Yikes!

It's been a while. How y'all doing? Happy Spring!

Man, this year got off to a rough start. I've had to hold off writing anything until I got some major stuff sorted out. Until now, I really haven't even been able to sit down and organize my thoughts. My good pal, Mike Hamm, died very suddenly at the start of the year. It was shocking and incredibly hard to deal with. He was 29. Rather than get too sad or write anything too grim, I'd like to put out there what an amazing guy Mike was, and how much I got from him in the short time I knew him. He never met a stranger and was always in a great mood. After he died, the party continued with his friends and family in Texas (an amazing trip, despite the circumstance), and now in NYC. I love you, pal, and I miss your stupid face!

So all of January was spent dealing with Mike's passing, and my life kind of ground to a halt for several weeks. After spending some time with his awesome family (thanks for all the wine, Mr. Hamm!), I felt considerably better, and found the motivation to get on to my next big task: finding a new apartment and moving. So that was how I spent all of February. I must have looked at over 20 apartments in Brooklyn, none of which were in my price range or were a very good fit. I ended up looking in Manhattan's Lower East Side, near Chinatown, and found a nice, quiet one bedroom close to the East River (I hear ship horns at night!). I signed the lease and made the move to Manhattan just before March. So now, not only am I not baking, I live in Manhattan. I wonder if Blogger would let me change my blog to A Candy Maker in Manhattan. Doesn't quite roll off the tongue...

My new website is still in the works, too, and it's going to look great. I wrangled a super-talented food photographer, Armando, to shoot my site for me. Gary is almost done with the logo and the layout. I'm doing a test-run at my friend Adam's restaurant kitchen this Thursday. I hope that works out - it would be great to have a dedicated space to work out of!

So yeah, after a slow start, I feel like my year finally got started in March, and it's full-steam ahead! Look for lots more coming here soon. Especially my new website, which I am so excited about!

Thanks!