Long Time no Talk...

Let me start by saying... "HAHAHAHA!"

Well, this blog lasted about as long...as most of my "diets."
I cant believe how long it has been since I've been on here! So much has changed! Well, body-wise I am the same..still no six-pack! Boo!
My culinary program was an adventure! I loved every minute of it! Let me tell you, I did not want to graduate. I was scared I would miss all my new friends.
I knew my place at school, people knew me, and thats the way I liked it. I dont like change. And i did NOT want everything to change - meaning me having to actually find a JOB in an actual RESTAURANT, and be PAID. Which meant I had to prove my worth. Not make mistakes.
I had to live out everything I had learned in school.

And then there was the debate between my mom and I.
I wanted to go towards the Pastry/Desserts route. My mom didnt want all my schooling to go to "waste" and wished I would stay in the culinary/savory field.
But my passion wasnt in cutting onions. I detested it.
My passion was to work with sugar and butter, and make people love gettin fat!

Well, in the last 6-weeks of school, all the students had a mission to find a restaurant who would take you as an "extern." Basically, you would be working for free, during that 6 weeks.

Now, this was really hard for me. Let me tell you why.
In school everyone has a designated "chef" mentor, who was supposed to help you find a restaurant; coach you, keep in contact with you, and make sure you werent an embarassment to the school.
Unfortunately for me, I had bad luck. My mentor was not an actual person (I was told he didnt work at the school at that moment).
So, typical me procrastinated.
But the knowledge of the deadline looming closer and with my silly self still restaurant-less, I was stressing out.
Finally, half way through the last six weeks of school, I was went to a person in charge. He was able to reassign me to another mentor, and I sighed a HUGE sigh of relief.
Little did I know my new mentor would be of no more help than my previous, unemployed, MIA mentor.
My new mentor was new to the school- he had just started a couple weeks earlier!
My spirits sank.
After my first (and last) meeting with my mentor, I buried my spirits and threw away the key- er shovel.

So I finally realized I had to stop dilly-dallying, hoping someone would do my hard work for me. I had to work.
I had to search.
And I had to get out there and see what restaurants would take me.

So with my Dad's awesome help I created my first resume.
And honestly? My resume was pretty great.
So I went onto the helpful world of YELP and searched for well-reviewed Napa restaurants that werent lame.
Printed out my cover-letters & resumes for each one; and with sweating palms and twin sister in tow (for moral support) I set out.

Well, let me tell you - that day was a nerve-wracking, freaky, adrenaline ride! I had never in my life made,filled out, and dropped off a resume - let alone have an interview! Both of my previous jobs had been gotten by knowing inside connections.

I was thrilled when that day was over. I knew I had made some mistakes, but the positive note was that I survived to learn from them. Plus, I had some promises for future interviews at a couple restaurants.

Little did I know I was about to enter stage 2 of my job search. And it was just as nerve wracking!!
stage 2 = working interview ("stage" in the restaurant world. pronounced 'st-ahzsh")


I will tell you all about stage #2 in my next post...