Cruising for Chocolate

Duty calls...I'm off to cruise Europe in search of the quintessential chocolate shop to replicate back here in the states. It all starts in Southampton, England. From there, trudging on to Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. I'm looking for quaint, off-the-beaten path chocolate, all in the name of research, of course. So if anyone cares to share a secret, do it quick before I get there (julie@thechocolatetherapist.com). It's not quite all fun and games--I do have to give 5 presentations about chocolate while cruising. It seems easy enough but months of prep have gone in to the planning to bring enough schwag for 5 classes of chocolate lovers in a suitcase that weighs less than 50 lbs....really, it's a challenge! Thanks mom and dad for babysitting the house, and teen sitting the kids. It's all good.

Starting Point

I set up this blog a couple of years ago and never actually did anything with it because I didn't have time. It's not like there's any more time now than there was then, which leads me to believe that I should just do it and quit waiting for time. Apparently if you don't have any now, you're not going to have any in the future either. On to blogging.

The Chocolate Therapist chocolate shop is a reality show waiting to happen. Every day is unexpected, whether it's the people who come in to the shop, the media, the drain clogging up or a chocolate-maker-gone-wild. (It happens...too much chocolate in a day can push a person to the edge of reason.) Fortunately the clothes generally stay on the laughs are plenty. It's a bit like "I Love Lucy" in the chocoalte shop scenes, although I know once I arrive the tension levels increase because the staff calls me "chaos." I don't mind though though because I don't believe in chaos--only disguised order appearing chaotic. My life is a prime example of the Fibonacci Spiral....just keeps looping back, each time a shade different, as if to give me a chance to fix what I missed the first loop through.

You know how it is? When you want to give up and you cry yourself to sleep at night, the next day you wake up and something so amazing happens that you decide you can go on for at least another week or two. A few years ago when I was just starting this leap-of-faith I decided that crying actually created action from the universal source, so I started using it as a bargaining tool. Once things were headed in the right direction, I decided not to use that tack any more. However, I'm going to recommend it for anyone who feels like crying because life is hard--just do it! If nothing else, the self-pity will escape and you'll wake up feeling refreshed. Use Preparation H on your eyes to get rid of puffiness--I actually saw that in the National Enquirer, so it must work because everything in there is true:).

Ciao chocolate lovers....until tomorrow or next year.