black forest

so. . .

my apologies for being off the grid for awhile. i know i drop off the earth periodically, but this time i have a pretty good excuse: sam and i bought a bakery in the berkshires, and for the last month i've been working 16 hours a day or more, seven days a week. now that summer is coming to an end, and lots of the second-homers are heading out of our part of the beautiful country and back to the real world, business has calmed down a bit and today i was able to sleep in for the first time in weeks, and i'm currently sitting on a couch in a small cottage on a lake, eating homemade blueberry pie for breakfast and taking in a sex and the city marathon.

i honestly don't even know where to begin. sam and i have been talking about opening our own place forever, but everything happened so quickly once we actually got to looking that i really didn't even have time to stop and think about it. we stumbled upon the place on our way home from quebec city in june - a cute little cafe & bakery in northwest connecticut, owned by a husband and wife who wanted to retire - and by the time we got back from our trip to champaign and chicago, we had two weeks to quit my job, pack our apartment, find a place up here and file more paperwork than you can believe. and once we arrived, we really hit the ground running - the place has a full staff, and was running the day we took over, so we didn't have the luxury of a few days to get set up, find our sea legs and make even minor changes. we've been working 100+ hour weeks, making changes as we're able, and basically making it up as we go along. it's more work than i ever could have imagined.

and you know what? it's an absolute dream come true.

first of all, i can't believe how lucky i am to have a guy who will put everything he's dreamed of for himself aside to give me everything i've ever wanted. of course, there's plenty in it for him too - we're staying in a cottage right on the lake, with a dock leading out the back and mountains and trees filling the windows of our glassed-in porch. it's funny - when we first met, sam had a travel job and i worked much of the weekend, so we barely got any time together; now we spend every moment of the day with each other, and it's honestly one of the best parts of my new life. we've always gotten along so well, and effortlessly, and now we get to share everything with each other - it's pretty amazing. then there's the fact that i get to do what i love all day, every day - and make every decision about what to make, how it should look, what the special should be and what should go up on the walls. the people up here are friendly, and it is such an insanely beautiful place.

we have a long way to go to get the place where we want it - the pastries i've changed over for the most part, but the breakfast and lunch menu, the decor, and even the name will all probably change bit by bit. we've accomplished so much in the first 40 days, and people have been so encouraging and kind about the changes we're making - i think it's going to be a pretty awesome little spot.

so - forgive my lengthened silence, and the probably-abstruse nature of this post - i'm hoping things are cooling down a bit, business-wise, as the fall rolls in, and i'll have more time to update this blog and get something up and going for the bakery, too. in the meantime, i'll throw up a few photos i took a couple weeks in - entirely gratuitous food porn and nothing of the bakery, or the town, but i'll do my best to carry my camera around more frequently and throw some more substantial photos up soon.

thanks for hanging in there with me!

xo audrey