Welcome

Hi!

I’ve been thinking about starting a blog for a little while, it’s still a thing right? I know it was big not that long ago. And I read a TON of cooking blogs so I know those are definitely ‘in’.

Why a blog?:

It’s recently been a year since I left my Winnipeg home and moved to Montreal and although nothing very exciting has happened I thought some might like a little insight on what it’s like for me here. This blog is also definitely a way for me to procrastinate, let’s be real, but I think it can be a good way for me to take a step back and look at my everyday life with a critical eye. Plus it’ll be fun to look at a few years from now.

So here I am. Mise en place is French for...preparation, to put it simply. In English it is used in the cooking world to refer to all the little steps that need to take place before the actual cooking happens. For me, Mise en place will be a place to share a little bit of what, I'm hoping, is preparing me for a good, healthy, fun future. Plus, it's a combination of French and cooking, what could be more fitting?!

What you need to know:

This year I’ve started a Masters degree at the Université de Montréal, I’m in a lab at the centre hospitalier de l’université de Montréal research centre or CRCHUM. I’m not sure how much I am allowed to say about the type of research I’m a part of but I can say we are working on immunological aspects of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) . When I came to Montreal last year I did plan on eventually going to grad school, now it’s official, I’ve done it. I have to say it hasn’t been exactly as I expected, although I’m not quite sure what I was expecting. There have been MANY moments where I’ve doubted everything, after only a few weeks, but it’s all better now. For the most part. I have to say the team at the lab is great and they’ve helped me make it through that rough patch at the start. Now classes (or rather, my one class) have (has) started and I have more to do at the lab, it’s keeping me a little busier and I’m enjoying it. But I’ll tell you more about school in later posts.

There you have it. I'm looking forward to posting a little bit of everything, stories, recipes, photos, links to fun stuff and I hope you'll enjoy it.

See you soon and welcome!

While writing this I’ve listened to:

I Am a Keeper – The Band Perry

No One Will Ever Love You – Nashville

Treacherous – Taylor Swift

Ten Times Crazier –Blake Shleton

(yes, iTunes was on shuffle for the Country genre)