Zoom! Bam! June?!

That was a blur.

Several weeks just zipped by and I'm not sure how that happened. One day literally bled into the next, and all of a sudden, it's now the end of June. I guess that's what the end of school and looking for a new job will do - suck up your every thought.

Z is officially an impending 6th grader. It's still weird to say that, which makes me wonder how long it will take before I actually get used to it. (Can we say never?!) He's thrilled that his summer fun has begun, and seems to be already using every moment to its fullest.

Aaron's summer has also begun, and he's got big plans for projects over the next three months. Namely, patching up Z's bathroom (I know, finally - remember this?), building a fire pit in the backyard, and painting the house. His Pinterest boards are brimming with new ideas, so who am I to hold him back? Create, my dahling! Go crazy!

While the other 2/3 of my home has been soaking up summer days and time off, I've been hard at work, including trying to find a new job. My new boss is a delegator, to put it lightly, so I haven't had a whole lot of time to look. But, I have found a handful of promising positions out there in the few minutes of spare time I've had at lunch, and I have applied for five jobs so far. I've already gotten one form-letter style rejection email, but haven't hear a peep out of the others. I'm in the waiting stages, twiddling my thumbs, and praying so hard to St. Anthony, my miracle-worker, that he's probably about to send me over to prayer voicemail.

When I'm not looking for a new job or doing one of the 2,437 daily tasks my new boss has passed on to me, I'm been watching the World Cup. Since matches are played all day, I will say I have a new thing to be thankful for -- free streaming online from ESPN. Today is a big game at 11:00am, USA vs. Germany, so our manager's meeting better be over by then. I love this tournament -- it only happens every 4 years, like the Olympics, and I'm grateful for the timing of it this year. Just when I think I can't bear one more flipping second at my office, I can turn soccer on at my desk and be distracted just enough to get through that part of the day. I will be so sad when it's over, not to mention, completely dead on the inside.

*deep breath* Here's to opening myself up to change. I'm trying to do nothing but send out positive vibes into the universe, so the universe will return the favor. I know something will come my way that will give me a fresh start, a new beginning, and a slew of new challenges. I just need to stay patient until I connect with it. Yes, easier said than done most days, but not impossible. Going Zen in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... hummmmmmmmmm.

☮✝✿

Wrapping up May

Plodding along this week, still fumbling my way through the weirdness of people dropping like flies at my office, or taking on their new roles elsewhere in the company. It's been odd.

Still no clarity on what I should be focusing on. If anything, things seem foggier in my mind than they were before, so I must not be doing that whole "let go, let God" thing quite right. Hey, I never claimed to be any good at it ...

We are almost done with fifth grade - after today, only one more short week. Then, we begin the trepidation of staring middle school in the face. Big, bad middle school. Sixth grade was the worst year for most everyone, so I have noticed by talking to fellow Moms and family members. When the topic of middle school comes up with other adults these days, almost every time it is immediately announced what a lousy, horrible year sixth grade was. This is usually followed by throaty groans and longer-than-normal eye rolls. Personally, I don't remember sixth grade being that brutal, but maybe I have just blocked it out? Either way, it definitely makes me uneasy on my son's behalf. Here's to hoping sixth grade is a smooth transition, and mostly zit-free.
*tinks glasses*

We will be going camping this Memorial Day weekend, and we are trying out Guadalupe River State Park for the first time. I'll be posting lots of pictures from that trip next week, most certainly. As for now, I'm going to finish this delicious egg roll my precious new co-worker brought me (the new ones know me already ... buy me food and I'm yours, forever), then go pick up the boy from school. I will need to make a trip to the store for camping food/s'mores fixin's, while I also attempt to clear my head more, so I can thoroughly enjoy this 3-day weekend. It'll be my last break for a while. Must make the most of it.

☮✝✿

Moving on

All week long, I kept thinking to myself, "I want to blog. That thing that happened was really funny." Or, "I want to blog, that thing I read was profound." Or, "I want to blog, I hadn't thought about that in a while, and I bet a few others haven't either." This week was insanely busy, but more busy in my head than what I was doing. So, all week I yearn to write and I yearn to get 15 minutes to myself so that I can actually do it, and what happens?

