Sweet Tea vs. Iced Tea: Y'ALL got any SWEET tea? *Insert Southern Accent here*

Everyone who knows me, will tell you Iced Tea is my favorite drink on Earth. I prefer my tea fresh brewed, with a squeeze of lemon, extra ice, and no sweetener. Yes, I have it down to a science. Down here, in the Dirty South, they drink Sweet Tea like people in California eat avocados...CONSTANTLY. When I go to restaurants out here, and want to order my drink of choice, it usually goes like this:

Me-"Yes, Can I please have an Iced Tea?"

Server-**Thick Souther Accent**OK Darlin', you want Sweet Tea."

Me- "No, Can I just have unsweetened tea, please?"

Server-"OK, So unsweet sweet tea."

Yes, because "Sweet Tea" down here is the root word. They refer to Unsweetened Iced Tea as "Northern Tea".

I think Iced Tea would kick Sweet Tea's ass in a smack down 10 times out of 10.

School is anything but cool, it's fucking hot down here.

I started school here on Monday at the University of South Alabama. The campus is MASSIVE. They have a thing down here called "The Jag Tran" which is a bus system on campus that runs from building to building. Yes. A bus system to drive you between the buildings, because the campus is so big and spread out that you need a motor vehicle to make it on time. Needless to say, Olivia and I had to get our parking permits. We arrived on campus at 8:45AM to make sure we had enough time to wait in line. Long story short, the website gave inaccurate information on what we needed to get our parking permit. We had to hike all around campus to find a computer to print out a form, and hike all the way back. We did all this on foot in 100 degree humid weather. I was ready to kill someone. At 10:05am we finally got our permit, and Olivia had to drive me to class so I could make it on time because my first class was on the other side of campus. I had the full on sweats, and I literally had to go to the restroom take paper towel and wipe the sweat off my face once I finally got to my first class. If anyone wants to know how hot hell is, come to Alabama in August.

All in all, my first day on campus was a nightmare, but now that I know my way around, I love it. I feel like I am finally making progress, and my classes are smooth sailing.

As for work at NOJA, I am definitely dreading being new. Whenever you start a new job, it is stressful. When you are a server, you develop what is called "your rhythm" it is a flow that is unique to the place you are serving. Once you find your rhythm, you can handle as many tables that are being thrown your way, but in the beginning when you haven't got it yet, working is stressful, overwhelming, and scary. You can get flustered simply by a 2 top. This was the case with me last night. I felt like a ball of chaos, running around, and doing my best to just keep pace. Tables kept asking me where I was from, and wanting to talk about California for hours, and it slowed me down at my other tables. The good thing is, all my coworkers help me out so I haven't got too in the weeds yet.

Last night, I was finishing out my side work, when one of the servers said "Kaitlin, did you look at your check out?" Apparently instead of typing in "$30" on one of my tips, I hit "$3,000". Although I was shocked, I thought no big deal, it is an easy fix. We just have to go in, reopen the tab, and adjust. Well, the computer system at this place is horrible. My manager had to sit on the phone with the company who makes our computer system for close to an hour, they had to dispatch a tech guy to come to the restaurant, and it was a huge ordeal. This was a my first major screw up. I am sure I am going to have more blunders to come.

I am hoping with time I get my rhythm, and learn my way around campus better. I am anxiously awaiting September so I can escape this crazy, ridiculous fucking heat.

Until next time!

Work Outing

This is a sculpture made out of watermelon in the center of the Brunch

Live music
Part of the Brunch Buffet
The group heading out for some croquette
View from outside our table of the bay

Hey All,

Today our boss/owner of Noja took out the staff as a treat to brunch. We went to The Grand Hotel in Point Clear, AL. It was incredible! It is right on the water, and the hotel is HUGE. The brunch had tables and tables of food, a full dessert table, sushi table, omelet station, prime rib station, you name it! Plus, live music. True in Southern form they had the New Orleans type walking band with the big tuba and saxophone that would play to individual tables. We went out side and they have croquette so we played a round, and headed up stairs to see the piano lounge. We rounded out the event by going to their cigar and lounge bar. All in all a great time, and I want to go to brunch there with Olivia and Rachel because it really is beautiful. http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ptlal-grand-hotel-marriott-resort-golf-club-and-spa/ There's the link so you can get an idea of how beautiful this place was.

Alabama Weather: Sunny with a chance of unpredictable.

It was beautiful and Sunny, and when we went to leave it was complete thunderstorm down poor. I had to drive back over the bridge that goes over the Gulf, and the storm clouds were rolling in and it was complete torrential rain. They have a van service that drove us to our car so we didn't get wet, but while Kelly was jumping in the car she fell into some bushes. Quite the ending to our day! Haha

Tonight I am getting all my laundry done, and just finishing up decorating my room because tomorrow I start school! Ah! Wish me luck!

Show me the Money!

It has been a while since my last update. I haven't really had time to do much because I am still sleeping like a bear. Although, recently I have been forcing myself out of bed in the morning to try and get on a normal sleep schedule. I have been trying to hydrate as much as possible, and it has consistently been over 92 degrees everyday.

