{you know you're}opening a restaurant{when you}

you know you're opening a restaurant when you

wake up every morning at 7 am regardless of how late/early you went to bed
wake up shaky even though you haven't touched caffeine in weeks
forget to eat until dinner time
don't know what day, date, season it is
forget what you forgot
start erasing more emails than you read, write or answer put together
start paying someone to do your laundry
think that the morning of today happened during a different week
interview and offer jobs in the same hour
make prep lists the size of your first knitted scarf you couldn't figure out how to bind off on
stop seeing your bank account drop in funds
start emptying your home fridge into the trash
stop buying food for your house
stop answering personal calls
stop getting personal calls
discontinue to commute/walk/ride anywhere that's not in your restaurant's vicinity
stop knowing what's happening in the world/your city
forget what 'news' is
forget what daytime looks like
stop eating meals and begin eating tests
forget that you own, or have ever worn, any other clothes but your whites
start looking at 'normal' people like they're zoo animals
realize normal people are looking at you funny
don't notice people looking at anything
don't notice anything

you know you're opening a restaurant when you
start missing yourself.

Comments

[Ivan Maminta]

You know you are opening a restaurant when your Sous Chef is your soul mate

[Alisa]

We missed you! Tweets are nice, but a long post is better. Read you again once you surface. Love, A Reader.

[samantha]

Love your little post! Good luck with the restaurant - I'm sure it'll buoy you after a while and you'll stop missing yourself :)

[kthln]

thank you for posting ~ take care of yourself! many good wishes

[Bin]

But would you have it any other way?

[bea]

god that sounds like me on a normal day...

[Hareesh]

am sure for the level of dedication u always have its going to be a huge success..best of luck Shuna!

[kayenne]

Plenty of your description sounded like me when I was working in the galley of a cruise ship. UGH!

[debbie]

aw ms. lydon...i hope you are able to find some rest in the midst of all this craziness. i bet the other half of you feels the thrill of opening a restaurant. heck..that's probably what you're running on- adrenaline. if those are pics of the new place-lovin' it! so excited to visit the place!!!!

[Natalie Sztern]

Imagine if you were opening a second one in a different city? things could always be worse.

[Victoria]

It sounds soooo hard. I don't envy you. But I envy me because I am wondering

Will there be parsley salad on the menu?

What will be my favorite dessert?

And, of course, the inevitable

When

When

When

Will it open?

(And when will you get a break?)

[pfoven]

You just described me minus any knitting reference. I am opening a wood fired mobile oven biz and think I have lost my mind but too distracted to notice! By the way, at least you don't have to practice backing up your restaurant while hitched to a 1 ton van. You have that going for ya.....

[meimei]

I feel your pain. I opened 11 restaurants in less than two years. Now...I sleep.

[lovebabz]

Shoot! Sounds like a parent to me. I guess opening a restaurant is a lot like raising kids. You just keep at it, you have a vision and some ideas, but really you are going on faith.

Take a breath. Eat. Eat a little bit more.

I am cheering for you!

[Sylvia]

Wishing you the best of luck!

[jenny]

Very excited for you. I got a small window into your world recently and it scared the crap out of me and was the most exciting thing I've done in ages!

[Lynne]

I opened an artisanal chocolate shop 8 years ago - oh yes, this post is spot-on from my experience! Life? What life? This is my life? This IS my life! LOL ;-) Thanks for putting the experience to words.

[Dr. Biggles]

Heh, look at people as though they're zoo animals. Nicely done.

xo, Biggles

[shayma]

best wishes, shuna! x shayma

[Dani Craig]

love this post.

[fionafinley]

absolutely. a lot of deep breaths, a lot of patience, and always remind one another to eat something.

[Ben]

Why all the pictures of St John?

Hello Ben, Good eye, sir. firstly St John is a restaurant, but more than that I think the photos show emptiness & reflection which is what this piece is about. the reward is the restaurant itself, but a restaurant is more than just empirical data. ~ shuna

[James]

Ha ha - this is great - the story of my life last 4 years. Apart from the laundry - still fit that in.... always saving money - just a poor chef after all.