In Good Flavor
Hello everyone, and happy fall!! It’s been a while since we last met here. I missed you all! I am back with a few things to share.
If you follow this blog regularly, I apologize for making you wonder where I have been. It has been a busy month and will continue to be so in the upcoming months for me. To backtrack, my husband and I went on our dream vacation to Italy in September. It was all I expected and more, and I hope to return someday. I especially loved the Tuscany region’s rolling hills, old stone farmhouses, statuesque cypress trees, vast olive groves, and grape vineyards. It truly was my happy place. A close second was the Amalfi Coast, with its majestic walls of houses that seem to grow out of and blanket the steep hillsides above the sea.
We ate a lot. We drank a lot. We walked a lot. And we took a lot of pictures. I want to share a few samples of the sights and tastes of Italy with you in snapshots. Please excuse the quality of the photographs. They were taken with my phone and a little point-and-shoot camera. I’ll start with the picture at the top of this page. It was a simple breakfast (Ooops! I mean snack. We didn’t drink that early in the morning!) spread at our little farmhouse in Poggibonsi. We did enjoyed freshly picked grapes and figs (not pictured here) every morning from our Tuscany backyard. They are sweet and succulent!
And here is a feast for your eyes…
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And now for some news: I decided to make a career change and closed my daycare business of 16 years prior to going on vacation. I am in the midst of working on my next career move. Additionally, I have also undertaken a huge project of cleaning out the house, which involves purging many years of personal and daycare business clutter. Once that is done, it will be time to move on to some overdue DIY home improvement projects. In addition, I have other little projects on the side. With everything that is going on, I am sad to say that it leaves me with very little time for blogging. I am not saying goodbye. However, I will be scaling back a lot on posting in the near future and will publish recipes as my schedule permits.
To all of my blogging friends, I will miss visiting each and every one of you regularly, but I will check in with you when I can. I hope to see you more frequently when things settle down. To my regular readers, thank you for coming back time after time. I appreciate each and every one of your visits, and I hope you continue to do so.
Until next time, take care!
Thao—xoxo
I wish you luck!
These photos are wonderful! Good luck with your new projects Thao. Life just gets so busy sometimes but it's a passing phase. Things do settle down with time. Hope to see you posting soon!
Thanks, Adina! I'll by stopping by from to time to time to see what delicious things you're cooking up.
Change is a good. The change in career is a bit scary but I'm excited about everything else. Thanks so much for your encouraging words, Sonali. I will be checking in on your beautiful blog.
Loved these photos! Italy is just stunning – I cannot wait until I visit again early next year. The food all looks delicious!
Well welcome back… and kind of goodbye? I am sad to see you will be blogging less, but SO happy you are taking care of you and doing what makes YOU happy!! I wish you nothing but success in your next professional venture! Now as for Italy, WOW!!! I have never been, but I have been dying to take a vacation there! All your photos are SO gorgeous!! Thank you for sharing them (and making me jealous!)! 🙂 Cheers to you, girlfriend! xoxo
Wow! It looks like you had a magical time in Italy. And the food. . .it looks so delicious (you had me on the breakfast picture). I can't wait to experience all of this splendor myself.
Congrats on taking the leap towards a new career. I'm going through this myself and it is not always easy.. .but we are only on this planet a short time and we need to make the most of every minute.
Hoping you don't forget about us. 🙂
I love, love Italy and it looks like you saw the best of the country! So glad you checked in and hope to see a post from you now and then. Good luck with your new adventure—I'm sure you'll find what's exactly right for you!!! xo
Wow! That Italy vacation looks amazing! I have been wanting to go to Italy and especially the Amalfi Coast! That must have been so much fun! I'm sorry to hear that you are stepping back on your blog because I love visiting. You have to do what the universe is calling you to do – although I'm curious as to what you are up to! Back to science? Either way – Good Luck! I wish you much happiness in your new career!
OMFG SERIOUS FOOD AND SIGHT SEEING HEAVEN! So envious!!!
Thanks, Jess! It was hard to leave Italy. I so want to trade places with you next year!
Not a goodbye but an "I'll see you around". Thank you for your well wishes, Chey! I appreciate it! Do try to go to Italy…you won't be disappointed. I promise! I'll be checking in your blog when I need some deliciousness, spunk, and humor. 🙂 xoxo
Italy was the big item on my bucket list. I'm so happy that is now crossed off. You are going to LOVE it!!
