Every year around this time I start saying the same thing: I am ready for autumn. I know that's really annoying, especially down here in the South where it'll stay warm and muggy until October, but it's true. We've had a few cooler mornings and evenings lately and it's been so nice to go out in jeans and a tee shirt. I'm not craving pumpkin spice everything, either; I just want to wear a sweater and sit on my patio with a cup of coffee and read Villette by Charlotte Brontë or listen to Dashboard Confessional (which is really a specific fantasy and has me wondering what the perfect autumn moment looks like to all of you).

I basically disguised a work trip to California as a vacation to California (although it definitely had aspects of both), so I was really confused when we came back home and I was totally exhausted all week long. And then on Friday, Ender started displaying symptoms of kennel cough, so all three of us have barely gotten any sleep since then. It's been a rough few days, but if anything it's just made me realize how incredibly lucky I am--jet-lagged or not, there is nothing sweeter than watching your husband take care of a sick puppy.

I'm off to the chiropractor this morning after our accident a few weeks ago, and I couldn't be happier. My lower back has been bothering me a lot since then and it's been a long time since I've seen a chiropractor anyway, so that will be nice.

Hopefully we'll be sharing some of the work we did in California starting this week or next! I am so excited about all of it and I hope you guys are looking forward to it, as well. This week I'll be getting all of that stuff ready, folding a bunch of laundry (don't tell my mom I let it get out of control again!), possibly taking Ender to the vet, and hopefully taking a nap or two. Life, man! It catches up with you.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend--what are you up to today?

It is absolutely bizarre to me that it has been two years since I quit my 9-5 to pursue blogging as a career. I thought it might be fun if I shared a few things I've learned these past twenty-four months, because like most things in life, I think they apply to more than just one kind of person:

Goal setting is powerful. Last year I sat down at the beginning of every month and made a list of ten goals--it was amazing. Just make sure they're SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

You don't have to be working all the time. Give yourself some time to take a breather. This has been my biggest struggle--I always feel like I need to prove myself in some way, which means that I'm often working even when I'm not really working, which is such an annoying thing to say (and do). Everyone's schedules are different, though, and just because a person takes time to really relax one day doesn't mean they don't work hard the other days.

You can do so much more with a little help from others. Just ask. I don't even want to talk about how many things I've probably missed out on because I was afraid to hear "no." 

Your life--your family, relationships, health, and happiness--matter so much more than anything else. When I finished grad school I was in a panic to find a job, and when I got one that I liked, I felt so incredibly lucky. After a while that job didn't feel like such a great fit anymore, and when Rob got the Minneapolis offer I spent so much time worrying about what would happen if I left this company, even though I didn't really love it. 

I wanted so badly for everything to work out in a way that just wasn't possible--in my head, Rob and I could live in Minnesota and I would somehow keep my job (even though they weren't willing to let me work remotely). I felt like I was letting the company down by leaving after just a year, but looking back now I realize that no one was judging me for anything, and that you should never feel bad about living according to your priorities. Blogging for work has given me a lot of freedom in my personal life, and sometimes that makes me feel guilty. It's something I'm still working on.

Just go for it. I think the best things in life tend to be really scary at first. Stretch your comfort zone. Learn to use that camera, pitch that idea at work, go out of your way to make something good happen for yourself.

The other day someone was talking to me about applying for a job they weren't sure they'd get, which was causing them to spend too much time stressing over their resume and it just reminded me that we all have to start somewhere. The majority of what I've learned these past two years happened after I decided to go for it, not before. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and then work your butt off. Don't be afraid to start small--big things can come from anywhere.

And finally, your life doesn't have to look like anyone else's. Simple, but true.

Photo by Sarah Gatrell for Freckled Italian.

We spent Tuesday through Friday morning in Healdsburg, which turns out to be one of the dreamiest places in California. We stayed in an amazing loft above the square and most of our time was spent working on La Crema Farm to Table at Home, a really fun series that I can't wait to start sharing with you all this month. Even though we were busy, we still managed to go out for a really nice meal every night, and of course there was coffee every morning!

Here are some of the places we went:

• Coffee at the Healdsburg Flying Goat location, conveniently across the street from our loft.
• Best burgers ever at Healdsburg Bar & Grill.
• Wine at the La Crema Tasting Room, obviously.
• More coffee at The Healdsburg Shed. So good. That place is gorgeous.
• Fantastic tapas at Bravas. If you go, get the goat cheese toast and some mushrooms (although the paella looked phenomenal as well--everything was good).

We headed back to San Francisco on Friday morning and I had lunch with my friend and colleague from Minted before spending the weekend with some friends from home. San Francisco is so wonderful anytime, but especially when you're escaping the heat of wine country and/or North Carolina in late July.

More food/drink/things we saw:

• Lunch before a tour of the Minted offices at Cotogna.
• A fantastic dinner at Aliment--the Brussels sprouts are out of control.
• A walk around Hayes Valley and some iced coffees from Blue Bottle.
• Took a ferry ride to Sausalito where we ate lunch and then had drinks on the beach at Bar Bocce.
• Back to the city for takeout from Tony's and a park picnic.

See the rest of my California travel posts: here and here.