Nothing.

After a wild week at work and my head being jam-packed with so many thoughts, they feel like they're spilling out all over my body, I finally get a solid few hours to myself on the last day, and my brain is mush. Like a big, sloppy pile of mashed potatoes. And as I'm sure you can imagine, mashed-potato-brains don't make for good writing.

I will just start with this: a lot of changes are happening at my job, and the way things are now are the way things have been for about a decade. We've had some personnel changes a few times, but they were always with people I already knew, and they were incredibly smooth transitions. In a nutshell, you can say I've been extremely fortunate to have had things go so well for so long. As everyone is inherently resistant to change, I will admit at times, I am no different -- so this lot of impending changes has me a bit preoccupied and anxious.

We have seven people either leaving or shifting positions within the company, all happening over the next two weeks. Seven. And about 75% of these seven people are ones I have worked with for a very long time, become very close to, and find myself wondering what it will be like without them. That's normal to make one feel a bit weirded out, right? It would be different if just one or two people were leaving, but seven?? It almost feels unfair. I'm not being pouty, but I think I'm realizing, now that the lunacy of this week has come to a close this Friday evening, that I'm sad. I thought I was fine this whole week, rolling with the punches, finding out about all of these people and watching some already work their last day. But, no one would be fine watching seven friends walk out of the place they usually see them daily, so I should probably stop trying to kid myself that I'm so tough.

This blows. There, I said it.

And even of these seven, the ones I always thought I wouldn't care if they stayed or left, they still bum me out, too. Where I work is a lot like an extended, dysfunctional family. Each person plays their part, and has their role in our weird little family unit - and if they leave, the dynamic shifts. So, like in a real family, people are moving, people are graduating, people are off to seek bigger and better things. Naturally, all this shifting around has made me question if it's my time to move on, as well. Is a chapter of my life closing, once and for all? Have I played this one out? Should I be considering new paths and challenges? Maybe. Maybe not. I never took this job thinking it would be the only place I would work at for the rest of my life. I always knew, buried deep in the back of my brain, that I would eventually move on from this place, when the time felt right to do so -- but is that now? Is it time to shake things up and rock the near-concrete-steady boat I have tried so hard to make sure could not be rocked for the last 10 years? It's hard not to play with those thoughts, to let them flow freely without committing to any one answer or logical next step. Those types of thoughts are also scary, and then I find that anxiety starts to creep in. I feel some anxiety about not seeing the same familiar faces each day, I feel anxiety about a new boss, as well as the other newbies coming into our family ... I just feel anxious about losing seven people I already know, trust, and like. It's a lot to take in all at once. And at times, it's heavy.

Two of the girls I have become very close with over the past two years, aside from Amber, were Lauren and Lana. They are two dynamic, absolutely spectacular young women that made it such a joy to come to work each day. I inadvertently sort of adopted them and became like their Mom at work, because yes, I actually could have birthed them both, and we've been through a lot together. They both graduated from college this past Saturday, so they have worked their last days already, and we said our bittersweet goodbyes. Then, I came in to my office this morning to find:

As if that wasn't sweet enough, I then went to gather the payroll sheets, and found:

They certainly didn't make my first day without them very easy. But, of course, I was so happy and smiled from ear to ear when I saw these sweet surprises. It's stuff like this that I'm talking about that I will miss so much with these seven people leaving. 

These are the times when I try to remind myself to pray. I know I can get through all these changes, I know I can continue to do my job as well as I have been doing it since September of 2004, I know I can take on a positive attitude and look at these upcoming changes as opportunities to make new friends, and forge new friendships. I know all that. What I don't know, is if I want to. So, I will take my worries, my anxieties, and my uncertain feelings and stack them all up to make one giant offering up to The Big Man, St. Anthony, and all my other heavenly homies. They have never led me astray in the past, so I am certain they will help whisper guidance now. My job, my REAL job, is to clear out my head and make it quiet enough to listen.

