no, this is not one of the exciting parts of my day. i'd just like to say:
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
(clears throat)
let's begin.
1. one out of thirty ain't bad
yes, today i went to a chiropractor....
for a job interview! after handing out about twenty resumes to restaurants and emailing my resume to about ten jobs on craigslist, i was starting to feel a little discouraged. yesterday morning while i was pouring my frankencereal--part special k fruit and yogurt, part trail mix granola, and part pumpkin granola--my phone rang. it was a girl who told me she was from the office of dr. campos and asked how i was doing. not remembering making any appointments out here and wondering if i was being punked by justin bieber (YES!), a voice in my head said "wait, you're calling from WHERE?!" my next thought was "did my friend sara pay you to call and tell me that i've been selected to grow a mustache?"
but luckily i decided to pretend i knew what she was talking about and i responded with "i'm great! how are you?" it turns out that she was calling about a front desk job i applied for on craiglist a few weeks back. i didn't want to mention anything yesterday because of a word that rhymes with...minx. the only reason i'm bringing it up today is because not only did the interview go great, but i got a call a few hours later for a second interview! however, you can't get your hopes up about anything in california. did you know that eric stoltz was originally cast in the role of marty mcfly for back to the future? they shot five weeks of footage and then decided that he wasn't right for the part. enter michael j. fox. true story. google it. so, although i don't want to get my hopes up about this second interview tomorrow, having this experience showed me that it IS possible for someone to get a job interview out here. i was starting to think that employees that got hired fell from the sky and that those of us walking around with resumes are just here to look good.
2. "i should write that person a note!"
you know how in a parking lot when you see someone taking up two spaces or parked SO terribly that it's actually causing an inconvenience, you think to yourself "i should really write them a note." well, today as i was walking out of ralph's with my groceries, i went to hop in my car and noticed something stuck under the windshield of the car next to me. i'd like to shake the hand of the person who ACTUALLY took the two minutes of their time to do this.
3. playing ketchup
like i promised, i still have a few fun details of sara's visit that i have yet to share! of course part of it is about food: click here! and the other part, well you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to find out.......
JUST KIDDING! click here!
highlight of the day:
i normally eat lunch (well...and breakfast and dinner) at home, but since my interview today was at 2, i decided to buy myself a little celebration lunch! nothing fancy of course. THIS is fancy:
i was in the mood for greek food, which is about as unsurprising as paula deen being in the mood for a butter sandwich. the words "mediterranean" and "hollywood" in the same google search brought up a number of places on my phone. i scrolled down the list for a few minutes and then suddenly came to a dead halt. i couldn't believe the name of the restaurant in front of me. i looked at the location: north hollywood. let me put this into perspective, driving from, let's say, downtown raleigh to north raleigh is no big deal. driving from north hollywood to hollywood, although only 4-5 miles apart, can be a LONG trip. as in, pee before you leave the house.
it was still pre-rush hour, so i typed the address in my GPS and knew that nothing could stop me from making this journey. that is...until i got to the 101 highway. rush hour here lasts, well, all day. traffic appeared to be backed up and i immediately screamed into my speakerphone "oh HELL no! i am not doing this." and of course always knowing just the right thing to say, "fanny, do you even have anything else to do for the rest of the day?" (thanks sar) came through the other end of the phone. realizing that the only plans i had for the rest of the day included buying sliced turkey at ralph's and clipping my nails, i continued along my way. luckily traffic cleared up pretty quickly and before i knew it, there i was.
for those of you who don't know, papa george is my great grandfather (not the one on the menu, that's someone else's papa george) if you've ever seen me bend down and pick up a penny, he's the reason behind it. it's been years since he passed away but i feel like he's with me every single time i see a penny. and think about how many times in an average day you see a penny on the ground. most people have funny superstitions about only picking up a penny if it's on a certain side, but as for me, every penny i see is my great grandfather telling me hello. or possibly a funny joke. comedy is deep rooted in my family and i know that he's smiling at me every time i say something funny. (dad, aunt diane, please go find a tissue. it's going to be hard to see these pictures if you're teary eyed) not only was my great grandfather--papa george as we called him--the maker of incredible scrapbooks every year for EVERY member of the family (which dates back well over fifty years), but he also collected pennies. not just to stuff into a milkjug and take them to a coinstar--i'm pretty sure they didn't have those back them--but he would donate them to charities. he became known as "the penny philanthropist". pretty cool right? now i realize that MOST people see pennies all the time, but i have happened to come upon these shiny little coins at the most fitting moments of my life. times that i have been anxious, or afraid, or hopeful, or simply just needed some kind of a sign--those are the times i've found pennies. most people pick up pennies for luck. i pick them up because i know they were dropped there for me on purpose.
onto the food! not only was this place small and family owned by some extremely welcoming people, but the menu was amazing. it was authentic, yet creative with many of the items being their own creations. i went for something called the shakhloot special. i MAY be spelling that wrong. it was a lavash wrap (it's a pillowy flatbread similar to a pita, but much thinner) with hummus, tabouleh (bulgar wheat, lemon, olive oil, red wine vinegar, diced tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, mint, and parsley), feta, avocado, cucumber, tomato, red onion, spices, herbs, olive oil, falafel (a patty made from ground chickpeas, vegetables, herbs, and spices which gets fried), greek olives, and homemade dill pickles. well that was a mouthful. LITERALLY. it was so fresh and flavorful. the homemade pickles really made the sandwich for me. i know it seems like a lot to stuff into one wrap but when it comes to greek food, my opinion is "just put a little windex on it." no wait, that's not right. i believe that you can never have too many things in a greek wrap. so this was RIGHT up my alley. he also gave me a side of tzaziki sauce (greek yogurt mixed with lemon juice, cucumbers, dill, and onions) and a scoop of their hummus to try. he knew how interested i was in the food so he let me take a picture of it before closing the wrap!
while i was eating, the guy who had made my wrap (his parents owned the restaurant) brought me a piece of baklava which he said was on them because i drove all the way from hollywood.
normally the food is the best part of a restaurant, but the friendliness and warmth of the family here is what made this an amazing experience for me. as soon as i walked in the door the guy behind the counter greeted me and we started chatting about how i had come "all the way from hollywood" (you would've thought i had flown here from saturn). when i told him about MY papa george and how that was my whole purpose for making the trek here, him and his family couldn't have been more delighted. i asked him if they had t-shirts and he said that if they ever got them, not only would i be the first to get one, but it would be on them.
moral of the story:
well. i think you get it.
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