New Look, New Name, SAME STAR

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Hey y’all!

There’s a new name in town, and it’s gonna be…

What? Who? Where? How? WHAT?? Lucy, you have some splainin’ to do… 

No one loves the name Daily Dose of Pepper as much as I do. I’m not sure if this post is more for you guys or for me. But I need to write it, and I hope you’ll read this, and understand why I’m changin’ names.

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

I was born on a cold and snowy evening… haha just kidding! It was the front end of July, and it was probably hotter than Hades. Let’s fast forward just a bit, shall we?

Quickly now, My love for cooking started at a very early age. I can remember making some VERY random concoctions involving potatoes and cheese (naturally), in my parents’ kitchen. This was long before I knew what I was actually doing. I’m not sure which I loved more, cooking or eating. but we’ll get to that later. Ha! In high school, I took a class called “Foods,” which is just all bout cooking food. I think most schools call it Home Ec, or something along those lines. but in my small town, we just got right to point- “FOODS” was the name, and I’m pretty sure that’s where the love affair began. I started learning about different methods of cooking, and I was like a dang sponge for it. (And I still am!) I came home from school one day, and made a variation of a dish that we were taught… it was called “Pasta Carbonara.” It’s nothing like what I was taught really… it’s definitely not a traditional method. But it was inspired, and it just so happens that to this day, it’s my signature dish!

Alright… so fast forward only a few years, just after high school. I LOVE cooking. I love creating recipes. I love photography. At this point I don’t yet love food photography, but I do take some so/so food photos, and I put them on Facebook, and nobody cares. Ha! Since I didn’t have a major, I went to college for Fine Arts, I think. And then, I went school for Cosmetology. I worked random jobs, because I was never satisfied. I read food blogs, and watched several hundred cooking shows, and just soaked up tons of knowledge and continued cooking when I wasn’t working at my boring-job-of-the-month. I would dream that maybe one far away day, I could blog about food, but I didn’t think of it as realistic… because, well, where would someone like me even begin?

Are ya still with me? So here’s why I wrote all that stuff… At least I hope so. I promise there’s a reason for all this ramblin’, and this is where things get kinda hard for me.
When I became pregnant with Pepper, I was kind of lost. I found out I was pregnant literally a few days after the one year anniversary of my dad’s passing. It was a blessing, but I was so lost, and so sad. I didn’t have the job of my dreams. I didn’t know what I was doing in life. But, I had Eric by my side, and I had hope that this little babe growing in my belly meant new and exciting things after such a dark time in our lives.

(It’s hard to even remember a time when she was in my belly. It wasn’t a fun pregnancy, but it was worth it!)

Fast forward nine-ish months, and BAM! We welcome our little Pepper into this crazy world. Someday I’ll write a separate post about how that was the most terrifying, beautiful, crazy, wonderful day of my life, but I don’t want to make this post several thousand words long. So someday I’ll write that post, and someday you’ll read it, but I’ll probably cry if I write it right now, and I’ve got a bunch of things to do. So, I had Pepper- this beautiful bundle of joy- with a head full’a jet black hair. She had one little piece of hair that was so much longer than all the rest! It ran down her little itty bitty neck, and even in that moment, it made me laugh. It took us almost a full two days to name her. She was perfect! Like, for-friggin-real perfection. I couldn’t believe I was a mama to this sweet little baby girl! Eric and I were in awe of her. We were also frightened of her. Truthfully, if you aren’t completely terrified of your first child on the first day of their life, then you’re lying to yourself.

(Here’s Eric and I with itty bitty, brand new Pepper!)

I had a c-section that was completely unplanned, and completely scary. I won’t get into that either… but yeah, it happened. Which meant for about the first week having this sweet girl, I was in crazy pain. We’ll just fast forward through that part, because it’s far from my favorite part of this story. About a week after, we brought Miss Pepper home in a very, VERY sleepy state. I said to Eric, “You know babe, If I ever decide to have a blog someday, wouldn’t “Daily Dose of Pepper” be a really cute name for it?”

On July 11th, 2015 (my birthday), I got one of the most life changing gifts I’ve ever received. We had a small family party to celebrate my birthday, my nephew’s birthday, and Pepper being one month old. When Eric gave me his gift, it was very puzzling. He handed me his laptop and opened up a browser, and brought me to a screen that said “this website is under construction” or something along those lines. I gave him a bewildered look and he just said, “look at the name”. It was “Daily Dose of Pepper”… Y’all, I didn’t even own my own computer at this time! But that was how it started, and I guess you could say the rest is history.

