worst. morning. ever.

ok, so i have this business called How Bout Them Apples, that we formed in my entrepreneurship class. by the end of the semester we have to make $1,500 to pass the class. so we are selling gourmet caramel apples, comparable to the ones sold at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. side note, they are delish.

anyways, it was my brilliant idea to go and sell at the farmers market. ive been really excited for it. i called and asked for everything that i needed in order to sell there. they said i would need a temporary food service permit to have a booth. so i went to the department of health and got the permit, paying $65 for the permit and to do it for 4 days (the rest of the saturdays in october). we had to have a hand-washing station set up at our booth too, so i prepared everything and got all ready to go.

so this morning i wake up nice and early, all excited, and get ready to go. i grab all my forms and my stuff and head over there. josh came with me to help me set up. so i walk over to the "office" booth and hand over my registration form with a big smile. the lady asks me what im selling and i tell her, and she asks if i have the paperwork i need to sell food. i show her the permit for the booth and then she goes, "do you have the form that says where it was made?" and i was like "umm...what form?"

im sure you can all see where this is going... i needed a form that says if the apples were made in a commercial kitchen or a "cottage kitchen." i was like i dont know what that means, and she goes did you make these in your house? i said yes. she said did someone from the health inspector come and inspect your kitchen, thus making it a "cottage kitchen." i said no, and she said i couldnt sell there.

i was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo pissed. i had called and asked what i needed. i had gone to the health department for crying out loud! and this question was never asked!! we had 74 apples that needed to be sold by today so they wont go bad. i knew we could sell them all at the farmers market, and i had spammed up everyones facebook accounts with marketing for it.

after she explained i could not sell there, and said her weak attempt at an apology, i just walked away. josh was behind me, so he heard everything. as i turned away he immediately starting trying to calm me down. on the way to the car i started to tear up, and by the time we got in the car i was basically bawling. all my plans had been foiled, my money had been wasted, and now i was stranded with 74 apples and nowhere to sell them. i went home and called all the grocery stores in provo. none of them allow people to sell in front, because of their lease. josh and i went to walmart and sat on the lawn for an hour and sold a grand total of 4.

we went back to university ave and set up in front of a flower shop and sold 1. it was a rough day, i feel like i am running this business almost single-handedly even though it's a group project, and now i have an apple filled fridge, all days within expiration.

sorry for the sob story, but it really was the worst morning ever. i needed to vent, while simultaneously explaining why i wasnt at the farmers market if anyone went to check it out. the end.