Hellooo :)
Wowow it has been a while huh? I hope you’re well and I hope you’ve been eating well <3 To be honest I wasn’t going to address my absence because I genuinely thought no one cares just get back to work. But I was so overwhelmed with gratitude with your messages that it didn’t feel right to come back and not say anything at all. Thank you so much for your love and support whether I’m online or offline - words are not enough to explain how grateful I am.
If I had to give a tldr, it would probably be this message from my best friend that had me bawling:
Girl was going through it for the past 2+ years, and managing a career and a business on top of that made it difficult to take care of my loved ones and myself during a dark period in our lives. My mental health and stress was so bad that I developed physical health issues as well, which is the absolute last thing you need when you’re trying to get your life in order :) :) All of that, along with a cross-country move to be closer to my family, kept pushing my RIS return and now here we are a full 1.5 years later... oop.
We’re all doing much better overall, I’m still figuring out my health one step at a time, but I have great providers and an even better support system. I am so happy to be back in NY – a long time coming after 5.5 years in the Bay. I do still deeply deeply miss the Bay Area and sometimes still can’t think about it without feeling a lump in my throat, it is perhaps the prettiest place I will ever call home 🥺 But being in NY is the right decision for now (the warmer weather is definitely helping) and maybe one day I can convince my family to move to the west coast!!
The new kitchen and space we’ll be cooking in NY is so special, it truly feels like the art studio / test kitchen plus home that I’ve been dreaming of. I’ve always been a biggg nester and all of my unused creativity being away from RIS was channeled into making this place feel like home and so much second-hand shopping that I am now fully addicted to FB Marketplace. I can’t wait to share more including all the cockroaches and leaky ceilings of course 🤠🤠
I am SO excited to cook for you again, to develop new recipes, share family recipes, and to just connect this little community together. I’ve been bursting with ideas so much recently that I’ve started keeping a notepad by my bed (literally why do the best ideas come when you’re trying to sleep or when you’re in the shower). This week’s (K)olkata (F)ried (C)hicken was actually an idea jotted down from way before my hiatus shortly after I shared my banana leaf mustard fish. Kefir has been become a fridge staple for me lately, so it was fun experimenting with it in cooking and just playing around in the kitchen again.
Anyways, if you made it this far I appreciate you!!! I’ll be active on TT, IG, YT, and now Snapchat!! Not yet quitting my day job because she’s an aries stellium okayy - so I don’t know exactly what my posting cadence will be like, but still a fan of quality over quantity 🫡 Thank you for being here, more to come ❤️
So happy to have you back!! You made me wanted to learn how to cook and I've been doing great since. Thank you so much.
You are so so cuuuuute!! So glad you are back. You taught me to make daal and I think of you every time I do. Fellow tech girlie grinding it out who found comfort in escaping through your recipes ❤️