The Motherload, and DAMN!!

I receive e-mail updates from Budget Travel. Today I received an e-mail that had a list of 10 Top Paris Food Blogs. I, being the sucker for anything Paris, clicked on it immediately and began to hear the angels sing. I am getting so fired up about getting back in to researching for my own tours that these listings and their contents will be the source of so much great information, I am thrilled.

I was encouraged and worried when I saw that David Lebowitz is doing a tour that is set up very similarly to the format that I was planning; an all included, week-long tour of Paris incorporating other already-established food professionals, tours and classes. It was encouraging because someone is doing it, and his tour is sold out. Discouraging and worrisome because I had not seen any tours like mine, until today. There were just NO week-long tours in Paris to be found, at least not easily. Maybe that in itself should be encouraging. If it's not easy to find then that means that there is a market for it. I say that because I know I'm not the only fool looking for something like this.

Anyhow, I have a lot of reading to do... if the baby will let me.

Here are some of the blog sites I found. Chances are that, if you are anything like me, you have already seen and love a couple of these sites if not all of them. Either way, enjoy!!

David Lebowitz
Meg Zimbeck
Chocolate & Zucchini
Dorie Greenspan
Simon Says is cool for a few reasons, one being that there is a list of restaurants by arrondisement in Paris.

Serendipidy

The John Cusac flick Serendipity was on today. In keeping with the theme of the movie, I can't help but look at Julie & Julia is serendipitous for me. I needed a sign, something to reignite my passion for what I want to do with my career. It has been a year since I really spent time thinking about it and the time has come again.

As I write this, one of my favorite movies is starting, The Witches of Eastwick. I especially relate this movie right now because my body has become one of Cher's "Boobie Dolls". It's funny, topo, that it's cherry season. If you've seen the movie, you'd get that.

Now that I think about it, it's interesting that this movie has come on. These strong, talented (fertile) women manifest what they are looking for. In this case it's a man, but really it's a well thought out ideal that inspires them to find themselves, to find their strengths and passions. In the end, it's not about the man, it's about how they come together to support one another, to live their lives to their fullest, to live fearlessly and to face those fears.

Speaking of living your life to the fullest, I am making baby-step progress with my business plan. I have printed out the template. That isn't a lot, but I've got the babes in tow, so paying attention to it is an effort.

Speaking of the babes, it's time to play.

Dry July

I have decided to have a Dry July. Although I fudged a bit when Reema came over, and really fudged this last Saturday, I am back on the program.

What are the reasons behind this? It's getting to be time that I can no longer blame my baby for my weight. If I have it now, it's mine, not hers. Drinking is expensive. Even my bargain bottles, 1.5 liter bottles and dare I say box wines were adding up. I can't live in the red just for a nicely-chilled white. I am also doing it for my daughter. Taking care of myself has never been more important. Being an older mom, I want to be sure that I am alive and kicking to see my grand-babies. And, well, when one is never enough, it's time to call it quits.

So, here's to ya on this Bastille day. Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité... Sanité.

Progress

I have found a business plan template in MS Office that will work just great! I have started to fill it out and now I need to do some market research and crunch some numbers. I have a lot of the numbers already done, now I just need to find them in one of my many notebooks that I have kept over he last year or two. No worries, it's there, just a little buried.

This is good. I've made some good moves today.

Catching my breath

I need to slow down and breathe. This movie, Julie and Julia, is inspiring me. I want to be in Paris, and I want to change my life, professionally that is, like Julie Powell did. I have a great tour idea, now I just need to get off my butt and do it. I need to stop listening to my dad, bless him, who keeps telling me that I won't be able to get a business loan because of my credit. Who ever said I have bad credit? I need to apply for a loan and have them tell me I have bad credit.

Things to do:
- Free credit report.com. If there's an issue, fix it.
- Write a business plan
- go to the SBA or my bank, hell, it seems that Chase wants to own the world, why not part of my business for a while, huh?
- Set a date for the first trip that may be a 'friends and family' kind of trip just to get any kinks out. Discounted rates just to cover costs for their input and advice.
- Secure contractors on the ground in Paris.


AWESOME!!! I just checked my credit score and it is EXCELLENT!! 733.

OK, now to write my business plan. That won't be as quick a process as checking my credit score, but I'll get it done. I'll set a date. Tuesday, July 28th.

This is encouraging. I need to be my own cheerleader. No one in my family really gets what I'm trying to do and that it is a viable business idea, even in this economy. If anything, this is the best time to do it.

OK, I'm off to research a template for a business plan.

Uugh!!

Fair warning, this in a brain dump.

I started to cry while watching a commercial advertising the release of the movie Julie and Julia, based on the book by the same name. There was a line in it that said something to the effect of, "I have thoughts too" referring to the main character's wanting to do SOMETHING with her life. She had the idea of cooking every recipe in Julia child's cook book and blogging about it. She did it and wrote a book out of the experience. (Great book) Both she and Julia Child did something 'crazy' and made something of it. They also had the support of their loving husbands to get them through it.

I want to say, "I have thoughts too" I want to do something crazy and have it turn out great. I also want the support and encouragement from my loved ones. More often than not I feel like they think my ideas are too crazy, but if I just had one person say, "Do it!" and mean it and help me realize my idea(s), I know I could be successful.

I want to do it for myself. I want to do it for Lorelei. I can't wait tables for ever. I don't want to. I need to find a way to make our living that's NOT behind a desk. Oy!

Another Chapter

It's been some time since I've posted anything here. A lot has been going on. Here's the Reader's Digest version. I found out I was pregnant on May 2nd. A few days later my boyfriend, with whome I had spoken about marriage and kids, decided that a baby and a relationship with me was not in his cards. So, I'm going to be a single mom and I'm preparing for that. Baby comes in December, so I still have a couple of months to pull some things togehter. Namely the groundwork for my next career move.

In that vain, I can't stop thinking about France, more specifically Paris. Elle me manque (I miss it). I had planned to do a Food Minded Traveler R&D trip this September, but I'm a little too pregnant to go to Paris by myself right now. So, my new plan is to have a 'dry run' tour with (hopefully) six paying guests whoes opinions and feedback I can use to fortify future tours. I also plan to alter the tour a bit in that I will rent an apartement large enough to house everyone insteadd of just me and a chef. This way it will be cheaper for the guests (no hotel fees).

Also on the career track, I am waiting to hear back from a gal who runs a Seattle food tour with whom I have spoken about taking the position of Operations Coordinator/Manager. This is a fantastic opportunity for me to cross over from F&B to Tourism. She also brought up the idea of incorporating FMT tours into her company, which I would welcome!! I would also be assisting her in the developement of other tours in Seattle as well as other American cities. The pay will not be that great in the beginning, but the oportunity I just can not pass up like I did with Europanache and Backrroads. I need to have a longer vision and not be so shortsided.

So, for now, I won't be able to afford to go out and eat in order to review restaurants, and I'm definitely not hitting the bar scene anytime soon. All I can do is attempt to budget the money I make, and make smart moves in regard to my tour and job potential.