☮✝✿

AFWF 2014

This may have been one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. Honest.

As I explained in the previous post, I was fortunate enough to be chosen as a volunteer for this year's Austin Food & Wine Festival. I was assigned to team "Chef Demo A", but wasn't quite sure what that meant. Once I got there and met my team, I quickly learned it meant I got one of the best jobs you could get at this festival, in my opinion. Essentially, my duties included keeping the VIP folks on one side and the non-VIP folks on the other before each demonstration, handing out water bottles to people as they sat down, cleaning  up after people once the demo was over, and standing up on stage to keep festival-goers from rushing the celebrity talent after each demo. For some visual aid, here are some photos I took of my surroundings those two days:

The almighty entrance.

 

An example of the tents that were set up. One side was chef demonstrations, the other side was dedicated to wine tastings. I was bouncing between three of these tents on the food side all day. There is a stage set up in the back of each tent, where the celebrity chefs would cook a dish and talk to the crowd as they cooked.

 

This is what one of the wine-side tents looked like, pre-crowd.

 

Each tent had a giant screen, so people could see the chefs up close as they cooked. The screens were used for previewing who would be coming up next in between demos. That way, festival goers could stop by and grab a seat for the chefs they wanted to see, or they could browse around eating and drinking until the next chef would be demonstrating.

 

A full-size fire truck was parked smack in the middle of the park grounds, with a functioning spit at the top. And yes, they had a whole pig rotating up there both days. Can you see it?

 

Close-up of the heavenly spit-roasting pork on a stick.

 

 

[breathy sigh] This all may not seem that fantastic to most people, but oh, the perks from signing up to do the simple tasks assigned to me. Allow me to elaborate. 

PERK #1:  The food.

I'm as obsessed with trying new foods as much as the next Austinite, so this festival was my utopia. I was able to take breaks and browse the festival, eating anything and everything presented as I wandered around. Wrap your brain around that for a second ... they let me walk around and eat to my heart's content, for free. ME. THE GIRL WHO LOVES TO EAT. Want to see some of what I ate?

Pork, potatoes, English peas, and chick peas by Chef Eric Shelton. So delicious.

Brisket and smoked turkey from Schmidt Family Barbecue. I'm about to admit to something that might get me disowned by my beloved state of Texas, but I'm not a huge fan of barbecue. I know, I know. But people, this brisket changed everything. It was the most delicious brisket I've ever eaten. Ever. For all of my whole life, ever.

Kefir pomegranate frozen yogurt. It was refreshing and tangy.

Meyer lemon blueberry cheesecake from Stregare Cheesecake Company. So good!

German chocolate cheesecake from the same company. Also fantastic!

Lamb pastrami on rye, with apple-fennel slaw and pickled mustard seed from Chefs Chris Hurley and Jennifer Costello via The Bonneville. Very cheffy and very tasty.  

Chicken, black bean, cherry tomato and scallion flatbread pizza from Stonefire Authentic Flatbreads. I could've eaten 50 of these.

 

Vanilla cupcake with a raspberry filling and buttercream that was so light, you would swear it couldn't be actual frosting, courtesy of Baked by Amy's. Yes, Amy's ... as in Amy's Ice Creams. Amazing!

This pizza may not look like much, but I kid you not, it was probably the best thing I put in my mouth all day. It changed me. And for the better! It's a prosciutto, bleu cheese, and fingerling potato pizza from Chef Jason Dady and Big Green Egg. Grilled pizza, you guys. Ugh, I want another one now!

A crepe filled with headcheese and some sort of pickled veggies I can't remember the name of, courtesy of Chef Josh Jones at Salt & Time. Yum!

 

This and the brussel sprouts below tied for the second place best-thing-I-ate-that day award.

This is from my FAVORITE restaurant in Austin, Enoteca Vespaio, and it was a dessert by Pastry Chef Sandi Reinlie -- pistachio panna cotta with a golden raisin & moscato d'asti gelee, topped with rainbow carrot curd. GET IN MY BELLY!!!

