The days are getting longer. The weather is growing warmer. Cherry blossoms fill the trees on my street, completely covering them with dainty petals of pastel pink, while buttery yellow and bright white blooms sprawl across the land behind our homes.
After a long and rainy winter, spring is (finally!) in the airā¦
And I thought itād be fun to share five fun spring-themed things going on in my life behind the scenes!
Itās been far too long since my last Coffee Break post, so grab a cup of coffee or tea (or even homemade lemonade!), and pretend like weāre sitting across from each other, trading stories and catching up over a coffee date.
And if we were⦠This is the big news Iād share first.
MY 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Amyās Healthy Baking has been my full-time job for ten years. Ten years. On April 1, 2013, I temporarily walked away from the chemistry world, arranging a five-month leave of absence to think about my future, evaluate my options, and determine whether I wanted to leave for good.
I debated about even stepping away, leaning heavily on the rationale that I had already put in years of difficult classes, rigorous labs, and complicated research projects⦠And did I really want to throw that all away? Flush it down the drain? Leave it all behind ā on the teensy tiny off-chance that I could somehow start earning an income, or even just a few dollars, from my little blog that I mainly updated on random nights and weekends as a hobby?
My parents encouraged me to try. They saw and believed in my dream, even when I thought it was better to keep it as a fantasy in my head or something that I postponed for a few more years, and they gently nudged me towards taking those months off.
Within the first week, the three of us knewā¦
There was zero chance I would return to the chemistry world.
Yet none of us couldāve predicted what happened next.
Over the last decade (gosh, I feel old phrasing it like that!), Iāve baked in four different kitchens, developed over a thousand recipes, and published a cookbook. Iāve been featured in magazines, appeared on TV, and traveled around the country for business trips and retreats. Iāve built a team, collaborated with incredible clients, and met the most amazing bloggers-turned-friends.
So much has happenedā¦
And yet I feel like Iām just getting started.
I have big ideas and lofty goals. Bright hopes and vast dreams. Work and projects and things I want to do, the kinds that fill your heart and light up your soul, keep you awake at night from earnest brainstorming and eager anticipation, and promise to change the trajectory of your life in the best and most meaningful sorts of ways.
But despite all of that, the milestones and growth and successes of the past ten years, building a business from nothing and following my heart into food blogging, what stands out the most and what Iām most grateful for is something elseā¦
Itās you.
I wouldnāt be who or where I am today without your support for Amyās Healthy Baking and the recipes that I share. Youāre a vital part of this journey, one that has enabled me to turn my dreams into a reality, and Iām truly grateful for you and the role that youāve played.
Thank you for showing up. Thank you for being here. Thank you for scrolling through my recipes, giving them a try, leaving me comments, and mentioning my blog to your family and friends. ā”
And⦠Iām so excited to share the things I have in store for Amyās Healthy Baking in the future with you too.
A lot has changed in the last ten years. Website design, plugins, digital photography, email newsletters, SEO⦠And especially social media.
Those outlets that started as fun ways to share pictures and keep in touch with hometown friends have blossomed (if not snowballed or exploded!) into something much bigger. Theyāve become almost essential to running a business and interacting with followers and fans, especially in the food blogging world, channels that sometimes feel as important and necessary as sleeping or breathing.
(Okay, maybe thatās a slight exaggeration⦠š )
Theyāre not the same as they used to be. The main ones have vastly evolved, while others have come and gone, but thatās okay. Change is a part of life, and Iām working on embracing those changes and experimenting with different things.
So in the spirit of spring and new beginnings, Iām starting a new Instagram account: @amys.healthy.baking!
Thereās a bit of a backstory here. I love to write and tend to tell long stories (perhaps youāve noticed?), but Iāll spare you today and save the whole epic saga for another time. š
The nutshell version is that I learned Instagram accidentally flagged my account on the day I posted my first reel back in 2021. Although it took me two years of testing, experimenting, and trying just about everything I could think ofā¦
Iāve realized thereās a very strong chance I wonāt be able to salvage my original account or change Instagramās mind about flagging it and hiding my posts.
Hence why Iām starting this new @amys.healthy.baking one!
Iāll still share what I did before: recipes, photos, tips, and occasional thoughts or anecdotes about my life behind the scenes. That part will stay the same!
My team and I will continue to check our original Instagram account too (@amyshealthybaking ā without the periods!). We love seeing the comments, photos, and stories that youāve tagged us in. That brings us so much joy!
