Sweet Dreams

Nocturnal creature. This is how I describe myself the past few weeks. I only go to bed around 1 in the morning and it takes sometime for me to slow down and call it a day. Hyper. That's also my current state of mind. It's past midnight and I just have to write this blog as the topic has been floating in my head the past two days. The habit of writing a blog has form part of my daily routine and something is just amiss if I don't have an entry. I wasn't able to blog for a couple of days as I met with a food consultant last Wednesday and yesterday, I was in class the whole day.

Things are falling into places and I'm gaining momentum in terms of how I'm co-managing the pastry business with Ma. For a start, the ensaymadas we tried baking are now available. Fortunately, this week alone, we have received orders and we also got inquiries from prospective clients. Thank you! 0:-) I'll separately write a blog for this product and will show you as well how the packaging looks like and how painstakingly it was prepared and baked to achieve it's soft texture and sweet cheesy taste.

Last Wednesday, I spent the afternoon with Sheilla, a food consultant. (Thanks Wins and Robs for referring her to me!) She has been helping Ma and I to get the business off the ground and she's been giving a lot of valuable inputs. She taught me how to do food costing and we discussed marketing and product concepts. I already found a product that I want to introduce in the market and I haven't seen this kind in the Philippines so far. It's a fresh concept and approach and I'll make sure my vision turns into a reality. I'll be meeting Sheilla again on Monday and we'll be baking cookies and trying different recipes.

I have a sweet dream and I'm pursuing it. Finally, I have a vision of how my future will be. Clearly, I see it. I have seen what I'll be doing for the rest of my life and I'm certain, it will happen. I'll be going back to the corporate world soon (as I already got the call from the HR department :-( ) but I will never lose sight of where I'm heading to. I'd like to save up so I can go back to school. It's not for a MBA as I never really see myself taking post graduate studies. My sights are in taking a baking / pastry course maybe outside of the country. I have heard of these schools and I want to learn more. (I can be a geek.)

While I'm crazy about my dream, I have several reminders for myself to keep me sane:
1. My dream doesn't happen overnight. Well, I wanted to be a genius at what I want to do in a month's time but it just ain't going to happen that way. It'll take years of practice before I can be an expert at this.
2. Have patience my dear. Success is a conspiracy of time and circumstances.
3. Along the way, I will make mistakes and I should never be disheartened. You know how perfectionist I am. I want to get it right the first time.
4. Aim for excellence but not perfection. I want to be the best at what I do but I have to keep in mind that perfection does not exist. Case in point are my icing that sometimes doesn't seem to hold well and I have to remedy it to stiffen. The icing flowers "wilt" when initially they held up perfectly only to fall apart after a day.
5. It pays to let go of unnecessary details. While it's good to be detailed, it is best that I learn to prioritize on what I think is important.
6. Share what you learn. Pay it forward. To reach my destination, people are helping me now to achieve my goal and I should do the same for others.
7. I am not a Superwoman. I cannot do everything in a day. I have to be kind to myself. I might overwork myself (again) thinking that there are more than 24 hours in a day.
8. Most importantly, God is a giving and kind God. Ask and we shall receive. He gives me strength and guidance in how I should run my life. 0:-) Things have been really good since I started praying daily.

Find your passion and never give up on your dreams. It's a different high. Night!

P.S. For tomorrow, I'll be posting pictures of the different flowers I put together for last Thursday's class.