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| This was a very entertaining post, if anyone's interested in reading it.
When I was working at Starbucks, we had bestseller books displayed around the store. I saw one of them a few months ago, and it peaked my interest -- The Art of Racing in the Rain. I casually mentioned it to my mom that day when I got home, and then forgot about the book. Until yesterday, that is, when she brought the book home from the library, where we had been on the waitlist for it since that day. So last night at 11, as I was getting ready for bed, I grabbed the book and jumped into bed, and started reading for what I figured would be about ten or twenty minutes before I fell asleep. Four hours and half a box of Kleenex later, I had finished the book.
For anyone who hasn't heard anything about this book, it's from the perspective of a dog. His master is a racecar driver, and as his master and his master's wife go through life, the dog explains things in racing metaphors. I thought I would be bored since I have absolutely no interest in racecar driving, but it's not actually about racing, even if there is a lot of it in the book. I never knew I could hate three fictional characters so much, or fall in love with a fictional dog. I now want to get a dog and name him Enzo.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves dogs. Actually, I take that back. I recommend this book to everyone. So go out there and borrow/buy it if you have the time. Happy reading!
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| An Ode to the OddToday was my last day at Starbucks. I've been there two years, almost to the day. I remember starting two summers ago, so afraid that I would never learn all the drinks, and that I wouldn't be able to remember the Half Decaf, Double Tall, 4 Pumps, Nonfat, Extra Hot, No Whip, No Foam, White Mocha. As I was driving home, I felt relieved and so happy to be done with work. And then I started thinking of all the customers I've grown to love during my time there, and I felt like crying. At my store, unless we've specifically asked customers for their names, we remember them (and talk about them) as their drink names. Such as, "Oh look, here comes Triple Grande Hazelnut 1% Latte." Or, "Did you hear what Single Tall with Room Americano said this morning?" I like a lot of the regulars that come in, but I definitely have my favorites. I wish I could let them know how much of an impact they've made on me, and how much I appreciate them, but this is probably the closest I'm going to get. So here is a little tribute to some of my favorite Starbucks customers.
Iced Venti Unsweetened Green Tea Biker Guy - He comes in at the same time Monday through Friday in his little spandex biking outfit. He's there as soon as we open, bright and early, so dedicated to his exercise and green teas.
A Cranberry Orange Scone and "I guess I'll take a cup of that disgusting coffee" - One of the grumpiest old men I've ever met. He hated every type of coffee we made (except Christmas blend, which unfortunately only comes out once a year), and he let us know it. But he came in every day without fail and drank it. His name was Jerry, and he owned the vitamin shop a few shops over in the same parking lot. Sometimes a guy who worked in his shop would come down and get his coffee for him, always joking, "Oh no, Jerry's gonna be upset that it's not Christmas blend." About a year ago, Jerry stopped coming in, and his shop closed down. We found out that he was having some family problems, and then learned that he developed some health problems. A little after Christmas, we heard that he had passed away. This past Christmas I thought of him every day I worked when we would make the Christmas blend. Each of the few times that he smiled, it had always made all of our days. Thank you for your endearing grumpiness and honesty. Rest in peace, Jerry.
Iced Venti Black Tea, Iced Grande 2% Latte, & Tall Americano; AKA "The Guys" - A group of three friends who work at the T-Mobile next door. They come in every day at lunch time, sometimes in the morning as well. The type of guys you want to be buddies with. One is always so cheerful and easygoing, another is quiet and genuinely kind, and the other is slightly more serious, yet very outgoing. Three very different personalities, but they all compliment each other, and you can tell they're very good friends.
Six-Shot Venti Breve No Foam Latte - His name is Brian, and he comes in and spends over 6 dollars a day on his coffee. He's a slightly older gentleman, and his doctor eventually told him he needed to cut back on the caffeine. So now whenever he comes in, he gets a venti drip coffee. Poor guy, misses his lattes. Here's to a long life!
Two Short Drips and two heated Lemon Loafs 'for here' - "Try not to take a bite out of them this time, eh?" - Two of my very favorite customers. Two British guys, one tall and one short. They come in every day and get their short drip coffees. The tall one puts about 12 raw sugars in his, and the short one puts 5. They love to chitchat, make jokes, and tease their favorite baristas. Whenever they saw me, they would say "Try not to cause too much trouble, would you?" After I told them I was in a baking program, I didn't think they actually paid attention to the things the baristas talked about, but they would come in every day after that and ask how the baking was going, and when I was going to make them some pastries. Thank you for being so fun and caring. Cheers!
Dopio Espresso with two ice cubes and no lid - He comes in every night, I think from getting dropped off by the bus on his way home from work. Always wears a long coat and a hat, even in the summertime. He has a springy little white mustache, and his bright eyes always have a sparkle in them. I have no idea what his name is, where he works or what he does, and I've never asked. It's just something I'd like to keep a mystery. I'm always happy when I see him walking up with his huge backpack to the store, and we have the same cheerful conversations every time. Today one of my coworkers told him it was my last day, and he looked very surprised, and kind of sad. He asked if I had gotten a new job, and I said that I was graduating from school, and that I hoped to find a new job soon. Then he asked what I went to school for, and I told him baking. This was the most information we had shared in the two years I'd known him. He smiled and told me good luck, and said, "You pour some great espresso," which instantly made me tear up, and I made an excuse and went to the back room to wipe away any tears that had fallen. You have no idea how big of a compliment that was, coming from him. In those few short moments I felt like we had bonded more than we had in 730 days. I'll miss you, dopio espresso with two ice cubes.
