Welcome to the real world!! Now what?!?

Hello everyone!! Wow, I honestly didnt realize how long it has been since the last time I wrote a blog, over 4 months!!!
Well, to say the least, ALOT HAS CHANGED SINCE I LAST WROTE! For starters, I graduated from Johnson & Wales University on May 22, 2011 with an Associates Degree in Baking & Pastry Arts. I dont honestly know if words can decribe how I felt walking into the arena as we were slowly making our way to our seats that day, but I can tell you how incredibly nervous I was when I saw how many people there were there, LET ALONE THE FACT THAT I WAS ABOUT TO GRADUATE COLLEGE! Literally, I was so nervous and hot I actually had to get up and leave at one point in the ceremony. But as the rows in front of us began to empty, the butterflies started to get more and more frequent and finally it was time for us to get up and walk toward the stage. The only thought I had running through my head at that moment was "Holy crap am I seriously doing this right now?" & ,"This is not happening!" I took one step onto the stange and every emotion and butterfly that had i had had for the last hour completely disappeared!! I walked across that stage and held my head so high and smiled the biggest smile ive ever had and realized that I stepped onto the stage as a young woman who was on her way to growing up who didnt know much about anything and just wanted to make it though college alive...and stepped off as the first person to graduate college from my family and a grown woman with a bright future ahead of her! I couldnt believe that I was done. On May 22, 2011, I finiahed one chapter of my life, and began another that I cant wait to start writing!! I met some of the most incredible people Ive ever known in the 2 years I spent at Johnson & Wales University, and unfortunately, as I hate to say this, I come to the realization that I may never see any of those incredible people again :( On a happpy note, thats why Facebook rocks ;)  Anyway, as we all drove home from Rhode Island that afternoon, I still couldnt get over the fact that I was done with school & all i could say to myself was " WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD SARA!! NOW WHAT?!

Well, its been almost 6 months now and Ive accomplished more in the past 6 months that I could have ever imagined. I started a job at a hotel in Kennebunkport, Maine called The Tides Beach Club and was hired to be the Breakfast Cook along with the Pastry Chef. It sounds like a dream job but at first it was anything but "dreamy." My first day was a 12 hour shift and my second was a 10. I cried for what seemed like a week and started looking up new places to work. After I started meeting new people that would soon become my everyday coworkers, I started to adjust. I learned tons of new things and got to work with some of the most talented chefs ive ever encountered.
The Executive Sous Chef, John Shaw, was my former boss at The Kennebunkport Inn who I loved to work for, asked me to work at an event that he was hosting one summer night. The Kennebunkport Festival comes to Kennebunkport every year and this year I was going to be apart of it. I spent the night at Earth at Hidden Pond (a "sister" company to The Tides Beach Club where I currently worked at) plating passed appetizers and go to meet some of the most incredible chefs Maine has to offer. It was one if not "the one" most incredible experiences Ive gotten to experience and I can not thank John enough. Plus, a bonus was finding out that there was a picture of me plating food in the local magazine :) SCORE!!
The hotel closed on October 31, 2011 and I am currently employed at 2 different locations. Fernleaf Bakery in downtown Saco is my first job and I am also a Cafe Barista at the new Books-A-Million bookstore in South Portland. Over all, having 2 jobs isnt the easiest thing in the world for sure, but it pays the bills and its not going to be my life forever.

Somedays are easy & somedays I feel like completely giving up. Im almost 21 years old with 2 jobs, a boyfriend that i love but hardly get to see anymore, absolutely no social life, and the most incredible, supportive & loving family a girl could as for. I always wonder what my life is going to look like 10, 20 or 30 years down the road and im scared to find out what the real world has in store for me. For now, my life consists of Job #1, than Job #2, sleep a few hours, and repeat....WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD!!!

<3 xoxo <3