History, for me at least

Woooo. I watched Ric Flair get inducted by Triple H to the Wrestling Hall of Fame tonight. I know I'm a dork. But I've grown up watching him; live and on TV. When I was training up in Charlotte (Ric Flair country for sure) I was soo close to getting him to come to the VIP party for the NC Biscuit. Our contact, however, had a death in the family and could not make it. Lucky for us, because the turnout for the VIP party was not so great. Tomorrow is Wrestlemania, and sadly I am working the evening shift. I'll just watch it Monday night for free on the internet. Flair wrestles Shawn Michaels in what could be his retirement match. Don't judge me.

The culture of Midtown

Now, it seems lately I've blogged a lot about my job, but things are exciting now at work. I'm getting a promotion and it's a change of scenery. I've been doing the same thing for 4.5 years now and I've been wanting a change for a while.

So, one of my first goals as GM of Midtown is to establish its identity. Since it opened, MT has always been cast in the shadow of its bigger Candler Park brother. I'm accomplishing this through branding. The Midtown store is so different that Candler Park, that it deserves more branded attention. I asked our graphics dept to come up with something more "in the city" than "in the neighborhood" and she came up with this...

The Messenger is the monthly email i'll be sending out hyping wine tastings, beer events, and champagne brunches. I want the regular Midtown logos to reflect this one.

Final Beer Dinner

Tongiht was my last beer dinner at Candler Park. It was pretty sad for me, but all my folks came through for me to make it happen.

• Dewberry baked 7 red velvet cakes at home


• Jason (or Jerry) spent his cameo at CP devoted to prep for the dinner.


• Sarr came in on his day off to help execute the dinner


• Nicole and Blake didn't complain when we had a few reservations no-show


• Tommy DELIVERED on the main course that i was so scared for

I am very grateful to work with such loyal and devoted people. Also, Wendy almost cried when I told her i was tranferring to Midtown. My parents and gf were there, too. I will miss my Candler Park.

Want some cheese with that?

This afternoon I'm going to Atlantic Station for the High Museum's trade tasting before their annual Wine Auction. There'll be 100s of wineries there from everywhere on the planet. Hopefully I can meet up with Marty, one of the other managers at Midtown, and "research" cool wines we can feature at the store this Summer. Great weather, lots of free wine. I hate my job!

http://www.atlanta-wineauction.org/

A word (or a few) about my girlfriend.

My favorite bartender at TacoMac invited me to a party at her boyfriend's house where I met Carmen.

I was a total jerk. She said we talked a little, but I made an ass out of myself. Carmen's nonthreatening best friend manhandled me (I have quite a few punds of muscle and good looks on him). Yes, there are pictures.

Later that week, Carmen shows up at work. I forget her name and make small talk with her. She pretends not to be interested as she listens to her iPod while studying. I give her a free dessert- something in a Martini glass. She leaves.

Carmen gets my phone number from the TacoMac bartender and we start our friendship. Our first date was at a Zombie Porno Pary at my old Decatur house. Weird start. The next week I invited her to Gay Pride. We were in the parade.

Nine months later, she has molded me from my jerky old single ways to a considerate and (more) responsible boyfriend. We are very happy together and are looking for a house or apt together this Spring. I am lucky to have been pursued by such a beautiful, smart, and focused girl.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Last week I was offered the General Manager position at the Midtown location of the Flying Biscuit. Raving Brands could have easily asked a more qualified corporate guy to sweep in and change the beloved Midtown Biscuit, but they asked me- a near five year veteran of all things fluffy and flyin'. Very flattering. I took the job.

It's bittersweet. I am really looking foward to a new staff and trying out new ideas, but I will miss my Candler Park. It was home for nearly five years. Delia, the founder, took a chance on me after an interview on the patio. I mentioned I was a child of the neighborhood that had gone full circle: raised in a house down the street from the store, graduated from Chamblee HS, further down the street at Emory U (where I received high marks in my Student Debt major). There is a server meeting next Monday night which will be my last. I made a photo album to present to them. I arranged the pictures from earliest to latest to the best of my knowledge. I flipped through and saw all the faces of my past. Kinda made me reflect a little. I wish I started blogging then to relive those days. But I noticed one thing- thought my little cafe had changed so much over the past five years through corporate ownership, the faces looked the same as they did when I first started; happy.

Hello, my name is...

I'm new here. I thought it would be cool to start a blog. I've always wanted to keep a journal and look back a couple years later and relive what I was going through.

I'll get interesting later.

A little about me: My name is Spencer. I was raised in Decatur, GA. I went and finished Emory University (in four years, no less) in 2003. My major was Student Debt. I'm still at my first job out of college- Assistant General Manager of The Flying Biscuit Cafe in quaint little Candler Park, Georgia. It's been a wonderful job where I've met tons of fascinating people. They started out as a fun and funky breakfast joint in 1993 and since then "partnered" with Raving Brands in 2007 to franchise new stores in Georgia and across the Southeast. They asked me to join the first training team and we opened stores in Marietta, Buckhead, and one in Charlotte, NC. I enjoyed training and travelling to new areas with the company. But now I am back home in my home store, until....