Welcome Back!
Where the heck have I been!? I know, it’s been literally FOREVER since my last blog post. So much has happened since 2017. I don’t even know where to start.
Back in 2017 I was living that vida-loca single girl life, jet-setting to any city I felt like flying to on a whim. Life was GREAT!
In 2018, I decided to dig my chops into a project I really believed in with my business partners and opened a coffee shop in the best neighbourhood Montreal has to offer; Pointe St-Charles. I might be biased because I lived there from 2016 to 2024, but ask anyone who knows about it, it really is the best.
We opened Florence Cafe in May 2019. The first year was a little rocky because there was lots of new construction happening around us. We faced a lot of uncertainty those first few months. Fast forward, March 2020 – a new reality, Covid lockdowns. To say we were terrified is an understatement. We had just been through a tumultuous first couple of months in business, and now we were being faced with a global pandemic.
Turns out, the pandemic happened to be the biggest blessing. Luckily, the construction had finished in November 2019, and by March 2020 we were ready to show the neighbourhood what we were made of.
If you are from Montreal, you know that when March rolls around you are HELLA fed up of winter and being cooped up in your apartment. Thus, our blessing – SPRING had finally arrived! Clients were already so sick of quarantining from a Montreal winter, so when the pandemic hit and everything was locked down the clients in the neighbourhood had no choice but to flock to all of their local shops for any type of human interaction and entertainment. It let us get to really know and love our clients and support them through this really difficult and isolating time. Fast forward now 6 years later, we consider many of those people family.
As some of you who might be reading this already know, back in 2017 I had been single since 2014 and had no plans to be wifed up anytime soon. My life was incredible and if I was going to settle down for anybody he would have to be my version of prince charming.
Well, life threw me a curveball and I ended up falling head over heels for a friend in 2018. We met in 2017 and were just friends, but then something happened while I was away on a trip in Greece one summer and he was there for me when I needed someone the most. That whole experience had me looking at him completely differently.
Fast forward through a year of us not admitting how either of us felt about one another, when I finally decided to tell him how I felt and gave him an ultimatum; lock it down or we can’t be in touch anymore.
So, end of summer 2019 there I was officially in a real relationship. From there, things just happened at lightning speed. When you know, you know! We ended up moving in together, adopting a second dog, having a baby, and getting married all within a year.
We now have two beautiful girls, 2 large crazy fur babies, and a baby boy in the oven. It’s the incredible chaos I have always dreamed of having in my life.
If you would’ve asked me back in 2017 if I would ever have the dream life I have today, I probably would have burst out laughing in your face and told you to get us another round of tequila shots.
Alas, here we are in 2025. I have always wanted to take the time to focus on my food blog more, but my busy and beautiful life got in the way. The reason I wanted to do this is because it brings me true happiness, it’s relaxing and it’s a way for me to document all of my favourite recipes for my kids and our family. Food is my love language and it’s at the centre of everything I do. My intention with this is to focus on food but also talk about many other things I love, or topics that have inherently made my life easier while running a crazy household and business.
I really hope you take the time to subscribe to my blog! I promise not to bombard you with daily emails and sponsored posts! You will be receiving a notification whenever I post a new recipe or blog post giving you ideas on what to make for your family and friends 🙂
I am certainly no culinary school trained chef, so when I tell you that anyone can make what I post, it’s because the recipes are so easy that anyone can do them! Everything I know was self taught, or inspired by someone else’s recipe.
You can sign up at subscribe link below. Thank you for following along and I hope you share, enjoy and reach out about the things you love too!
Jess xx