3 Different Jobs Since May? Yup, that happened.

Life has pretty much been a whirlwind for me since I last posted back in August.  Once I started management training at Friday's back in May I felt like like was so busy that I barely had time to breathe.  While moving into management had its perks in that I was guaranteed two days off every week, the hours were insane and I was so tired from working so much that on the two days a week I had off I pretty much wanted to do nothing.

Since I got promoted to management this past May I received another promotion from Server Manager to Beverage (a.k.a. Bar) and Host Manager in September.  During this promotion the store was going through a lot of changes... we got a new General Manager and then another one of my best friends got promoted into management.  September was a rough month as since we were basically down a manager I was working like a crazy person and pretty much had no life other than living at Friday's.

Fast forward to October and I finally got some time off and took a week of vacation (more on that in a later post) to spend some time with my husband who I probably saw for a total of 6 hours over the two weeks leading up to my vacation.  Granted he was away for work one week, but my schedule was so insane that even after he got back I never got to see him.  To say my vacation was much needed was an understatement.  I was burnt out and ready for a break from the restaurant business.

A Few Pictures Showing what my life at Friday's consisted of....

Giant Flashlights so that we could check to make sure everything was clean

Taking the temperature of beer to make sure it was being served cold enough

Creating "Contest Corners" to motivate the staff to sell various items

Constantly updating chalkboards with current promotions

A Little Halloween Fun

Right before my vacation I got a phone call asking if I would be interested in interviewing for a position that I had been interested in over a year and a half ago, but they decided I wasn't exactly what they were looking for (read... I had zero experience in anything other than law and the restaurant business... so how could I go into a finance type position?).  I decided that since I was on vacation I had nothing to lose and that I might as well go for the interview and see where it lead.  I had promised Friday's I wouldn't actively look for a job once I got promoted to management... I said I would give them at least a year before trying to do anything so a small part of me felt guilty for even accepting the interview. BUT at the same time I wasn't actively looking for the job... THEY called ME.  So I went for the interview and left feeling like I wasn't sure what was going to happen.  I felt as thought 2 of the 4 people who interviewed me liked me while the other 2 I had NO idea what they were thinking.  Well the very next day I got a phone call and I was offered the job.

Now after the interview (which by the way I had on the day of my 2nd wedding anniversary) Mark and I had discussed what I should do.  Mark obviously told me it was my decision to make, but I could tell that he was ready for me to move on from Friday's and move on to a job that could turn into more of a career.  Before even talking to Mark I knew that taking the job would be the right thing to do as I was pretty sure that working at Friday's was making me depressed and I knew that sooner rather than later I would need to get out of there.

Flowers from my parents to congratulate me on my new job!!

I'm sure you all know how this story is going to end... I took the job and not a day has passed where I have regretted my decision.  There is nothing better than getting to come home every night to spend quality time with my husband.  After two years we FINALLY get to enjoy married life and see what it is like to be a normal married couple who sees each other more than a few hours a week.  I am also thoroughly enjoying having weekends off... after three weekends in a row off it still seems surreal, but I am definitely sure I am going to get used to this.

Though I may not regret taking the job at Qlik, I do miss some of the friends I made at Friday's... friends who became my family.  My last few days there were exhausting and tough as I prepared to leave some of the people I had worked with for so long.  Although I miss them I know that I will keep in touch with the ones who mean the most to me! As they say, "It's not goodbye... it's see you later!" and that is how I feel about many of the people I worked with.

Flowers, Presents and a Cake to celebrate the end of an era!

The place that really was my "home" for the past 6  years and especially the 6 months leading up to my departure

To my family and friends who put up with me while I was miserable at Friday's I can't thank you enough for dealing with me during the tough times.  But it was all worth it because I am definitely in a better place now and for the first time in a long time I feel truly happy and am loving life!

So blogging world... I AM BACK!! And I can't wait to see where this new adventure in my life takes me!!

Have you ever felt like your job was a dead end? What did you do about it? Did you up an quit for something completely out of your comfort zone like I did? Or did you stick it out to wait for the perfect opportunity to come around?

What I've Been Up to Wednesday

Back in the end of April I wrote a post about everything I had been up to recently and talked about how much I missed blogging and how in May I was totally going to get back into the swing of blogging.  Well, let's just say that was a complete fail as once again life got in the way.  So here's a recap of what has been going on in my life since I last posted.

