Adele.....Someone like You......Someone like Me

Evening All,

Friday was a great news day for us @ The Delicious Food Co.

....Of late, I've been doing a bit of "courting".. of an Ex lover of sorts..A client who jilted me in favour of another.....breaking my Delicious heart into a 1,000 pieces a few years ago.....

It was a big serious affair..my biggest ever and suddenly we were over...no real reason...just somebody else had come along. .....& took my place.....it really, really hurt as I looked at the 1,000's of salad pots that were never going to be filled... the 1,000's of labels never to be applied to the packaging for this Godlike client...the gaping hole in the work load...

I resorted to playing Adele over & over in my van, wallowing in the rejection.... devouring her words of loss......wondering where I had gone wrong. My ex had moved on with a new food partner .....who I guess gave them things I couldn't give to them...(although...they could have asked....right ?)

                                                      "I heard that you're settled down
That you found a girl and you're married now I heard that your dreams came true

Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you"

I often pondered Adele's words about turning up uninvited...I couldn't  stay way...I couldn't   fight it ...you see cos for ME...it wasn't over...

The dilemma...should I just keep chasing pavements...maybe it will lead no where....Mr Delicious thinks when it's over it's over....let it be .....move on...he also think I've got balls of steel...

So guess what...I made the call & I was greeted with tones of joy...it seems that when it comes to relationships, I'm luckier than Adele...

....my ex wants me back....we had a meeting............this time we'll take it slowly...there will be a pre nupt which the client calls "the commercials" to be signed....
I'll be more careful with my heart & my business....with the Mr Big story up & running...The Delicious Food Co is ready for it's next big challenge

And this is it....from this week me & my ex will be rolling in the deep....making sweet salads together.......

Yum!

Shirley  x

Wardrobe Dilemma's in The Food Lane

Evening All,

What will I wear...

I swear to God when I was moving out of my office, I thought the big dilemma of wondering what to wear everyday would be over......Now,I have no doubt that anybody who sees me every morning as I wind my way around the city on my deliveries...would think...what the hell is she on about.....
yes I have a uniform of sorts...Converses, jeans, T shirts...I got some logo T's & aprons printed a while back, but to be honest after three washes the T's looked like rags...the long printed aprons, still look great....but there ain't no way I'm adding an apron into my daily wardrobe....I'm the boss for Gods sake.

The problem for me is that I have so many persona's during the day.

Take tomorrow for example...up early, deliveries...to shops...must try & look casual with a slight edge, something that reflects The Delicious Food Co, At noon I'm dishing up a lunch for 30 people at a stiff corporate do that will require a whole different look.... a look that will make me look like someone else...My waiting staff will wear black waistcoats & shirts...but hey I need the clients to know that I'm in charge...that I'm the boss as they tell me how wonderful the food is...I want them to know I made it...

Today in BT2 I bought a gorgeous black taffeta pinafore, that I convinced myself would be ideal for tomorrows lunch, it would look fab with a pair of wedges, but I can't wear fashion wedges to a lunch I'm catering for, just as I can't roll up in my delivery van & start delivering in a taffeta pinafore.....Mr Mmmmm would wonder what's going on....ya see where I'm going with this......In the afternoon there is big a meeting with a potentially lucrative client....and the taffeta pinafore is too much, jeans are a bit too casual...Suddenly a burca seems like a jolly good idea...

I once pulled up at my house to make the quick 5 minute change from jeans to a black waitress's uniform before legging it to a lunch I was catering for...., only to discover I had no key...I spent the next few minutes frantically knocking on doors of my female neighbours, to see if anybody could lend me something to wear, when I eventually found Susie at home (she's about two sizes smaller than me), we settled on a smock dress...a pair of tights that I swear only went up to my knees and her size 4 ballet pumps for my size 6 feet......

I think I still have the blisters...

You see, there is a reason why this blog is called Life in The Food Lane....the drama of it all ....

Shirley

x

As the actress says about a nude scene......Reach for the Stars..

Phew,

What a week......

This week (although not yet over..still Sat & Sunday  to go.....another thousand items to be delivered between Saturday & Sunday).....has been beyond busy....I am aching from head to toe with the blissful pain of it all.
I'm so  tired that when a client called today to see if I would meet him tomorrow re a gig on 12th of July, I suggested 8.30am, otherwise I don't think I could pull myself out of bed in the morning. June has been a bumper month for us.....lots of retail sales, catering gigs and sandwich platters....July is looking quieter, but then again...June wasn't meant to be so busy......

Next week, with the madness out of the way the priority is, getting the office finally up & running at home....planning time....catching up with clients, accounts, putting my  my business & domestic house in order....Next week I lose a child who's off to a festival in Poland, before he heads to Berlin...but I also have another one  returning to me from the Gaeltacht....My youngest finished national school this week and I have to admit I sobbed the whole way through 6th class rendition of "Reach for the Stars" at the end of term performance on Wednesday as I pondered how much time I have missed with the kids (time I can never get back). Mr Delicious graciously pointed out that I am a working mom and that over the 14 years of having kids in national school, I have never missed a single performance or parent teacher meeting.

When I started my blog I promised that I'd only mention  my kids, if,  like the actress says about a nude scene in a movie..."I'll only do it if the story requires it...." So tonight as I come to the end of an era...as the youngest heads for  secondary school & the eldest heads for Poland & Berlin Inter railing, as I start seriously working from home, I feel the moment has come to do as the actress does & reveal all.....

Our four kids are amazing..., they have learnt through us how hard  it is to earn money...the rewards of hard work when they come.....

What they haven't grasped is.....the benefits of being children of caterers (leftovers )

Child                    "What's for dinner?"
Mr Delicious         "Thai Chicken Curry or Italian Meatballs & Tomato Sauce or Normandy Pork"
Child                    "Oh ..for Gods Sake....there is never anything to eat in this house....can we order in pizza

Still ....we love them...,they make everything  worthwhile.

