Partner in Crime

In my company every store has a department manager and an assistant department manager for each of the departments. When I was an assistant I was incredibly fortunate to have a fantastic boss. She treated me like an equal and I always felt like we truly ran our department together. Not only that, but she taught me tons about the day-to-day running of the department as well as the "big picture" stuff. Plus, she was my best friend. We spent close to 40 hours a week together. When I got my promotion and got transferred my feelings were very mixed. I was excited, I felt like I had been waiting forever. But I knew I would miss her. We just had such a great relationship.

I wanted that kind of relationship with my own assistant. I wanted us to run the department together. I wanted her to learn from me, but I wanted to learn from her too. I wanted us to go out for lunch and get together outside of work. I wanted a partner I could trust, someone I could rely on.

I lucked out.

My second is fantastic.
Perfect? No.
Was I? Definitely not!
(Am I now? Still no.)

I am so fortunate to work with someone who is so passionate and cares so much. Melissa has been dealing with some health issues but that hasn't let that stop her. I know that I don't have to worry on my day off, that she's got everything under control. I also know that if something crazy happens she's going to call me or text me to let me know. I love the partnership we have and I am thankful for it every day.

Weekend Update

I know it's Tuesday, and I probably should have posted yesterday if I was going to do a weekend update, but yesterday was my birthday so I figure 1) yesterday still counts as the weekend and 2) it's really not actually that big of a deal. ;-)

I ended up working all weekend. Usually I take my birthday off (the past couple years I've actually taken a week of vacation) but it was my weekend on our department manager rotation and it just seemed like a lot of effort to try and get someone to trade with me. That didn't enjoy my birthday weekend though.

Saturday was a pretty normal day at work except for the hour or so I spent dressed as a giant carrot roaming around downtown handing out flyers. May 16th is Food Revolution Day and my company is participating. We're having a bunch of demos and stuff that day and we wanted people to know about it. So we borrowed some costumes and off we went. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the greatest so there weren't actually that many people out and about. It was still nice to get out of the store for a bit and do something a little different.

After we got back to the store I went for an early birthday lunch with Melissa (my second, and the apple with me in the picture) and Justine, one of the other department managers. I've been trying to eat healthy lately, but decided to throw that all out the window for my birthday. I hadn't been to Darrell's in a month (that's a long time for me!) so we headed there. I contemplated a peanut butter burger but ended up with my usual wrap and Darrell's fries. (If you live in the Halifax area and haven't been to Darrell's I definitely recommend it!)

Saturday night a friend surprised me with a ticket to a fancy dinner she was attending through work. The food was amazing (we had duck!), the company was great, and I loved getting to dress up. I didn't love not getting home until after midnight and having to be at work for 8am. That is not nearly enough sleep for this girl! J was pretty disappointed too, that I had worked all day and then was going out without him that night. He survived though, and we're both off for the entire long weekend so we have that to look forward to.

I didn't do a whole lot on Sunday other than working. It was a long day because I was so tired, so when I came home I basically crashed.

Yesterday was my actual birthday. And I think I was more disappointed than I realized to have been working. I have some pretty adorable staff though. I came out of my morning meeting and found a treat waiting for me in my office. My staff are trying to help me give up pop, but apparently I looked like I could use one yesterday.

Last night was probably the best part of my birthday. I think I've mentioned before that I still hang out with my girl friends from high school and that we don't get to spend nearly enough time together. Well, the three of us all managed to be free last night so we we met up for dinner and martinis. We're all in such different places, with different careers and different relationships but that doesn't seem to matter. We spent a couple hours chatting and laughing and by the time I was heading home my day at work was a distant memory.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Sausages with Potato, Kale & Apples

I've recently decided that I need to start branching out a little bit in my cooking. I tend to make the same boring meals over and over. I work for Sobeys (a Canadian grocery store chain) so I thought I'd try out some of the recipes from our website. One of the first recipes I tried was sausages with potato, kale and apples.

This was my first time cooking with (and eating for that matter...) kale. I ring an awful lot of it through at work, and have had numerous customers recommend it to me, but I had never tried it. I can't say I loved it, but I didn't hate it either.

I liked this recipe because it all cooked in one pan. I love that. I just find it easier for both the actual cooking and for cleaning up. I cooked this on my day off, but it was quick enough that it's something that I'd consider cooking it on a work day as well.

The recipe calls for apple cider but I didn't have any and didn't want to shell out the money for a whole bottle when I wasn't sure we'd even like the dish so I just used Graves apple juice. It worked, but I think if I was making it again I'd splurge and use cider. I also opted not to use fresh sage and thyme and just used the dried stuff I had in the cupboard already. Maybe it's because I don't have a lot of experience with fresh herbs, but I don't think it made a huge difference.

Do you cook with fresh herbs? Does it make a difference in a dish? Let me know if you try this recipe!

xo,
Sara