(I can’t believe I still have the photo of the moment I was given daily dose of pepper… but I do, and I know It’s not cute, and the lighting is horrid, but it’s the beginning of somethin’ so special, and I love that!)

 

(Here’s sweet baby Pepper, because why not?)

Okay, I’m a bit teary-eyed. I’m sure you’re thinking, “This is such a sweet story! Why on Earth is she changing the name??” Honestly, at the moment I’m writing this, I’m thinking the same thing. Haha! I know I don’t need to explain myself to y’all, but here’s the thing- there’s a small handful of ya who’ve been following along with my cooking and my daily life on Instagram since I was pregnant with Miss Pepper. There are friends and there’s family who are all a little attached to the name “Daily Dose of Pepper”… including myself. Is it possible I’m writing this more for myself? I don’t know.

When I sleepily told Eric that I wanted to name my future blog “Daily Dose of Pepper”, I had very little intention of actually starting a blog. I also could not have ever imagined- not in my wildest dreams- that people would be interested not only in what I have to say, but in my recipes!? I had absolutely no idea this blog would take off. I had no idea that this would actually become our reality, and that one day I could say that I had my dream job… that I would get to stay at home, raise my baby, cook, and write about FOOD! If I’m being honest, it still feels a bit surreal some days. I know being at home in the kitchen is some people’s worst nightmare. but to me, it’s heaven. And I get to do it daily… sometimes I’m even barefoot!

I don’t want my daughter to be a brand of something.

Honestly, this is the most important one that you need to know. If you asked me a year ago, I wouldn’t have a lick of knowledge about running a business, etc. I don’t think of my blog as a business 98% of the time. But at the end of the day it is, and that’s still really weird to think about. Seriously, I still don’t know much about running a business. But I do know what I don’t want. And one of those things is for Pepper’s life to be shaped or changed because a blog is named after her. She’s her own person, and I want her to grow up to be whatever she wants to be. With that being said, I bought the domain rights to Daily Dose of Pepper… so God willin’, I’ll always own it. Maybe you’ll see somethin’ from her on Daily Dose of Pepper in 20-ish years. Haha! (oh gosh, I don’t want to think of her as a twenty somethin’ year old! Stop it!)

I want to write cookbooks, I really do! I know y’all ask me to write’m, but there’s a whole lot more to it than just sitting down and writing a cookbook. When I do, it’s gonna have every bit of my heart and my soul poured into it. I need a publisher. I need time. I need to be able to work longer than just Pep’s nap time. Anyway, what I’m getting at is this- when I’ve thought of writing a cookbook, “The Daily Dose of Pepper” just didn’t have a great ring to it. But when I think of “The Skinnyish Dish”… I can picture that on cookbook covers. Does that make sense? I hope so. Anyway- if you know someone who wants to publish a cookbook by yours truly- send’m my way!

There’s a few other reasons, but that’s the gist of it. Do ya get me? Are we on the same page? I hope so. Please know that “The Daily Dose of Pepper” and the story behind it will always be ours, and I’ll always keep it very close to my heart. Pepper is the reason I went after my dream. She helped me realize I wanted to be more than what I was… and because of her, every single day, I challenge myself to be better. Those of you who’ve been with me since the beginning will always know and it’ll be our thing, okay? Now you’re even more a part of this special story.

This isn’t an “out with the old, in with the new” type of transformation. It’s just a change, and truthfully, it’s just a name. I’m still here! You know me… your girl who loves carbs a little too much, and cheese even more.  You know I love to keep things friendly for the waistline, but as indulgent as possible. I’ll still show you a little bit of my personal life, and you’ll still see photos of Pepper here and there. I just think it’s a good time for a change. and honestly, I’ve been keeping this whole thing secret for so long, that it’s a big relief to finally let it out and share this exciting news with y’all… because I am THE WORST at secrets!

I think the name says it all, and you already know my style of cooking. It was never bland, boring diet food, and it never will be. It’s “Skinnyish”, which means this- there’s gonna be cheese, there’s gonna be pasta, there’s gonna be red meat, and gosh darnit, it’s gonna be delicious.

Thank you so much for being here with me.

I appreciate y’all so much!

With so much love,

Star