Even though I've met my share of snobby, rude, annoying, and sometimes weird customers, it's the regulars that touch you in ways you never expected. I've had my crappy days, and days where I go in with a bad mood, expecting to have a long, boring day, but after they come in the store, I leave with a smile on my face. I don't think I'll ever forget these customers, because they're very special to me. I'll be eighty years old, telling my grandchildren about the two British guys who put tons of raw sugar in their coffee, and warning them not to drink six shots of espresso a day or they'll end up with health problems. I feel so blessed to have met these special people. Thank you! And please be nice to your baristas :) That is all.
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| The Future Is Fuzzy...
I just read an article on MSN about a man who went through a
painful divorce, and is now selling everything in his life on ebay. He said he’s going to walk out of his house
with only his wallet and passport, go to the airport, ask where the next available
flight is headed, and see where life takes him from there. As soon as I finished reading, I thought to
myself, “Holy crap, I could never do that!”
I’ve noticed that stability and planning for the future are
huge issues for me. Every time I get
directions from mapquest, and someone is reading them to me, I need to know two
or three steps ahead of my next turn, just so that I feel comforted that I know
where exactly I’m going. Ray can attest
to this (“I know that one, but what’s the NEXT step?”). I feel nervous and uneasy about things unless
I know exactly what the outcome is going to be.
I used to have my entire life planned out. I would get married as soon as I finished
college, before I was 21. My first two
kids would be two years apart, and the second and third would be four years
apart, all of which I would have before I turned 31. I would live around the same area my entire
life, with all of my family and friends close by. I’ve only just recently realized, in the past
couple years, that I can’t plan my future and expect it all to turn out exactly how I want.
The whole marriage-before-I-turn-21 thing obviously isn’t
going to work out, because I’m turning 21 and graduating in a couple of months,
and I don’t think I’m quite ready to take that next big step. I’ve realized I don’t want kids right
away. I’m so young; I feel like I need
to live my life a little bit before I can bring another person into this world
and spend all my energy taking care of it.
I don’t know where my job or my husband’s job is going to take us; we
could be living halfway across the world in the next few years; who knows? I’ve been going through a lot of indecision in
the past couple years, just trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my
life. I got so stressed out because I
had everything planned out exactly, and none of it was working out. I had always wanted to major in English and
be a writer since I was little. I used
to write stories on the computer every day after school. As soon as I started taking English classes
in college I realized I hated it, and I didn’t want to do it for the rest of my
life. I switched to psychology, and,
although I love love LOVE learning all the ins and outs of the human brain, I
don’t want to do it for a living. I’ve
just now found what I love to do, and can see myself doing as a profession, but
with my approaching graduation, I’m getting really scared (What if I don’t find
a job? What if I’m not good at it? What if I hate it?).
A couple weeks ago, I was playing through a book of Selah
songs. They have really nice arrangements
of a bunch of old hymns. As I sat there,
playing piano and singing to ‘What A Friend We Have In Jesus’ I came across the
lines “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because
we do not carry everything to God in prayer.’
And it hit me. And I felt
incredibly stupid. All this time of
stressing out and worrying, and I could have just lifted up all of my burdens
to God. I start freaking out over the
tiniest thing. A little bit of stress,
and I get so nervous and worried. Every
time I pray, I thank God for everything He’s given me and done for me, and I
pray for the people I care about. It
never really occured to me to pray about my doubts and uncertainties of the
future. If only I would’ve realized that
sooner, I would’ve saved myself a lot of stress. I’m still having trouble with worrying about
everything, from the tiniest things that go wrong, to my plans for the future,
but I’m trying to work on it. Whenever I
start feeling burdened by all my crazy thoughts, I say a little prayer and take
a deep breath. I know that when I pray
for comfort in all my times of doubt and stress, He gives me peace. And I'm so thankful for that.
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| Famously sweetThe other day in class, Chef showed us how to make Sarah Bernhardts. They're these little pastries with a sweet almond cookie on the bottom, and fluffy chocolate mousse on top, all covered in thinned chocolate. Apparently they were named for Sarah Bernhardt's breasts. This got me thinking: Why would someone be so obsessed with a woman that they would dedicate a dessert to part of her anatomy? I had never heard of her before, so I went home and looked her up on online. Here is what I found out about her, for your learning pleasure:
-Many people argue that she was the most famous actress of the 19th century
-She started out as an actress and a courtesan on the side
-She often slept in a coffin to better understand her tragic roles
-Her nickname was "The Divine Sarah"
-She was an athiest
-She was rumored to have a relationship with her very close impressionist painter friend Louise Abbema
-She had one son, Maurice Bernhardt, who grew up to marry a Polish princess
-Her marriage to Greek actor Aristides Damala didn't go so well because of Damala's morphine addiction
-Sarah has been said to have been involved with Edward VII
-In 1905, Sarah injured her right knee when she had to jump from a balcony in the final scene of La Tosca. She later got gangrene, and had to have her entire leg amputated.
-Without the use of a prosthetic limb, Sarah persevered and continued her career until her death in 1923
-Sarah Bernhardt has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Also, Sarah Bernhardts are yummy, so I advise you all to go out and try one!
 
This is Sarah Bernhardt. This is a Sarah Bernhardt.
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| Happy Halloween 
Here are some cookies I made in class today. I hope everyone has a fun and safe week!
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