Chipotle. A Love Affair.

Living on a budget is hard.  Especially in NY.  And especially when you’re not technically earning an income. Life lesson: You should probably make money before you spend it.  They should write that on a tea bag.  Or a Dove chocolate wrapper.  Somewhere I could’ve read it and taken note. But last week I spotted a special on Facebook.  Watch a commercial for a reality TV show, and you’ll earn a coupon for free Chipotle. My mouth dropped as my stomach grumbled, “I need this!”

There are only so many months a person can eat .99-cent mac & cheese and P&J sandwiches before going mad.  And I about was two-steps’ away from joining the Donner Party.

“I promise I’m working, Caitlin,” as I tried to mute my laptop before the commercial sprung to life. “I’m from California.  So I need this burrito.”  I didn’t want my intern to catch-on that her boss was downloading tex-mex instead of helping thirsty children.

It probably didn’t help my case that earlier that morning a fortune cookie store wouldn’t accept my Groupon code. I had to call and whisper, “Ummm… giant M&M, please….The one that’s bigger than a baby’s head. (seriously, it is). Yep.  That’s the one.”

Anyhow, I promise you I promptly logged back into my inbox and started working. And strategically scheduled my next meeting near the closest Chipotle.

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The problem with buy-one-get-one free was I didn’t know what to do with the second burrito.  So I put it in the freezer (isn’t that where people put food they aren’t ready to eat?).

What follows is the photo documentary I’d like to call, “The Unthawing.”  Turns out if you plan on eating your second burrito the very next day – you don’t need to freeze it into a 5 lbs brick of farm-fed meat and fresh corn salsa.  It could have gone in the fridge.  My roommates made me document the humiliating process. As they cackled.

Well, you know what they say, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."  Think I read that in a fortune cookie.