good things come in {two}’s.

Two years ago, my life took a very monumental turn.

{celebrating my 27th birthday last weekend with two of my bestest}

I started this blog. Two years ago…today.

And then a bunch of other stuff started happening. Really, really good stuff.

I started to figure out what it is that I’m truly passionate about. And everyday since, that passion has grown into something that blows my mind. I’m more sure about a lot of things. Who I am. What I want out of life. Important things. I even got a job out of it. A job involving me getting paid to play in recipe-land all day. NBD.

I can’t begin to express my gratitude for all of this. Most of all, I want to thank you for reading. If it weren’t for you, this would be a rather lonely party, wouldn’t it?

Last year, I thanked you on my blog’s first birthday over a cocktail. Appropriate, yes – but let’s face it: I cocktail more often than not. Ordinary wasn’t going to cut it. And I certainly wouldn’t think of putting you through the torture of another one of these self-indulgent situations anytime soon. I thought about sharing my absolute favorite recipes, as that’s a question I get a lot (this is usually my answer) but there were too, too many. What can I say? I like the food I cook.

Instead, I want to know more about you. And I would love to know more about what you want to see on this blog.

Long-time readers know that I used to post about a lot of things – things other than food. (And yes, other than cocktails, too.) I used to post about fashion…and workouts…and silly things like my latest CVS obsessions. There were tiny bits of travel; there were curling iron tutorials. I thought about doing restaurant reviews, because I did a few while freelancing for a local publication – and I liked it.

I wish I had the time to write about all of these things, but the fact of it is, I like to cook. So much so that I constantly have a small army of recipes backed up in the depths of my draft folder, many of which I am fighting the seasons to get the dang things to you before it’s too late. You don’t want to hear about roasted butternut squash in the heat of summer, and I don’t want to talk about it then. Because at that point, I’ll be onto the next – i.e. the 239 tomato recipes bookmarked in my precious Google Doc spreadsheet categorized as “summer”, all ready-and-waiting to be tried and fiddled with and posted, if they’re worthy.

Just kidding. Kind of.

{And then there’s that other little (big!) project I created in an effort to make an impact larger than anything I could possibly do on my own, which is taking up another piece of my time-management puzzle}

So please, tell me: Is there something you miss that you’d love for me to bring back? I do just love to talk about a good bronzer once in a while. Or, maybe there’s something I’ve never done that you’d love to see me try. I’m game.

Can we talk about these silly little videos I’ve been doing lately? If you haven’t figured out that it’s all a desperate attempt to be discovered by the Food Network  so that they can give me my own well-deserved show… Again, I kid. Sort of. I say sort of because, um…f-yeah I’d love to have my own show (Cooking Channel, hi – you look pretty today) one day – but really, I just want to hang out. With you. Maybe inspire you, if only to try a new recipe. At the end of the say, I want to show you that cooking is fun.

{“If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong.” ~Sassy in the Kitchen}

All of my friends constantly tell me that they love reading my blog because they hear my personality through my writing – they feel like they’re hanging out with me, laughing at my dumb jokes, you know, having a good time. My goal is to bring that same energy to my videos, and though I’m certainly not there yet, I know I’ll get there with time.

Are you digging them? Is there something you want to see me try? It is my birthday, after all. Humor me.

Also, if you want to send me something like this…that would be cool, too.

It’s an email I received the other day, from a very dear reader named Chelsea:

“It is always wonderful to find someone out there that is truly appreciative of life’s gifts. Too many people are caught up in the negative side. I was having a rough day and stumbled across your blog … I just wanted to let you know that you have the kind of energy more people in this world should have. You made me day brighter as I’m sure you do for others.”

Melt-city.

Thank you, Chelsea. Thank you, EVERYONE.

Thank you for allowing me, helping me, and supporting me – in creating myself.

Much love.

xxSAS