It was my first day on the job yesterday and in a very warm welcome, my boss took me out to lunch along with my co-editors. We went to Edwardo’s Pizza, which is just down the street from our office. By the time we made it there, it was about 12:30 and my stomach was rumbling. Having gotten up at 6:30 AM (let’s face it, for the first time in a long time!), my stomach was yearning for meal number two. So, naturally, I grab at the first edible item put in front of me. Edwardo’s serves these great bread chips (for lack of a better description) with marinara sauce as their kind of bread and butter tantalizer. In hungry haste, I reached over to dip my crunchy bread chip into some tasty-looking tomato sauce, only to deliver that very dollop of sauce onto my brand new white shirt instead of into my mouth. Yep, that’s right, first day of work and I have a giant red stain in the middle of my shirt. And yes, I got the pants too. Luckily, that stain came out. As for the shirt, no such luck.

So, now that I joined the team, I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Hillary, but you can refer to me as the girl who stained her shirt with marinara sauce on the first day of work. And while we’re on the topic, I thought I would take this opportunity to share a few tips on what I could have done to get rid of my food mishap right on the spot.

1. Carry around that Tide To Go pen. I’m not kidding you. It works wonders. I have one, but just like many others, I forget to carry it around with me. Well, a word of advice (to myself included): CARRY IT AROUND. Buy another one for the purse. Buy three. It will be worth it, trust me!

2. That old club soda trick. Ask the waiter for some club soda (not in that overly snobby voice “Could I bother you for a glass of club soda? I seemed to have stained my shirt!”) and just dab the stain. Try not to rub it in. You might make matters worse.