Hello you lovely readers!

With all of the activity of the past few days, I felt compelled to write a wrap-up post about the first crazy week of launching this website and life's meaningful timing.

*First of all, I want to thank my family and all of my friends for their genuine support with the launch- putting yourself out there is always nerve-wracking, and all of the feedback and love I've received with this project is truly humbling. I reconnected with a surprising number of people I had lost touch with over the years, because they had seen the website. My purpose in sharing my stories and journey was further affirmed through several friends also telling me that this was helping them through their current or pending life transitions. I was so pleasantly flabbergasted- I consider it a huge honor to help inspire somebody. Now this leads me to the point of this wrap up.

Last year, one of my best friends and I started saying "hashtag blessed" in a way of gently poking some fun at the banality and frequently trite use of the word, especially on social media.

It's true, we tend to put our best foot forward on these social pages and from the outside, and everyone's lives can appear pretty damn rosy through an Instagram lens, full of perfect coffee art, flowers, and baked goods. I know I take a big part in that- I mean, who doesn't love looking at pretty photos and daydreaming about pretty things? I am all about taking notice of those little things and indeed remembering that I do live a pretty blessed life compared to half the world out there.

Conversely though, the entire premise of founding this website was to inspire and encourage people not just through the shiny, pretty photos of food and words of positivity; but also through showing the human-ness of the little speedbumps of every day life. Because it can feel damn lonely sometimes when it looks like everyone's lives are taking on paradise donuts and sunglasses rainbow island and you're stuck in struggle city.

I fell a little victim to the phenomenon this week- I launched my Instagram for this site, and was uploading photos from all the content of this website. I started to connect with some awesomely creative people from the Instagram community, and I was seriously stunned when I saw that one of my photos and recipes had gotten reposted on one of my favorite favorite foodie accounts not 24 hours after launching. I was freakin' elated.

Then slowly my innate perfectionism started to rear it's ugly head yesterday and I started to feel this self-created pressure to post all my pretty foodie photos like right now... Did someone like it yet? Wait, that shot isn't as good as I originally though it was. Need more pretty things to snap. Click, click, click. Hashtags and more hashtags!!!!

Well, I got a clear reality check from the big man (or woman) up there last night and this morning. Life's timing is so on point, whether you want it to be or not, isn't it?

Two nights ago when I got home from work at 10pm, all I wanted was to shower and sleep. Then I turn on my faucets to see that some disgusting brown, rust-colored water was running through and it wasn't letting up. I was told by the super to keep the faucets running until they cleared up, and it "should be fine." I had to keep them running for about 90 minutes until they cleared up for good (wasting water like this makes me feel like a horrible human, by the way). Finally crawled into bed at midnight, needing to wake up at 5am the next morning. 

After my morning training clients, I came home to make breakfast and take some more photos for the site. I was exhausted from the little sleep I got. As I was carrying a very-needed full cup of coffee and the bowl of food I was going to photograph from my kitchen to my coffeetable, I tripped up the steps and spilled the entire coffee all over myself and my stairs.

This was ironic for two reasons: 1. I was drenched in coffee, so turns out that shower I stayed up for was now pointless 2. After falling on my face, stubbing my toe, and spilling my coffee, my outstretched hand was still holding the bowl of to-be-photographed food. And it was perfectly intact. My instincts had me protecting the damn bowl. Priorities! *shakes head*

This was a total, "Seriously, Minna?" moment. 

I'm glad that I had a hot coffee hair conditioning to realize I was getting swept up in things and it helped me remember the reason why I did this. Another friend of mine and I joke around sarcastically in situations, saying to "oh-em-gee do it for the insta!" Love that as a subtle reminder to live your life, enjoying the fact that we can share it and record it to look back on, but not to live life for the photo. 

Living in the messiness of life and embracing it is something I definitely struggle with, but am working on getting better at. I love it when people share the messiness with each other, because that's what is real and what we can relate to. I'm also grateful for the mess, because those are the funny, sad, and happy things that we really end up remembering at the end of the day.

Anyhow, this week has been the perfectly imperfect way to get things started- it is so in character with all of what Living Minnaly means. I'm so grateful for having the ability to do this and share it. 

So you know what? I AM feeling rather hashtag blessed today. And I think I still smell like coffee. I don't hate it.