Home for the Holidays

This is the final blog post of 2022, which is wild to think about! I’m writing this post from New Hampshire, as I was blessed to book a flight home for the holidays. For those who celebrate Christmas, I hope you had a healthy and merry holiday. This can be a tough time of year for a lot of people, so if it wasn't the cheeriest time, then I hope you know how much you are loved as you enter the new year.

This year, my immediate family and I created a new memory, got all dressed up, and drove into Boston on Christmas Eve to eat dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant, Ramsay’s Kitchen. My parents, brother, and I ate at Hell’s Kitchen in Las Vegas earlier this year. We were blown away by the experience, service, ambience, and food that we were so excited when there was a reservation opening for us to book in Boston. My friend Jess and I went one night to Ramsay’s Kitchen before I moved away, but this was my parents’ and brother’s first time eating at this location. Pictured below are the 4 of us at Ramsay's Kitchen.

Our server Max’s hospitality was incredible from start to finish, and truly made our whole evening that much better as we got to chat with him. He invited us on a private tour of the kitchen and showed us the private sound proof room with a view of the kitchen for VIP guests. Ramsay has an abstract map of the globe in that room where he continues to update which countries he has opened restaurants in. The kitchen was immaculate and so orderly. We made our way back to our table once our desserts were ready to be served.

As we sipped on our beverages throughout the evening, we collectively ordered and ate lamb lollipops, caesar salad, shaved vegetable salad, pollo a la brasa, baked mac n cheese, 2 beef wellingtons, crispy skin salmon, and 4 sticky toffee puddings. It takes a lot to impress my dad’s taste buds. He ended up giving the whole meal high remarks and called the food “excellent!” I fully recommend indulging in a full meal at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant. You will leave beyond impressed.

Christmas Day was spent in a relaxed manner at home with my family. I soaked up the presence of Jesus on His birthday all day long surrounded by endless love from my family. My dad and I cooked up a delicious brunch and we opened presents at our leisure. Michael’s girlfriend Abby came over later in the day, and we had a gift exchange with her. I am at an age where I do not need anything, and this year I did not even want anything in particular, so anything I was blessed to receive meant a lot. By far, my favorite present was a yardstick length box of Twix candy bars -- my absolute favorite, LOL. After watching The Santa Claus movie, we ate dinner out at our favorite local Chinese restaurant, which is a yearly tradition. Our night capped off with driving around looking at Christmas lights to wrap up the merry holiday season.

It has been wonderful being home for an extended period of time. I have been able to work remotely while also taking some time off to spend time seeing my family and friends. It feels as though I have never left. The one clear difference was just how much my body has adjusted to the Florida weather. 70 degrees to us is considered cool. New Hampshire had a nice streak of wind, cold temperatures, snow, and rain waiting for me when I arrived. I am excited to fly back to 80 degree weather to ring in the new year.

Next blog post, I will share my reflections about 2022. I hope you all have a safe and fun-filled next few days as you wrap up 2022, and begin 2023! Remember to be fulfilled in where you are at, while pursuing new milestones, accomplishments, and goals in the year ahead.

Remember to stay humble and kind, always!

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xo –Jess