From dicey to spicey
Anyone who works in a regular 9 to 5 job, sitting in an office or cubicle entering data and answering phones all day looks forward to 2 things... Lunch, and the end of the day.
Some people live close enough to their place of employment that they can hop in the car and eat lunch out of their own fridge. Some people actually do this novel thing called 'Packing a Lunch' and dine in the break room with a good book (novel thing, good book, get it? Hehe. Yeah, okay, that was bad). Then there are the people like me... The ones who regularly eat out, throwing money away, and thriving on out-of-the-office-banter.
The bad thing about living in a small town is that your lunch choices are limited. These are the places we frequent...
The Blue Heron - I always get the turkey wrap or the Nature Lover's Salad (fruit, poppyseed dressing, feta and almonds on lettuce... Delicious).
The Bistro - A hip, downtown sandwich place that is known for their gyros (although I only eat their turkey wrap as well. The owner, Mark Fowler puts this incredible scallion cream cheese and salsa on it for me... Perfect).
House of Hunan - This is the ONLY place I trust for Chinese food in Cadillac. I used to crave their mixed vegetables in brown sauce at least twice a week, but that's tapered down quite a bit. We knew it was overkill when the servers would bring our preferred drinks to the table before we even ordered them. (I've always avoided the mystery buffets at all of the other Chinese places in town, and NOW I remember why).
Some days we do fast food, but I try to avoid that as much as possible. And this, my friends, was basically the list... Until today. Today was a milestone for me... The first time I've EVER had authentic Mexican food within 45 minutes of Cadillac.
We used to have a La Senorita on the south end of town, but it got really nasty, always had flies buzzing around, and finally just closed. Then the building changed owners, went through a little renovation and was renamed Avanti's. I'm not sure what type of food they served there, because I couldn't get past the fact that there was a misspelled word painted on their front sign. Eventually Avanti's also went under, and I recently heard a rumor that a new Mexican restaurant was opening in its place. You can understand my trepidation of actually ever stepping foot in that place again, but when Matt reported this morning that he'd eaten there last night and it was good, I decided I was willing to give it a try.
Mark and I drove over, and were immediately put at ease when we found the walls freshly painted, new ceramic tile on the floors and no less than 3 men in polos and khakis sweeping various parts of the restaurant. This brought a gentle calm over my heart, and a rumble to my stomach. The chips came out hot, the salsa smooth, and the waiter's accent was heavy. At this my confidence bolstered. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and was happy with the service. I couldn't help but laugh at the festive music being pumped from overhead the dining room. Who knew that Spanish rap could be so catchy, or that someone had not only taken the time to translate 'Achy, Breaky Heart' into Spanish, but also record it!? Hilarious. One of the men sweeping was actually singing along under his breath.
On our way to the cash register I saw my former pastor and his wife in another booth. They seemed genuinely interested in how I was doing, since they haven't really seen me at all since the divorce (My ex still attends their church, now with his new wife). Mark and I paid and then stepped out into the sunshine, full bellies and happy hearts. It was then that I heard a car quickly approaching, peeling around from behind the restaurant. Just as I halted my step Mark said, "Amber, watch out!" and the car whizzed by.
Just like it happens in the movies, the events instantly turned to slow motion. Just slow enough for me to glance up at the oncoming vehicle, notice the passenger's big oh-honey-no hair piled on top of her head, and that the driver was in fact, my ex!
All I can figure is that they were headed to the restaurant to eat with the pastor and his wife, but were given the heads up that I was inside while I was cashing out. Either way, he was clearly on a rampage to avoid seeing me... And only narrowly avoided maiming me in the Herradura's parking lot.
It was weird, nearly being run over by my former husband. As I walked away two distinct thoughts crossed my mind.
1. Lunch was delicious, and now we have a new option. And...
2. At least I looked good today.
Some people live close enough to their place of employment that they can hop in the car and eat lunch out of their own fridge. Some people actually do this novel thing called 'Packing a Lunch' and dine in the break room with a good book (novel thing, good book, get it? Hehe. Yeah, okay, that was bad). Then there are the people like me... The ones who regularly eat out, throwing money away, and thriving on out-of-the-office-banter.
The bad thing about living in a small town is that your lunch choices are limited. These are the places we frequent...
The Blue Heron - I always get the turkey wrap or the Nature Lover's Salad (fruit, poppyseed dressing, feta and almonds on lettuce... Delicious).
The Bistro - A hip, downtown sandwich place that is known for their gyros (although I only eat their turkey wrap as well. The owner, Mark Fowler puts this incredible scallion cream cheese and salsa on it for me... Perfect).
House of Hunan - This is the ONLY place I trust for Chinese food in Cadillac. I used to crave their mixed vegetables in brown sauce at least twice a week, but that's tapered down quite a bit. We knew it was overkill when the servers would bring our preferred drinks to the table before we even ordered them. (I've always avoided the mystery buffets at all of the other Chinese places in town, and NOW I remember why).
Some days we do fast food, but I try to avoid that as much as possible. And this, my friends, was basically the list... Until today. Today was a milestone for me... The first time I've EVER had authentic Mexican food within 45 minutes of Cadillac.
We used to have a La Senorita on the south end of town, but it got really nasty, always had flies buzzing around, and finally just closed. Then the building changed owners, went through a little renovation and was renamed Avanti's. I'm not sure what type of food they served there, because I couldn't get past the fact that there was a misspelled word painted on their front sign. Eventually Avanti's also went under, and I recently heard a rumor that a new Mexican restaurant was opening in its place. You can understand my trepidation of actually ever stepping foot in that place again, but when Matt reported this morning that he'd eaten there last night and it was good, I decided I was willing to give it a try.
Mark and I drove over, and were immediately put at ease when we found the walls freshly painted, new ceramic tile on the floors and no less than 3 men in polos and khakis sweeping various parts of the restaurant. This brought a gentle calm over my heart, and a rumble to my stomach. The chips came out hot, the salsa smooth, and the waiter's accent was heavy. At this my confidence bolstered. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal and was happy with the service. I couldn't help but laugh at the festive music being pumped from overhead the dining room. Who knew that Spanish rap could be so catchy, or that someone had not only taken the time to translate 'Achy, Breaky Heart' into Spanish, but also record it!? Hilarious. One of the men sweeping was actually singing along under his breath.
On our way to the cash register I saw my former pastor and his wife in another booth. They seemed genuinely interested in how I was doing, since they haven't really seen me at all since the divorce (My ex still attends their church, now with his new wife). Mark and I paid and then stepped out into the sunshine, full bellies and happy hearts. It was then that I heard a car quickly approaching, peeling around from behind the restaurant. Just as I halted my step Mark said, "Amber, watch out!" and the car whizzed by.
Just like it happens in the movies, the events instantly turned to slow motion. Just slow enough for me to glance up at the oncoming vehicle, notice the passenger's big oh-honey-no hair piled on top of her head, and that the driver was in fact, my ex!
All I can figure is that they were headed to the restaurant to eat with the pastor and his wife, but were given the heads up that I was inside while I was cashing out. Either way, he was clearly on a rampage to avoid seeing me... And only narrowly avoided maiming me in the Herradura's parking lot.
It was weird, nearly being run over by my former husband. As I walked away two distinct thoughts crossed my mind.
1. Lunch was delicious, and now we have a new option. And...
2. At least I looked good today.
posted by Amber | 10:26 PM
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