Something Out of Nothing

Guess what I am doing at this very moment? (Que Jeopardy music for a ten second pause.) Did you guess blogging?? Well duh.  Aside from the obvious answer, I am actually sitting in a Little Caesar's Pizzeria enjoying my very own large plain cheese.  I am a girl on a budget remember??

In a last ditch effort to shake the money tree, I have gotten fairly... ummmm -----.  Not desperate! No, no... CREATIVE!!  Yes, let's call it creative.

I rounded up about ten years worth of winter jackets, skin tight blue jeans, boots, wedges and host of other miscellaneous accessories and hauled them off to a resale clothing store.  They estimated that the sorting process would take roughly forty-five minutes and so I decided to kill a few birds with one stone.  Eat some lunch, write my blog and hopefully, turn a decades worth of laundry into some cold hard cash.

Let me tell you something folks; I'm getting really good at this part-time business of turning a little somethin' something out of a whole lot of nothing.  

Here's a few tips and tricks I have learned under the gun... or more specifically, a budget. 

1. Someone may actually pay you for those 6" high heels that were a complete mistake/impulse purchase.

2. Little Caesar's Pizza always sells "Hot 'n Ready" large pizzas for $5.00

3. If you want to insure that your $5.00 pizza is actually fresh, make sure to order a plain cheese pizza instead of the pepperoni.  They typically only have pepperonis sitting on stand by, and not plain cheese.  So if you have ten minutes to spare, then you will have a fresh large pizza right out of the oven for five bucks!

4. All that spare change stuck together in your vehicle's cup holders actually amount to something! And if you are patient, and can multitask while watching a movie, you can roll about six hundred pennies in about thirty minutes.  Well six bucks, may not seem like much, but it does buy you that large cheese pizza we were just talking about.

5. A smile and friendly small talk goes a long way.  (The lovely manager at the pizza shop threw in a free drink for me after I told her what a great job she was doing.)

Sometimes it really pays to get creative!!!

This summer I bought a brand new pair of running shoes, an airline ticket to NYC and a full tank of gas, all with the loose change I had stock piled around my apartment in jars, purses and yes, my car.

It just goes to show that you can make a little something out of what you may have thought was nothing.

So if you'll excuse me, I have to pack up the rest of this pizza and walk over to the resale shop and see how much all that loot has earned me!!!

Just one more small step on this road to the big city.

Count your pennies and your blessings!!!! And by all means, get creative!


Today:

Woo Woo

1 1/2 oz Vodka
1 1/2 oz Peach Schnapps
3 oz Cranberry juice
on the rocks!

A Small World After All

There is a ride at Disneyland that is truly a world of its own.  A Small World takes you on a little journey around the globe in probably about twenty minutes.  Little dolls dance and sing the same song, "It's a Small World After All",  while representing their various  cultures and countries.  A trip to Disneyland wouldn't be complete without it, even if you do get that song stuck in your head for the next two days.  But don't worry, you can always head over to Pirates of the Caribbean and get the Yo Ho Yo Hos stuck in your head if you are desperate for a mental station change.

But anyway, I was thinking that there is something so relevant about that concept promoted at the happiest place on earth;  ideals of commonality sung cheerfully in many languages about our small, small world.  I believe what they were trying to say, is that we are all kind of in it together on this planet.

Love, kindness and generosity may be different words in other countries, but the meanings are the same. It is a really beautiful thing if you think about it. But you don't have to take a ride or go very far for that matter, to realize just how small this world really is.

Part of what I enjoy about serving my time from behind a bar, is how often I meet perfectly wonderful and interesting strangers.  But to take it a step further, I am often surprised at how frequently I will find a common thread among us.

If you are paying attention or are at all curious about the person sitting next to you, scratch at the surface a little and I will bet that you might just realize: you went to high school together, or conducted business before, or perhaps know the same business contact.  Or maybe, you're both lawyers by day and musicians by night.  It's a very strange phenomenon that I encounter almost every time I go to work and start pouring drinks.  The possibilities for striking a common place are endless.

Just last night, for instance, I met someone who is on vacation up here in Traverse City, but lives in Murfreesboro, Tn.  In less than thirty seconds we had established a connection of who do you know and connected dots to the same people (my best friend's family) down south, some eight-hundred miles away.  Oh I've done business with them...  Real Estate right? Oh they are wonderful...

We laughed and gave a little knowing wink to one another; the kind you only give to someone who's in the in crowd.  And we couldn't believe we knew the same people; what a small world!

