You Are WHERE You Eat

A few years ago, my husband encouraged me to do more work in the community. He knew it would make me FEEL BETTER about things and it would be a perfect outlet where I could use my CEO-like skills. So I decided to start a nonprofit called Sorry You Are Not Me (SYANM). I founded it because I wanted to help the needy.

This year marks the sixth annual "Peanut Butter and Jealous" where we will be serving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to 1,000 kids in Ladera Ranch (South County) whose parents make them attend public school.

To kick off the event, I usually host a committee meeting luncheon at Pelican Hill a few weeks before. However, since I was out of the COUNTRY (see my last post), the committee treasurer, Terri went behind my back and picked another venue.

Get this, the restaurant Terri picked did NOT have valet parking! The walk from the parking structure was not only embarrassing, but brutal in my Jimmy Choos. When the server came to take our order and I found out their salmon was farm-raised and not Alaskan wild, I lost it. How could Terri do this to ME? I was already upset with her since she wanted to switch to organic peanut butter this year. It's going to blow my budget and besides, these kids don't even know what 'organic' means!

Just remember -- especially on days you're actually able to pull yourself out of bed and go somewhere for lunch with friends -- a place without valet parking is suspect. If the maître d's first language is English, RUN.