Ketchup

I'm the first to admit I've been quite lazy here and for that I apologize.

There. I said it. No more apologies. Moving forward.

I thought since I will be putting up a similar video on my YouTube Channel in just a little while, I would play a little bit of catch up with whatever reads my blog.

I made my last post very public and therefore, I have no idea who actually reads this now. This is great and also borderline terrifying. I've always utilised this blog as sort of a private-from-my-real-life-folks diary. So, if you have gone back and seen something written that might have been about you, it probably was and you're going to have to deal with the fact that I was naive enough to believe that you would never read it.

Anywho, so a lot has developed over the summer I guess. Through many sweaty, garbage-scented nights and many sunny, cool daytime adventures, I had to ultimately make a very difficult decision; to break up with New York City. But not like one of those breakups where you're really bitter and you just want your shit back so you can move on and hatefuck another city in its place. It was a very amicable split.

It took a lot of struggle and a lot of introspection to realize that as much as I still adore NYC and the people in it, that I had sort of outgrown what it has always had to offer me. The truth of the matter is that New York is where I ran to when things weren't the best in my life. New York was a net that caught me when everything else fucked me over. I was happy there once, though. But in our time apart I had romanticized what I thought we had in my head and lost the reality of what that city means to me. I will visit whenever I can, but my heart is somewhere else.

Shockingly, my heart is in the one place I've been determined to prove that it is not. The one place I swore I hated and I wanted to hate. The one place full of people I love and places I love with opportunities at every door for me. Ill-i-fucking-nois. Who knew?

So the long and the short of it is that I'm moving back to Chicago. I'm in limbo at the moment and I think you learn from and grow the most from being stuck in limbo. So I'm trying to take this time for me. For my brain to reset. To get back to where I was before I left. To find stability. To enjoy that stability and keep my career on a most excellent trajectory. To be open to whatever the hell it is life has for me next.

All that aside, I had a pretty good summer. I saw a lot, I did a lot and I had a blast. I ate some excellent food and became a Food Network junkie. I was on Beat Bobby Flay and a movie that's coming out next year. I reconnected with old friends and made some new friends.

I ate at Alex Guarnaschelli's BUTTER the night before I left with two very dear friends. A month or so before I left NY, I developed a very serious adoration for Alex that still holds now. Here's a little snippet of our night at Butter.

These rolls were the most amazing carb that has ever entered my body.

Ghost Chili Margarita. Fucking divine.

Brooke & I.

Andrew & I.

The infamous Raspberry Beignets. 

Duck Rillettes

The day after these photos were taken, I made the long, long journey back to Chicago. It was an exhaustive day of travel that began at 6am and didn't end until around 6pm. Somehow I made it home and spent some time catching up with my mom and my dog and my friends.

I also attended my brother's wedding. I was beyond honored to have been invited, as Nathan and I have only known each other for five years. Our bond is our sperm donor. Our biological father. We were the rejects among the prized children. We were the family that wasn't chosen. We cried and bonded over that. Or maybe I just cried, I dunno. I was drunk. Very drunk. Woke up in a field. But never mind that. Let's see what that looked like, eh?

Nathan & Keli

BARn.

Centerpiece

Mr. & Mrs. Heller

Love

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Food Network in Concert at Ravinia in Highland Park. I was ecstatic. Food Network became my little mental escape and my obsession since I got to New York. I learned so much from watching it and fell in love with several shows and chefs. I mean, fuck, do you think I knew what the hell a roux was before I laid eyes on the Food Network?!

Anyway, at this majestic event, I had the opportunity to "meet" Alex Guarnaschelli. And I use the quotations and the word "meet" very loosely because to this day I have absolutely no idea what I said to the woman. But I do know it was an absolutely amazing moment in my life. There is so much about Alex that I admire that I'm going to save it for its own post. But use your eyes to gander upon my utter fangirling.

Alex Guarnaschelli lovingly appeases fan who can only say "derrrrrrr"

Engagement photo

Creepin'

SUPER creepin'

This wasn't even 1/4 of the line 30 minutes after the signing started

So you see, friends, even though - like always - things didn't work out in my life the way I thought they would or wanted them to, things are still on the up & up. I'm looking for a new full time gig and fixin' to get back into improv asap. 

I don't think I realized how much I liked my life and that it's okay to be content with a less than turbulent lifestyle.

Just gonna sit back, relax, watch Chopped and enjoy.