Success! (The Sequel)

As if it wasn't fab enough that I had a successful night at work LAST night, tonight was even better!

I got to work and was told by my favorite(x1000) boss to go check the scheduling board in the back, read the flyer, sign it, and bring it out to him. So I sachee (yes, sachee, I didn't just walk) to the back room where I discover a flyer that says MY NAME in big letters talking about how fantastic I am. Now that sounds conceited, but it actually said that. It was basically a write-up about the bussing incident last night, making me seem like I was a lot more gallant than I really was. It honestly wasn't a huge deal... but I don't mind the fuss ;) So I take the sheet out to my boss and thank him for acknowledging me or whatever and he tells me he has nominated me for a ROCK Star award. (ROCK being our philosophy at CPK) So I filled out this questionairre and put in my t-shirt size and it was done. And it set the tone for the rest of the day.

That whole transaction took about 30 minutes. Then, for the next hour I basically did...well...nothing! There was a fire at the nail salon in our center so the fire department blocked off the whole parking lot... so business was crazy slow. Luckily, they killed the fire and opened the lot back up so business returned, but it was a fun little respite while it lasted.
While the fire escapade was still going on my boss asked me to walk over to investigate the situation. So I casually walked out, went up to these two police officers. Here's the convo:
Me: Hey, so what can you tell me about what's going on here?
Cop 1: Well (looks at nametag) Legacy. I mean... Lacey... from Newport Beach? Very nice. What we have here is a classic case of... combustibles (mumbles a bit)... combusting. It's called a fire.
Me: Oh gosh! That's awful! How long do you think it'll take to put out?
Cop 2: Well...
Cop 1: Well Lacey, the fire is out, but they have to clean it up.
Me: (Frustrated like crazy) So how long do you think it'll be before you can reopen the parking lot?
Cop 1: Oh yeah I'll bet business isn't exactly moving like wildfire HAHAHA. Get it?
Me: Oh AHAHAHAHA! So it'll be open again soon then?
Cop 2: Well...
Cop 1: Yes, it'll be open again soon.

Ridiculous. And rude.

But work was good :)

Success!

What constitutes a "successful" day at work? I will tell you... since I had a totally, completely, absolutely successful day at work.

I arrived feeling, well merely so-so. I had had a relatively eventful day prior to my 4 o'clock clock-in time (and by eventful I mean I had attempted to clean a couch, gone to Disneyland, sat on Lindsey's car while waiting for the Disney courtesy car-openers to come and open her car, and rushed to make it to work on time... so not ALL that eventful I suppose). So I got to work feeling sort of tired and basically dreading the next 5 hours of my life. It wasn't until 4:30 that I sat my first table (or tried to anyway). It was a party of three women who were dissatisfied with the first two tables I tried to sit them at. They finally said, "Haven't you got a booth?" To which I said "I'm sorry, we only have two full booths in the restaurant and they're both occupied at the moment. I've got this half booth..." and the chicks in the full booth behind me said "Oh we're leaving!" and they got up, making me look really lame. So I turned to the three ladies and said, "I'll bus this booth right up for you!" in the cheeriest voice I could muster. I mean c'mon, first freakin table of the night!

So I juggled two phone calls, the arrival of two more parties, and bussing the coveted full both for the next few minutes before seating the frustrating party of three at that beautiful newly-bussed full booth. And they were happy. So I was happy. Then Lauren (the other host) arrived and time started to move faster. The customers started being friendlier and easier to please, AND I discovered that Juan (the salad/dessert man) respects me! (Apparently it is because he respects me that he always insists on giving me free dessert at the end of the night. I like the idea of being respected AND getting free dessert, don't you?).

Then my boss comes up to me and says that I can leave (mind you, it is only 8pm and I am scheduled until 9, so I was excited!), but he asked which of us had bussed a full booth for a party of three ladies earlier in the day. I got worried. I assumed one of them had complained about me for something or another because people ALWAYS seem to find something to pick at you about, even if you're as nice to them as you can possibly be. But no! They had called in to our corporate office to commend our restaurant on the excellent service, giving us a score of 5 (which I guess is the best?) and they specifically mentioned ME! So my boss was happy with me. So I was happy.

And then I went outside and ate my happy little salad and my happy little slice of key lime pie (thanks Juan!).

Successful night at work? I think so!

Awkward much?

It's official. I am offically awkward. I remember the days, not so long ago, when I would laugh with Alli about how much fun it was to be in "awkward situations" that you really didn't think were awkward but you knew the other people did.

But now I am awkward... and they're not so funny.

Where did this awkwardness come from? Good question! Perhaps it's the series of awkward encounters with the 'Latino' (not 'Mexican') dishwashers and bussers at work. Apparently they say a lot of things about me that I am completely oblivious to... smiling and saying 'Si' is no longer appropriate since APPARENTLY they are saying rather inappropriate things to me.

So now I'm awkward. If you have any other insight into my newfound awkwardness feel free to share. ♥

It's a B-E-A-UTIFUL Day!