The afore-mentioned sprouts. My gosh, these were out of this world! Flash-fried brussel sprouts served with garlic aioli and Mediterranean sea salt, courtesy of Tapas Bravas. Damn, Gina!

Shame on me for not remembering where these are from -- alligator sausage, served with beer fondue and a slow dough pretzel bun. This would be phenomenal after a night of drinking.

Key lime pie with marshmallow meringue from Tiny Pies. I also inhaled a strawberry and basil pie while I was there, but I ate that one so fast, I didn't even photograph it. You all should expect no less from me when I'm around pie ...

The mobile, fancified Frito chili pie by Ranch 616. They took snack sized bags of Fritos, dumped their signature, spicy chili into the bag along with black beans, pico de gallo, shredded cheddar, and a cilantro cream sauce. Oh, how divine this would be with an ice cold beer.

 

 

PERK #2: The talent.

 

 

If you're into food and follow any celebrity chefs, then you will agree that they had a pretty great line-up for this year's festival. Though I was a wee bit sad that Marcus Samuelsson didn't come back this year, I was ecstatic to see several of the people on this year's line-up. Richard Blais, Monica Pope, Andrew Zimmern, Tim Love, Ming Tsai, Graham Elliott ... my inner geek could go on listing names all day. Coolest part of MY job was that I got to be right up on these people, and interact with a lot of them throughout the day. I'm happy to say, none of them were obnoxious or rude, just very kind, funny people. They would walk around amongst the crowd, take a picture with whoever wanted one, sign whatever someone stuck in front of them, and laugh with the drunk people wandering around. They all seemed genuinely happy to be there, it was awesome. Ming Tsai came walking by me and a couple of my fellow team members and said, "Hey ladies, how you doing? You guys look really good in dark red *wink*". Genuinely nice people. [another happy sigh]

 

Andrew Zimmern (of "Bizarre Foods" fame) in his custom-made "I (heart) Balls" t-shirt, giving his demo about meatballs. He was one of the people I had to go up on stage and keep people away from after the show, and he was as nice as could be. Really, really funny and relaxed.

Monica Pope out of Houston - she was on Top Chef Masters back in 2010, and I was rooting for her to go all the way. Unfortunately, she was eliminated a few shows in, but her food enamored me and actually made me kinda want to go to Houston. (Kinda.) She was incredibly nice and had a very dry sense of humor. She thanked me and a fellow team member for volunteering after her demo, and when I asked for a picture, she encouraged me to do a selfie. She doesn't know how much I don't do selfies, but I was willing to bend on my own rule with this awesome lady.

Tim Love - maybe one of the most relaxed, people-friendly guys there. This was him just walking around the crowd, getting stopped by people and chatting. Another fellow Texan. Much respect.

Kent Rathbun - a man who has created a culinary legacy in Texas, I was excited to see him in action. I love to watch anyone who has beat Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America.

Rick Bayless - this man, by far, drew the biggest crowd. Almost every living soul at the festival crammed themselves into his tent both days of his demos. The Fire Marshall had to get involved, because so many people wanted to see him. He is a chef rockstar, if there ever was one, and the fans came in droves to prove it.

Arguably my favorite moment of the festival, I got to meet and work the tent of Richard Blais. He is a man of many words on stage, but keeps to himself a bit more when he's not in front of a crowd. This guy knows things I will never understand. He does things to food that blows people's minds. He's like a genius mad scientist of flavors. I was a die-hard fan of his on Top Chef the first time he competed, and couldn't believe it when he came in second place. Redemption was his on Top Chef All-Stars, though, and I was so happy to see him finally win. I also snagged a copy of his brand new, James Beard Award nominated cookbook, and he signed it. Pinch me.

 

 

PERK #3: The alcohol.

 

Granted, I'm not a huge drinker, and I knew I had to drive home, but I still got free wine and spirits to my heart's content after my volunteer shift was over. I got to sample several tasty beverages, including deliciousness in a bottle from Austin Cocktails (Vodkaritas 4-LIFE!) and tasty gin beverages.

