Holidays, Cakes and Crocs

Last night I worked my first holiday shift and my first shift at a later hour (for me anyway) - 6pm - 2am on Labor Day.  Not one of the bigger holidays, but it still gives me time and a half for hours worked so I'm a happy girl.  I thought it was going to be really hard starting work 2 hours later (and by extension, leaving 2 hours later), but it really didn't affect me that badly.  Actually, I think it was a better night for me than usual.  Maybe it was because I was joining a group that was already going strong as opposed to being one of the ones starting up at 4pm.  Ironically, it also took me less time to get home, leaving work at 2am, than it usually does when I leave at midnight.  This was even with me having to wait for my 17-year-old co-worker to finish changing because he wanted to walk me to the train.  I thought it was very sweet that he was worried about me, but by the time I got to the train, I had a feeling that he really just wanted to use the walk to remind me over and over again that I promised to lend him some DVDs.  Oh well, it was still pretty sweet.


Today I’m working from 5pm till 1am, and I’m still trying to adjust to this new life as a baker.  It takes a huge toll on my body and my emotions are always close to the surface these days.  I’m still very interested in learning more about cakes, especially structure and design-wise, and sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice for a first job.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful for the job, and I know that it’s a great experience for me, it’s just that it’s so frustrating knowing that any cake places want at least 1-2 years of cake decorating experience, and yet no one will hire you to give you that experience.  I’ve also been toying with the idea of trying to do more on my own (cakes, pastries, etc) as a way to keep my skill-set up and teach myself new things so that when I do decide to move on I won’t just be all about bread.  I’ve even been thinking of videotaping my attempts and posting them online.  Any thoughts?  Would you be interested in watching those/seeing my ridiculous attempts?

Oh, and I finally got some new footwear – a pair of crocs.  I didn’t cave and buy them on my own, the bakery is supposed to provide everyone who works there with a pair (makes sense since they technically require you to wear them), however I still hadn’t gotten any as of a couple of days ago.  Then, one of my co-workers was having her last day and asked if I had gotten a pair yet.  When I told her no, she asked what size I was.  As it turns out, they had bought her a pair that she had never worn because she doesn’t like crocs and has her own shoes that she prefers to wear, and we’re the same size so she gave them to me.  The only twist on this situation is that they’re yellow.  Bright, banana yellow.  This isn’t a problem for me, because as far as I’m concerned, crocs are ridiculous shoes, and I think that any shoe that is that ridiculous should only come in crazy, bright colors.  However, all of my co-workers seem to be highly amused that I’m wearing yellow crocs.  They keep pointing them out, and ask if I’m trying to “make a statement” by wearing shoes that bright.  I just keep telling them that the only statement I’m making is that I like free shoes.

Tomorrow night is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah and I couldn’t be more excited.  It’s always been one of my favorite holidays, and not just because it sometimes coincides with my birthday.  Dave and I will be having a quite dinner, just the two of us tomorrow night, and then Thursday morning we’ll be off to visit our favorite Rabbi in Westchester for services before coming home to make a big dinner for some of our friends.  I hope that you all have a wonderful and sweet new year. Shana Tovah!

p.s. A big thank you to my lovely sister Morgan for visiting me this past weekend!  I hate that I couldn’t spend more time with you while you were here, but it was wonderful to see you, even if it was only for a few hours at a time