Goodbye Stone Soup

Today is my last day at Stone Soup. I put in my month's notice about a month and a week ago, so it's been a long time coming. I knew I wanted to take some time to myself before I upped and moved my whole world somewhere new, but I have a feeling it's going to be harder to part than I anticipated.

Lately, it's been a highly stressful and disappointing job due to the customers and their overall treatment of the servers and insanely low tips (you would not believe how many seemingly decent and nice people leave less than a dollar these days). I know the economy has a lot to do with this, but I still find it a bit inexcusable. I mean, don't go out to eat if you can't budget for a tip...it's simple! Anyway, enough ranting...

Aside from the bad customers, things there have really been better than most any other job I've had in the past at a place like this. It's definitely unique (mostly organic food...located in a 200+ year-old building...a total of six servers and five kitchen staff), has allowed me to do things I never thought I'd get to do (be a line cook, become a wine connoisseur, work out my leg muscles at work [it's a two story restaurant and I'm always the upstairs server]) and it's become like a family to me. I know that it will take a while for me to realize I'm done there, but I'm sure once I do I'll feel just the slightest bit of sadness.

Then I'm sure that sadness will quickly turn to relief and happiness...and soon thereafter, panic about what I'm going to do next.

So now, the question is...what am I going to do next? Well, that is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. Keep your fingers crossed that I come across some awesomely cool opportunity and am able to jump on it.

As for now, I think I've earned a little vacation time.

[Stone Soup Bistro is the smaller building on the right]

Being land-locked eats my soul

Needing a break from life, I hopped in the car and drove to Philly on a whim after work on Monday. I've enjoyed my time off immensely, but unfortunately, I have to go back to reality tomorrow.

One of the things that has been getting me down recently has been the fact that I haven't been to the beach once this summer. For a Floridian with an intense love of the ocean, that's almost heartbreaking. Luckily, for me I was able to spend today on the Jersey Shore, reviving my soul after being away from the beach far too long.

It was my first time in New Jersey and I was not disappointed. Then again, I only really saw their beach, but that was enough for me. It was a soul-reviving trip and I feel refreshed just enough to tackle my double double on Friday and Saturday.

A photo update at last!

I should definitely post photos more often than I do...especially if I want to keep claiming to be a photographer. Part of the reason I don't is because I should definitely be taking more photos than I am. I'm working on it.

Tonight I made it out to the county fair to take some shots and blow off some steam from work...
[I now interrupt this blog post to make a very important announcement...*Please tip your servers...it's not our fault if the food takes a long time, and it's definitely not our fault if you choose to be a jerk about it.* Thank you.]

So anyway, I'm happy I made it out to the fair because there were plenty of wonderful photo opportunities.

Behold... (click them to make them larger...it's worth it!)

I loved the sky in this one...




Everything about this screamed, "TAKE A PHOTO!"




Nothing goes together better than sleepy bulls and karaoke...

A year ago today...

A year ago today, I moved to Greece.

A year ago today I would've told you that I'd most definitely still be in Greece, living happily in my breezy Ikea-furnished room as an au pair.

It's amazing how hardly anything went as I planned from the moment I boarded the plane to the moment I realized that being an au pair wasn't anything I'd hoped or imagined.

As far as how I went from being an au pair in Greece to a server in West Virginia, well, sometimes I question myself about the chain of events that led me here, but I definitely don't regret any of the decisions I made between there and here. Lately though, I can't help but be caught up in my thoughts, reminiscing about my time in Greece. I may no longer be in Greece, but it's certain to say that my heart most definitely is.

Looking back, my nearly four months there were tumultuous and stressful, but I grew and learned so much from every moment I spent there. From learning how to drive in the insanity that is downtown Athens traffic to spending time on the very beach they used in the movie Mamma Mia! while they built the set, it all feels as if it was a dream that was over far too quickly.

Sometimes it's a hard realization to make, that, no matter what, you can't relive the past. I suppose that's just how things go. We all have experiences in our lives that no one can help us hold onto the memory of, but ourselves, and I'm sure my life will continue on in a similar fashion. I'm certain to be lamenting about some other past experience of my life that I'd like to be able to relive soon enough, so I should just go with the flow and move on already.

Speaking of moving on, I've pretty much decided it's about that time again. I know, I know, I've been here a mere 8 months, but I just can't seem to grasp the idea of settling down quite yet. Maybe it's the fact that Greece has been haunting my thoughts lately, or maybe I just have this alternate biological clock inside me that lets me know when it's time move on. Whatever it is, it's been causing me to feel more than ready to pack my bags, sell whatever extra stuff I've acquired and hit the road.

I've got a few ideas in mind, but until anything is solid, I don't want to be throwing them out into cyberspace quite yet. The most I can really guarantee right now is that it will be after October 11 (when my roomies, Joel and Ashley, get married), and it will involve some serious road-tripping.

Well...here's to a year past and the years to come...

Trees trees and more trees!

Would anybody be interested in a set of those tree paintings I did? I did some more in red and orange and could do them in any color. I'd be willing to cut a deal with you!

Oh the great gyro (yee-roh) debate....

The owner/chef at Stone Soup recently changed the lunch menu, which I'm happy to announce includes a scrumptious lamb gyro thanks to me.

Unfortunately though, the vast majority of our patrons have been pronouncing it jih-roh, as opposed to yee-roh, which is how it's supposed to be pronounced.

I've found myself in a pickle, torn between wanting to take the easy route and pronounce it incorrectly as they do when I repeat back their order, or doing what I know in my heart of hearts is the right thing...which is pronouncing it yee-roh when I repeat it back.

As of yet, I haven't had the ability to swallow my pride on the subject, which causes a bit of confusion on the part of the guest. This has caused some problems when my tables insist upon not only mispronouncing the word multiple times over, but then actually trying to correct me when I say it back differently. I get so frustrated that I almost wish she hadn't put the gyro on the menu in the first place...and it's only been a few days!

Today in fact, I had an old woman get quite mad at me when I wouldn't say jih-roh. We went back and forth, "Jih-roh...yee-roh?...JIH-roh....YEEE-roh....no no no, it's JIIIIH-roh." I lasted a minute or two in this awkward exchange until I finally sighed and said, "Listen, you can say it however you'd like, but I've lived in Greece and as it is a GREEK sandwich, I'm going to go ahead and stick to my guns on this one."

And then the poor old woman got a startled look on her face and said, "JIH-rohs are Greek???"

Another awkward moment...

As a server, I come across all sorts of people with all sorts of attitudes. Luckily for me, I work in a place that generally attracts good-natured people, and I often get to strike up interesting conversations with them while I serve them.

Yesterday, for instance, I was serving a nice man and his friend, and about halfway through the meal he inquired about what I wanted to do when I grew up. I told him that for now, serving was what was paying the bills, but that I hoped to get back into photography as my way of life in the near future. He asked about college, leading me to tell him that I'd gone to Harding. His eyes lit up as he announced, "My brother went there!"

We talked a bit more, and I asked him why he hadn't gone there as well, and he made a slightly sarcastic comment about Harding being the "Christian school gone wild." I laughed, shook my head and replied, "No way, that's Pepperdine!"

That's when he stopped laughing and said, "My daughter goes to Pepperdine."

Oops.