summertime cold

the title pretty much sums it up.
90+ degree weather and of course, I'm stuck with a bad cold.
how does that happen? seriously!
leave it to me to be out of the ordinary!

this cold has been eating at me like the Ebola virus.
and now, i have lost my voice completely, as of yesterday.
not fun.
trying to get people to read my lips, is really not my thing. apparently, i plain suck at it.
trying to work in a kitchen with a cold, is not comfortable at all. one minute you're hot, then the next, you're freezing.


this is not the warm, "welcome back from vacation in key west", week i was expecting :(

so, hopefully this cold will bit the bullet and help me out a little.




until next time.




Love&PeaceAlways.

updates

just a quick update for now.

Unfortunately, pretty soon after I started my project 365, I became sick and had to have my gallbladder removed. Because of hospital stays and not being able to move much for a while, my project came to a halt. I tried to catch up, but it was just too much. I'm sad I wasn't able to keep it going, but I will most definitely give it another try next year.
On a good note, I am much better since the surgery!

I have more to update on what's been going on this summer, and will post soon!

I hope everyone had a safe & happy 4th of July!

Love&PeaceAlways.

week one

it's been so much fun taking photos all week, waking up and wondering what will today's photo be!


So here are my first weeks photos. enjoy :)

I already posted January 1st picture so here's the 2nd through the 9th.

      
January 2, 2011
This is Dave and i's Christmas tree from this past Christmas, 2010  :)
it was our first Christmas tree together in our new house!

January 3, 2011

      An old house in delray that's for sale. Dave showed it to me and thought it would be a good place for  bed & breakfast :)

(for my bed & breakfast! )
it's so adorable & pink!
       

 

January 4, 2011

Italian beer.

Dave and I went to Anthony's coal fired pizza for dinner in Boca.
It was scrumptious!
Dave was doing a food review on it.
They make all their pizza's "well done", there are signs all over the walls warning people                               
Basically they just make them very crispy, which is why it was so good!
Their baked chicken wings and traditional Italian salad was excellent as well!

                                                  

                                                           

                                                                

January 5, 2011
Secret Garden.
This is from a side window upstairs at my work.
I like looking out at it because it reminds me of a little passage way that you would see in the secret garden!My work has so many different windows with so many beautiful views!

                                                  

                                       

                                                                    
January 6, 2011
Tree's make me happy :)

I went on a ride with Dave, he had to take a picture of a church in delray for a story
he was working on and these trees where in their parking lot.
So beautiful.

          

                                                               

                                                                         










January 7, 2011
Old key lime house.

Dave & I had dinner at the old key lime house & the fish tacos were amazing!
We had such a nice night and it's such a cool place right on the water.
They also make fantastic drinks that taste like lime lifesavers & another
that's like a banana milkshake with alcohol!
So good!

                                          

                                                                         










January 8, 2011
Melissa, one of my bestest friends<3

Blue drank & Red drank.

Weekend fun nights with Melissa!
                                       
                                           

                                         

                                                                          










January 9, 2011

Florida sunshine.

This is why I love Florida.
Another view from an upstairs window at work.
Whenever I'm working in the upstairs kitchen area
I'm always so happy that there are such lovely views from the windows on all sides.
It really relaxes me.

            

                Well there is my first week! stay tuned for the next!

               Love&PeaceAlways.

                                

2011 my 365

Another new year has arrived and I have to say I am very excited to see what this year brings.

I can feel that this is going to be a great year. I've gone through many changes in the past year and I've never really been used to change my whole life, but most of them have been for the better.
I'm so ecstatic to see where my life takes me this year.


Any who, my lovely sister Jessica has inspired me to partake in the 365 Project this year.

365 Project is simple. You take a picture a day for a year. Of what? Anything! That's the fun part, take pictures of the little things in life that make you happy. At the end of the year you'll have a year full of memories in pictures. Moments that made you smile or laugh. Moments that you want to remember forever.

This makes me so happy to do because I also have a passion for photography :)
Also like Jessica, I'm going to do one post a week with a weeks worth of pictures because it would be very hard for me to post everyday and I still want to be able to make other posts as well.
I wanted to post the first picture though, simply because it's the beginning of this journey :)
Work had me busy yesterday so I couldn't make the post but I am now!




This is a special picture because for new years I was with the best people in my life<3 and I figure it was the best photo to start with. It's not exactly one picture but Jessica made a collage of 4 and we made an exception to the one picture this time!

So here it is;  

                           January 1, 2011

I encourage everyone to partake in this as well and share your pictures!

Here is the site, take a peek!

365 Project

Love&PeaceAlways.

Changes

Lots of updates!

I'll make this part of the story as quick as I can.

