Abandon Ship!!

The Titanic has hit the iceberg and she is sinking fast!

There was a tiny gleam of hope for about 2-3 hours last week and then poof!! All gone! The owner truly has no clue how to run a restaurant.

• The head chef quit as well as two other main "people" that have been at the restaurant forever. Now the guy running the kitchen has little experience and keeps horrible records, not to mention, he's not that great of a chef.
  
• Still no manager to run operations.
• The "head server" is now writing the server/bartender schedules and doing the liquor orders. He let me know that we were out of a few different liquors and that we wouldn't be getting them in anytime soon because the liquor supplier hasn't been paid.
• Oh... did I mention that there are only 35 wine glasses in a restaurant that can seat 300+ guests and another 200+ in our venue. 35!! I had a group of 75-100 call about a wine and appetizers party... yeah right! "He" says "we'll rent more if we need them". IDIOT!!

So, now.... I have "resigned" too. There's no point to sticking it out. Truly, "He" has no bleeping clue how to run a restaurant. Say la vie!!

Off to bigger and better...

I have an interview for week at a local country club to be their event planner. I'm excited and curious about this position. Hopefully it'll be something fabulous that "fits" with me and visa versa. I also have two other possible opportunities to investigate this week. So, wish me luck!!

I'll keep you posted!

Kitchen Nightmares in Denver

Gordon Ramsey, Help!!

About a month and a half ago, I landed a job at a local restaurant as the Director of Marketing and Events... are you impressed? I was sold the vision, the potential, and the endless possibilities of this new exciting opportunity. Well... plluugh to that! Couldn't be further from reality.

The owner of this restaurant, we'll call him "He", was originally the silent partner, but due to the asinine behavior of the active partner, "Y", "He" took over. The reputation of this restaurant is in the toilet because of "Y". On the flip side, "He" is an incredibly successful businessman that owns several software companies around the world with connections any self made millionaire would envy. The catch is.... he has very little knowledge about how to run a restaurant.

He fired the manager that hired me... the man that HE hired to turn this disaster of a restaurant around; hence the Kitchen Nightmares reference. Then, the ONLY other manager quit due to all the chaos!! His last day was Saturday. So, we have nobody to run the restaurant at this moment. The head chef, sous chef, and cooks are all out interviewing for jobs elsewhere. I know that the head chef and sous chef both have an offer on the table... so we'll see.

It has taken me 6 weeks to nail down a banquet menu for this place simply because it's taken that long to sit down with the head chef. Don't even get me started on the restaurant's website! Ugh! As I've been out "marketing" the new vision of this place (aka lying my ass off), potential clients often ask if I can send them a menu, or a banquet menu with our policies, or if they can get our banquet menu from our website... the answer to all of the above is NO!

Oh! Did I mention the comment from our head chef last week that Sysco Foods has " cut us off" because we haven't paid our bill? Oh yeah... that was good for a belly chuckle.

Oh! And we only have 3 servers. Funny right! I mean, are you kidding me?

So... with that very brief insight into my new job... you can only imagine how confident I am booking events for 50 - 100 guests for this restaurant. We'll see how it goes. In anticipation of the day I show up to work to find a "business closed" sign on the door, I am, of course, open to any other opportunities that may come my way.

Though the direction, stability, and future of this restaurant are completely unknown... One thing is for sure! It provides me continuous humor and sometimes the absurdity of the whole thing has me laughing so hard I have to wipe my eyes.

By the way... last week, the fleeing manager assured me that Mr. Owner will give us some notice that he's shutting the restaurant down. However, in the case that I do go to work and discover that "Business Closed" sign, I'm keeping good records of the events I'm booking so I can call them on my way to happy hour to let them know that... "So sorry to tell you that your event has been canceled because the restaurant has shut down."

I'm not even sure Gordon Ramsey can fix this mess!!

Keep you posted...

A Long Time Coming...

Well... it's been a while since my last post. Nearly a month. A lot can change in a month...

For some reason I feel compelled to fill you in about one of the biggest changes... how I'm feeling. Some of you know, others may not... I've had a pretty tough time dealing with my father's death. It was the last straw in what has probably been the hardest year and a half of my life.

