corporate girlie no more?

comeback supper club 5/31!!

welp… there goes my corporate girlie era.

maybe this isn’t the worst thing? the past few weeks, i’ve felt increasingly stressed and anxious about how i was going to balance caring for my mom and her appointments with going back to work. we spent all day monday at the hospital for scans, and sooo many things went wrong — practitioners getting confused or making mistakes that i had to step in and correct. the whole time i kept thinking to myself: how am i going to do this?

after i found out i’m being terminated at work, my mind started spinning with all these ideas. like, what if i got a job at a cafe. i mean i’ve always wanted to get hands-on experience at a cafe/restaurant. i even staged at a restaurant for a couple of weeks last year. it was exhausting (and unpaid lol) but i learned so much and really loved it. soooo, this could be a similar opportunity? maybe i could get a glimpse into the logistics and operational side of running a food business.

at first, i planned to keep the job news from my parents bc i didn’t want them to worry. but when we were talking about some scheduling stuff and how i couldn’t go to an appointment because of work, it felt like a good time to fess up. i was like, weelll.. i have good news and bad news. the good: i’m actually available at any time! the bad: uh, well, i no longer have a job hahahah. hah.

their response was kinda amazing?? my dad was like, “ok well u can stop fighting to pay for things now!!” and my mom kept reassuring me that there will always be a meal for me at home 🥺

later, during our post-dinner walk, mom asked me if i would look for another job and i was like idk. while salary, health insurance, and stability are always amazing, starting a new role in the midst of so much uncertainty and having to explain my role as a caregiver also feels like a lot? do i want to spend my energy proving myself at a new job, or into being present with mom when she needs me the most? i’ll 100% miss the money but i think i’m going to miss the opportunity of creating more memories with her even more (i fully recognize the sheer privilege to even consider not looking for another corporate job immediately!).

i told her that i’ll still look for another corporate job but that i’m also considering just walking up to a cafe and seeing if they’ll hire me?!?! she loved the idea LOL. she was like “oooo i can come visit and eat pastries!! and you can learn something new and different! maybe even learn how to make one of those pretty leaf art coffee!” haha yes, mom. you could. and i could.

so this morning, we went to a bakery in the neighborhood, and i asked if they were hiring. the manager happened to be there and the boy struck up a conversation with her and mentioned i was interested in a job (i was too shy to say anything). she said that the timing was perfect as she had just been thinking about hiring an additional person for the front. i put together a resume and just sent it over.

idk why i’m so excited about the prospect of making minimum wage?! giddy — that’s how i feel! (also damn, min wage is more than 2x what it was when i was in college. wild!). anyways, fingers crossed she gives me a chance 🤞🤞🤞

noodlings of the week

• watching: the boy and i binged the four seasons (tina fey! steve carell!) — a fun watch! dare we say… steve carrell looks kinda foxy??

• reading: i just finished what alice forgot by liane moriarty and would def recommend! it’s such a compelling look at how personal relationships evolve over time. i was left with a quiet melancholy, especially as the protagonist comes to terms with how much her marriage has changed over the past decade. the way in which all the little things, barely noticeable at the time, can slowly build up and change the shape of a relationship.

• cooking: i cooked forreal this week!!! first time in 5 weeks (?!) that i’ve made a proper meal. i wanted to do a bunch of small plates, so i made: buttery lemon-baked flounder, garlic scape chimichurri, garlic butter shrimp, austrian cucumber salad, a sugar snap salad with champagne vinaigrette, and miso-balsamic roasted carrots! boy made steak and mom + dad brought some roasted veg. feels v good to cook again :3

• exploring: downtown burlingame is so cute!! there’s a great mix of clothing shops (madewell! abercrombie!), as well as a number of restaurants that have outdoor seating, perfect for enjoying the 80-degree weather we had this week. we grabbed dinner at dumpling kitchen and fully approve (get the xiaolongbao, scallion pancake, and wonton soup)! there’s also a pizzeria delfina and this taqueria had live music going all night.

• dining: lol my parents saw that the boy and i got olive garden takeout and they were influenced into going to olive garden for lunch. they still have unlimited soup-salad-and breadsticks for ~$12 which is a craazzy deal in this economy!

• cancer-ing: one of the hardest parts of being in the cancer community is how inevitable loss is. i follow a few people with my mom’s cancer type and just a couple of weeks ago they were posting about how treatments were going smoothly. and then.. boom. the next update is that they passed. just another reminder of how unexpected life is, and to live it fully while we can.

ok supper club!!!! 5/31!!

wow, can you believe it’s been almost a year since our last supper club? these dinners have always been about building community over good food, and dang i’ve really missed them.

the comeback supper club is happening on saturday, 5/31 @7pm in fremont, seats are $108 per person. to reserve your spot(s), please fill out this form + send your payment via venmo to @wangchristy. i’ll send you an email once your spot is confirmed!

sample menu:

can’t wait to hang with you irl again, i’m so so excited 🥺😭♥️

thanks for noodling around with me!

x christy