Life is spinning right now. So much going on all at once. Love every seconds of it. What there is not to love when you do what you love.

Giangi’s Kitchen, my cooking blog, is celebrating its 9th Anniversary today. Can’t believe it. Pinching moment for me. So much has happened!

Nine years ago, February 11, I posted my first recipe blog post. I must admit I was scared and excited at the same time. Who would read my recipes? Better yet, who would prepare them? My heart skipped a bit when I pressed ” Post”.

Little by little new visitors started stopping by… I cannot tell how excited when I saw my numbers go up. The “someone is reading” happy dance is what comes to mind.

Why this picture of me? The picture was the banner of the blog. I had no idea what to show. I had no recipes to speak of, and definitely no pictures of my food either.

Going thru my pictures, I saw this and remember all the feeling I had at that moment. During that trip, on my way to Savannah, is when I felt in love with cooking to a different level. This is when the idea of the blog was formulating on the back of my mind. What sealed the deal, was that the blog was the answer to my daily “what’s for dinner tonight?” call from a couple of girlfriends.

I jumped in feet first and learned from there. Nine years ago, things were so different. Not so many places and opportunities to have your recipes seen. Lots of bloggers, like me, are no longer blogging and some have given all they have and are very successful.

So much personal growth, so many ups and down, lots of ups in the last 9 years and how fast did 9 years go? WOW!!!

The blog had a couple of face lifts and the last one just brought the page to where it needed to be. I did update my picture. After all, 9 years shows, and the last thing I wanted to do is not to look like me.

So what is in store for Giangi’s Kitchen? Working with new flavors. Creating and adding new recipes and new blog posts. Adding to the pot, press releases. That is fun but a lot more challenging. The Business Journal all throughout the US and Yahoo Financial globally have shared my press releases. Only 80 millions readers…. Not bad.

Book reviews are pouring in. Enjoying it and love all the new material that I receive weekly. Made a few recipes and we all have been enjoying the results.

I love every minutes of it and never a dull moment either.

Where to next?

Personally, I want to plan my next vacation. Actually, mentally I am already in vacation. Now, if I could only convince my family to join in…

Valentines’s Day is just sitting around the corner, so much to do still but we sure can feel the love into the air. I always enjoyed Valentine’s Day even though I have celebrated quite a few alone, more than I should have. I always made the best of it since I have my son. It is our special day.

Heart cups are out and filled with the elixir of life, coffee.