May 6th was when I officially started my management training for Friday's.  Management training for me meant spending 4 weeks in the kitchen learning all of the different statioIns and learning how to manage the kitchen.  Let's just say that a) I am super happy to be done with all of that training and b) I have SO MUCH RESPECT for those who work in restaurant kitchens.  Working in the kitchen was by far the most challenging position I have had while working in the restaurant and I really don't know how some of them do it.  There are so many things on the menu and trying to keep it all straight really was mind boggling at times.  Granted most of our cooks work just one station so they know it like the back of their hands, but some of them know how to work them all and that just amazes me.  I know that I only had a week at each station to learn everything there was to know about it, BUT still... I am SUPER IMPRESSED with anyone who works as a kitchen in a restaurant! After spending all that time in the kitchen I am just hoping that I remember what it is like to be a FOH manager because it has been a LONG time since I have actually dealt with customers.  Tonight is my first official shift as a full blown manager... so wish me luck!  I think I am going to need it.

My last night on the bar with my favorite Friday night crew!!

When servers don't want to do their side work...

Manager breakfast of champions... tamales and a giant WaWa coffee at 5:30am when you come in to do inventory

Training means organizing the patio cart...

Slow night of training... why not make animals out of pickles??

May also brought a surprise party for one of my best friends.  I was actually able to get a Saturday off from work, so Mark and I headed out to surprise AV for her birthday.  She was definitely surprised to see so many of us and it was great to be able to get together with some of our favorite couples for a dinner out.

Happy 30th AV!!

All the fun people out to celebrate AV's 30th

Always amazing getting to hang with two of my favorite Chi Mu sisters!!

The rest of May was basically spent working and trying to spend whatever time I could with the husband before getting back to a crazy schedule of closing all the time.  Managing has definitely been good for our marriage as we have been able to eat dinner together at least 2 nights a week (sometimes more!) and we are guaranteed to see each other at least 2 days a week which is way better than it was before.  When I was bartending and keying we could sometimes go an entire week without seeing each other based on our schedules.

Even made it to one of the hubby's softball games!  Look at my sexy husband playing first base!!

The beginning of June marked the husband's 30th birthday and I was lucky enough to get off from work to spend the day with him!  We started off the day with a tour of the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, PA.  The tour was an awesome experience... it was so cool to see how America's Oldest Brewery functioned.

One of the awesome things was that we got to see Dick Yuenling and actually say Hi to him.  He was just walking around the brewery eating an apple without a care in the world.  I also found it really interesting that instead of just passing the brewery down from generation to generation they actually make the new generation of Yuenglings purchase it from the previous Yuengling owner.  I think that is awesome because it definitely makes whoever is running the brewery more accountable for what is going on.

Inside the old tunnels where they used to store the beer to keep it cold

Original stained glass that was used to keep out some of the light

Brewing beer!

Inside the bottling/canning facility

Hanging out behind the bar

Tasting time!

After visiting Yuengling we headed home to get ready to go to the Phillies game with some of our favorites.  All Mark really wanted to do for his 30th was get a group of our friends together to tailgate and then sit somewhere for the game where it would be possible for us to potentially catch a home run ball.

We had a successful tailgate until someone (a.k.a. ML) was celebrating his cornhole victory and threw one of the bean bags on top of the solar panels in the tailgate lot.  That gave us all a good laugh, but meant that our cornhole playing for the day was done... but that was ok because we had plenty of beer to drink to keep us occupied for the game.

Down 1 red bean bag

Tailgating with some of my best girlfriends!!

Some of the best friends we could ever ask for out celebrating Mark's 30th

Unfortunately the Phillies lost... but we still had a great time hanging out and watching the game.  Other than the time we sat in Mark's company box, these were the best seats I have had for a Philllies game and I truly enjoyed getting to see the game from them.  Too bad no home runs were hit so we didn't get a chance to catch a ball!

Crab fries... a Philly sporting event tradition

Happy 30th!!

This past weekend we were fortunate enough to be able to celebrate the first birthday of AV and AV's daughter LV.  Her party was nothing short of a good time and I seriously can't get enough of that little cutie.  She looked adorable in her birthday tutu and had a blast playing with all of her friends in her new water table.

She loved her cake so much she even put her foot in it!

This cake is delicious!!

The V family celebrating Little Miss L's 1st birthday!

Water table fun!

Little Miss C having a blast at the water table

Little Miss C carrying Little Miss L's birthday present outside!

Monday marked my last day of training and also the last day for one of my best friends.  While I am super excited to have been promoted to management, I wish there had been a way for us to have stayed managing in the same store.  She and I have basically worked all of our shifts together since she first started and I came back from my short leave of absence to take the bar exam.  Life at Friday's will not be the same without her!!

We sure are going to miss this girl!!

Popping open the champagne to celebrate 5 amazing years!!