Back in August, the restaurant I've worked at for the past 2 1/2 years went out of business and took new ownership without much notice at all. Within 2 weeks, about the end of August we were all without jobs.
I had been a line cook there, but was always looking for a job in pastries again. It never worked out finding another job. So when all this was out of my control and I was without a job, I was really put into action finding a new one. It would have been very easy and quick to find another line cook right now because it's season and all but I knew if I did that again, to just find a job "for now" until I can find the one I truly want I would be stuck somewhere I wasn't happy for another 2 plus years or even longer this time. I decided
I wasn't going to, can't do that to myself so everyday I was on the search for a pastry job.
I'm not going to lie it was hard work and definitely disappointing to hear so many no or to not hear anything back at all but I kept at it.
So, about mid-October Dave gave me the heads up about a new restaurant he heard about that was going to open soon and was looking for all positions.
Ironically, the owner of this new restaurant is the owner of Henry's and Bogart's. If you remember from some of my previous posts, Dave and I went to both restaurants last year for food reviews.
I went and applied and met with the Chef. He asked what position I was interested in and when I told him pastry he said they really weren't planning on hiring a pastry chef , they were just going to buy the desserts (why I have a hard time finding a pastry job!). But, he liked my portfolio and said he would talk to the owner. I wasn't really hopeful after that but the next day he called back asking if I could come and do a tasting for him.
So, I believe with a little help from Dave's name and my pastry talents, I am proud to say that for the past month now I have been the Pastry Chef at Deck 84, in downtown Delray!
We opened a few weeks ago to the public and it has just been very successful. I am very HAPPY to have finally found a job that I love and that my heart is in.
So happy!!
If any of you know the area, it sits right on the intracoastal on Atlantic Ave, where Busch's Seafood used to be.
Please come visit and make sure to have dessert!

http://www.deck84.com/

Love&PeaceAlways.

Gluten-Free Goodies

As many of you know I am always thinking of new things to create.

Well my newest idea is to create a business making gluten-free and sugar-free baked goods.

Everyone sells regular baked goodies, but there are very few places that have crossed over into gluten and sugar-free baking.
I got this inspiration from my sister, Jessica & my Uncle Brian, who suffer from Celiac Disease.
For those of you that don't know, Celiac Disease is a lifelong, digestive disorder affecting children and adults. When people with CD eat foods that contain gluten, it creates an immune-mediated toxic reaction that causes damage to the small intestine and does not allow food to be properly absorbed. Even small amounts of gluten in foods can affect those with CD and cause health problems. Damage can occur to the small bowel even when there are no symptoms present.
One out of 133 people in the United States is affected with celiac disease. That's a good amount of odds to not have more places that cater to the affected.

I've sadly seen how Jessica is affected and it is not fun. So I'm working on this gluten-free aspiration mostly for her and her love of sweets and for my uncle who can enjoy them as well :)

And secondly, the sugar-free part of this is for my Dad. He became diabetic later in his life and it is very hard for him to adapt because he has the BIGGEST love for sweets! Most things he tries that are sugar free don't taste very appetising and it doesn't give him much hope that there are still tasty things he can enjoy that are sugar-free. So I want to show him that sugar-free can be as tasty as normal sugar treats.

I really don't know why I haven't though of this sooner, especially seeing that my family members would benefit from it greatly! My Mom was a big help with the idea as well. She was actually the one who suggested it after I wanted to make some cookies for my sister. I love helping others and baking the most, so this way I can combine both worlds into one and help to educate people on both conditions.



I plan on changing this world someday, even if it's one gluten-free cookie at a time!




Love&PeaceAlways<3>

p.s. you can find out more info about celiac disease here: http://www.celiac.org/

& more about diabetes here : http://www.diabetes.org/

a new year!

Wow...so I know it's been a long time since I last posted so there are many things to be updated on! I'm going to try & do much better about posting often!

Well to start off, I graduated school back in September with my Bachelor's Degree in Culinary Management. It was a lot of work but well worth getting that piece of paper that states my accomplishment! One of the main reason I got this degree was to learn for myself what it takes to run & manage your own business. As most of you know I plan on having my own bed & breakfast so, this degree has help me tremendously.

Here is a picture of this beautiful thing!

So to continue on, 2009 was an amazing year, firstly being that it was full of love because of David Dipino :) We actually just celebrated our 1-year anniversary together a couple of days ago! <3

Back in November Dave & I went to visit my sister Jessica in Boulder, Colorado :)

She lives there while attending Naropa University, working on her Master's Degree in Art Therapy. Anyway we had a BLAST! Tons & tons of snow, it was so much fun. Jessica drove us up all through the mountains, it's so beautiful there :) We also went to the Coors brewing factory in Golden, Colorado & drank lots of free beer! :) One of our last days there we went to Estes Park, where the Stanley Hotel is. That is where Steven King lived while he wrote the Shining. We sneaked upstairs to take a look at the actual room he stayed in too!
It was such an awesome trip & I can't wait to visit again! Maybe in the spring :)

Here are some pictures from our trip!

Love&PeaceAlways.