Launching: Baubles and Bites

Over the past six months I’ve been slowly working on this space. It’s been something of a whirlwind year. I found a job I’m passionate about. I’m starting to feel comfortable in my own skin for the first time in my life. I was in an accident that shook up my life both physically and emotionally. I’ve redefined priorities. It left me thinking about where blogging fit in with those priorities. I’ve had a web presence of some sort for the past ten years, but in the past two it’s become more and more of an afterthought. I’ve missed it. I’ve missed the community of people who are just as passionate as I am. I miss nerding out about this awesome new cheese that I just tried. I miss finding support an encouragement from all over, and I miss giving out that encouragement in return.

It’s taken a shift in some priorities, but I’m back. For those of you that don’t know me (which, let’s face it, is probably most of you), my name is Erica. I work at a church as a ministry assistant and I co-run our coffee shop. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada; a city that allows me the luxury of indulging in my passion for good food. As you’ll come to know, I also have a passion for all things local and handmade. For good books. And more than all of that, for stories. One of my greatest joys is seeing someone’s passion get lived out. This excerpt from Luc Besson says it better than I ever could,

“You need to have all your senses open. You need to keep yourself in life, real life… Most of the rich people I’ve met are boring.

I have so much more fun with my boulanger. When I go at 6am for my croissants, the guy’s so passionate about his croissants. “Oh, you must try this one, because this morning I changed the butter!” The guy’s passionate.

Watching old people in the park, talking about their lives. That’s where it comes, from food and talking. I sat on the plane over here with a guy who studied cancerous molecules. He talked for eight hours about it, and I was amazed - the science, and how they separate the molecules, you know? That’s where it comes from. It’s fed from all these people who come from life.”- Luc Besson

And that’s what this space is. A place for me to indulge in my passions. To celebrate the stories that other people are living out around me. What does this mean? Like my sub-heading says, “Eats and treats from Las Vegas and beyond.” Restaurant reviews (which really means more of me nerding out about flavor combinations). Favorite shops. Books. Recipes. Photographs. Stories. Life. This blog is my way of having “all of my senses open.” I’m excited to share this new journey with you.

Welcome to my little corner of the web. As I have been mostly absent from the blogging world for a while now, I want to know: what are your favorite blogs? Whose stories leave you feeling inspired? I'm ready to do some exploring.