My life has been a roller coaster since graduating. Much of that has to do with a foundation my mom started in 2004 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She passed away this past December. She was my best friend and a remarkable woman. My dad, other members of her foundation and I are trying to fill her incredibly large shoes by proceeding forth with the foundation.
In the spring of 2008, I finished up school slightly early so I could move back home and be with my family. Upon my return to the Portland area, I took on my third restaurant job––making pizza at a shop in Sellwood. The first two jobs were assembly line style Mexican joints. Very unfulfilling.
I quit the pizza place and took a two month backpacking trip through Europe. Though I maintained a relatively tight budget, I spent my time studying the people, the food in the window displays, the menus, the restaurants and the markets. I definitely experienced my fair share of gelato, crepes, baguettes, pizza, cappuccino and sandwiches, however.
Once back home, I started work at a little Italian restaurant in Lake Oswego. It was short lived. I love food prep, but you can only do so much of the same thing under confining conditions for so long. I strongly disliked all the places I worked, but I sure as hell learned what I would do differently.
My long-term goal is to have a place of my own serving a seasonal, ever-changing menu with locally sourced ingredients. Currently, I’m working part time at an industrial food brokerage. We source ingredients for companies that make finished food products. It’s certainly not the creative side of the food industry, but I’m learning a lot.
Outside the food realm, I write. A lot. Everything from music to short stories to marketing materials for my mom’s foundation. I sing. My guitarist and I are currently breaking into the world of performance. I run. No marathons yet. I reduce, reuse and recycle. I’m a sap for the good health of humanity, and our fellow living organisms. I eat. Though for pleasure, it’s a very deliberate and analytical process. When eating out, I try for a new place each time. The Portland restaurant scene is now beyond up and coming––it’s here. And I’m doing the best I can to keep up with it.
My goal for the near future, however, is to land a job in writing. Whether it’s for an ad agency, a progressive company, a magazine, a newspaper––anything. I just want to write! And be surrounded by great people. Is that so much to ask? In this economy…perhaps.
