a long overdue apology...

just where, pray tell, have you been michelle?

i have received numerous, lovely emails and comments asking me if i am still out there, if i am okay, and even a jovial, “what the hell have you been up to?!” (by the way, i both loved and appreciated each of these sentiments – so thank you very much to those of you that care).

i am sorry that i disappeared into thin air, as it pains me to realize that it has been nearly a year – yes, a year! – since my last post in november. my dear friends and readers (if any of you are still out there), my life of late has been full of so many, many things.

in may, all of the hard work that i have put in over the last 5 years came to an end, when they handed me my degree – a PhD in biology. after nearly six months of day and night researching, reading and writing, i turned in my dissertation, orally defended it, and was released on my own into the “real world” (one word: frightening!)

a week later, i left for six weeks of intense research on a small island off the coast of oahu, hawaii. there, i met many wonderful people from all over the world, including africa, australia, england, new zealand, columbia, brazil and many others, and made some very close friends (although i didn’t get to cook or choose what i was eating for those six weeks, which was almost the worst fate imaginable for someone like myself who loves to cook and eat...especially for someone who prefers to eat healthy, unadulterated ingredients.)

three weeks after i returned home to eugene from hawaii, LB (now he really is a Lucky Bastard) and i were married in Bend, Oregon in a large ceremony in front of the 14,000 foot peaks of the Three Sisters mountains and surrounded by our families and our nearest and dearest friends. I'll try to post some pictures soon...

so hopefully you can see that i have been a busy, busy girl and perhaps, just maybe, accept my apologies?

each of these events deserve their own posts, and i’m sure that i will get to them at some point, but today i just wanted to say hello. hello!

as you can see, i’ve made some changes on my site to reflect that i’m looking at the world, and at food, with new eyes and from inside my new life. i’m a married woman now (weird!); i’ve got a new, very nice camera that was a graduation present that takes very, very nice pictures (and that i am still learning to use as you’ll probably see...); and i have a new, part-time job working for a winery during the crush season that i’ll tell you all about as my starting date gets closer and closer. i’m still a scientist, still working in my same lab full-time (mostly writing and doing a few experiments), still ramping up to make the move to hawaii, and still struggling to find balance in all of the things that are always going on and pulling me in a million different directions, including my love of blogging and of all of you.

but i am back. i have a computer at home now so that i can write my posts there (although internet access remains elusive), and a thumbdrive so that i can bring them into work to post them. but best of all, i have a brand-spanking new, shiny 10-piece set of all-clad 18/10 stainless steel cookware to test out as many new recipes as i can find time to try.

so hopefully, we’ll be seeing much more of each other and enjoying many meals together in the future.