Brunch Review: Citizen

March 20, 2016 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Life In Your 20's, Richmond Brunch Review

My friend Joanna and I grab coffee or lunch about every other week. Joanna usually grabs food at a cart while I pack lunch like the frugal grad student I am. (She’s also in grad school. Maybe I’m just frugal.) Recently, however, the wind chill was a bit too much, so Joanna suggested we go to Citizen.

This wasn’t my first time at Citizen, but it was at their new location on East Main and 12th. Their old location was this small joint underneath what can only be described as a plaza on the side of a skyscraper (okay, it’s Richmond, so the SunTrust Tower is a skyscraper). Honestly, finding the old place made me feel like such a hipster; I needed to put on my thick-rimmed glasses. The new place faces right onto Main Street.

Citizen is basically a city café. You walk in, and half the joint is the bar (like a Waffle House bar, not a bar bar, where you can see them preparing your meal) and the other half is one long row of seating. We decided to grab a table since we weren’t going to sit outside. A waiter soon helped us, which is an upgrade from their old location where it was order-and-seat-yourself.

From Puffins to Hot Dogs: An Icelandic Food Review

March 16, 2016 by Sara Woznicki in Life In Your 20's, Sara's Column, Tweets and Mascara, Leisure, life lessons

At this point in my life, I would be pretty open to it if someone called me a foodie. I take pleasure in eating and trying new foods. So when we headed over to Iceland, I was on the hunt for some good local fare.

A bit of light research led me to believe that the following food selections were Icelandic delicacies: hot dogs, ice cream, puffin, whale and fermented shark.

Out of that list, I was really not okay eating puffin, because I mainly wanted to adopt one, not eat one. Once my uncle gave us a puffin for Christmas. Sounds really cool, right? Except for when you’re a child and think you’re really getting a puffin. Not only didn’t we get a puffin, just the paperwork to one, the last time our puffin was spotted was a few years before we got him. So I’m pretty sure my puffin ownership was over a dead puffin. I digress though, since this is a post about food. But let’s kick it off with my experience of eating puffin.

My Parents: The Most Feared Critic

March 09, 2016 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Humor, Life In Your 20's

Hi, Mom. I know you’re reading this.

Last week my mom told me she finally figured out how to use her Smartphone and read this blog. It’s not like she hasn’t had this Smartphone for two years. She’s also been trying to get the hang of Facebook for three years, but “do my friends have to be able to see my profile? Why can’t I just see theirs and they can’t see mine?”

Because that’s selfish, Mom.

Anyway, I have to decide if my mom reading ATOB is going to affect my writing. (Don’t worry; it isn’t. My mom is just going to have realize I’m a 24-year-old adult.) At the very least, I’m going to have to answer a lot more texts.

Three Virgils of My First Train Ride

Amtrak Staples Mill Station

March 08, 2016 by Sara Woznicki in Leisure, Life In Your 20's, Sara's Column, Young Professionalism, Work

It was going to be a big day for us: we were meeting our public relations firm in their office in New York to set the strategy for the next six months. It would be accurate to say that I have mixed feelings about this trip to begin with. On one hand, I am internally screaming with excitement about making progress in my favorite channel. On the other hand is my body saying, “for the love of God, Sara, please let’s take a break.”

My body is still catching up from landing Monday night from my Iceland trip. My body doesn’t win. Within a few hours of touching back on American soil, I have plane tickets booked to head up to New York for the day, plus a train ride down to Connecticut to see my parents for the weekend.

I'm Just Another Familiar Face

March 03, 2016 by Sara Woznicki in Leisure, Life In Your 20's, life lessons, Sara's Column, Tweets and Mascara

Every week or so -- no, really, almost every week or so -- I meet someone new who tells me I look familiar. And every time, I have to politely (usually) tell them that we don't actually know each other. Sometimes we play the let's-stalk-mutual-friends-on-Facebook to see how we know each other. Sometimes we play the which-school-did-you-go-to game that ends with us not actually having any common connections. And sometimes I just nod and proceed with life.

I can't quite place my finger on when this trend started. I secretly used to think it must be because I am famous from this blog, but let's be real, it's definitely not that. But it's been happening more often now.

Horrible Bosses: The Devil Doesn't Wear Prada

March 02, 2016 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Humor, life lessons, Life In Your 20's, Work, Young Professionalism

For a short duration of my undergrad, I was a resident adviser in a dormitory. I say “short” because I got fired – well, I resigned, but we all know what that means. But that’s a post for another day.

I was both blessed and cursed to be an RA in the largest, nicest dorm on campus. This meant great amenities, e.g. AC, housekeeping, and that's where it ends – and also a professional hall director. That meant my hall director had a degree in being a hall director or something like that and took her job way too seriously as opposed to other hall directors who were either grad or undergrad students and understood what it meant to let loose on the weekends.

What's Your Name Again?

February 29, 2016 by Cazey Williams in life lessons, Life In Your 20's, Humor, Cazey's Column, Young Professionalism

Because I’m an advocate of self-awareness, I’ve started asking people to tell me their names again, which works until it’s the tenth meeting and I'm like, “What is your name again? I swear I don’t have dementia.” Or worse, I have no idea we’ve met ten times until my friend interjects, “You’ve met him multiple times before!”

Me: “Why are you going to be rude and say that out loud?”

It’s also uncomfortable when I say, “Hi, I’m Cazey, nice to meet you,” and they deadpan you: “We’ve met before.”

Have we?

We Met On an App - But Then I Paid For More Than Apps

February 24, 2016 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, Dating, Life In Your 20's, life lessons

Senior year of high school we had to choose a topic to debate in my dual enrollment English class. I elected to debate the merits of men paying on the first date. That is, I defended why men shouldn’t pay on the first date. I cringe when I think back on my arguments, because they were rudimentary and based more on wit than wisdom (what’s new?), but I still stand by the assertion: We need to recall the age-old notion that men pay on first dates.

The rule should be either:

a.) Whoever invited you on the date pays (which can be the man then), or

b.) You split the check.

A Playlist for Seeing the World

February 22, 2016 by Cazey Williams in Cazey's Column, life lessons, Life In Your 20's

My friend Sami leaves for Costa Rica today and won't be back for 27 months. She is fulfilling my lifelong dream (okay, half of my life if we're being accurate) and joined the Peace Corps.

Last month, she asked me to make her a playlist. She had the most clever idea of asking 27 of her friends to make her a playlist, one for each month she would be gone. Of course I said yes. And then she told me she wanted my playlist to be the first one she listened to. Talk about pressure!

Well, I don't back down from a challenge. Some songs immediately jumped to mind. Others song I knew I'd have to dig a little deeper in myself.

Half-Asssing Adulthood

February 19, 2016 by Sara Woznicki in Life In Your 20's, life lessons, Sara's Column, Young Professionalism

Last weekend, Liz (who is Cazey and my other roommate and will one day be featured in a blog post, "Living with Liz") and I had a very adult day. In the morning, we toured two units that we're looking to buy. Okay fine -- we're not looking to buy it, her parents are, but we're the feet on the street to go see the apartments as they open. Then in the afternoon we went car shopping. That was for me. One day I'll buy a new car. Poor Taurus is getting on in years.

Anyways, I went into work that Monday and reported to everyone at work how adult I was. You know, because I went shopping for big purchases. Then I came home and was telling Liz about how I told everyone about our weekend, which she also did. And we had a realization:

We must not be THAT adult if we report to people how adult we acted that weekend.