Gingerbread Latte Season

Today I spoke at a career day in a high school that I absolutely adore. It's a little catholic school tucked away in quaint old neighborhood near the plaza. The kids are really cute in their little uniforms and they're friendly and polite and the teachers all think I'm the Iron Chef. Well today there was a plethora of professionals like myself speaking in various classrooms about their chosen careers. The students were all able to choose which sessions they wanted to go to. So if you're a high school student who do you think you're going to want to hear speak- an accountant or a "chef" who is handing out free samples. Exactly. My sessions were so full each time students had to be turned away. At one point I had the principal, vice principal and two counselors hovering in the doorway trying to catch a glimpse of my amazing presentation. So you can see why I enjoy coming to this school, I'm a freaken celebrity. Even the popular girl clique in their top siders and brand new Ugg boots were smiling at me and encouraging me to continue with my knife tosses and flame throws. Naturally, I left this school with a little bit of strut in my step- I mean for ever how much you can actually strut while pulling a cooler and Wal Mart wheel suitcase.

I had one more school to speak at before going home, so in my down time I took one of my favorite Starbucks time outs. I've noticed I tend to mark the passing of seasons with lattes. I was extremely excited for the pumpkin spice latte when fall began, although I only drank one because I actually prefer my standard caramel latte instead. Today I have had my first Gingerbread latte of the season. Once again, I will only have one because my caramel is just that much better. I just feel I have to have at least one to make the season official. I wonder why they don't have an Easter egg latte, or perhaps a deviled egg latte. They need something to mark the beginning of spring I feel. Summer usually means an iced latte, but I think a lemonade latte would suffice, as well. I will have to send my ideas to Starbucks. I'll send it with my complaint letter regarding their "low cal coffee cake" they pretend to serve. Low cal is incorrect, it should be called lowER cal than the actual extremely fattening normal coffee cake. Three hundred and thirty calories for a sliver of cake does not a low cal make. I knew I shouldn't have googled the nutrition facts on the coffee cake because it was just that good I knew it couldn't be that good. What can you do. Tis the season for getting very very chubby. I don't know why I even attempt to "get in shape" before Cabo since I spend every waking minute eating and drinking there. I just really hope my mom doesn't bring the video camera this year. There is a reason home videos typically stop after children are above the age of 12. I'll never forget the horror of seeing myself frolic in the ocean in a bikini a' la wide screen television a week after the trip. Awful. I might as well start taking notes now on E!'s show "What's Eating You" to learn some weight loss tips. I just don't think I could get myself to eat cotton balls. That is where I draw the line.

My last stop today was an alternative high school. Alternative as in teens who are either too dumb or too naughty to attend a normal high school. Talk about a complete 180 from my first lovely private school. These students were rude, obnoxious, dirty teens. They quickly reminded me why I despise my job. I went from having my own cooking TV show to being that circus entertainer I loathe. The only time the students paid any attention is when I rolled my basil leaves into a cut that is known as a "chiffonade," they were particularly interested in how I was able to roll the leaves so tightly without letting any seeds or stems in. By the end I'd had enough so I cut my presentation by like twenty minutes and simply slipped out the door. Nobody even noticed. Three more days of work and then it's Cabo for seven days... I don't know if I can make it. Every time I add lime juice to the salsa I make I can literally taste the Corona in my mouth. Three more days. Luckily, I work at a very "rough" school on Monday in south Kansas City, so if the weather is nice and if the scent of this school is as I remember it, I might already feel as if I am in Mexico.