I met Chad through Homegrown. We were both hired as cafe-workers in the original Fremont location. Since then, we have both dedicated ourselves to moving up in the company, and I was promoted to manager of the Capitol Hill location and Chad runs the catering service. Because we are in separate locations, I rarely get to see Chad. So I was pumped to have him over for dinner and drinks.
Erica and I had recently run into Chad and Ellie at a fair well party for longtime HG mascot Henry Browne, who left with a bang performing a killer roast of the employees at a Comedy Open Mic night. Footage of that was posted online here and is, ironically, NOT SAFE FOR WORK. It ended up actually being a series of jokes about my assistant manager Jackie and the lack of size, shape and use of my genitals. Naturally, Henry was a little too drunk to nail the performance, at one point retelling the same joke one joke later. But I loved every second, and when he finished, we all went outside and he told all the jokes he couldn't fit into the 3 minute time slot and really murdered it there. Henry is the most quoted man in the company, giving the staff the infamous words "You know man, there's a lot of money to be made in standing around, you just gotta wait for it."
All the OG (original-Grown) employees were there, and it was killer to spend time as a group outside of work. At the roast, Chad and Ellie decided on Mexican food and offered to bring the tequila. We also committed to wearing sombreros and fake mustaches. The date was set.
Little did I know, every costume store would be entirely sold out of sombreros when the purchase is put off until the day of the holiday. I was able to grab a few mustaches, but I had to get a sun hat for Erica and a safari hat for myself. And I must say, we looked amazingly stupid. It was one of those things where we didn't want to be the party poopers and not try. Fortunately, Chad and Ellie had made the same mistake and arrived with mustaches only as well. Which saved Erica and I the embarrassment of dressing erroneously.
I decided to do tacos, which would make it the third time for tacos and the fourth Mexican cuisine choice at 52DD. I purchased some grass-fed ground beef, hard corn shells, soft flour tortillas, shredded romaine lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, organic sour cream, a white onion, cheddar cheese, refried beans, dirty rice and some limes. I made pretty straight forward beef tacos, the only twist being melted cheese on the tortilla wrapped around the crunchy hard shell, cheesey gordita crunch style.
The food wasn't particularly bad or good, but it was filling. It was intimidating to cook for Chad, who was tons of kitchen experience and hosts a taco night at his house every Tuesday. Chad is also the first person from work to take the date challenge. They were the youngest couple to come over as well, and I feel like a generation gap reared it's ugly head a few times. Like, the generation gap of Chad and Ellie being way hipper and more energetic than our old asses.
The date was rapid fire style. We sat down to eat immediately, then busted out a game of Blokus. Then the date took us to a place we had never been yet on the blog: outside of the house! Our friends and self-appointed safety couple Danny and Julie (Week 11) were hosting a Cinco de Mayo fiesta at their new condo in the Ravenna area, so we decided to swing by.
When we arrived, the party was small in size. There were about 5 girls and 3 guys. We stationed ourselves in the kitchen, did tequila shots and Chad related the story of Coachella to the engaged audience. He and Ellie had a blast down in Cali and urged everyone to pre-order tickets in June for the 2013 concert. And YES, they did see Hologram 2Pac. If you haven't, you really should...
I knew the party had an expiration date on it, because Chad and Ellie were set to host one of their own later. So after an hour, they took off to go back to their home. As they exited, so did a few other couples. Suddenly, it was just Erica and I with Danny and Julie.
Erica and I were having a good time, so we stayed and chatted it up with them for a while until more couples showed up. After their living room was filled back up with guests, we made an exit and headed towards Chad and Ellie's pad in the Green Lake area. When we arrived, the party was small in size. There were about 3 girls and 5 guys. We did a house tour and I woke up their roommate Josh, who is currently the manager of the Fremont Homegrown. We went downstairs and played some flip cup.
After four nail-biting wins in a row, and mandatory hugs initiated by me to three teammates I just met, Erica and I made an exit and headed back to Tune Castle. Oddly enough, the night was not overly wild. Which is a good thing. The dinner was pleasant, seeing Danny and Julie's place was nice, and being undefeated in flip cup made me feel like I was college-aged once again. I did feel like an old dork around them, although it wasn't anything they did. Chad and Ellie are a super welcoming couple and they put out awesome vibes. Erica and I are certainly going to make an effort to see them more. Probably at a taco Tuesday, so Chad can show me how it's done.
Next week I am super pumped to welcome a few of my rapper buddies, John and Steph. Yes, they both rap. But you will hear more about them later. Until then, stay happy and think positive things. Cheers.
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