Everyone keeps asking how I like my new job. Well, it is probably the coolest serving job I have ever had. The entire staff is super friendly, and everyone has been more than welcoming. I will say, that my managers are Republican, and constantly want to talk politics since I am a bleeding liberal. I have refrained from having such convo's, because shit would get awkward. It is better if I don't get fired up. Haha I have been in training for the past week, and tonight was my first night on the floor by myself. Everything went really smooth, and I am finally making some cash. I literally had $1.76 in my Checking Account, and Olivia has been buying my food. Luckily, I got my check for training and my cash flow is somewhat there again. Reasons why Noja is the best restaurant I have worked at thus far:

1.) No Kids Menu

2.) No Kids Cups

3.) No To-Go Boxes

4.) Closed for lunches, holidays, Sundays, and Mondays

5.) No Tip Out

6.) Charge Fee for Splitting Dishes

7.) No Free Refills on Soft Drinks

8.) They have "outings" where the owner treats everyone to a nice dinner or trip.

Yes. This is the perfect place to work while I am finishing my degree. The servers all tip pool, and so they make between $150-$200 a night.

I start school on Monday, and I am pumped! I am ready to be at a University, and just bang out my last 2 years. The University of South Alabama is completely remodeled, and the campus is beautiful. I am not looking forward to trekking it across campus in this crazy heat, but everyone keeps telling me the weather gets better.

Almost daily, I am in awe of the manners that everyone has. I was walking into Subway, a guy who was in the middle of ordering his sub, stopped ordering, walked over and held the door for me. I must've looked stunned when I said "Thank You" because he smiled and said "You're welcome Miss. There are still some gentlemen left on this Earth." Another situation, Olivia and I went out to breakfast, and the table next to us struck up conversation, and after finding out we were new to the area told us all the places to go, and directions how to get there. EVERYONE TALKS TO EACH OTHER. Its great. Honestly, I love the friendliness the most of all so far.

One weird quirk about the people down here is they are obsessed with drink containers. They love coozies, even if they are just drinking regular pop out of a can, they line it with a coozie. They also love cups that don't "sweat" which means double layered plastic cups so no condensation builds up on the outside. I have to admit, I have one now. Olivia bought it for me at the mall. I use it to drink ice water.

I have been doing my best to see the Mobile night life. Each bar downtown has its own little vibe. I went to the oldest bar in Downtown called Hayley's, and I was hit on by this English dude that was traveling the country for the month, then flying home to England. He was wearing a Star Wars t-shirt, and was chubby. He was really aggressive, and kept trying to buy me drinks and kiss me. I told him I was tired and I had to go and he said "I am trying to pursue you. Would you like to go back to my motel room?". Yikes. If the Star Wars t-shirt didn' t kill the mood, the mention of a MO-tel did. Umm, no. I'll go home, and cuddle with my dog Sonny. But other than that, the bars down town are super cheap, and just a great time.

My hair is still yellow and uneven, because I have been to broke to fix it. I plan on going to a hairstylist a girl at my work recommended once I get some cash in my pocket.

Tomorrow morning the owner of Noja is having an outing at The Grand Hotel. He is treating us all to brunch. So I am off to bed to prepare for that. I plan on finishing my room tomorrow, so I will post pictures, and blog about my first day of school.

Until next time!

Sc-HAIR-y

Front of my mullet, and also the end of my fried hair

How many colors can you count?!
Yellow...white...brown...brass...

For those of you who are not aware of the hair issues I have going on I am here to fill you in. The day before I left California I needed to get my head highlighted because my roots were out of control. My neighbor assured me she could do my hair for cheap, and she was licensed to do hair. She charged me $70 for a full head highlight and hair cut. That is a steal because I normally have to pay around $200 at a salon. Well...little did I know that was the biggest mistake of my life.

She took over 4 hours to do my hair, and after words my hair looked like complete shit. I am not sure how she manged this, but I still had roots when she was done but my roots were a pink-ish brass color, and my roots were bright blonde. The hair cut was horrible. My left side of my hair is actually 2 inches longer than my right, and she put in "layers" (even though I asked for a trim.) and she literally gave me a mullet. I was pissed but I was like whatever I'll buy one of those highlighting kits from the pharmacy, and have my sister Olivia just touch up my hair until I could get to a real salon to do my hair. Olivia had never foiled hair before, and on top of that the dye we used was super strong. My hair came out white, yellow, orange, brown, and cheetah spotted. Yup. I was actually going to dye it brown, and just let my hair get healthy again, but Olivia talked me into letting her dye my hair one more time. So we bought blonde dye and she dyed the whole head one color. My hair is still orange, and parts white but I can't dye my hair or I am scared it will fall out. My haircut is still really bad but I don't want to cut it because I am trying to grow it out and to cut it would mean my hair would have to have like 4 inches taken off. I actually had to interview and train with this hair. Yow-za. So enjoy the pictures :o) Hopefully I can fix this catastrophe before my sister's wedding in November.

