San Fran, Here We Come!

Some people might say we're crazy or stupid or irrational, but I say to hell with them. Sometimes you have to do what feels right. Sometimes you have to take a risk and put all of your cards on the table. Sometimes you have to do what most people won't.

It all started when we visited SF a month ago. I knew I would love the city but I wasn't sure how Paul would feel. One of the first things he said to me when we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, pulled into Enterprise, dropped the car off, and waited for an uber was, "I love it here already". I couldn't stop ooing and aaing at every building we passed and every street we went by. We dropped our bags off, spoke with who we were staying with, and off we went to explore. 

Roaming the streets of San Francisco made me feel a certain way I can't quite describe, and that I haven't felt since England. There is definitely a unique energy exuding from San Francisco that pulls you in and I'm under the impression its some kind of spell. Either way, I was hooked and so was Paul. After day one we started doing research to see if this was even possible. "Are we being mental?" we asked ourselves. After little thought and enough research to put our minds at ease, we decided after day 1, we should move there. 

We spent the rest of our trip seeing as much as we could see, checking out different areas, even making a trip to Oakland (since that was a possible option for us at first). 

Once we got home the first thing we did was call our Realtor. He came around the very next day and we told him the news. We asked him what we needed to do to put the house on the market and how long he projected it would take. Fast forward almost 4 weeks and here we are. 

Why are we doing this you ask? Why would we sell our 4 bedroom home with loads of space do you ask? Why would we move to the most expensive city in the US you ask? Why would you not take your time and think about all of this you ask?

Well, for starters, we are doing this because...why not? Why should we stay in San Antonio for the rest of our lives? I honestly have never done anything this crazy (since moving to England), but I can't even begin to explain the feeling I get from it all. I would rather risk everything we have to move to SF and try, rather than staying in SA and always wondering and wishing and dreaming.

Another exciting part about this big move is that we both have never lived in a new city together. We lived in England (where Paul is from) for the first 2 years of our marriage and we have lived in SA for the last 2 years (where I'm from). I also plan to try and focus on social media as a career and do baking as a hobby or side gig, which will be another first for me. But we shall see!

There is so much to say about this whole situation and I have so much on my mind, but I think the message is don't settle. After visiting and seeing San Francisco, I knew if we stayed in San Antonio it would be because we were scared, comfortable, and playing it safe. There is nothing wrong with doing so, but for us, this seems well worth the risk. 

I hope some of you follow our journey and see what happens to us in San Francisco as we work, eat, sleep, travel, explore, and play. I hope I have also shared a little insight for any of those who are wanting to do the same, or have thought about moving somewhere but uncertain about the risks. 

As for the future? We are unsure of it at the moment. San Francisco could be a temporary location for us or it could be more permanent. We've talked about possibly moving back to England after this move, or somewhere in Europe-who knows! But that's life right? Just go with it, follow your heart, trust your instinct and your partner, have fun, take risks, and be brave. 

Signing out,

Halee

A Day in the Life of The Ginger Snap

One of my favorite people ever, Kathleen, came over to film the process of me making my donuts. She stayed awake the entire time, filmed everything from start to finish, and then edited it all. I absolutely love what she did and can't thank her enough. Check out some of her other videos to see what she's up to! And check out her latest video she made with me, below :)

Kitchen Injury

Kitchen accidents happen to us all at some point but this is the story of my most recent injury and a warning to all you bakers to be careful in the kitchen!

So last week I injured myself while I was baking. I didn't say anything at the time because I didn't want people feeling sorry for me or thinking I couldn't fulfil my orders.

It happened when I was chopping some candied bacon for the top of my PB&J w/ Bacon donuts. My mind wandered and I started thinking about my current set of knives and how bad they are. "These knives suck, I really need a new set...." CHOP!

I brought the knife down over the tip of my finger. We rushed to the emergency room, everything is fine and they basically just glued the cut back together. But I was very close to actually going all the way through and slicing of the tip off my finger.

I obviously had to get a picture so if you're feeling brave, feel free to click the link below to see the damage - Warning! it's pretty gross!

Read more

San Antonio Magazine Feature

In the latest issue of San Antonio Magazine (March), I and five other instagrammers were featured as "social media gurus". What an honor! When SAM messaged me about including me in the March issue, I was definitely taken back and all in. I love being apart of the San Antonio Community. Whether thats through instagram, baking, eating out, etc., I enjoy it all. The article briefly talks about how instagram is "famous (or notorious) for transforming iphone pics into envy-inducing peeks into what often looks not like the good life, but a perfect life." It then goes on to advise its readers to follow the six "snap-happy" instagrammers they feature. In my section, I mentioned that I would be selling my baked goods to our city soon enough (and here I am!) Others talk about what instagram means to them, what their instagram is about, and so forth. I am super happy I had the opportunity to work with SAM and the other ladies.