Time On My Hands

Since I'm an invalid for at least another day, I have decided to make myself useful.

As you can probably tell by the new picture... I've had a lot of time on my hands; time I've used to make some strides.

Just like I was a couple of months ago, fresh out of bartending school, I'm going to plunge into another market (NYC) for bartenders with just a little bit of experience and a big smile under my belt.  Everyday something happens that makes me glad I went to business school; yesterday it was this:

If you're short on experience, be as professional and memorable as you can.  

I already have a pretty snazzy bartending resume, a photo selection (I need more current and varied photos though), and apply to jobs with a cover letter already, but I didn't have any business cards, though I've been meaning to make them for THE LONGEST time.  I was supposed to have a stack with me when I bartended my friend's Grown & Sexy party (GREAT party, btw... we did it big w/a chocolate fountain and strawberries, yo!) the day before Valentine's Day...

Anyway.  So, I Googled "bartending business cards" to see what other people were doing.  I already knew I wanted one with my photo on there; this can be a very superficial profession... and if they like your look, that's like 50+ points worth of experience.  I saw this one site that offered to turn your picture into a cartoon and put it behind a bar.  Loved it.  Decided I could do it my damn self on Photoshop (I had to YouTube "How to cartoon yourself using Photoshop"), print them out on card stock and cut them at my local FedExKinkos.  (See my new profile picture of me holding my 2nd favorite whiskey?  Yeah... Jack used to be my man, but I gotta go with Bushmills now.  I LOVE IRISH WHISKEY!).  I'm also going to put one of my specialty recipes on the back with "and plenty more where that came from" at the bottom.  Ooh!  And my card is vertical instead of horizontal.  Subtle creativity =)

So, yeah... I've also started going over more drinks in my bartender books because popular drinks vary from region to region.  Like, you'll probably only hear a Bone Crusher ordered in the DC area because the bartender who came up with it worked here.  I gotta figure out what the most common NY drinks are.  The customers at the bar where I've been working are pretty consistent: Long Island, Long Beach, Bone Crusher, H2O, Apple Martini, Martini, Patron Margarita, Cuervo Margarita, Rusty Nail, Mai Tai, Zombie, Singapore Sling, French Connection, Blue Motorcycle, Sex on the Beach.  

Sometimes I get flirty and tell male customers I'm going to test their manliness by giving them a 3Wise Men (Jose, Jack, Johnny + Gingerale).  Seriously, anyone that can drink that without gagging... you got it.  I don't mind the Jack and Johnny; I'm a whiskey drinker, but tequila... blech!  GAG!

And eventually, I'm going to find someone to PIMP MY BLOG!  (Or do it myself, although I hate doing things that aren't my specialty when it saves more time for someone to do it for me.).  It's 'bout to get interactive up in this piece.

By the way... follow me on Twitter if you aren't already: @MixmasterNikki.  I usually frequently update whatever's going on behind the bar when I'm working.

COMING UP NEXT:

(1)  My big plans.

(2)  My dad's first trip to my job.

(3)  Some character studies: Silly Girl, Accent and Tambourine.