Hello & Welcome

Writing has always been a passion for me. It has also always been a good form of release. As an opinionated, Gemini, type-A extrovert, I often need a way to expel all the various things I want or need to share without bogging down those around me. I kept a diary all through childhood, jumped on the Live Journal bandwagon in college (omg, do you guys remember Live Journal!?) and I've always found writing to be therapeutic. I'm even *slowly* plunking away at writing a novel. Maybe more on that later. But for a little while, writing has been missing from my life, or at least, writing that I want to share with others.

Some of you may recall that a few years back, I had a blog (A Hip Story). It started as a way to chronicle my hip surgery, morphed into a diary of sorts, though some of you continued to read along with me. Toward the end, it got political, a way to rant my frustrations. I knew that I didn't want to just pick that blog up where I left off. So much has changed since my last entry in 2016. A new blog was the only thing that made sense. So, welcome to Munchies, Money & Mumblings. If you're new to my blog, hello! I hope you enjoy it. If you were a loyal reader of Hip Story and followed me from the beginning, thanks for coming back.

Munchies

It is no secret that I love food. As a child, I was a picky eater. If it wasn't mashed potatoes, pizza, or mac & cheese, I was having none. of. it.  Growing up, we didn't have a lot of money (more on that in the money section) so we ate a lot of easy, cheap, processed food. My parents did the best they could to always include veggies and we didn't go out to eat. We rarely had soda or sugary cereal in the house. But we ate so much Hamburger Helper and mashed potato flakes that the idea of either of those things turns my stomach. As I got older, my palette thankfully got more diverse, and based on my mom's rule of "you have to try something before you can say you don't like it it," I was always willing to try new foods. Now, in my 30s, I've rarely met a food I didn't like. Like my father, I've found a love of baking and cooking, and, of course, dining out. I'm a Yelp Elite for Portland, ME and make sure to review restaurants I visit either solo or with Kilton/the family. At the end of August, I started a ketogenic diet. I'll do a post just about that later so I won't get into it, but it has actually reignited my love of cooking. I promise Munchies posts won't be ALL keto, but it's been a good lifestyle change for me and I'd like to share what has worked for me. 

Money

My career in financial aid has led me to my dream job at a quasi-state agency. In addition to the work we do helping students with the financial aid process and scholarships, we also teach financial literacy and money management and it has made me into a real financial literacy nerd. As I mentioned above, we grew up very low income. I can remember running to the corner store with the little booklet of paper food stamps that existed before the now more discreet card format. My mom was sick with cancer and couldn't work, and dad worked as a baker at places he  loved, but he was never "rolling in dough while he was rolling in dough," as he used to say. Throughout this blog, you'll hear my stories, my complicated relationship with money, overcoming some real financial obstacles, and tips and tricks that have worked for me. 

Mumblings

I love a good alliteration! Mumblings will be things that don't fit into the other two buckets, things I feel called to write about, fashion, etc. I've got a lot to say; I used to feel self-conscious about how much I talk. My whole life, people have said things like "Wow, she's a talker!" or "do you ever stop talking?" or "she talks A LOT," and it used to make me very upset. I understand it rubs some people the wrong way, and as an adult I like to think I am now better (but not perfect) at reading the room, and the people, and knowing when to scale it back. Now, I wear those comments proudly. I can make friends wherever I go. I am an expert networker. My extroverted personality and love of talking is crucial to my career, which involves a significant amount of public speaking. But, don't mistake me, I am also a good listener. I don't dish out advice unless asked. As an English major, I'm wordy, too, so posts likely won't be short. But speaking and writing fill my soul, so this blog is really more for me than for you, though I do hope you'll join me. 

TL;DR: I'm going to write about food, money and whatever else I feel called to write about, and it probably won't be short!

Until next time, 

Maria