I just wonāt be posting any new content on that account. Iāll share it all on the new account instead!
So if youāre on Instagram, itād mean so much if you followed this new @amys.healthy.baking account! ā”
LOCKS OF LOVE
And on that same theme of springtime and fresh startsā¦
I cut my hair!
It was my fifth time cutting off 12 inches to donate to Locks of Love. Once in middle school, once in high school⦠And then a very long break before back-to-back-to-back haircuts in 2019, 2021, and now 2023.
Although the four previous ones were completely premeditated and planned, this haircut was slightly spontaneous. I knew I wanted to donate my hair again, but when I measured with a ruler, the resulting length felt a bit too short.
I also knew I wanted to ask my favorite stylist back in my hometown. She had done three of the four, and because of a particularly bad disaster with the other one (after handing me my foot-long ponytail, the Southern California stylist I had approached chopped off another four inches just because she thought itād look ācuteā), I preferred to schedule an appointment with someone I absolutely trusted.
I just didnāt know when Iād return to Northern California and be able to see her.
When I found myself there around Easter, I mentioned wanting a haircut to my mom ā just a regular haircut, nothing drastic! ā and she quickly discovered our favorite stylist had a last-minute opening the following day. Although somewhat emotionally unprepared to part with my long hair practically on a momentās notice (does anyone else feel like they have to psych themselves up for a big change like that? just me??), I turned to my mom when we hopped out of the car that afternoon.
āI really donāt think I will⦠But would you take a picture of my hair? So I have a ābeforeā photo, just in case?ā
I deliberated the entire time the stylist and I chatted and she shampooed my hair, waffling back and forth and back again, mentally spinning around in circles faster than a dog chasing its tail, butā¦
Iām sure you can already guess how it ended. š
I loved the way it turned out, and Iām so glad I did it. I think this fifth one will be the final time I cut my hair to donate. It feels like a nice round number and good stopping place.
Then again, I said the same thing in September 2021 after the fourth one, soā¦
I guess Iāll just have to wait and see!
THE BEACH
After most of our rainy winter weather disappeared, I decided to celebrate by visiting my favorite beach. However, I didnāt realize until I arrived⦠The Saturday I selected was THE official start of spring break for colleges and many local schools!
I drove in circles a few times until I found a spot, which almost never happens due to the ample parking in the residential neighborhoods near that particular beach. Once out of the car, I headed away from the main stretch, sprawling hotel, and large concrete lifeguard tower. I felt like a salmon swimming upstream, but eventually the throngs of people disappearedā¦
At the same time the rock wall and walkway did. Oops.
Yet I turned left and followed the short path that cut through the sand, almost immediately amazed by my luck ā and by my newfound discovery.
Only the locals came that far down the beach! The tourists seemed to prefer the glamour of the hotel and convenience of the restaurants nearby (along with the public restrooms!) and rarely ventured the mile away to the other end of the sand and the dog-friendly section. Despite the crowds elsewhere, that part of the beach felt rather quiet and secluded, with only a few groups clustered around square concrete fire pits set further back from the waves to grill burgers, sausages, and marshmallows to make sāmores.
With a small grin tugging at my cheeks, I plopped down on the sand, closed my eyes, and inhaled deeply.
Thereās something so calming about the ocean, smelling its salty breeze and hearing its frothy waves tumble over themselves and crash against the shore, something so soothing and rejuvenating, something that releases tension from my shoulders and stress from my body and brings a childlike smile to my face of pure joy. And in those moments, the ones spent sitting with blue skies overhead and my toes half buried in sandā¦
Itās still hard to believe that this is my life ā and this is my home.
In sunny California. A beautiful city. Mere minutes from the sea. Not just during the spring ā but all year round.
And I feel blissfully lucky thatās true!
BASEBALL WITH MY GRANDMA
I saved my favorite sign of spring for lastā¦
Baseball is back ā which means watching plenty of games with my grandma!
When I was in 4th grade, she and my grandpa surprised my family with tickets to a game with fantastic seats in row 12 along the third base side. However, they left out one key detailā¦
That particular ballpark was a multi-use stadium, shared between the cityās baseball and football teams, so although row 12 truly was twelve rows back for NFL games, it was the first row for MLB ones. Literally. The first row. On top of the visitorsā dugout. Nobody between us and the field.