So true Lynn, we are going through similar circumstances with a lot of changes in our lives. It is exhilarating, scary, and overwhelming at the same time. I wish you all the best! I won't give you a chance to forget about me as I'll be checking in on what's happening with you! 🙂
I don't know of anyone who has gone to Italy and disliked it. I love what I saw but there is so much more I would love to see. Thank you for your well wishes, Liz! You will see me hopping in for a visit from time to time. 🙂 xoxo
If I saw nothing else, Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast would have made my trip complete. You would be completely enchanted with the Amalfi Coast.
As for what to do, I'm exploring my options and see where it goes from there. Thank you for your sweet words, Rachelle! It's really nice to hear. I'll be seeing you on your blog. 🙂
LOL! You make me laugh, GiGi! I'm glad you like the photos. 🙂
What a fabulous trip! I have never been to Italy but hope to go someday! Good luck with all the changes in your life!
Thank you for your warm wishes, Christin! I hope you'll get a chance to go to Italy. I would love to go back someday. 🙂
Oh, a tour of Italy is my dream! All of the meats and fresh pastas are so gorgeous! And not to mention, that pizza! I think I'm in love 😉 Hope you had a great time there! 😀
Thanks, Kennedy! I LOVED Italy!! And what was really awesome was we walked so much that I didn't put on any extra weight as I always do after vacation. 🙂
I have been to Italy only once, but I wish to go there again. Your photos are outstanding. Good luck with your new projects. Hope you had a nice time there! 🙂
Love Italy, your pictures are gorgeous! Good luck with your new adventure, hopefully you find what works best for you and your family! Take care 🙂
Welcome back! I bet you didn't want to leave! Italy holds a special place in my heart – I did a semester abroad in Florence and it totally changed the way I look at food. It looks like you had an absolutely wonderful time and those pictures are just stunning!
Your pictures are great! What a wonderful trip!
Italy is breathtaking! I hope to get a chance to return someday. Thank you for the well wishes, Anu!
Those pictures put me in a happy place. Thank you for your sweet words, Kelly.
So true, Kathleen. If you could figure out a way to live there six months a year, I would!! 🙂 I can't think of a better way to go to school to spend a semester in Italy. Lucky you!!
Thank you, Inger. It was wonderful indeed!
HEYYY Thao!!! I just came over to visit and read your announcement! (I'm a bit late, I know!)- I wanted to congratulate you on your new endeavors!!!! It must have been a big decision for you, maybe not an easy one- but I'm happy for you, change is good! I have also been scaling back my blogging a bit, but I'm glad that you're not saying goodbye completely!! I hope everything is going well!!!! Happy Halloween!
Hi Stephanie! You are so sweet. I am enjoying the change. I wish I had the time to cook and blog to my heart's content, but as you said on your blog (and I agree) that it takes so much time away from the rest of your life. For now, for me, I need to focus on the other things. So glad you stopped by! Happy Halloween to you and have fun!!
I somehow missed the announcment part of your post (probably overwhelmed by the great pictures). So I thought I should leave a second message. Change can be wonderful and I wish you the best of luck!
Haha! Thank you Inger! Change is good and invigorating.
Oh my goodness, how exciting life is right now for you!! First, congrats on your new career change and good luck! Second, wow what a wonderful trip to Italy you and Hubby went on. Your pics are gorgeous! I've only been to Rome and it was one of the most beautiful and amazingly interesting places I've ever been to. Plus the food was out of this world. Italians really know how to eat. Everything is made with the finest ingredients and the best care. You can tell they love their food and take great pride in their cooking. I could seriously live anywhere in Italy. Again, good luck with everything and I look forward to hearing updates when you post 🙂
Thank you so much for your well wishes Karrie! I Hope to return to Italy someday. Isn't the food the best? The Italians really appreciate and savor their food. Eating a full course meal is a 3-hour long process. All of the restaurants that we went to, once we were seated at a table for dinner, it was ours for the night. There was absolutely no pressure to finish quickly to free up the table.
My house actually looks like a home and not a daycare (woo hoo!), but I am far from being done. Making a career change is a bit daunting, but I’m ready for the challenge. I'll keep you posted on my future posts!