A Wonderful Opportunity

Something amazing has happened. A friend of a friend reached out to me last week, saying that she had heard about my interest in becoming a baker. She owns a juice bar and offered me a chance to make healthy treats to sell to their customers. She's said she has tried it in the past but just doesn't have the time herself to make any and whenever they do have something available her clients go crazy for them.

So over the weekend I tested out two recipes and brought them over to her. I had made Vegan Chocolate Truffles and Honey Nut Oat Bars (vegan and gluten free). She loved them!! And she told me that her customers really enjoyed them too! Which means we are going to try this out and I'm going to start making her goodies to sell!!

I am over the moon excited.

If this isn't a sign, then I don't know what is!! I don't always believe in signs, but this one is smacking me in the face! It's the push I needed to actually move forward with this new career of mine. I've even made an appointment to tour the culinary school near me in the next few weeks!

I feel like things are finally starting to come together. The skies are clearing up and my life is getting a little less foggy then they've been. I've even started to slowly lose weight again! It's still scary and terrifying for me, but almost in a good way now. I'm just going to try and enjoy this ride I'm on and see how it plays out.

I know that this new opportunity may not work out, and I'm surprisingly okay with it. I'm just so excited to have a reason to bake something and make it for others to enjoy!

When I met her she asked me what I'll call myself. At first it was going to be my last name Confections. But I didn't love it. Now I'm thinking Carolyn's Confections; CC's for short. What do you think?

Making Resolutions (and sticking to them!)

I've never been big on making resolutions. I'm one of those people that doesn't believe in waiting for the "right" time to make changes. If you want to make a change, today is the day to start! Not next week or anything like that. However I'm going to change my tune this year. 2012 wasn't a particularly great year and I'm determined to change that and make 2013 wonderful!!

So here are my resolutions (some of them have already been in the works, but now I MUST accomplish them). This is why I like blogs, it holds me accountable.

* Get a new job. I've been kinda sorta looking, but now it's time to turn it up. It's time for a new challenge for me.

* Pay off my credit card. After getting money from my generous family for Christmas I was able to officially pay off one of my credit cards. (Under no circumstance am I allowed to use it from now on). Now it's on to the next one. I plan on paying it off in the next three months. By May 1 2013, I will have no more credit card debt!

* Once my credit cards have been paid off, my plan is to save $800 dollars a month out of my paycheck. So it all goes to plan I will save over $6,000 this year.

* Hit my goal weight! I've come so so far in my weight loss. I am not even close to the person I used to be, but I've gotten a little too comfortable lately and I'm up about 10 pounds right now. Now that's not even close to what I've lost, but I'm not happy. Everything is just way too tight right now. I want to lose these stubborn last 25 pounds already. They WILL be gone this year!

* Run my very first half marathon. Scheduled for the first weekend in May!! CAN"T WAIT!!! It's been on my bucket list forever.

* Run 1,000 miles (running, bike, elliptical, anything). Last year I attempted to run 1,000 miles and ended up falling short over 300 miles. Hopefully I'll hit 1,000 but being able to count all my other cardio!

I love my resolutions and I am confident I'll be able to accomplish all of them!! Here's to a better year for me and for everyone!

300!!!!!!!

This is my 300^th post!!!! I can’t believe it!!! I can’t believe I’ve kept this up for so long!

I love having a space where I can go to talk about my life and frustrations, and even get amazing feedback back! I hope to keep this up for a very long time!!

This has been a crazy week for me. It was my birthday on Monday and then I started my new job yesterday!!! So many changes, so little time to think!

First my birthday. It was great. On Sunday I went out with some friends to this amazing Bar on the beach where I proceeded to get a little tipsy. lol. Then Monday my friend took me to get my nails done as part of my birthday gift from her. Then we spent the day lounging by her pool getting some color. Later I went to dinner with my mom and brother. It was great. A nice laid back day to celebrate turning a year older.

Tuesday, I was pretty surprised when I woke up not really being nervous at all. Usually I would be a wreck, but today I was okay, a pretty good omen if anything. My trip was less than half the time it usually is which was amazing. Then when I got there they had bought me breakfast so I could meet with everyone. How sweet is that?? Then I just dove right in. They already had this big project for me to work on so I’m doing this, while learning the ropes. Plus the lady who is training me is beyond awesome. She is so sweet and patient with me. I’ve already learned tons from her. I’m taking over her position when she leaves but I know she’ll leave me with plenty of knowledge!

Everyone here has been really nice to me. They are like one big family. Plus they definitely have some great perks. For summer Fridays here I now get to leave at 12:30. Every Wednesday they give us FREE lunch!!!! Plus the greatest benefit of all. Me actually leaving at 5 and getting home before 6!!! Last night I didn’t even know what to do with myself. It was great to come home and just be able to relax.

I can’t wait to see what else this new job has in store for me and also this new life I’m making for myself!

Surreal

It still hasn't hit me yet that next week I will be starting a new job. I don't really quite believe it yet I guess. Or maybe I just can't really imagine how much my life is going to change now.

With this new job, I will get home from work before 6pm. Before I was came home from work at 8:30. I get 2 and 1/2 hours of my day back!

With this new job, I will save almost $4,000 from not having to take the train anymore. That's a lot of money!

With this new job, I will be able to dress up a bit more. With all the walking I did in the city I always had to wear sneakers, because of my foot problems. Now I can wear sandals, flats and all sorts of shoes!! Which means I can wear pretty clothes again!

With this new job, I can actually have a social life. I've been living like a hermit for almost 3 years because of my job. I always got home so late that I barely had time to eat and shower before bed. Now I can go out for happy hour if I want.

With this new job, I am going to join a gym and actually go to it! Before I had this excuse that I had no time in the day to go work out. Now I have no more excuses and it's time for me to start getting healthy again.

For the past week I've been smiling non-stop and honestly I can't remember when that has happened. I'm just so happy. I'm not even really nervous about this new job, which is so unlike me. Usually I would be one huge ball of nerves, but I've been pretty calm about it.

I can't wait to start!!!