The unemployed life

I quit my job almost a year ago to study education policy. Now, with a newly minted master's degree, I'm sitting in my living room, unemployed. Friends have told me to enjoy the time off, to see the "fun-employment" period as a vacation, since I've been constantly busy--with full-time work for years, then graduate school, immediately followed by a summer fellowship--and rarely took time off. But, as much as I want to enjoy having much more time on my hands, it makes me nervous. Living in San Francisco is expensive, and I don't want to be one of those twenty-somethings who move back in with their parents. So I had been cutting back on lots of things I used to and still thoroughly enjoy, the most painful of which has been food--eating out, dining at nice restaurants, and cooking for friends.

But, I'm eager to not let this stint of non-work get me down and am viewing it as a time to be creative, to write again, to read again, to cook again--all things I used to do regularly before graduate school craziness got the better of me. And, because I'm stubborn and like a good challenge, I'm going to fight this no income thing and prove that you don't need tons (or any) money to eat well and enjoy it.

So, here's the start of a new season of Susan's Daily Eats: The Unemployed Life. As you might assume, it'll chronicle my unemployed eating and cooking habits.

By the way, if you know of anyone who wants to hire a tall, well-educated, Asian woman, please send him or her my way. Or, if you want to send food donations and invitations to meals my way, I'll gladly accept those too.