And before that, a gentleman sat at the bar and I felt like I knew him.  It was driving me crazy because I just couldn't figure it out.  I can't explain how or where, but his face and demeanor felt very familiar to me.  So, I poked around a little and discovered that he had just had a business meeting with my eldest brother earlier that day.

Although I am still unsure as to how I know him, I can probably trace it back to some business event he had collaborated with my brothers on in the past.  When he realized that he knew my family, we both shook our heads and laughed.  It is a small world indeed and is getting even smaller.  Because one person may connect you to another, and from another, possibly fifty more.

I just think it is so important to remember how easy it truly is to connect with people you might otherwise dismiss as strangers.  Not only will you have something fun to talk about over a beer or two, but who knows, you might just end up with a few new friends... all around the world.

***

*And just in case you are mentally suffering from singing a certain song from a small, small world... allow me to relieve you. "Yo ho Yo ho a Pirate's life for me, a hum a ne hum, a hum a ne hum, blah de blah la la, Yo Ho Yo Ho a pirate's life for me..."*


Today:

World Peace Cocktail (Thanks to DrinksMixer.com)

1 1/2 oz Bombay Sapphire Gin
1/2 oz Fresh squeezed lemon juice
Splash of Elderflower liqueur
2 drops Blue Curacao
2 drops Almond syrup

Shake and Strain into a martini glass.

For this and other recipes visit : World Peace Cocktail

Check Please

Look, I get it.  There are some days that are just hard to get through: forced smiles, half-assed appearance and long-winded sighs are all tell-tale signs.  I have been there too.  Trust me. There have been days where I truly hated being at work.  I have been in the midst of a personal life crisis on more than one occasion and have literally broke down sobbing while serving random strangers their dinner.  It was not cute.

Hospitality can be tricky business.  You have to remember that generally speaking, people are out to have a good time.  Therefore, it is our job as servers, bartenders, greeters etc. to do the best we can to ensure that you in fact, have a good time.  We set aside our feelings, life circumstances, even our aches and pains to promote an overall sense of a good time. 

This concept of hospitality is one that I am acutely aware of.  I suppose that I have worked in restaurants long enough to have tested the theory that guest satisfaction trumps everything.  A place can have great food and a cool ambiance but still fail.  Great service is typically a hallmark for a venues' continued success.  

It always amazes me how often I experience truly poor service.  You would think that as someone who works in a restaurant, I would somehow have the in with my fellow industry peeps.  Sadly, this is not often the case.  

In fact, it is a sad fact that I encounter truly bad service almost every time I go out.   And I wonder, is it me? Am I just more aware of the timelines, negative attitudes and dirty silverware because I work in a restaurant?  If anything, I would argue that I am more understanding than the next guest because of that commonality.  It's not like I want to pick apart a place when I have the night off to relax and enjoy myself.  When I am off duty, I am OFF.  

If you are having a bad day or even a bad year, I completely understand.  I honestly do.  But if you can't so much as make eye contact, fain a smile, or have even the slightest sense of urgency then I urge you to find another job.  A bill collector for example would be a great option for the less than cheerful! You could hide in your cubicle somewhere all day long and never once have to smile as you urge people to get off their asses.  

Or you could write parking tickets, work in a government agency, a dental office, a middle school or an airport .  All of these jobs suck!  Surely your misery would be tolerated and in good company there.  

All I am trying to say here is this: if you can't be polite to people even on the most surface level, then please, do us all a favor and don't work in hospitality.  In an environment where your paycheck is the guests' check, I suggest that you please Check Yourself! 

If I begin to take out all my frustrations with my job,  my non-existent love life, my financial worries and bad hair days on my guests at the bar, I will know that the time has come to get out of hospitality.  

Because people don't sit at the bar to listen to my sad stories, they come to tell me theirs.  

Friends in the service industry: before you drop that check, please check yourself!  If you can't suck it up anymore, I understand completely.  But please, don't take it out on your guests (including me).  

Today:

Attitude Adjustment #2 Cocktail

1/2 oz Vodka

1/2 oz Gin

1/2 oz Amaretto

1/2 oz Triple Sec

1/2 oz Peach Schnapps 

Splash of sour Mix

Splash of Cranberry 

   

Now You See Me... Now You Don't

Sometimes it is so hard to look beyond the face a person wears at their job. I am sure people look at me all the time and make a number of assumptions.  Guests are often surprised when they discover that I graduated from college seven years ago. 

Then come a slew of questions. "Where are you from?" "Did you grow up here?" "What do you really want to be doing with you life?" I don't mind the questions. Honestly, it is much more refreshing to me to have someone try to see me as I actually am... rather than just the neighborhood bartender. 

