Tea, (so much more than) a drink with jam and bread

Who knew?! There is SO much to learn about tea! Do you know the difference between white, green, and black tea? What temperature is ideal for water for tea? How to decaffeinate any tea?

Neither did I two days ago.

The past few days I've been training as a barista and a host at Alice's Teacup. If you've never been there, you're missing out-- honestly. The whole place is themed around Alice in Wonderland, so the menu has options on it like "The Mad Hatter" and "The Jabberwocky" (if you're really, really hungry). Little girls who walk in are offered fairy wings that they can wear during their meal, and anyone can make a wish when sprinkled with fairy dust at the front counter.

So far I've really enjoyed it. The staff has been really friendly and welcoming (maybe it has something to do with that Gretchen, my roommate and good friend, is their manager-- but I like to think it's purely because they're nice people); and everyone is encouraged to be themselves and to have a good time.

My biggest complaint at this point is that they make me feel very unaccomplished. Most of my fellow employees are aspiring actors/actresses, singers, or writers. They're not really sure what to do with me when I don't fit into any of these categories. Some of them are relieved to have "different blood" in the mix; others I think really aren't sure what to talk to me about since I'm not taking auditions or submitting writing samples like the rest of them.

I was tempted to tell them "I blog-- that's my artistic talent"; but then I'd have to give them the blog address, and I wouldn't be able to write stories about them....