French toast with pear compôte and a Tiki rendezvous in Tahoe

Hi love,

Happy New Year! Can you feel the magic in the 2023 air? The energy feels like a sparkly rom-com just when the love birds are about to kiss for the first time.

I had a lovely holiday season. On New Year’s Day, my fiancé and I went for a hike and then had brunch at home.

holiday hiking in oregon.

The menu was French toast with pear compôte, pear bellinis, fried eggs, and Italian sausage. The French toast was inspired by our housekeeper who said she made cream cheese-filled French toast for her family the day after Christmas. The pear theme was inspired by nature - pears are in season right now.

pear-themed brunch for new year’s day.

Quick sidebar: Did you know French toast was created by Italians? Specifically, the Romans. I had a lot of fun diving down the French toast history rabbit hole.

As I’m writing to you today, I’m sipping on Turmeric-Cardamom-Black Pepper tea after my first workout in 2023 and before diving into research.

This week I’m beginning my research on what I want to do during my mini-retirement this year. It’s going to be three months long during October, November, and December. Money & Mimosas slows down during the winter season so it’s the perfect time for me to take time off. With that said, as we transition into a lifestyle brand I may shift my mini-retirements to the summer months because the holiday season might become a busier time for us.

This year my plan is to explore the Northwest culinary history and scene during my time off. We live in Oregon and I’d love to learn more about the local food. I’m thinking I want to take some culinary classes, meet some chefs, visit spectacular restaurants in Oregon/Washington/Idaho, and study the history of the local cuisine.

I’m also mapping out our social calendar this week. As I shared in my last post, my intention is to make new friends and create more memories with the girlfriends I’ve had for years. And guess what? I made two new friends at the spin studio on New Year’s Eve. We’re all women of color and we joked that three of us might be the only BIPOC women in our whole area. We exchanged contact info and already have dates planned.

Making friends as an adult can be hard! So hopefully you can understand my enthusiasm. Thankfully I’m able to make friends easily because I moved around a lot as a kid. But, I don’t take friendships for granted and I’m always excited when I meet someone fun. It makes me feel like my life is a rom-com, but girlfriend style.

New Moon and Tahoe Tiki Dinner Parties

This month my fiancé and I are hosting our first dinner party since moving to Oregon. We used to host dinner parties all the time when we lived in California and we’re excited to do it again. The party will be on the New Moon and we’ll probably have two to three couples as guests. The theme is TBD. Are you hosting a party this month? Please share any theme ideas you have!

We’re also headed to Tahoe at the end of January. We’re meeting up with two other couples who are flying in from Michigan. The last time my fiancé and I did a group trip to Tahoe was in March 2020. We were there when the whole world shut down. The lifts started and then around 11a, Tahoe shut down the resorts. The day everything shut down was also the day we had a huge snowstorm. We were snowed in for a couple of days before we could leave to go home. It was a wild adventure.

For this trip, we’re thinking we’ll have a Tiki-themed dinner party on the first night. I’m putting together a Pinterest board, cocktail recipes, and dinner ideas this week. I’m giddy just thinking about it.

Speaking of ski resorts, I am taking my first ski lesson tomorrow! I’ve done cross-country skiing and snowboarding, but this is my first snow sports lesson. I can’t wait. I’m hoping to get good enough by the time we go on our Tahoe trip so that I can do a run at Heavenly resort and see the lake from the mountain. Wish me luck!

Personal style update

As you know, one of my big goals this year is to update my wardrobe. I’m hoping to find a stylist that can help me. It may take a while to find someone because I’m fairly picky about who I work with. In the meantime, I’ve been doing research on YouTube and borrowed a couple of books from the library.

The first book I’ve started with is: “The Way She Wears It” by Dallas Shaw. If you’re also updating your wardrobe, I highly recommend it! Her writing style is approachable, fun, and flirty. And the book’s layout is easy to follow.

The book includes pictures, descriptions of outfits, and exercises. One of the first exercises is cleansing your closet and doing an inventory of the clothes you have. The next exercise is to update your basics and capsule wardrobe. And then the book is divided into four seasons to walk you through what pieces to buy for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

Right now I’m focused on basics and my Winter wardrobe. I purchased a dusk violet loungewear set from Athleta as one of the basics I wear at home. The Crewneck Sweater paired with the Savannah Jogger is comfortable yet also makes me feel put together when I’m working from home.

And that’s the monthly update. I’ve gotta go and prepare dinner. I’m going to make this Creamy Coconut rice with spiced chickpeas dish. I’ll let you know how it goes! If you’re a paid Substack subscriber you’ll probably hear from me a couple more times this month.

Wishing you a magical beginning to your 2023!

Cheers,

Danetha