It's Been a Long Road, Chica

The days have been long and hard in the shop lately, which is weird since we're doing less and less business now that there are no more holidays. Still, the occasional wedding and tasting event keeps me quite busy in between lulls. Lulls? Did I really type that? Zach (my assistant and professional wing-man) and I are spending so much of our energy insuring that we are prepared for this autumn and then winter holidays that there doesn't seem to be a moment to breath. There are no lulls when you own a business. Life is fun that way!

Still, at times like these I find myself reviewing my professional accomplishments in search of reassurance that I am, indeed, moving in the right direction. The blog is great fun to personally review, especially in the context of my personal voice and POV, but Eclipse has a much deeper history than that.

In fact, Steffanie, woodworker and furniture designer extraordinaire and maker of the custom displays and tables in the cafe, was just commenting on how she gave me my first break as a fledgling chocolatier. She and I were in art school together when she commissioned me to make her truffles as wedding favors back in the fall of 2003. Seems like a lifetime ago.

And so Eclipse began. Within a week of doing her favors I set out to photograph and design the Truffle Tasting Guide (our pamphlet that goes into each box of truffles) and I found myself considering chocolate as a legit career.

A week later I found this on my sculpture studio workbench, and odd gift from an encouraging friend. It features a Xerox photo of a Mexican pin-up, who's name escapes me right now, but I've been assured that she is very recognisable.

If you can't quite make it out (reading between the chocolate stains and cocoa butter spots) it reads:

A Personal Testimonial-

"Eclipse truffles are great for my figure- they give me the strength to hold in my stomach muscles"

Virgina "Cha Cha" Gusterwiller

Funny, even with the extra syllable in my last name. I think she wrote it out like that as a joke, but also because she wasn't quite sure how to spell Gustwiller at all. Still, I love it and it keeps me going. Thanks to everyone who keeps coming back from more!