Here's a brief recap: Quit a job I enjoyed due to my toxic, nightmare of a boss. Learned of my Mom's cancer, her major surgery & recovery, chemotherapy and more recovery. Cared for both parents in FL and spending as much time with my dad as I can in between caring for my mom. Sold a house, rented a house and bought a house all in four months. The back & forth between FL & Denver. Not to mention the financial stress put on my hubby while I was out of work. Finally, my Father's death. I can handle a lot and stress is normally something I can manage pretty well... but dammit! That's a lot!

So... in the process, I gained some weight, cried a lot, stuffed my emotions down and ultimately found myself depressed and caring about hardly anything. Nothing felt important enough to warrant my attention. Some days, it was all I could do to get out of bed and go through the motions. Every time I turned around, something would set me off and the tears would start flowing uncontrollably. I'm an emotional person by nature (I get that from my mom) but the person I had turned into couldn't be further from who I really am.

So, with the encouragement of a good friend, I went to see my doctor. She did some blood work, talked with me about how I was feeling, and suggested I temporarily try an anti-anxiety/anti-depression medication. Sceptically, reluctantly, and judgmentally, I said OK. I say it that way because I kept "should-ing" on myself. I should be able to bring myself out of this low on my own. I should be able to snap out of this funk I'm in. If I exercise more or eat differently, then I should feel better. If I can get to the grief counselor and talk it out, then I should eventually run out of tears, right?! (By the way, I made three appointments with a grief counselor and canceled them all.) I think there's stigma attached to admitting I need help and further, realizing that the help I need comes in the form of a depression/anxiety medication. Well, the cat's out of the bag. Today, I think it takes courage to admit all that.

I've been on the meds for almost four weeks now... and WOW! What a difference! I'm starting to feel like myself again. Positive. Energetic. Optimistic. Excited. I'm still sad about my Father's passing and I miss him very much and yes... I still cry sometimes. The difference is that now, I don't burst into uncontrolled sobbing every time I think of him. I'm more excited to get out of bed and participate in life. I care about things again. I find myself laughing again and feeling happy. I feel somewhat liberated from my sadness. I can smile now when I think of my Dad and remember all the life lessons he taught me, as well as the many funny life stories he lived. I still plan to meet with the grief counselor and this time I'll actually go and be able to hear the knowledge and advice expressed by the therapist. Things are looking up!

Like I said... a lot has changed this past month. All of it good! I'm feeling much better. Eric got a great new job. I've lost a few pounds and I even landed a new job. (More on that next post.) Right now... I'm off to get a full body massage! Oh yeah baby!

That's the latest on this end. Until next post...

An Evening With The Nadas

It starts with two friends all prettied up, a drive into the mountains to a local favorite bar, an entertaining band to dance and sing-along to and wha-la! You got yourself a fun night out on the town.

My friend Mara and I went to see The Nadas in concert at the Little Bear Saloon in Evergreen. It was a lot of fun! We've seen The Nadas several times through the years and the Little Bear is one of the band's favorite venues. Aren't we lucky! And... they'll be in Denver at the Gothic Theater in October. Yeah!

We met this fantastic couple that shared their front row seats with us. Dennis and Estell are their names. They're in their lively 60's and out really living life. They danced right along side of us for most of the night. They're an inspiration so I thought I'd include their picture too. With any luck, we'll run into them next time.

When I lived in Orlando, I went out and listened to live music all the time. I was in the know of all the locals bands. I think I forgot how much I love live music. I think it's time to visit more front row seats in different venues around Denver. Wanna come with me?

A Silly View of Election 2008

Everyone has an opinion about our country's upcoming election. Conservatives and Liberals alike are rooting for their favorite... the one and only each optimistically believes will be answer to all of our American prayers. We seem to loose our sense of humor; taking the jabs spewed from party A against our faultless party B very seriously and personally.

There is, however, one comical team that has an equal opportunity political satire about our campaigning politicians that elephants and donkeys can both enjoy!! Take a look at Jib Jab's newest video.

Young @ Heart

I'd like to share a movie with you that I think you'd all thoroughly enjoy! Eric and I went to see it yesterday and it is fantastic!! It's hilarious and sad, moving and inspirational. I'd love to see it again! I think most of you know I'm apart of an a'capella group here in Denver. The Last Note Singers. If you didn't know... you do now! It's a lot of fun and this new singing family are a wonderful group of people. The description of the film and a few websites about the documentary are below. I'd highly recommend you search for a theater near you and rush out to go see it!

