There are moments in life when you look back and think, Whew, I’m really glad I never have to live through that again. Take for example that one time I sent one of our interns to—get this—the HOSPITAL. [Who knew she was allergic to food of the gods, right?]

I can look back fondly at the past and laugh as I sit on my imaginary porch drinking my imaginary lemonade and rocking in my imaginary chair. But when I almost poisoned a new set of interns, my reality punched the imaginary in the face.

In the famous words of Britney Spears, oops, I did it again. Except this time, I didn’t send anyone to the hospital, so I guess I’m making progress. [Positive thinking, Bianca! Stay positive!]

I invited the communication interns to my house for dinner and prepped a meal the morning I left for work. However, we had to reschedule our gathering due to unforeseen calendar changes. So being the budget-conscious wife I am [See Matt! I’m SO responsible!], I packaged up the marinated chicken and saved it in the fridge.

The following week, the interns came to my house for basil chicken, kale salad, and rose potatoes. Except one thing: how long does chicken stay—oh, shall we say fresh? I didn’t have time to Google it so I just slapped the chicken breast into a hot frying pan and prayed that the heat would kill any salmonella poison.

When a funky odor started coming from the pan, that should’ve been the indicator something was fishy—or shall I we say not fresh? When we sat for dinner I took a quick bite to make sure if anyone was going to die, it would be me first. [That’s a sign of a LEADER, people!] Though it wasn’t rancid, it definitely wasn’t my prize-winning meal. Whatevs. They ate it and even lied and said it was good.

It wasn’t until recently that I found out that they felt sick afterwards?! [I didn’t eat the chicken because it tasted armpit smothered with alfredo sauce.] But the good news is that I learned two things:

• Matt shouldn’t keep me on a budget because it makes people sick
• Keep me away from interns and food

Thankfully there is grace and all is forgiven! But I think my days of trying to be Julia Child on a budget are over. Yes and amen.

On the subject of interns, we are looking for a new, fun batch of amazing interns for our Fall season. If you are from the Southern California area and would like to be part of an amazing team, we would love to have you join the fight for freedom at The A21 Campaign. You can fill out an application online and submit it through the website. And don’t worry: I will stay away from all interns during the lunch hour. 😉