

Hi everyone,

I have decided to give my own site a shot.. I have had the domain for years now but didn't bother to get it up and running.. so I have moved my blog to:

http://inspiredmind.ca/wp/

The focus of my blog has shifted a bit.. less about the journey from my surgery and more about my life currently. Additionally, I will be posting the occasional product/restaurant/book review as well. Eventually, as I have time and ambition, I will also be building and developing my main website to hopefully include all of my poetry and art projects... hopefully it all lives up to the name of my domain :)

Hope you follow me over to my site! If you have any questions/issues, email me!

Pia

Christmas in England, Julie & Julia and where to go from here?

I leave for England in less than 48 hours. I am just overwhelmed that I am going back to England only a couple months after being there for the first time. I am excited but so not prepared.  I haven’t even begun to pack and I have no idea what we’re going to do there besides the actual Christmas stuff.

I find myself very emotional today. Feeling really down and introspective.  I watched Julie & Julia tonight and I thought.. why didn’t I think of that?  I love to cook, I saw myself in many aspects of that movie and I love to blog.  I am a writer.. why couldn’t I be the one to write some super cool blog that everyone wants to read? 

I got a book from work today. “What Color is your Parachute?”…

The funny thing about the book is that it is “A Practical Manual for Job-hunters and Career Changers”… Interesting that work would give this book to me to read… The woman who lent it to me made a comment that she always gets it back obviously unopened and unread… I can see why… the whole first half of the book – at least – is about how to find a new job and how to do a resume, go to interviews etc…  Anyone wanting to use it as a stepping stone for career advancement within the company wouldn’t be too interested in reading about how to find a new job elsewhere…

I am hoping… hoping that this book will miraculously help me figure out what to do with my career.  I kind of know what needs to be done but I am not sure how…  For the time being, I am getting another certificate from Mount Royal University.  Nothing huge or amazing but gradual improvement on my education and experience!

I have become completely obsessed with cooking and food.  I am addicted to the Food Network and have begun to accumulate a really good cookbook collection. I have also started to weed out the cookbooks I don’t like.

My one downfall though, is that I tend to read the recipe but not follow it completely.  I use them as guidelines, not necessarily as law… I have followed a couple recipes recently.. to the letter (more or less) and they have turned out wonderfully!!  I made 6 Cornish hens with cornbread stuffing.  The cornbread recipe was followed to the letter as well! Delicious! I got the cornbread recipe from Martha Stewart, the Hen recipe from Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa).

I also made Pork Lo Mein from the America’s Text Kitchen cookbook. It was superb!!! It doesn’t always turn out the same though.  Sometimes I slip and add too much garlic chili sauce.. sometimes I add too much 5 spice.

I also recently made duck breast with a blueberry balsamic glaze BUT that one, I used a couple recipes as guidelines (mainly Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay) and then had to completely make up the blueberry balsamic glaze because I couldn’t find one online.  I made it using dried blueberries.

Anyway.. I have a lot to think about and I am torn between my new fetish.. – food… and my need for a really lucrative career.  Its kinda funny… Neil keeps referring to the Food Network as my porn LOL.

I’ll figure it all out.. and drag you along with me ;) Thanks for listening…