5.57: Open for Business

I never thought it was possible to feel so happy and excited and exhausted all at once… What a day!

It’s finally official — The Corner Kitchen is open for business! (I know, I know… I’m not crazy about the name either, but Greg says people love that alliteration crap).

I was so nervous this morning… I felt like I was gonna be sick. My hands were basically shaking the whole drive there. I’m surprised I didn’t end up swerving off the road or something! And when I got there, I was almost afraid I was gonna pass out or puke or BOTH (thank GOD I didn’t… Could you imagine?!)

I still can’t figure out if having my family there made me feel better or worse (Tante Joce literally ordered TWO desserts, just as an excuse to hang around longer… It was so embarrassing!) But either way, I was so grateful they all came. Their support means everything to me.

And I was even grateful to the ones who couldn’t make it too. Alex and I talked on the phone for like an hour last night, and Tony had this huge, beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered to the restaurant this morning. It was really awesome of them.

I woke up to a really sweet Facebook message from Hope too. She told me how much she wishes she could be here, and how proud she is of me. I couldn’t stop smiling when I read it. It was really great feeling like so many people were supporting me today.

Greg was swamped with meetings, so he couldn’t be there for the grand opening… And I guess in a way that actually helped. It kinda took some of the pressure off, since Greg can be… Y’know. Greg. He’s not going to be very involved in day-to-day stuff anyway. It’ll just be me and Caitlin, our manager, calling the shots.

We made a pretty good team today, I think. The whole staff was a little nervous, but we pulled it off well. We had a few little bumps, but nothing huge. I think our biggest setback was when we ran out of olive oil… You wouldn’t think that’d be such a big deal, but we use it in like half the stuff on the menu! Our shipment got delayed and it won’t be in til Monday, so we’re gonna have to do lots of improvising… But I’ve always loved doing stuff like that, so I’m not too worried.

We only had one bitchy customer complain all day, and it was about how long it took us to bring her her appetizer (which honestly wasn’t as outrageously long as she made it out to be… but ‘the customer is always right’, I guess). We were able to calm her down by taking it off her bill, so no harm done, I don’t think. Considering the hundreds of happy customers we got, I’d say one complaint isn’t half bad!

Overall it went really, really well… Better than I was expecting for sure! To be honest, it didn’t feel that much different from my old job at the Bistro. Except this time it was me calling all the shots in the kitchen instead of Denise… Which felt amazing!

It was just so exhausting. That was probably the hardest part.

It’s been over a year since I quit my old job, so it’s not gonna be easy getting used to being on a schedule and stuff again. Not being able to sleep in anymore, not working whatever hours I want, not having Netflix playing in the background while I’m getting work done in my pajamas… I guess part of me will miss that. Who wouldn’t?

But it’s worth it. It felt so good to be out there today working hard and being back in the kitchen again. It’s like I’m finally doing something with my life, y’know?

It may not be exactly what I’d imagined… Greg’s talked me into a lot of ‘compromise’, as he calls it. But it’s still so much better than what I had before. Better than I ever thought I’d have.

And I’m so grateful that tomorrow morning, I get to wake up and do it all over again.