Happy 2025! Time for a fresh start^[1]:

Not really a New Year’s Eve person, but got lightly bullied into spending the night with friends at Beatnik On The River and had an entirely pleasant time (followed by a predictably miserable ordeal getting an Uber home from The Loop at 1 a.m.)

A nice week in the kitchen. We made our way through the holiday dishes we never got in our short trip home: white chicken chili, my family’s noodle casserole thing, and a spiral-cut ham, with many subsequent toasty sandwiches and omelets. Somewhere in the middle, I utterly failed at pan-searing some duck breasts, a task I somehow perform worse at on every attempt. Also tried a new Fettuccine Alfredo recipe with chili crisp: 🧑‍🍳💋.

As is par for the course with a quiet week, all other big plans went right out the window. Still only sort of unpacked from our road trip. All the Christmas lights are still up. The season lives on through us another week!

That brings the end-of-year liminal zone to a conclusion. Including the time I was out sick, I’ve been away from work for three full weeks. Wish me luck hitting the ground running tomorrow morning. What’s my password again?