Everywhere you look, there is a story.  There are all kinds of people in this world and we all have something to say (even if it's not what you'd expect or necessarily want to hear). 

Yesterday, I was thoroughly enjoying my day off.  I went with my mom to get a manicure and pedicure at little nail salon in town.  The place was packed.  I went to go choose my color and then settle into the oversized massage chair.  I messed around with about a dozen back massaging settings before I slipped my feet into the hot water.  It was bliss. 

About twenty minutes into the pedicure I really began to pay attention to my manicurist. She was methodical in her technique and treated every single toe as one whole being.  She trimmed, filed, buffed, massaged and painted with the precision of a skilled surgeon. It was amazing. 

Well guess what? I was so impressed by her that I became curious about this young lady.  And the conversation began.  I was completely blown away by her.  

I discovered that she had recently graduated from U.C. Davis with a degree in Neurobiology.  I mean, come on, that is super impressive. I found out that not only was this the best manicure I had had in a long time, but that my manicurist was also pre-med.  

I can't even begin to describe how inspired I was by her.  She is serving her time to serve her dream as well. 

The experience reminded me how important it is to look beyond a persons' current set of circumstances.   And I should also say that it was her skill  in the role she is presently in that made me take a closer look.  I was already impressed by her before I knew she was pre-med.   

I hope that I will be friends with her. We exchanged our contact information and we made some plans to get together when I am living in New York.    

It just goes to show you how amazing and unexpected life is.  Take a closer look at those around you.  Because your manicurist today, could save your life tomorrow. 

Today:

Hurricane

1/2 oz Lt. Rum

1/2 oz Dark Rum

1/2 oz Maui Tropical Schnapps Or substitute Malibu Rum

1/2 oz Grenadine

3 oz Sour Mix

1/4 oz 151 Rum float on top

Shake and strain

Gratitude and Gratuity

Sometimes it would seem that there's no way to avoid the certain inevitable feeling of complacency. I see it every day. People walk about like drones, gliding robotically through their lives with a sense of self satisfaction that surely cannot be real.  There are too many other elements  in this world that are dangerous or challenging at best: right? At one point or another, it will creep into the daily tasks like a small infectious disease. Many people avoid it as long as possible, until the day it smacks you in the face, knocks you to your knees and affects those around you.

A false sense of self satisfaction can be a very scary thing. In fact there is no better way to suck up  entire decades of time. This feeling prevents the very essence of our inner light to shine through.  And I have experienced this first hand.

It's an easy trap to fall into. You just operate like a well oiled machine.  Today I have to do x,y and z. Tomorrow, the same.  And somewhere along the way you just stop giving.  Life becomes more about taking; what we get and how much we can carry.  That's survival. But it's also a clever disguise.

There is a cure for almost every single sad, frustrated or angry emotion.  It is a feeling so powerful, it will actually pull everything into real proportions. Gratitude.

Gratitude is an action. Gratitude is a choice. Gratitude will change your life. Instead of saying, "Today I  have to go to work," you say, "Today I get to go to work." Isn't it amazing how different that sounds?

The truth is, the job I have can be... a challenge. Never will you see more pasted on smiles anywhere than at a restaurant. Well maybe at a beauty pageant too although that's an entirely different topic altogether.

We work for tips. That is the less glamorous way to put it, but it is the reality.  So we operate in a way that hopefully increases our chances for a generous one.  Unfortunately, both guests and servers alike are so numb to this process that it is treated like an obligation at the end of the meal, rather than a gesture.  The guest sort of sighs at the expectation to tack on a few extra dollars and the server would be really upset if left empty handed.  I should make it clear that Gratuity is how I pay my bills.

I say Gratuity because I believe that it offers a more positive outlook on the entire process.  If I serve someone in such a way where I am grateful to serve them... the difference is extraordinary. The entire experience is really truly unique. The guest actually feels taken care of and seems grateful too.  And gratitude becomes our business. 

People often say, "Do this or that and I will give you a nice tip." But I promise you this, I would much rather be treated with some measure of gratitude, than some bated expectation.

Where there was once expectation on both sides, imagine gratitude.  What would the world be like if we were all just a little more grateful?

A pretty wealthy world I imagine.  Today, I will repeat my little daily routine. But I will make a solid effort to feel grateful for every task that I am faced with. I will not operate under the guise of complacency.  I will choose real, authentic gratitude instead.

Today:

Baybreeze

Vodka 
Equal parts Cranberry and Pineapple Juice
Garnish with a lime wedge