Burger King to Bergdorf's - Part 2

I worked only part time at Burger King. 4 hours here, 2 ½ hours there. This was right after I graduated from high school and over the summer. There were a couple of times I had to work on the weekends and it was so strange to be in the 34th Street area during a Sunday. It was so quiet! Great fun for me and the rest of the half staff. I met Jimmy there. He was in the back making the burgers. I would call the order in over the loud speaker but somehow it would sound very sexy. It drove the guys nuts and was great fun for me.

I was still seeing my HS boyfriend, Carl. But Jimmy got my attention and I got his. We flirted with each other outrageously. But it did make it fun to go to work. Eventually we saw each other outside of BK. I was juggling 2 guys and it was crazy!! When I left BK, I also left Jimmy….who told me he was Greek but his last name was Dermot but me being so sheltered had no idea at the time that last names could also give you an idea of their heritage.

One of my most vivid memory of BK was during a lunch hour rush. The lines were long and I was taking an order of an African American businessman who looked to be in his 40's. When he was done ordering, he said "Thank you, Esther" which surprised me. Did I know this man? He didn't look familiar but how did he know who I was? When he saw my puzzlement...he smiled and pointed to my name tag pinned to my chest...I completely forgot I had to have that on! Another memory is my whole family standing at the entrance one day....coming to see me at my new job. Unfortunately I was too busy to visit with them and show them around...LOL...as if.

Needlepoint USA was the name of the company I left BK for. It was started by two ladies, Elaine and Cherie who were sisters-in-law. Elaine was married to Cherie’s brother, Stuart. Elaine was the business end and Cherie, the creative force. They had started this business out of Cherie’s apartment and then moved to this small office on 57th Street. Pretty amazing. Besides transferring the designs onto canvas, I packaged kits for shipment to stores and catalogs in the office. I learned how to tie up boxes and send things out by UPS. Sometimes I went to the backrooms of the large department stores such as Bonwits to deliver items.

Obviously Marianne and I saw each other everyday. We had such a good time together. We would play backgammon during our lunch breaks and whenever the ladies were out of the office, the work would go away, the backgammon set taking its place. (Definitely when they went to get their hair done…we were good and free for a couple of hours!). I discovered Chockful of Nuts’s cheesecake and tomato soup from the deli across the street. The ladies were always dieting and discovered lo-cal biscotti before it’s time. I ate a ton of them! Right below our building, a health food restaurant opened up…we were there almost everyday picking up tuna in pita. At the time, pita was the newest thing! When Ann Taylor opened their store on 5th and 57th, they also had a small café upstairs. I had Black Forest Ham on brioche there for the first time. Heck…I didn’t even know what a brioche was! Here I was, a girl who grew up on cha siu baos eating la-di-dah french cuisine. Ahhh...there was no talking to me.

Anything “designer” was of interest to me. Especially Louis Vuitton. I carry LV to this day and have a collection of bags that are lovingly worn and in great need of repair. And even now - LV always catches my eye.

But always…I think a bit of the Burger King girl lives in me. Hmmm...I wonder if that's why the color orange always appeals to me!

From Burger King to Bergdorf's

I became a snob at the age of 20. I will explain how that came about. I had always worked at my parents’ store and at such a young age that I can’t remember when I didn’t work there. But when I turned 18, I knew I should get a “real” job and so I applied at Burger King. Their main office was on 42nd Street. I went there and filled out an application and figured I would go home and wait to hear. But they sent me to work right off the bat. Within minutes, I was dressed in their polyester orange uniform at their 34th Street location. Literally I was thrown in. My first position was filling the soda cups. After an hour of that, I was given the task of separating blocks of cheese slices. And then immediately put on the register. I was supposed to learn to work every position…making the burgers, the fries, cleaning but I never did. After I was placed on register duty, they never had me do anything else.

They were ahead of their time. The registers were programmed with the different items - Whopper, Whopper with Cheese, Fries, Onion Rings, etc. At the time, they didn’t have the value meals so everything was ordered separately and to your specification. Kathy always ordered a Whopper with extra pickles so they would have to make a fresh sandwich. I had a microphone and had to call the order in with each customer. My first day, I was quite overwhelmed and made many mistakes. I didn’t want the manager to know so would throw away the erroneous receipts. Well…at the end of the day, I didn’t know I would have to balance my register..(Duh) and I was off by over $100! At first I didn’t understand how that could possibly happen! I could not have given out change that incorrectly but it turned out I needed to keep all receipts that were “voided” to off set the money in the till. I never made that mistake again and was always pretty much right on the money.

