Summer in Silicon Valley

I feel like that sounds so glamorous, “Summer in Silicon Valley” but honestly, I feel pretty darn glamorous!

I love Summer, and as I sit here with the doors and windows wide open, a cool summer breeze is passing through my apartment.  (Fortunately, the downstairs neighbors aren’t smoking because that really ruins it.)  Summer brings about unlimited possibilities and creativity.  It’s a time to break outside, be care-free and have an adventure!

With summer comes swimming, parties, and homemade ice cream! I made a cranberry sorbet last week which James LOVES though the after taste is a bit tart for me.  I found a variation on Pinterest that includes rosemary, so I think I may make that next! I pinned it to my Food Board if you want to check it out (http://www.pinterest.com/elisseaimee/yummy-goodness/) ((Woo hoo, look at me, I figured out how to insert a link!))

Though here is the recipe I used:

All you need is:

1.5 C H2O

1.5 C C12H22O11 (Otherwise known as Sugar (or sucrose))

2.5 C Plain Cranberry Juice

You are going to want to combine the Water and Sugar and boil for about 1 minute (until all the sugar is dissolved). Then, pour in the Cranberry Juice, bring to a boil again and just remove the mixture from the heat.  Once that’s cooled to room temp, refrigerate it for 3-8 hours.  Next, pour it into your ice cream maker (follow the manufacturers instructions) and mix until it’s the consistency you want.

You will want to then move it to your freezer container and freeze at least 2 hours before serving.   I used basil as a garnish because well, it was pretty! I also served the sorbet in a martini glass because that was fun too.  I’m sure you have some creative serving suggestions (which by the way I would love to hear).

This past week, I’ve also had several failed attempts at chocolate chip muffins and a cake.  Turns out, baking at high altitude is actually far easier than at sea level!

Other then that, I’m going to take a moment to brag about what a wonderful fiance I have. I woke up the other morning to this on the table:

Yes, I feel loved and yes, I do have the best fiance ever!

But to wrap it up, get outside and enjoy the weather! It’ll be cool outside before we know it so let’s spend August soaking up the rays! (Metaphorically of course because we’re all wearing our sunscreen!)

 

Working for Disney

My amazing ride on Space Mountain with the lights on!

Space Mountain with the Lights On! This was a magical moment that made my life!

The Disney College Program is NOTHING like what I thought it would be and working at Disney World is hardly a fairy tale. I started off as a lifeguard at Typhoon Lagoon but due to an excessive amount of lifeguards was deployed to Fast Pass Plus. So, I stand all day holding an iPad (which after 6 hrs can actually be very heavy) and book guests’ fast passes.
Who knew guests were so crazy! (and some of the cast members too) Going into this experience, I knew that there were sometimes going to be disgruntled guests but I had no Idea how many! Honestly, it’s a breath of fresh air when you see the next guest walking up to you is smiling. It’s Disney World for goodness sake people, SMILE! In training we learn that the average family visiting Disney World has saved for 4-5 years and is spending $10,000 on their vacation. This is a very sobering statistic and if a family has worked this hard to be at Disney then I want to help make their vacation amazing, but there really is only so much we can do.
There are the generic grumpy people who are spending their expensive vacation in a bad mood because they can only get 3 fast passes per day and there are the angry annual pass holders who don’t like the new fast pass system however, several days ago I had a family wanting to book fast passes at 8:00pm (which is really too late anyways but I was going to help them get some fast passes). One of the sons asked if you had to pay taxes on fast passes and I explained that no you don’t because they are free and each person gets 3 per day. He then proceeded to ask if I would be willing to sign a contract that they would not need to pay….what am I supposed to do with that?!? No, I will not sign any contract now give me your damn tickets and let me get you a fast pass. People are crazy.
Biologically, people are programmed to focus on the negative. This goes back to when we were hunter/gatherers because a human was more successful at procreation if they focused on negative experiences because that meant that generally they lived longer enabling them to have more offspring. Fast forward a few thousand years to 2014 and I now try to focus on the positive at the end of a work day. I try to remember a few happy interactions I had with guests…but that’s an uphill battle and frankly, the crazies make for better stories.