Best of 2016. Hello 2017!

Happy new year, everyone! Hope you’re not nursing a hangover from ringing in the new year like I am. ;) There are some exciting things coming up for Let’s Nom Nom in 2017, but before I get to that, let’s go over some highlights from the past year…

Best Nine: All the cool kids posted their Instagram best nine, so I did it too. Not a surprise that mine had multiple photos of ramen, but I can’t believe there are no burgers here! I’m slightly amused that donut photo, which was my very first test photo on my new camera somehow made it into the mix.

Restaurants: I ate a lot of delicious things in 2016. It’s tough to pick favorites, but my top three spots that I won’t shut up about are Nix, Dirt Candy, and Farm Spirit.

Ramen: I also ate a lot of ramen this year. In 2015, I ate 15 bowls of ramen. In 2016, it was a whooping 20 bowls! Many thanks to everyone who ate ramen with me, so I didn’t have to look like a noodle hog on my own.

Veg Fests: 2016 was the year I attended two Veg Fests: NYC and PDX. It was also kind of a big deal for me to design for NYC Veg Fest — that’s the biggest event I’ve ever worked on!

Earth Day Vegan Eats: Speaking of events, I hosted my very first event in 2016. Rather than just making it about food, it was about veganism and the environment too. It was a small gathering, but I’m quite proud of it, especially the posters we created.

Mac & Cheese: 2016 was also the year I entered two mac & cheese contests. One was an all vegan contest, and the other was an annual dairy-ful contest where my entry was the only vegan mac they’ve ever had. It was also my first experience cooking 9 lbs of macaroni! I haven’t shared my thoughts on why I entered the latter, but it’s on my to do list. I’ve also been making more tweaks to the recipe!

Portland: We moved back to the west coast! Poor John had to drive the entire way since I still don’t know how to drive, and poor Chloe and Tony did not enjoy the ride at all. Have you ever seen a cat projectile vomit? I have, and it’s not pretty.

Camping: I am slowly, but surely becoming an outdoorsy person. There were ten waterfalls along the 10-mile trail in Silver Falls State Park, and some animals visited our campsite in the middle of the night, but all that is a longer post for another day.

Bob’s Red Mill: It turns out that Bob’s Red Mill is from the Portland area, and we when we visited the mill, Bob was there playing the piano. And yes, Bob was wearing his classic hat, red vest, and bolo tie combo!

Blogging: What started as a personal food diary has grown into a brand and business of sorts, especially in the past year. I’ve had a lot of fun with blog related projects and collabs over the past year, and I’m thrilled to be a part of XOXO Collective. Big things in store for the XOXO ladies next year!

2017: So what’s on the agenda for 2017? I’ll be heading to LA in a few days, so keep an eye on Instagram as I eat and play my way through LA.

Let’s Nom Nom will be getting a makeover in 2017, and I hope to take this blog in a new direction and go beyond food. I’ve been meaning to start writing more about veganism, not just vegan and vegetarian food, and this seems like the year to do it.

All that said, the biggest and most exciting thing on my plate is that I will be leading a little something called Veganizer PDX. Get ready to be #OfficiallyVeganized!