It felt like I worked at BK for years but it was only one month! One of the perks of the job was a free meal. If I worked an afternoon shift, I would bring my Whopper and fries home to eat and Kathy would be green with envy. But in all honesty, I didn’t realized living in my own La-la land. For what it was worth, I had a good time at BK, made new friends and the staff liked me. The supervisors particularly liked me and when I finally quit, they tried to get me to stay on but I was on to bigger and better things.

My girlfriend Marianne had been working at a needlepoint company and when she heard about my BK job, she thought I should work with them. It would be easier for scheduling since I could work from home. I was starting NYU in the fall and I would make about the same amount of money. I would transfer designs from paper to canvas for needle pointing and was paid by the piece within a certain deadline. It was a great gig. The office was located on 57th Street between 5th & 6th Avenue. I got to see Marianne whenever I dropped off my work. I did this until I graduated from NYU with no real skills or idea on what to do with my life. A position opened up at the office full time and I didn’t think twice.

So there I was, a young woman with no real responsibilities working on 57th Street off of 5th Avenue. Where did I shopped? Why, the stores around there, of course. Bonwit Teller’s, Bergdoff’s, Bendel‘s. I opened up my first bank account at The First Woman’s Bank right on 57th and Park Avenue because it seemed soooo “chic”. I had my hair cut at Cinnadre’s….costing at that time about $100 which was outrageous. I carried designer bags, wore boutique styled clothes and desired to be like my bosses. Two ladies who left for hours once a week to get their hair done. Yep…somehow I had become a Fifth Avenue babe.

I love posting photos but I don’t have many from that time. (I guess 5th Avenue babes didn’t take pictures..too busy living life). But I soooo wish I could have one to post of me in that lovely orange BK uniform! Ha!

To be continued...

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!

Chinese New Year…the year of the Ox this year will be celebrated this Monday, January 26. Time for filling those red envelopes for the kids. Ahhh…I remember the good old days of receiving envelopes. What a thrill that was!

I had my first bank account with the Bowery Savings Bank started by my elementary school, P.S. 23. Once a week, we would fill out a small envelope with any amount of money-even a nickel to add to our bank book, watching it grow. I remember a boy named Danny who always had more money to deposit than the rest of the class. He was the rich kid. But the week after Chinese New Year…now that was riches galore and every child’s deposit envelope would be bulging.

As I grew older and some years were better than others, I liked it if my parents socialized. Meant more red envelopes for us. The brand new crisp dollar bills folded in half or triplet were always a sight for sore eyes.
The envelopes were pretty too but I didn’t appreciate them then.

Since my father had the grocery store, we would begin to stock the store with the traditional Chinese New year candies and sweets…sugared lotus root, candied melon chunks, dried watermelon seeds to name a few and my favorite, sweetened coconut strips. We would have to make bags of it to sell. We also had to put out the ingredients for the morning meal. Mostly vegetarian stuff…bean thread, black moss seaweed which always looked like black hair to us, ginko nut, lotus seed and dried bean curd.



My mother would steamed her wonderfully delicious lo bak go (turnip cake) and the triple “head” fat go tay cupcakes. She would make dumplings, steamed and fried. There would be a centerpiece of a huge Chinese grapefruit (pomelo) surrounded by oranges and tangerines. A red lacquered box filled with the sweets and candies would be off to the side. (you can see these in the photo above off to the right hand side) Kathy and I would get dressed in our Chinese jackets hand-sewn by my mother and passed down to our girls. Amazing.


Watercolor by Kristina Lagoda of Nikki & Kris in our Chinese Jackets

I would always be scared of the firecrackers and definitely the cherry bombs. I didn't like them but I did like the lion dances and hearing the boom, boom, boom of the drum, the clang, clang, clang of the gong.

Spontaneity Is a Good Thing

Last night, Winnie received a last minute invitation to attend the Martha Stewart show this morning! She asked me to join her and I didn’t hesitate. Afterall, I didn’t have anything planned. (This is one of those reasons why I don’t think I could start working again!…I would lose this ability to do spur of the moment stuff!)

