Hello, my dear readers! I hope January is treating you kindly. It’s turning out to be a pretty rough month for me. And I’m afraid this is going to be another bulleted post as life is just very busy right now. But not without inspirations or excitement.

1. It’s been difficult to find time to sit down and think and write more reflective blog posts. But I’ve been really inspired by the stories on the Food Blogger Pro podcast, where husband and wife Lindsay and Bjork Ostrom interview food bloggers and people related to this business about growing their food blogs. The podcast has really fueled my curiosity and energy to work toward learning new skills that are going to be useful for my blog. It’s also very comforting to know that the bloggers who are successful now struggled in one way or another in the beginning, but they persisted and were open to learning and change. I remind myself, too, that with the sheer number of food blogs these days, this blog might never “succeed” at all. That said, I’m still looking forward to improving my photography skills and a bunch other things!
2. Since I told my friends about this blog on Facebook, I’ve received lots of warm support from my friends and family, which has really touched me. I’ve also gotten back in touch with a few friends, been given food-related gifts, and been recommended articles, magazines, and podcasts about food.
   • My sister bought me a charming-sounding book, Vegetables: A Biography, by Evelyne Bloch-Dano, simply because she was browsing a second-hand bookshop, stumbled upon it, and thought of me.
   • My boyfriend bought me Fergus Henderson’s The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating as a Christmas gift.
   • I got back in touch with my Australian friend, Belinda, who was also my classmate and downstairs neighbor in Aix-en-Provence. She sent me a book, Promise You Won’t Forget Us, which she wrote a few years ago about her experience in Kenya as a medical volunteer. I remember that Belinda started writing about it when we were both in France. I’m just so impressed by the outcome and really can’t wait to read it.
   • I reconnected with my Spanish friend and food writer Mireia Font, whom I met in Bangkok. We had a brief catch-up session on Facebook and talked about food podcasts and magazines. Mireia authored cookbooks about cooking with four ingredients called Cocina con 4 Ingredientes and El Mundo in 4 Ingredientes. She also writes restaurant reviews in English for Culinary Backstreets in Barcelona. Here’s a piece by her that I really like.
3. I am GIDDY with excitement for the latest cookbook in my collection: Small Victories by Julia Turshen. I had wanted to buy this book for months and finally bought it on Thursday instead of waiting for my February paycheck. I just CANNOT, CANNOT, CANNOT wait to cook from it. I’ve started reading it and am just so in love with it. So after I’m done with my 10 weeks of Cooking Genius Recipes (see my Instagram account below), I’m going to do 10 weeks of cooking from Small Victories. So stay tuned for my little victories in the kitchen, and hopefully not too many defeats along the way.
4. I’m going to take a break from posting on this blog for a month and will be back on February 28. I need to reset in order to do the kind of writing I want to do for the blog and publish with better consistency. But I’m still going to cook from Genius Recipes cookbook and column. So please follow me on Instagram if you’re curious.

Until next month, friends!