Today has been... FANTASTIC! I really can't recall what I did before 12:45pm, which is okay cause it was neither wonderful nor horrible... so I'm happy! But at 12:45 I got home, ate half of my full-sized Waldorf Chicken Salad (copyright CPK) and my DELICIOUS slice of Chocolate Banana Royale Cake (copyright CPK), while watching the latest installment of House. So I was happy. Then I perused my e-mails and comments for awhile before watching Hannah Montana with Lindsey and my mom. My friend Bret's girlfriend was on so we had to watch her. She's a fun girl. Very enthusiastic. Then I went to work, where I hosted alone for the first hour and a half (I seated about 5 tables total in that time and only took about 4 take-out orders... it was QUITE slow), after which I was joined by Nikki, a new-hire. We worked together for a half an hour before Shadee showed up. By this time business still hadn't picked up a whole lot, so my new temporary manager told me that I could leave work early (this was at 6:15! I wasn't supposed to be off until 8:30!!). So I got my Thai Crunch Salad (copyright CPK) and children's sundae which Juan surprised me with :) and FEASTED! I then drove home in my grandfather's luxurious car, rolled the sunroof back, turned the music up, and cruised home.
I just finished my current event (only real homework for the night) and will be leaving in a few minutes to go to the jacuzzi. It's been such a wonderful Wednesday. Tomorrow will be good too! I know it.
♥

Only semi-original blog : )

I kind of stole Alli's blog idea... but instead of things that make me happy it is going to be a list of


THINGS THAT MAKE ME SMILE
1. Songs by Jason Mraz :)
2. Funny faces :)
3. Silly laughs :)
4. Caramel frappaccinos :)
5. DINGS! (texts) :)
6. Alli, Lindsey, Deannie, Emily, Greg, Matt, Ricky, my parents (sometimes), and a lot of other funny and entertaining people :)
7. Gaby and Prancer :)
11. The fact that I actually typed the number 11 after the number 7 :)
9. Boys :)
10. Old pictures that remind me of funny times :)
8. Glennykins :)
12. Writing exciting horoscopes :)
13. Going to Ducks games :)
14. The Guacamole Bowl :)
15. Seeing cute couples :)
16. The silly little pictures and animations on my phone for text messages :)
17. Every single installment of the Confessions of a Shopaholic series :)
18. Seri and Dom from work :)
19. When I make a fool of myself :)
20. When people think situations are awkward and I know that they do but I actually don't think they're awkward so I milk them for all that they're worth :)
21. Thin Mints :)
22. Lying to protect my Thin Mints :)
23. When I lie... :)
24. My lime green bed sheets :)
25. Seeing/hearing cute boys play guitar *sigh* :)

Countdown to college

Realization: I am college-bound.
Reaction to Realization: Oh my God.

It's a weird feeling, realizing that your life is going to be REALLY different in just a few months. In two months' time I will be graduating, leaving high school (and unfortunately a lot of really cool people) behind. Until today I felt really unsure about which college I wanted to go to. I felt the most pull toward Wisconsin because I absolutely fell in love with the school (and for you skeptics, my love affair with the city had nothing to do with a certain guy I met there).

After a long, enlightening conversation with my second cousin Sean, a successful attorney (who recently made partner at his law firm) about the consequences of student loans, I decided to rule out the college that would cost me the most money. Not only because of the cost, but the distance, the weather, and the fact that I would not be able to afford coming home more than once or twice a year.

That left me deciding between 5 other schools, a few of which I had ruled out a few weeks ago (ASU--because I don't want to become a wild lush, BYU---because I don't want to fall in love with a man who may or may not be interested in marrying me unless I convert / Not sure I could handle a lot of my friends getting married their first and second years of college, UC Davis---I heard it smells like cows. I also heard that there's nothing to do up there except for drink and go to school. Again, I don't want to become a wild lush, but I also do not want to be a reclusive 24/7 student)

So now I was down to two. Cal Poly SLO and UCI. I think if I hadn't taken a roadtrip up to SLO this week with my mother, I would have registered at SLO for sure, without taking a second thought. Luckily we did, and although I absolutely love the town, the people, and the beautiful drive up there, I did NOT like the campus. It was extremely small, not good looking, and I didn't see much that attracted my interest. I also learned today that their writing program is not very good, which is not okay considering I would be in that department.

So I toured UCI today and I love it. I took the campus tour and then met up with my brother's girlfriend, a third-year there and she took me to a few of her classes and showed me her dorm. Basically with all the information I got about UCI, I really want to go there, I don't even mind that it's so close to home. The way I see it, if I find myself wanting to go further away after a year or two I still can. I'll just keep my options open.

So that's where I'm at now, however, everyone's input is pulling me every which way.
"Don't go there... GO HERE!"
"The weather there gets pretty intense, try this place, it's a lot more comfortable."
"Who cares if it smells like cows? Cow tipping is FUN!"
etc...etc...etc...

We'll see.

To be tolerant...?

I consider myself a very tolerant person.

I tolerate it when people tug on the phone cord as I'm trying to take a take-out order.
When old men are dissatisfied with their dining experience (or their seating experience) I tolerate their ridiculous criticism and crude remarks.
I tolerate mini vans (it's taken years for me to come to terms with the fact that they will ALWAYS BE THERE, so there's no use complaining about them).

Sometimes I wonder if people take advantage of my tolerance.

Oh look, she's smiling even though I'm insulting her and making her feel like pond scum... perhaps I'll throw in a mean comment about her shoes just for the heck of it.

Hey she doesn't care that I'm pulling her hair... perhaps I'll continue and ALSO stomp on her feet!

Well last time I flaked out on her she said that it was okay and not to worry... why don't I do it again? She'll understand...

(Examples are taken from real-life experiences that have taken place in the last week. I'm not bitter or anything...)

Is it worth it to be tolerant when people are going to try their damndest to be intolerable?

These are the questions that haunt me...