We met up on a brutally cold morning in front of the studio. There were already quite a few people on line. But we got in with no problem. In the past, Martha used to have “breakfast” - croissants or danish with Vitamin water. But now all they offer is a small bottle of water. Another sign of the economic crisis. No worries, Winnie and I had plans to have Thai food for lunch.

I had been watching the show and Martha had been featuring a segment called “Must Have” for the month of January. She would showcase an item that she felt was a “must have” and then she also gave one to the audience. Yesterday she gave a sonic toothbrush. On Monday it was goose-down jackets for your dog but she only gave a dog tag to the audience members.

Today we saw a segment on poaching chicken and fish. Three utensils were used…a reamer, a Chinese strainer and a Microplane. She gave all three to us. Yay! The funny thing is I just purchased a Microplane for Nikki and gave it to her last week. I love this “gadget” and already have 2 of them. I don’t have and always wanted the reamer and Chinese strainer. So I was extremely pleased.

Then there was a segment on crafting…working with scrapbook paper to be exact. OMG…heaven!! And when she announced she was giving a packet of paper - I was over the moon. Yes, I know…so easy to please me! Winnie was sweet and also gave me her pack of paper. She said she wouldn’t be using it. I am already thinking of ways to use it for her.

When we were leaving, the items are given to you as you are exiting. Winnie noticed tote bags filled with the items on the floor and exclaimed…”Oh…we get the tote bag also” but then we saw small black shopping bags being handed out. So we thought the tote bags were for the next show until we noticed they ran out of the small black bags and were now handing out the totes and we were part of that group!! Another YAY!



I asked the person that was handing out the bags if his name was Kyle and it was. Nikki worked with him during her stint on “Whatever, Martha” with Martha’s daughter, Alexis. When I told him I was Nikki’s mother, he gave me a huge hug and a brilliant smile and said he was so happy I was able to come to the show. As I walked off with goodies in hand, I couldn’t agree with him more! Thanks, Winnie, it was so much fun! (P.S. Another tote to add to my collection!)

All a Game!

I was thinking that I really should have made this a “Shopping Blog” because that is probably my main past time. Whether I’m shopping for food, clothes or incidentals, I am always on the lookout for a bargain. It is a real strategy game.

If for example, I am running low on my toilet tissue and I am partial to Scott’s brand - I begin to look for a sale. The weekly drug store or supermarket circulars are perfect. I get a packet of them on Wednesday and in one sitting am able to see what is the better deal. This week was Stop n’ Shop where they were offering the 20 pack Scott for $9.99. I don’t shop there regularly but this would be a worthwhile trip. Besides the Scott sale, they were having a sale on Porterhouse Steak ($4.99 a pound) & ground beef ($2.39 a pound) and when I picked up a 4.5 pound value pack, there was a $2 off coupon to be taken by the cashier! This will last me for at least a month if not more.

This week CVS is running a Buy one Get one 50% off sale on their store brand. Winnie gave me a $3 off coupon to be used on any of their brand products. I ended up getting their brand of Ibuprofen that was $3.49 and their Chapstick for 99 cents….all ending up costing me $1!

Staples Dollar Week is coming to a close but I was able to pick up a pack of 4 Multi color Sharpies and a 3 pack of Pilot V-Ball pens - each for a dollar. I went back to see if I could get another pack of pens (I like them very much) and instead found Staples 4 pack of Rolling Ball pens for 50 cents! (Very similar)

Update on my reusable tote bags. The Promise bag came within 2 weeks of sending out the form. I finally received the coupon for the free Target reusable tote. The catch is the coupon expires on 1.31.09. Yesterday I went to the Target near me and only saw the 99 cent red Target bags near the registers and when I asked an associate where the bigger totes were, she told me they hadn’t had those totes in a long time. Hmmm…I was not happy and I did not believe her.

I came home and went on line and saw the nice big bag which Target calls the “Retote” and the cost of this bag is $5.99. The coupon has a maximum value of $6.59. I was determined to find this tote.

I went to another Target and didn’t even see the 99 cent bags near the check out counters. I looked through the aisle where they carry bags, totes and purses but it was not there and this made me wonder where they would place a reusable item. Cleaning section! and lo and behold…there they were!!! It is a nicer bigger sturdier tote than the typical reusable bags. Worth the trip and once again, winning the game!

