We’ve had some beautiful snow this season
Today is the last day of 2016. I know that I am not alone thinking this was a strange year. I want to be thankful while counting all my blessings in 2016 and be hopeful that 2017 will be much better. If you are here reading this I want to THANK YOU for spending your precious time following along on my blogging journey. I appreciate you for being here.
This blog post is not a recipe or even about food much. When the holidays approached, I had a long list of recipes I wanted to photograph for the blog. The last week of November, I took an online class called Merry Click with my absolute favorite photographer and teacher Jackie Rueda. Thanks to her online school, Jackie Rueda Photography, I owe the mere existence of this blog. I have taken many of her virtual classes, but this one has been by far my favorite; it hit me in a very different way. One of the best things about Jackie’s school is that my creativity gets renewed in different ways every time. Jackie, is an incredibly talented and passionate woman; I only identify with her because we are both Venezuelans living in a foreign country that we now call home and we adore. I, in Wisconsin – USA; she, in Montreal – Canada.
Back to Merry Click, this class was different because it connected me with many memories, at the same time it made me realize that I wanted to enjoy the holidays 100%. I did not want to waste one minute of time spent with family and loved ones doing anything else other than enjoying it. Which is one of the reasons I only did one post in December and ditched my to-do list for the blog. This is an especially tough time of the year for me, being away from my parents, siblings, and other extended family in Venezuela, knowing everything that is going on in the country. This is a time of the year where so many traditions come to life in our culture, a lot of them from the heart of the kitchen, and it is hard to know so many people are lacking resources to feed their families.
After taken the class I wanted to document all the moments in a different way, I was not looking for perfection. I wanted to enjoy using my camera or my phone capturing moments as they were, while maybe also learning a thing or two about photography.
I got obsessed with bokeh 🙂
2016 might have been a strange year for many of us, but if I only had to resume it into the month of December it was really great: We enjoyed picking a tree and decorating it, we made Hallacas and other Venezuelan traditional food, we made cookies, we hosted our friends for a Christmas celebration, we went to see A Christmas Carol, we attended holiday parties and concerts, we spent time with family, we cooked a lot, but we also ordered food or dined out, we snuggled together and watched holiday movies, we played family games, and we enjoyed each other!
Is there anything that you are especially thankful for this year? What family traditions do you enjoy the most?
Happy New Year to you all!!!
#MerryClick
Our Christmas tree tells our story through the ornaments we have collected every year
We made many traditional food but also tons of fun appetizers and desserts