Or, as I found out during the national anthem, nothing between me and my stubby souvenir scorecard pencil rolling down off of my seat, over the concrete edge, and into the abyss of discarded sunflower seed shells in the dugout below. (A very belated thank you to the kind Colorado Rockies player who held it above his head for me to retrieve as the song ended!)
Pencil back in hand, my grandma sat next to me and patiently taught me how to keep score with numbers, symbols, and squiggles. She also caught the attention of two different Rockies as they ran off the field, pointed at my younger brother and me, and managed to convince both of them to toss us each a used souvenir game ball.
Iāve been a massive fan basically ever since, and our baseball bond grew stronger after I moved into her same neighborhood as an adult. Sheās a huge reason why I love baseball as much as baking!
This year, she invited me over to watch the Opening Day game, along with the second game the following evening. Weāve watched a few more games together, texted back and forth during most others, and sent each other articles and video clips of news, highlights, jaw-dropping plays, and (our personal favorites!) āfun factsā about the players. Weāve even started wearing special colors and hats for Friday night home games, just like the team, along with beginning a brand new tradition of our ownā¦
Enjoying a Julian apple pie for dessert after the games we watch together.
Theyāre a local specialty baked by (you guessed it!) the Julian Pie Company. Started in 1986 and still family-run, they grow the fruit for their pies on hundreds of acres in the mountains of Southern California. They offer more than 20 different flavors year round, along with some seasonal ones like pumpkin and strawberry rhubarb, and weāve enjoyed every pie weāve tried⦠Especially the Dutch-style ones with a sweet crumble topping.
Itās nearly impossible to pick a favorite! But if you forced me to choose⦠Iād put the Dutch raspberry apple, Dutch blueberry apple, and classic Dutch apple at the top of my list. Oh! And the Dutch boysenberry apple too. Plus the Dutch cherry apple, if Iām allowed to add another.
Like I said ā virtually impossible. Theyāre all incredible!
So if youāre ever in San Diego or another Southern California city close to Julian, my grandma and I highly recommend trying a Julian apple pie. š
Tip: You donāt necessarily need to drive to their original location to buy one. Many grocery stores stock their pies, including Vons and Costco!
Anyway⦠Thatās a roundabout way of saying that my grandma introduced me to Julian pies, theyāve become a staple for virtually all of our baseball nights together, and Iām so grateful for those sweet and special times with her. ā”
And⦠One final (semi-shameless) plug to follow my new @amys.healthy.baking account, if youāre on Instagram! š
Happy Anniversary Amy! I only recently discovered you but I love your recipes and the wonderful details you include in the notes! Keep up the great work!
Amy, I love what you wrote and I sure love your recipes. I just want you to know that Iām 82 years old and will keep using your recipes. Iām not on Instagram but do hope that I can still get your recipes and blog.
Following you on your new site on Instagram. You have the best recipes…I look forward to seeing the new ones each day! Congratulations on living your dream and your Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary, Amy! I enjoy your content and my daily email. Your recipes are delish! Thank you for sharing so much of yourself with us. I have followed the new IG account and I look forward to many more years.
A huge heartfelt CONGRATS to you, Amy! You truly are a beautiful spirit and gift to the world! I have been an AMY FAN CLUB member for a very long time and so enjoy all of your delectable recipes. Thank you for your generosity with
sharing your recipes! May you continue to be blessed with good health and gratitude for lifeā¦.sending much ā¤ļø!
Happy Anniversary Amy!. I get your emails with recipes and love them. Iām glad you left your chemistry job and started working on your recipes. Even if I donāt make all of them I read your comments every time. Best wishes on your new endeavors even though I donāt use IG.
I love the fact that you, like me, left the chemistry field to work on something else. I was not as brave as you, but I did start my own company and then went back to school for accounting. I love your recipes, and I am so happy you have found your bliss. Congratulations!
Happy Anniversary!! I truly enjoy your site . . .recipes . . .blog. Love the haircut!! I donate myself often <3 Best wishes to you . . .
Happy Anniversary Amy! I love that you donated your hair. I’d be doing the same if I could stand to grow it out so long. Also, now I know why your recipes are so good – there is a lot of chemistry in baking. I love your stories and the explanations you put in your recipes.
I don’t use Instagram but will continue to happily follow your newsletter!
All the best to you and yours.
Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary and all your hard work! My favorite recipe so far has been the cranberry orange muffins. Delicious! Thank you and may God continue to bless you!