BFF!

Today I had my first lunch of the new year with my girlfriend, Winnie. She came to Queens from Chinatown to meet me for our “walk” that has now become our routine. Taking the subway to Forest Hills, I picked her up by car and drove over to the running track. We do the 5 mile walk, mixing it up between walking the path into the park and back (2 miles that are marked) and then 4 laps around the track for 1 mile and then back into the park. It makes it less boring and gives us more “hills and valleys” to rev up our hearts. The time flies by since we are chatting the whole time. Before you know it (and it is usually an hour and a half that has passed) - it is time for our reward…lunch!!


Ready for our 10,000 steps!(In front of the track)

Winnie treated me in celebration of my good doctor’s report. Our Bento Boxes were delicious as always and feels like a real decadent treat for the both of us. We get salad, a combination of sushi, dumplings and chicken and then a small bowl of ice cream. It has never failed to hit the spot. I wished I took a photo of it but unlike Nikki, I never think of it and then it's all in my tummy.

A funny thing happened when we stopped in Trader Joe’s before heading to the restaurant. Since we were in there, Winnie decided to picked up milk and other goodies and seeing this, I told her I would drive her home so she should pick up more stuff that she might want. Immediately and typically, she started to beg off. “No…you are not driving me!” “Yes, I am!” and so on. Some guy walked by us and Winnie whispered “Oh no, this guy thinks we’re fighting…like a couple”….to which I walked a bit away from her and then turned to her and said “I am leaving you!” to which the guy raises his eyebrows and Winnie and I just laughed out loud!

After lunch, we did what I call “local shopping”. The restaurant is located within a good shopping area. I needed to pick up hair color that was on sale at Rite Aid but it is a shade that is usually out of stock quickly. We made a bee line for that aisle and I found only one box…needed to buy 2 for the sale. Groan. But I have a reputation of not giving up. For some reason, I feel if I search long and hard enough, the item I want will appear. Of course, many people scoffed but it has worked for me many times. Well, I am happy to say I had a witness this time. While holding that treasured one box, I was not quite ready to give up when suddenly, miraculously, another box of the same shade appeared right before our eyes! It was truly incredible! And I was so happy that Winnie was right there to see it happened!

We went on to Lots Less and picked up a couple of things. Then I drove her to Chinatown which took 20 minutes and I was back home in another 30. An absolutely fun day …productive, successful and there is just something very special about a lunch date with a girlfriend. Good for the soul!


Lifetime Friends!

A New Year!

Happy New Year!! 2009...as far as numerology goes…in the Chinese culture, 9 is a very good number denoting longevity. With that in mind, in 1999, I purchased a brand new car, a summer house and had Lasik done on my eyes. I drive the same car, love the summer house and still don’t need reading glasses! So maybe there was something to it all.


My summer house and 1999 Eclipse

I had a very good year. Was able to spend much quality time at the summer house. Really got to know the area and was even starting to feel like a “local”…getting a library card, driving roads unknown to me the last 10 years and did a weekly shopping with Kathy on Wednesdays like clock-work. And gasp…did what I would call “gardening” but everyone would call “watering the plants“.

The summer also bought a new sense of freedom. I felt unencumbered but then I didn’t know what September was going to bring in terms of the economy. For the main part of the summer, I was blissfully unawares. I started a new diet regiment in dealing with carbs and although it may have been bad for me, got myself a nice deep tan.

Of course, September did come and along with the sad economic times, my health issues reared its ugly head. But maybe it was a good thing because in hindsight, I feel and look better than I have in years. I took control of my own life, my own body and it feels good.

The one thing I haven’t been able to do and kept saying I would, is get a job. It’s still there in the back of my mind moving forward every day. As much as I think a job would interfere with my social life…what did I do all the other 40 odd years I was working? I guess I will have to work the socializing around the job! I know it can be done! Ha!

So with that, I see a very good year coming up. I am hoping by this time next year, I will have reached a spectacular goal of being normal in weight and BMI. My blood pressure and cholesterol will be a non-issue. I will have a perfect part time job. Part time so I still have a flexible schedule to make lunch and dinner dates. And everyone I love stays healthy and happy. And last, everything good that can happen all happens to Nikki. That would make for one excellent year! Happy 2009!