One Impressively Long Absence

Okay.  I admit it.  That absence was perhaps just a little too long!  What have I been up to?  I actually did finish culinary school!  Graduated and everything!  Work went incredibly well for me; so much so that, for the first time in memory, Franco’s offered to sponsor a work visa for me which would allow me to stay in London, cooking at that beautiful spot for quite a while!  I admit, it was incredibly tempting.  However, after tons of thought, soul-searching, and achingly overwhelming homesickness, I decided to return to the US.  Not Minnesota, though.  I had to do quite a lot of thinking about where I actually wanted to live!  New York seemed the obvious choice, but was that really what I wanted?  The grind, the noise, the weather (I was leaving good old MN for a reason!), the cockroaches!  I wasn’t sure about facing the prospect of living in a tiny shoebox of an apartment and dealing with everything that makes NY what it is. Finally, it hit me.  California! The weather is perfect and the local food is unbeatable.  The produce!  Oh, the produce!  I’d been reading about the culinary scene in northern California for years.  I thought I’d really love to head to Napa, but I didn’t dare plan on making it in such a highly esteemed (and very small) food scene.  San Francisco would be a dream!  I know, it’s foggy.  And rainy.  And also just about perfect!  I’d spent my life in Minnesota and the last year in London!  San Francisco couldn’t hold a candle to the weather I’d seen!  Full of doubt and trepidation, I bought a ticket, packed my bags, and headed to California!