Try Something New

March 9, 2011 - 6 Comments by Mishi - Secret Agent Mama

Thank you to P&G’s Have You Tried This Yet? program and Kroger for sponsoring my writing about trying new things and breaking out of my everyday routine.

Click hereClick here to find great savings on high-performing P&G products at a Kroger store near you.

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

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In 1996, when we moved to New Orleans, I took on the job of being assistant manager at the Clearview Mall, Sears Portrait Studio, in Metairie.  The manager of the studio was a woman named Diane.  We had a lot of work to do in that studio, which started with firing a whole bunch of workers that were stealing money by processing fake returns.  To get the studio back on track we had countless strategy meetings.  After going to Steak and Ale one too many times, Diane thought it was time to introduce me to Shogun.

“You need to try Japanese,” she said, one afternoon.

“Uhhhh, I *just* recently tried something OTHER than Sweet and Sour Chicken, Diane,” I dryly responded.

“Well, you just haven’t lived until you try some tempura vegetables or sushi,”  she stated.

“Sushi?  As in raw fish.  No way, that’s pretty disgusting, and I’m sure I’m allergic,” I boldly replied.

“Come on, Mishelle, be brave.  Live a little; try something new!”  she ordered.

The first time I ate sushi, it wasn’t even the “real” stuff. I tested the waters by trying California Rolls, and I was instantly hooked. From that day on, every time we had a strategy lunch meeting, we went to Shogun, and by the end of my time at the portrait studio I was well on my way to being a full fledged lover of sushi—the “real” stuff.  I even introduced Michael to it at the same place that I was introduced to one of my [now] favorite foods in the whole wide world.

A few years later, after we’d moved back to Buffalo, one of the best date nights, in my memory bank,was the night we dressed up—to the nines—and spent a few hours eating various and exotic sushi rolls while enjoying a couple bottles of white wine.   When I think about that night, I get butterflies; it was that perfect of a night.   A lot of the time we couldn’t get out like that,  having three small children, so Michael would pick up a platter of our favorite rolls, and we’d enjoy it after the kids were in bed.   We did the same with chicken wings, but the sushi was a whole lot classier.  Who cares if we ate them right out of the platter?

These days I get my sushi fill at the Chinese Buffet—which is pretty darn good—or I get these awesome sushi packs from our local Kroger.  The selection of the rolls prepared at Kroger is awesome, and when I’m looking for fix without the buffet, it’s the first place I go.  The other day I even saw that they sell spicy mayo.  It’s my newest addiction.

A while back I even got my mother to try sushi at the Chinese Buffet, while she was visiting.  She actually liked it, after years of turning her nose up at it, and now she buys sushi for herself and my father from their local grocery store in Buffalo.   Oh, and someone else that I successfully hooked on sushi is our son Mikey.  When we hit the buffet, he never gets dessert because he makes sure to save room for a few rolls.   That’s mah’boy.

The other day I met my girlfriend Heather for lunch.  We, of course, had sushi at “our place”.    The time before that I ate sushi with Jim, Lotus, and Vee at Blissdom.   Sushi’s awesome, but it’s even more awesome when eaten with loved ones.

Moral of the story:  Try something new, because you never know when it’s going to be something that you will ABSOLUTELY LOVE!