Shirley x



            

Fifty Shades of Vanity

Evening All,

I have to share this latest bit of vanity with you....

When I post my blogs, I can go into my account & check & see how many hits it has got...in the last day, week or month. Up to this evening I've had over 2,200 hits in the last three months....that's a lot of people who have read my ramblings....& I won't lie....I'm proud as punch...... If you have been following from the beginning you will know, this food production gig is a tough one and if there is one thing that has propped me up this year it's those increasing hits...the graph going up & down like resuscitation  machine, pumping a feel good blast into my tired soul......

It makes me laugh  that from my earlier blogs the ones that keep appearing in the weekly count are

"Fifty Shades of Delicious"& "The Bridal Suite without Mr Delicious", Perhaps not all my readers are interested in food...and I hope I didn't disappoint too much with the content..cos I swear, .I never meant to lead you on ....

Shirley x

Shelf Wars....

Evening all,

Monday morning our van broke down and has been tucked up in a garage for the past two days, whilst they figure out what's wrong...

The net effect of this is that I have been late delivering to all my shops....and by the time I get there, my shelf space has been filled by competitors....

I swear to God they'd rob my grave if they could...

Whilst it's a war zone out  there in the fight for chilled fridge space, there is a certain etiquette that  must be respected...if you are the first in store...you are entitled to stock 'em high & let the merchandising staff worry about how to make it look nice...but you must leave space for your fridge partners.

Yesterday, in one store the Sushi guys had taken over the asylum....today was even worse....They had removed my products completely & stuck them on the bottom shelf....I was so annoyed...

Then I went into Fresh in Camden St...where the manager pulled me to one side....it seems Mr Delicious has been playing the same game....with the competitors sandwiches....he's been putting their sandwiches BEHIND ours....

I have to say, it's out of character...he's normally a nice,  respectful guy....but he did have the decency to blush when I pulled him up on it....his card has been marked by both me & the manager

it's not how we do business in The Delicious Food Co.....

......not at least whilst anybody is looking...


Shirley

London's Calling....

Evening all,

Being a small business owner can be incredibly rewarding but can also be incredibly stressful...(now there's a word that keeps reappearing in my blogs). When things start really mounting up & I know I am hitting a wall I book a flight to London, where my vbf , Jeremy, puts me up, looks after me, takes me to the hippest joints in London, listens to my woes (in very small doses) dishes out some no nonsense advice, runs me lovely smelly bubbly baths, takes me for breakfast in places where Bucks Fizz is part of the full English....

Tomorrow I'm off & it couldn't come at a better time.

Yesterday was one of those days which was a true mix of great news & not so great news. I got a call from a client most people would kill to have on their client portfolio.We had worked together before, but a  decision from the top two years ago, meant I was replaced with a new kid on the block..."nothing personal...client likes to mix things up...no problem using you again....etc..", yet it didn't seem like it was ever going to happen and now it seems like it will. I've been keeping in contact, letting them know I'm still here, still hungry for business & still the best small producer in the fresh food market. The client called me yesterday, beaming down the phone... I am back in the mix....I'll tell you more when it happens for real...meeting next Thursday, with orders to start immediately.

I got that great news on my way to my "Going for Growth" monthly meeting...it was when I left that the not so good news came, something I had worked tirelessly on for for months was being canned. Everybody around me was relieved, they could see how much I'd put into it & felt I had given too much already & that the expectation from the other side was never going to be met. I'm upset, but I will get over it and I've learnt a valuable lesson...about written contracts...managing expectations.....

Yes, I can be available 24/7, you can have my ideas, access to my talents ...

....but it will cost ya....

I am really excited about this London trip, tomorrow evening I'm meeting a gang I used to work with in The Independent, for the reunion of a colleague, who is coming home from Australia. Jeremy & I worked there together, whereby all accounts ....whilst talented, I was totally unmanageable (he was my boss). On Thursday I'm meeting my beloved friend M. who I met on day one at UCD where we studied Irish, many years ago...  she now...works for a top bank  where she is a serious player... I'm meeting her at the bank, which we will follow with drinks & a catch up in Gordon's Wine Bar.

 A few years ago she  found God in a way that I find both admirable & amusing in equal measures....last night she called....wanted to run something by me...on Thursday night there is dinner for the women from her church in Fulham......she was just wondering...and feel free to say no....but...em....would I like to attend with her......

I would LOVE to....I told her...

So on Thursday night, this hippie food producing chick, will be forgoing the nightlife of Soho, for dinner in Fulham, with the gorgeous M. & her bible worshipping friends (all 25 of them), who mean so much to her....I am honoured that she asked me...

I just hope to my God they serve alcohol...


Bon Soir,

Shirley

I'm Home !

Evening all,


The big move is complete...I've surrendered my bolt hole....my little private oasis in Smithfield & I'm back in the 'hood in Dublin 8.....Actually, I've left 8 stuffed archive boxes & a broken chair behind...but I will pick them up ....real soon..My office in the utility room is far from ready, so HQ is in the living room....a beautiful Victorian high ceiling room with a big sash window.....destroyed by the presence of multiple cables & wire, two printers & another 8 archive boxes ..my OCD is in overdrive.....

I've mentioned labels before in my blog & swore that the labelling machine wasn't coming with me. Who was I kidding...a control freak like me....I'm the label queen after all.....but, just one day after setting up the printing machine guess what ....Mr Delicious who doesn't know how to send an attachment with an email, never mind print a label, is upstairs in HQ printing out tomorrows sandwich labels.

Life is about to change even more radically than I had previously thought was possible.....& I can't wait...


Shirley