Life has definitely been keeping me busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way!! June promises to be just as busy as May was, but I am hoping that now that training is done I will start to have a little bit more time to dedicate to this little blog of mine!! So stay tuned!!

What have you been up to recently?

I'm Aliveeeeeeeee!!!

Hello friends, remember me? You know, that girl that used to blog ALL the time.  But then she kind of disappeared for about a month? Well, yeah, that's me.  But no worries, I am BACK! The last time I posted was right after one of my besties' bridal showers and lets just say a lot has happened since them.

The weekend after the bridal shower was initiation weekend for the Iota Lambda Chapter of Chi Omega at Villanova University.  As their initiation advisor I was there for them for the ceremonies to a) make sure everything was done correctly and to b) help them out with whatever they needed.  I have to say I was super proud of them and we welcomes 48 incredible women into the Iota Lambda chapter!!

All the new sisters with the New Member Educator

After initiation followed by a crazy week at work, I was lucky enough to be able to celebrate my friend ZK's 30th birthday with her!  Z and I have recently become better friends through work and I was so happy that I was able to help her celebrate her 30th!!

Z with all her birthday goodies

Celebrating Z's bday after a rough night at work 

Sushi & Champagne for Z's birthday

After a long work week and celebrating Z's birthday at work, it was time to head to good old New Jersey to attend a surprise 30th birthday party for one of my best friends in the entire world.  AW and I have been friends since we were in first grade together and have shared so many wonderful memories.

Surprise!!

Photobooth fun at the surprise party

First Grade Friends

AW's surprise party was the perfect end to the month of March and as Mark and I headed into April I had no idea how many changes the month would bring.  The first major change came on April 1st when Mark and I decided to make an offer on a house we had gone to look at a couple of times and could actually see ourselves living it.  I am pretty sure friends and family thought that we were pulling some sort of April Fool's joke on them... especially since I told everyone it took me over a bottle of wine before I was comfortable making the offer.

This is the house we put an offer in on

Champagne to Celebrate finally putting in an offer

Unfortunately we still haven't heard back about the house.  It is a short sale.  So although our offer was accepted by the seller's agent and the sellers themselves, we still have to wait for the bank who owns the mortgage to accept the offer.  They have had it for a couple of weeks now, so keep your fingers crossed that we hear something back soon.  I am having major anxiety issues over this because I hate the uncertainty.  I just want to know.  Will I be disappointed if the bank doesn't accept our offer? Absolutely.  But I just want to know!

After making an offer on the house it was time to head to Mexico for JG and DM's wedding!! Let me just say that we had a fabulous time and it was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL wedding!! So beautiful in fact that it deserves its own post and I will not be spoiling things for you in this little life recap of mine.

We came back from Mexico to me working 9 days straight with a bridal shower and bachelorette party for my G-little thrown into the mix.  BE is my little sister's little sister in Chi Omega and I was so thrilled to be there to help her celebrate her upcoming wedding!! BE is marrying another Bucknellian in June and Mark and I are so excited that we are going to be able to be there to celebrate with them!!

Bucknell Ladies at BE's bridal shower

My G-little... the beautiful bride to be

All of the fabulous ladies at BE's bachelorette!

On my last day of my 9 days straight of work I found out that it is official that I am getting promoted to management.  As many of you know I went to law school and have been unable to find a job as an attorney.  To help get myself through law school I started working at the TGI Friday's across the street from my school and until recently had been employed as a bartender.  Well I got my official offer letter today and this Friday, May 1st will be my last official bartending shift.  While this is bittersweet because I will miss my fellow bartenders, I do know that this is the right step for me.  Though working in the restaurant business is not what I want to do for the rest of my life, I feel as though moving into management is definitely a step in the right direction for me.

This past Thursday, on my first day off I spent the night chaperoning the Iota Lambda ladies at their spring formals at Adventure Aquarium in Camden.  Not exactly how I wanted to spend my one day off, but for the first time in forever the girls (and their dates) were so very well behaved that I actually was able to enjoy myself and to snap a few pictures!!

Shark Selfie!!

So ladies and gentlemen, that is what has been going on in the wonderful world of Elizabeth this past month and why I have been so M.I.A.  Life definitely doesn't seem like it will be slowing down for us any time soon, but I think I need to get back into the swing of blogging in order to keep all my emotions in check.  Blogging has always been such a relaxation for me and a way for me to express myself.  I have missed it.  And with my anxiety being at an all time high with all these major life changes, I think I definitely need a little stress relief in my life!

Did you miss me? (Be honest) What has been going on in your life recently?

PS, Today I am linking up with Krista at The Quinntessential Mommy for her "Meet Up Monday" link up! If you have time you should head over to her blog and check out some of the others who have linked up today as well!!