Awesome-ness

Sorry I have waited for a few days to write this. I have been getting off work and passing out because I am still wanting to sleep all the time.

**Warning the next paragraph is boring restaurant talk, but a lot of my restaurant peeps are interested**

Noja has been really great. They have a super small staff so everyone has been welcoming and friendly. At LB Steak, we had bartenders, back servers, expos, and runners. At Noja, it is a team service, so they don't have any of that. They do 1/3 the covers we did at LB Steak, but because there is no back-staff support, you stay just as busy. It is nice cause there is no huge tip out, and the servers make pretty good money. They do not have a kids menu, they charge for refills, there is a charge for splitting dishes, and they have a dress code for customers! Heaven. I think it always sucks being new because you have to learn all the quirks, but I will get there soon enough. I am training until next week Wednesday and start on the floor on Thursday of next week. I e-mailed True and told them I couldn't except the position, so Noja it is!

**OK, Enough talking shop...on to the next...**

Some weird/cool/funny things about Alabama, they have NO liquor cut off time. Bars can stay open as late as they want or close as early as they want. People stay at bars all the way until 8 am. Oh, and the bar tabs here are ridiculously cheap. It is a $1 a beer, and $2 for mixed drinks at pretty much everywhere.

My work is right in Downtown, and there is a club called Atlantis. It is for the ghetttttoooo fabulous. Apparently, the object of the game is to wear the least amount of clothes legally possible. There was a girl that walked in, and I kid you not, had underwear on that she wedged up her butt so you could see her butt cheeks, and she was wearing a spaghetti strapped tank top. Cutie. I wanted to take pictures for the blog, but I risked being shot. All the people going to that club dress in super tiny clothes, like they will wear a blouse and just stretch it down and not wear pants. Quite frankly, I was in people watching heaven.

Oh, I love watching people get arrested. It is a hobby of mine. Anything involving cops slamming people into walls or cement I like to have front row seating. Last night, a girl from work took me to a bar directly across from Atlantis, and we sat out on the porch and had beers. I saw cops literally chasing after people, riot police run into a bar, and sheriffs on horseback (yes! horseback.) trot down the street for crowd control. I was in police HEAVEN.

Somethings I hope rub off on me:

- the southern phrases like "just standing around like a bottle of piss" which is another way of saying you have nothing going on and you are bored.

- the manners everyone here talks to everybody, uses ma'am and sir, and is genuinely nice.

- the cowboys enough said.

Until next time!

Change of plans.

A whole display in the grocery dedicated to crawfish boils

Yes! My boxes with all my clothes arrived!

Noja- This is where I'll be working!
Noja- My new work
A picture of the porch I had dinner on tonight!

Complete with ceiling fans and an ice maker :o)
Country home in downtown Mobile
An Iirsh dive bar in Downtown Mobile
My dream home!

Well, slight change in plans regarding my work situation. As previously mentioned in the blog, I was going to start working at a restaurant down here called True this passed Wednesday (8/10). The manager told me that I didn't start training until Tuesday (8/16) so I got an extra week off. Noja, another fine dining restaurant in Mobile, contacted me for a second interview today. During my first interview a month ago with Noja, I talked with the General Manager. Today I met with the culinary team and serving staff. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming and told me I could start tomorrow. Noja is only open for dinner, closed on Sundays, Mondays, and all major holidays. The owner also takes the whole staff to "outings" every few months. August 21 the whole staff is being treated to Sunday brunch and then hanging out at the pool at a nice hotel all paid for by the owner. Also, they have a very low turnover rate. The newest employee has been there a year and a half. So I think that speaks to how well people enjoy working there and never leave. So I am going to start training at Noja tomorrow, if I don't like it I will start training at True on Tuesday as planned. But if I like it, then I am quitting True, and sticking with Noja as my job while I am in school.

As for other news, I have been sleeping A LOT. The heat knocks you out. I literally go to bed no later than 10 pm, and wake up at 11am, sometimes even sneaking a nap in. I don't know if it is my body adjusting to the heat, or just the time change. Either way I am hibernating like a bear. When I am not sleeping the day away, I have been doing really good with unpacking! My boxes I shipped all my clothes in arrived on Monday, and I wasted no time unpacking. Once I have all my pictures hung up, I will snap some pictures of my bedroom so you all can see!

Crawfish boils are really big down here. Mobile has a strong Louisiana influence both architecturally and culinary wise. When we went to the grocery store they had a whole display specifically dedicated to crawfish boils. I have yet to go to one, but I will be sure to let you know how it goes!

My sister took me to this Irish pub in Downtown Mobile. It is SUPER country-fied with a wrap around porch with ceiling fans. My sister and I grabbed burgers and drinks, and sat out on the porch enjoying the heat. I was born to live in the South :o) I snapped some pictures of cute country homes I found in downtown Mobile, complete with porch swings!

I will write a blog to let you know how my first day at Noja goes. I hope I like it! I am just happy that I am going to start making some cash! I am running low on funds!

Until next time!