It’s been a minute–a hot minute–since I’ve been on here. A month to be exact. Yikes! But nonetheless, I hope you (whoever you are reading this) had a wonderful holiday season. Hopefully you got to see some family, some friends, pet a cute dog, snuggle a cat, the works.

For me, the holidays were a whirlwind.

In the span of two weeks, I drove over 34 hours. But it was worth it because I got to see my mom for the first time in two years (yeah, you read that right). We spent Christmas together doing puzzles, cooking, and watching all those good rom-coms from the early 2000s–The Proposal, What’s Your Number, 27 Dresses. That was a hard goodbye. Then I drove to Denver with my sister for no other reason than to have a fun adventure for New Years. We met some pretty fantastic people there, ate some good food, and finally got to see some snow. Like a lot of it. It was beautiful! 10/10 would recommend Denver for New Years.

And speaking of recommendations, I just wanted to pop in tonight to share some things I’ve been enjoying that you might too!

A Truly Random, Yet Kind Of Fantastic Playlist

While this might be the most random playlist I’ve ever made, every song on here reminds me of the adventures wrapped up in the past few weeks. Whether it was finding a new song while cruising through the mountains of Colorado or screaming “What’s Up” by 4 Non Blondes at the top my lungs with all the girls on New Years Eve. Anyway, these songs make me smile and I’ve been blasting it the whole night while I get back in the groove of recipe testing. If you give it a listen, I hope you enjoy!

The Podcast That Got Me Through 34+ Hours of Driving

Road trips in the midwest are a lot of cows, fields, and semis. Not exactly the most scenic of places to drive through. But this time there were pockets of super thick fog on interstate that really left me with no choice but to indulge in a spooky podcast: The Black Tapes. The Black Tapes is a fictional, journalistic style podcast. It follows a paranormal skeptic, a journalist searching for answers, and several mysterious black tapes that contain footage of unsolved cases. It sucks you in from the very beginning and it won’t let you go! Seriously, if you like spooky things or mysteries, give it a listen.

Restaurants, Coffee, Dessert, Oh My!

Okay, so what kind of monster would I be if I didn’t fill you in on the good food in Denver? The worst kind is the correct answer. So here are the places I really enjoyed!

For a delicious, saucy pizza and the most scrumptious homemade cannoli go to White Pie in Colorado Springs, CO. If you’re feeling really hungry, get the Burrata for a starter.

For crawfish etouffee and a spicy margarita in a very cool, very walkable part of town, try Nola Jane in Denver, CO.

For queso and quacamole that’s so good you have to order double, go to Señor Bear in Denver, CO. We went here on a whim and now I will forever dream of going back.

For the most fun eating experience and some delicious dumplings, Star Kitchen in Denver, CO has you covered.

And lastly, Crema is the place you need to be for a bomb breakfast burrito and cozy caramel latte.

If you’ve made it to the end of what feels like a lot of me just rambling and trying to figure things out, thank you! More recipes and recommendations to come soon!

All the best,

Rach