 

 

There were also tequila tastings, beer, and more wine than you could dream of drinking. Some people, though, actually did attempt to drink everything in sight, and paid the price for their poor decision making:



 

I saw this a total of three times over my two days, all women. C'mon ladies! Hold your liquor! You're making us look bad.

 





As you can see, the weekend was jam-packed with interesting things to taste, interesting people to listen to, and interesting new people to meet. I met dozens of hilarious festival-goers, and also really enjoyed the volunteer team I was placed on. I received an email a few days after it was all over, letting me know I'll be contacted to apply again for next year, as soon as the applications are ready. I can only hope and pray I get this chance again - it was a fantastic, awesome, amazeballs experience. As I always say, I am one lucky girl.



 

Now, who's hungry? Text me. Let's go eat!

 

☮✝✿



Austin Food & Wine Festival 2014

As many of you are aware, I geek out over food. It's somewhat annoying to be such a food geek in a town like Austin, because there are many people always trying to out-geek you on all things culinary. Kind of like how people who are really into obscure bands try to show you up with their music knowledge, and look down on you if you enjoy certain mainstream bands? That also exists in the world of food.

I don't flaunt my food geekery or knowledge of the subject. I don't challenge people when they bring up certain foods, so I can see if I know more than them. I just adore everything about nourishing myself. I take cooking classes because I honestly think they are fun. I bake and share my creations with friends and coworkers because I find it relaxing to create something spectacular from a few random ingredients, and if I ate all of it myself, I'd be 300lbs. I take pictures of dinners I make because I truly think they are, at times, a work of art and I want to be able to look back at that photo and remember that "oooooooo" feeling I got when I ate it. I watch shows revolving around food because I find them terrifically interesting - yes, even after nearly 20 years of cooking shows. Simply put, I love food.

Because of my love for food, I have always, always wanted to go to the Austin Food & Wine Festival.

If you haven't heard of this, it's a 3-day festival put on by FOOD & WINE magazine, chock full of demonstrations and tastings with world renowned chefs, as well as Texas' most celebrated chefs and restaurateurs. When this thing was born three years ago, I read about it and could barely get to my computer fast enough to buy tickets. In my naiveté regarding this sort of shin-dig, I fully expected to hop on, click a few buttons, spend a little money, and go revel in all things food. My dreams were quickly shot down when I saw the exorbitant price tags on the two options of passes, and my heart broke a little. I knew I would never be able to afford, let alone justify spending either $250 or $850 to enter the fest. (And that was per person - meaning $500 or $1,700 if I were to drag my husband along.) My would-be plans instantly morphed into just a fantasy, and I closed out the site kind of bummed out, but not before having signed myself up for their festival email notifications. I'm a glutton for punishment, what can I say.

Fast forward two years of salivating later, and I got an email notification about this year's festival and dates in January or February. I was perusing the site, reading through all the chefs that would be in attendance this year with copious amounts of drool dripping down my chin, when I saw a tiny link that asked something about being interested in volunteering. I instantly got a chill. Really? You could just be a volunteer at this thing, simply by clicking this link? I hastily clicked the little magical link and was taken to a tedious application that would end up taking me a good 30 minutes to complete. Was this a volunteer sign-up, or a job application? After filling it out, I hit "send" and immediately got an automated response telling me that they get far more applications than they have spots to fill, so please keep an eye out for an email from them around late March. If I hadn't heard from them by the first week of April, that means I wasn't chosen. Well, pffffffft - I figured I would never hear another thing about this again, and I had just used up 30 minutes of my life I would never get back.

That is, until March 25.

Exactly one month after I submitted my application into the black hole of the internet, I was thrilled to get a response from them, welcoming me to this year's festival, and congratulating me for being chosen to volunteer. ME?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I squealed with glee so loudly upon reading that, my boss came down the hall to see what I was so excited about and squeal alongside me. I am thrilled to report that I have been chosen to work at "Chef Demo A", whatever that means, and I get to be there for the entire festival. Being chosen as a volunteer also gets you admission to the festival in its entirety, so when you're not working your shift, you are encouraged to walk around, taste things, watch demos, soak it all in ... my goodness. To say I'm excited might be the understatement of the century.

