1. I’m transitioning from a successful corporate career into a life in the culinary arts.
At the beginning of March 2007 I left behind the 9 – 5 (6, 7, 8…) slog. When I left school a decade ago I was motivated by student loans. I put aside my creative ambitions and took a job for the Man. I worked my way up through Publishing and on to be a VP in Online Marketing at the Bank. I paid my loans off early (kids, pay on time, and pay more per month than your lending agency asks for!) and realized I was treading water. It left me the freedom to reconsider how I want to spend the next 30 or so years, and I decided I’d start by enrolling in cooking school.
2. I’ve always loved cooking, felt at home working in restaurants and longed to have my work life reflect my interests and beliefs.
I learned to cook early and well from the women in my family, who equated food with love in the best, most nourishing way. I’ve eaten my way across a few countries, delight in visiting farmer’s markets even in the cabbage-and-rutabaga months, and am fascinated by food anthropology. In college I passed on work-study shifts at the library in order to serve beer and shots in a biker bar, work the overnight shift at a bakery, manage a tea room in
3. I’m a New England girl with a conservative outlook on financial risk.
This change is as terrifying as it is electrifying. It allows me to pursue the answers to 15 years of nagging “what if…?” questions, but I can’t imagine spending the next few months without income. I flirted with the idea of picking up contract work at the Bank, but two days into my program I knew that I need time to take advantage of my program by reading and writing and listening and tasting. Right now I’m waiting tables to keep the rent money coming in. Basically, I’m faking a laissez-faire attitude towards earning to keep the nausea at bay.
4. I may occasionally post about other things that interest me.
Really, I think my identity as a student at ICE is by far the most interesting thing about me, and judging from the responses I got when I told people I was going to school, a full third of New York City’s population wish they, too were dropping everything to do the same. So mostly I’ll be talking about the things I learn, cook, eat and drink. But my other interests include trivia contests, New York City history, any and all movies, long distance running, maps, Ann-Margret, a variety of fiction and non-fiction literature, conspiracy theories, and when I’m feeling artsy-smartsy, galleries and museums. Like any privileged gal living in America’s greatest city should, I try to take advantage of the world around me. I also like naps.
…And about the site:
This site is hosted on BlueHost, built (by me!) on the WordPress platform and utilizes the Enlighten theme by Ibrahim Faour. Special thanks to xoxoanp for all her blog-buildin’ advice and general encouragement.