Weekend FUN!

My first official Culinary School "assignment" was due on Friday. We were supposed to turn in a one-page concept statement addressing our business idea and also present the concept to the class. (As part of my presentation, I brought in French pastries for the class - Treats always help people like presentations better, I've found). The concept statement consists of a brief intro, a mission statement, and then a description of the four major "products" you sell in a food establishment: the food, the service, the ambience and the "sizzle." I presented my concept statement and it was very well received by our class and instructor. I also got some great feedback and feel like I've come a long way in developing my business concept, just in the short time I've been here. From this point, we'll work on developing a menu and eventually, I'll write and present an entire business plan. There were some other fantastic business ideas presented by my classmates...I am surrounded by brilliance! Of course, once that was done, we were all ready to celebrate! We left school and went to this place down the street called Trailer Park (www.trailerparklounge.com). Todd joined us there when he was done working and got to meet all of my new friends. It was FANTASTIC! They had good burgers and decent, cheap margaritas. Plus, the place was decorated like a giant double-wide, complete with tacky women and all! It's right by my school, so I'm sure we'll be back...Saturday I had to get up early because I thought I might have a job (long story), but I ended up back at the apartment around noon. We took the tram into the city (picture attached) and thought we'd check out Bloomingdale's "50% off all clearance items" SALE, but it turns out that everything on clearance was about $150 or more, so even at 50% off, we're still looking at a $75 sweatshirt. Yikes! We had plans at 5:00, so we didn't stay out long before we went home to get ready for our evening. We had been wanting to go to this German restaurant called Rolf's which is known for it's outrageous Christmas decorations. Well, I'm glad we went Saturday because it really was a sight to behold. (And they take the Christmas display down on Wednesday to swap it out for Valentine's Day.) We went from there to the Lower East Side to meet a classmate of mine and her boyfriend for dinner at a place called the Stanton Social. Really trendy little "small plates" restaurant. Everyone loves to serve small plates here. For a big price. But, it was really happening, lots of fun and the food was pretty good. Today, Todd and I took the train to Brooklyn - our first trip there. We went to a little neighborhood called Park Slope. I really enjoyed it - there were lots of shops, little restaurants and the cross streets were lined with beautiful brownstones and lots of trees. Very charming. Tonight we ate dinner at home (balanced the expensive dinner last night by splitting a $1.59 can of Healthy Choice soup), did laundry and Todd had to do a little work at the computer. I tried my best not to distract him. Tomorrow I have an appointment with Bumble and Bumble University (a special hair college). If they analyze my hair and it passes the test, I might get to be a test dummy for their students and get free haircuts and highlights. You may not recognize me the next time you see me!