What does all this mean? Is there a lesson in it? Patience is a virtue. Or maybe good things come to those who wait. Hell, I don't really care whether there's a lesson in it at all, to be honest. I'm just grateful and crazy excited. I wouldn't walk across the street to meet 99% of the celebrities out there, but I would definitely walk across Butler Park to meet a few chefs.

☮✝✿

Easter

Busy busy week leading up to Easter - whew.

Aside from the regular day-to-day occurrences, we wrapped up our week with all things Easter. The 8th graders at Z's school put on the Living Stations of the Cross, as they do every year, and it was just as moving and lovely as ever.

Kids were dismissed afterward, giving them a half day. Then, they were out Good Friday and today, as well, so you could definitely say this is a good time of the year to be Catholic. Days off galore!

We spent lots of time with my parents, my sister, Ken, and close friends over our few days off, and it was a joy, as always. Easter happened at my house this year, so I prepped and cooked the ham, the kielbasa, the potato salad, the beans, and two pies. No kudos necessary - it really wasn't as much as it sounds like, and it was a fun way to unwind after the work week. Cooking is therapy for me, so it was pleasure to create nom noms for our family. I got to decompress, in the mean time. Not a bad deal.

I was busy shopping for food, menu planning & cooking, my boys were busy cleaning up the house for our guests, but Cody got to do a whole lot of nothing. Lucky dog.

Lots of napping.

Lots of leisurely sniffing.

Lots of hoping and dreaming. He began the stare-down of the ham only four seconds after I had taken it out of it's packaging.

He told Keoki about the ham, so then they swooned together. 

This is Cody, pleading with his eyes.

 

Keoki, testing out the pleading with his eyes to see if it'll work any better for him.

 

Patiently waiting for said ham to come out of the oven.

 

Once dinner was over and everyone had gone home, we all felt a little like slobby blobs. Aaron suggested we go for a nice family bike ride to digest our yummy meal, and to enjoy the beautiful evening breeze. We have to soak up as much time outside as we can, since it's almost May, and we all know what's coming. (Think: hot, humid, balmy, sweaty, awful.)

 

Overall, a busy, but soul satisfying week. Now I get to switch gears and start thinking and studying my favorite topic: food! I am happy to report that after a lengthy application process and lots of waiting around, I was chosen to be a volunteer at this year's Austin Food & Wine Festival. [I must let my inner teenage girl overtake me for a second here while I squeal OMG! Whew, ok, she's gone.] They have emailed me my volunteer packet, filled with lots of information to sort through, memorize, and digest. I will be happy to study this thing over the next few days! More on that later, though ...

 

Hope everyone had a tummy-filling, as well as soul-filling Easter weekend.

☮✝✿

Mary Ann and Garrett

This about sums up how I'm feeling today. Sprinkle in a teensy bit of sadness, and I guess that would be a bit more accurate. Happy, with a tinge of sad. Well, and grateful. And reflective. Ok, that's it -- happy, grateful, reflective, with a tinge of sad.

I have lost two friends over the last month, and it's impossible not to be at least a little reflective when these sorts of things happen. One I hadn't talked to in several years, but we were very good buddies during our formative years, the other a co-worker that I hadn't heard from since the new year, because she fell ill and left work. Both hilarious human beings. Both an asset to the people who's lives they touched. Both sorely missed now.

I have always made it a point to be in the moment, and truly grateful for all I have attained, been given, and enjoyed. Finding out about these two friends just helped reinforced my attitude of gratitude, and made me, as well as a few others, realize again  how important it is to love and hug to the fullest. I am thankful to have shared embraces with mutual friends over the passing of these two individuals, and I'm sure our late friends would be happy to know they helped stir up those feelings of love and wanting to show the people who are still here how much we care about each other. These two loved big and laughed big, and today, I honor them both.

Garrett Cassel

August 23, 1976 - March 18, 2014

Mary Ann Spittler

August 14, 1964 - April 9, 2014

Cheers to you, guys. We love you.

☮✝✿