Life, Art, and Butter: Second Is The New First

Bonjour y'all! It's finally graduation time!

Before I get started, I have to ask. Is it just me or do you ever look back at pictures and wonder what the hell you were thinking when you got ready that day? Graduation is definitely one of those moments for me. I cringe when I look at these pictures. Please refrain from any judgment of ~~the hot mess on my head~~ my hair or the ~~potato sack~~ dress that I wore. Onto graduation!

I had serious butterflies in my stomach (and a lot of sweat that never seemed to end) hoping that they would call my name for both Cuisine and Pastry. Sure enough, they did!

Hooray!

At that point, I was finally able to relax (but the sweat continued...I don't get it) because all of my hard work throughout the session had paid off. After they ran through all of the graduates, it was time to name the top five in both Cuisine and Pastry. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be in the top five, so I pretty much tuned out.

When we received our certificates, they included our grades in the packet, and Nicole whispered over to me, "I bet you will be in the top five for Cuisine with that grade." I proceeded to look at her like she was crazy, and continued trying to get a decent picture of the chefs all standing in a row. The fifth, fourth, and third person were announced, and I was still tuned out until I heard the Director stumble over what sounded like my name for second place. Shock and surprise don't even begin to describe the look on my face. All I could think was, "Wait, what?? Is this a joke? There is no way I could be second in Cuisine." Sure enough, it was me! I sat there for a second to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, and then made my way up to the front for a photo-op with the chefs and the rest of the top five (lots of sweat commenced...).

Number five and number three were MIA

After Cuisine, it was time for the Pastry top five. Would you believe it if I told you that my very first friend at Le Cordon Bleu, Nicole, was number two in Pastry?? Well, believe it, because it's true! What the are the odds that I was number two in Cuisine and she was number two in Pastry? I can't even make this stuff up.

We were pretty proud of ourselves, to say the least!

It's official!

After the ceremony, we took a few pictures and took part in the champagne and dessert reception at the school.

Nicole and I with the head chef of Intermediate Pastry

The chef who always tells me my dishes are a catastrophe. Love him!

I could handle the reception for about 2.5 seconds because it was like a sauna in the room and my excessive sweat was borderline offensive, so Mom and I headed out to get lunch.

As y'all know, I am on a never-ending quest for Mexican food in Paris, and we went to a little burrito joint that tasted just like home!