Here's the description:
Young@Heart is a New England senior citizens chorus that has delighted audiences worldwide with their covers of songs by everyone from The Clash to Coldplay, James Brown to The Rolling Stones. Based in Northampton, Massachusetts, the group is made up of two dozen spirited seniors who specialize in reinterpreting rock, punk and R & B classics from a unique perspective. Their lineup includes former schoolteachers, executives, doctors and food service workers, and the chorus is guided by their longtime director Bob Climan. With less than two months to go until a one night only concert in their hometown, the performers struggle with the new lyrics and unfamiliar melodies of several new songs. During their thrice weekly rehearsals, they gradually take possession of music ranging from R&B classics like Allen Toussaint’s Yes We Can, Can to Coldpay’s emotionally powerful ballad "Fix You" upending assumptions about old age, love, sex and death.

Young@Heart Reviews & Videos The Trailer

Happy Birthday Grandpa Bennett!!

Debonair, family focused, lady loving, card shark, sweet tooth Grandpa Bennett is 89 years young today and still going strong!! We wish we were there to celebrate with you... Hope you have a wonderful day! We love you!!

Nine Years Ago Today...

…I moved to Colorado.

In a parade of two cars packed to capacity, one gas guzzling truck towing two horses (which we stopped for every couple hours to give them a rest), one enormous U-Haul containing the lives of three strangers (and driven by a girl who really shouldn’t have), four young 20-something individuals (two of which I barely knew), two fun-loving yet rowdy dogs, and nine grumbling, ticked off cats... we drove 2000 miles in three days ending our tour of the country at a storage unit in Aurora, CO. It was quite the adventure!

You never know what life will toss your way and sometimes you take a chance on faith. The hope of what could be or what might be… My life in Denver grew into something very different from the original vision I had… and I’m grateful for every minute of the journey.

I Love Birthdays!

I’m one of those people that LOVES their birthday! I think birthdays are more than a one day celebration too. It’s more like a week or so… and the whole month if you can pull it off! I’ve never understood the “Oh, I don’t want to do anything for my birthday” statements from friends and family. “It’s my birthday… Let’s party baby!!” My dad used to say… “It’s better than the alternative.”

As a kid, my parents always did a good job of making it my special day. As a summer baby, you get skipped over for the school classroom celebration with cupcakes and birthday cards because school is out for the summer. On the flip side, it’s summer! So pool parties and beach parties galore!

One of my most memorable birthdays was my surprise 13^th birthday party. It was a doozie. We still lived south of Miami, in Homestead, FL and my long time friend Kathleen and I had ‘gone shopping’, which was to get me out of the house, of course. After my mom dropped us off, we snuck over to a boy’s house where he and his friend were waiting for us. Long story short, when my mom came to pick us up from all our “shopping” and took us home… were there was a police car in our driveway… (I’ll get back to that part) I walked in the front door and had the daylights scared out of me by all my friends yelling “SURPRISE!” It was fantastic! That party lasted all night long and every kid in our neighborhood from 10 – 18 was there! Sadly, we moved up to Central FL the following day which, as a new teenager, I was not happy about. What’s even sadder and one of the main reasons we moved out of South FL, was we had been robbed an hour before my birthday party began. Hence the police car!

This birthday, I turned 35. Ouch! I’m a bit stunned that 35 years of my life have zipped by. People that are 35… GULP, are grown-ups. Ugh! My friends, Mara & Kat, organized a Happy Birthday Happy Hour for me a few days before my birthday at the Funky Buddha, one of my Denver favorites. Thanks girls! We had our very own private patio and plenty of cosmos. Lots of friends came to celebrate and it was a lot of fun!

Then on my birthday, my fabulous hubby, Eric took me dinner and a show. We went to Bastien's Restaurant which was pretty good. They brings out these strange, long two foot breadsticks to the table for snacking. I would describe it as an old diner taken over by a fine dining chef. They have a fantastic Limoncello martini. SO good! I'd highly recommend stopping by to get one! Then we went to see Wanda Sykes at the Comedy Works. She's hilarious!! She even had Eric laughing and that's hard to do. We had a lot of fun. Thanks everyone for a great birthday! Until next year...

This Blogging Thing...

So, I’ve figured out that taking the time to blog regularly is more difficult than I thought. My thinking was that I’m not all that busy, how hard can it be? Turns out, I actually have been busy. I’ll try to catch everyone up on what’s been going on this coming week. So, today you get a 2 for 1 special. Here we go…