A little dull

My life has been a little boring lately. It seems like I have nothing to talk about. I consider calling friends and family to chat but then I think that don't really have anything to say and so I just don't call. 

I do fun things. A trip to the river yesterday. I went to the lake 3 weeks ago. But, that takes two sentences to tell. I don't have drama going on right now. I don't spend money on shopping or home decor (I already have way too much stuff). I don't really cook at home because I'm constantly at work.

Is this what getting older and more settled is like? A fun and wonderful life but just less drama?  For the amount of drama I went through last year I am really relieved to not have hours of drama to talk through. 

I'll try and stir some things up to find some writing inspiration because I really do want random people on the internet to think that I am witty and clever....

one day at a time

I don't live a regular Monday to Friday nine-to-five life style. I get Tuesdays and Wednesdays off of work as my "weekend". I leave work at a different time every night. I do the same thousand motions every day at work but I never do them in the same order. I love my job. It's a crazy life but it's perfect for my adult ADD, constant need for stimulation, and my extroverted desire to always have someone to talk to. 

Here's an average day in my life with pictures stolen from my instagram www.instagram.com/sweetmeredithmarie (feel free to follow me!).

11:00-- Rise and shine.  Yes, I'm a giant asshole and don't wake up until late into the morning. Perks of working the night shift. 

11:30-- Go for a run. I am completely miserable the entire time. But what can you do? Think skinny thoughts I guess.

12:45--  Shower, quick lunch, rush rush rush. 

1:20--  Leave for work. Down the big hill, cross the river, and up a mountain. Best 25 minute commute of my life

1:45-- Clock in for work. I technically start at 2 but at the restaurant "early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable". Blah blah blah...

Dive into prep work for tonight's dinner service. Make staff meal. Gossip with coworkers.

Prep list includes roast red peppers, make roasted ham stock, butcher whole chickens into portions for fried chicken, etc.

Set up for tonight's private event

4:30-- Staff meal! We hang out at picnic tables behind the restaurant and enjoy 15 minutes of calm before the chaos of service tonight. 

5:30-- Our first reservations arrive.

7:30-- Buffet for 75 starts. The dishes on the buffet can never go below half empty so we have to constantly keep them filled while also cooking for a full dining room. It's a beast of a night. 

9:30-- Last entrees go out. Let the cleaning begin!

11:00-- Finally clocking out.  Change into my own clothes, pull my hair out of the ponytail and pin it back, paint on some make up. Now I'm ready for the bar! So so so ready for the bar. 

11:30-- Arrive at Ye Olde Dive Bar (names have been changed to protect the not so innocent). It's karaoke night. Beer is $2 a bottle. Drink. Dance. Definitely don't sing kareoke.  Avoid coworker who is trying his damnedest to take me home with him.  Definitely don't go home with him.  Do flirt with the cute friend of a friend.

2:00-- Come in the door. Yoga pants happen within the first 30 seconds of arrival. Flop into bed and read cookbooks. 

3:00--  Lights out.  Let's start this whole thing over again tomorrow.... (especially the part where I flirted with the hottie)

Oh, herro

It's been a year, huh?

I fell off the map a little. Chris and I broke up and just didn't know how to handle it or address it on the interwebs. So I just stopped. Completely. 

But, it's been a year. And while the pain of heart break is still there, it's not the same as before. I can talk about it. I don't want to talk about it now. But I could, you know, if I wanted to.

What have I been up to? Work. Drinking (life skills people, cut your judging). Obsessively collecting cookbooks.  Hanging out with friends. Getting addicted to games on my iPad. Pinning like crazy but never doing anything with the pins. Dating and the ups and downs that comes with that. 

But today, I caught my oven on fire...

It takes a very special professional chef to make that happen. 

I'm glad to be back. Talk to you all soon.

CGB: hilarious y'all!

Have y'all been watching CGB on ABC? Because if you haven't? Watch it.



No, shut up, go set your DVR right this moment.  Because this shit is hilarious. HILARIOUS. And the best part? Even if you don't have TV (like this pretty girl) you can watch it on the interwebz! ABC's website here.

And while I do love me some jokes about Dallas I think the show is great for perfect for everyone whoe loves great outfits, jokes about bitchy women, and Kristen Chenowith.

I'm not really a "laugh out loud at the tv" kind of person.  But GCB makes me snort with laughter.

Seriously. Listen, watch, and laugh... Go take those 45 minute as the best escape of your week.

Trust me, it's way more uplifting than watching intervention.  And this way we can talk about if we hate Carleen or not!

the new life

Hello loves!

So, I thought you all might like the scoop about the secret life I've been living since moving back to the US.  (And by secret I mean just not completely and totally exposed on the internet)  I've been working for about a month at an amazing restaurant.

(see that peak up there? that's my new "office")

I'm not sure if work would care if I openly blogged about work but I don't want to risk it, nor do I want to talk to HR about my online ramblings. And honestly I don't want to talk to HR because that seems like a lot of work.  I'm lazy, deal with it. 

So, I'll be keeping the exact location of where I'm living and working a little bit of a secret.  But, to be vague about it, I work in a small resort town in the mountains in the Mid-Atlantic.  While it's small there are luckily lots of cute shops, galeries, and of course internet access to keep me occupied. And the area is AMAZING.  All of these shots were taken to and from my daily drive to work!

           

At the restaurant I make salads, cold appetizers, and desserts.  It's a great first culinary job because it's hard to really screw up a salad. So far I love working in the kitchen, my coworkers are so much fun, and my boss is great.  I'll sneak some pictures at work soon so you can check out my creations.

All pictures were taken with my new and beloved iPhone via Instagram.  Join in on the fun with me on Instagram! My user name is merh924 or if you don't have an iphone you can check out my daily photos here on the interwebz.

Happy weekend y'all!

xoxo,
M

Oh heyyyy

Oh heyyyyy

I know, it's been like a year, or a few months--whatever, since I posted.  A lot of shit happened...

So where was I last, the Philippines? So Chris and I traveled through several more countries (Thailand, Laos, Cambodia) and had an amazing time and I took several hundred photos.

But, things were changing, I wanted to get back to real life. I wanted to actually use my culinary schooling.  I truly wanted a job.  I wanted to be a real person with a real job not just some fuck-about who was traveling the world. However, at the same time I felt like this giant loser, since I've started this blog how many changes have you seen me go through? It all includes working as a pre-school teacher, traveling Europe, being depressed and lonely in Chicago, going to culinary school in Charlotte, and traveling through Asia.  I feel like my newsfeed was filling up with friends who were actually doing stuff.  And by stuff I mean getting jobs, having weddings, and popping out babies.  And what did I have to show for the years since graduating from SMU? A really full passport and a resume filled with college credentials?

Lame sauce. That's it y'all. Lame sauce.

So. Instead of traveling for another year I bit the bullet and took an amazing job opportunity back in the US of A.

So here I am.  Back in 'merica. I'm going back to shopping at Walmart. I'm being told that the food I make at work is "purdy" (direct quote from a co-worker tonight).

So here it is. I'm back. I'm living in the middle of of rural America working at an amazing restaurant.

And you know what? I love it. It may not be international, but it's amazing.

So I'm back. And game on.

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas...

We're counting down the days to Christmas here in the Philippines too as long as you can forget about the 85 degree weather with 75 percent humidity...

I hope you're all getting in the Christmas, Hanuka, tacky decoration Spirit!!