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Meet Dana!
Every Monday, TriangleMom2Mom features a local mom. If you'd like to be featured or know someone we should feature, let me know.
Today we meet Dana Mueller.
Mom2Mom: Tell us about yourself.
Dana: My husband Jeff and I are both 38 years old and just celebrated 18 years of marriage a couple of
weeks ago. With four children Amanda 17, Alec 12, Spencer 10, and Katie 7, Jeff has always been the only full time entrepreneur in the family. I have practiced real estate, sold cosmetics, worked in the Wake County Public school system as a substitute teacher, as well as many other odd ventures but with his travel schedule and the kids' need for everything that is me, I was the obvious one to quit school and begin the adventure which is martyrhood, I mean motherhood. We moved to Raleigh in 1994 and then settled in Holly Springs 10 years ago and can't imagine anywhere else in the world we'd rather live.
When Amanda was little, Jeff began working in the restaurant industry, all facets. He loved it and spoke of owning his own one day, however the hours kept him away from home more than we could stomach. Fate led him into the mortgage industry where he quickly advanced and eventually opened his own company. Lucrative and flexible hours led us to believe we had fallen into a family utopia that would last forever. When the industry became saturated, business became more challenging and the day finally came when the kids would point up to an airplane and say "Daddy." Clearly, this was not the career path for a father of four, so with a giant leap of faith we decided to follow a dream and open our own restaurant.
Fat Philly's is our love child and required all the sleepless nights and endless hours of caretaking that any newborn would. My closest friend Paula gave it a name and too many friends to name helped us, from brainstorming to painting the final product. We have placed everything on the menu that we would eat and nothing that we wouldn't. Just as a child receives genetic DNA from both parents, our baby is half authentic Philly cheesesteaks, barbeque and cheeseburger hoagies, cheddar FLIPS and fries and many other guilty pleasures. The other half (from mom) is three very different twists on salads, wraps of every kind and veggie hoagies. We actually have a significant vegetarian following.
The best product of Fat Philly's has been the time it has allowed for us to spend with our kids. They are there with us and have learned valuable lessons that can only be taught by example. For example, jumping off a plank toward your dreams when everyone around you thinks you're crazy. Or working 18 hour days with no sleep while smiling simply because you're together. There was an adjustment period to learn to work with my husband (a continuous, daily adjustment) as well as for me to work 40+ hours with a home and four kids. We do find it worth it and know that we can leap again if it ever becomes anything else.
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite family place in the Triangle and why?
Dana: Museum of Life and Science in Durham has been my favorite even before the new outside expansion. If I were 5, I would want to live in the Butterfly House.
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite place for yourself in the Triangle and why?
Dana: Any used bookstore, preferably with coffee. I grew up with avid readers and writers and the smell of used books brings me back to childhood.
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite ritual with your kids?
Dana: When one of them receives straight A's (or what we know to be their best), we allow a day of "hookie" and let them pick an entire day with one of us. The last one we spent the whole day at the museum and shared ice cream on the way back.
Mom2Mom: What did you eat last night? Can you share the recipe?
Dana: Old fashioned chicken pot pie is my childrens' favorite. It's online at Pillsbury.com.
Mom2Mom: What's your guilty pleasure?
Dana: A slice of Edward's key lime pie, a glass of red wine and a good book, all in bed. Or just sleep anytime of day.
Check out our other daily themes at TriangleMom2Mom:
MONDAY: Meet!
TUESDAY: Ask!
WEDNESDAY: Eat!
THURSDAY: Play!
FRIDAY: Out!
WEEKEND: Relax!
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall
Sarah is in charge of content for TriangleMom2Mom.com and writes about family-friendly events, local moms groups and other topics for the site.
She lives in Raleigh with her
husband and three-year-old daughter. Sarah has written for newspapers
since she was a teenager living in snowy Central New York. After
graduating from the University of Virginia, she traipsed a bit around
Europe and Mount Airy, N.C., before settling down in the Triangle. She
moved here in 1999 to take a job with The News & Observer. She once aspired to play
flute professionally. More recently, her daughter started crying when
she played it.
Read more about:
Every Monday, TriangleMom2Mom features a local mom. If you'd like to be featured or know someone we should feature, let me know.
Today we meet Dana Mueller.
Mom2Mom: Tell us about yourself.
Dana: My husband Jeff and I are both 38 years old and just celebrated 18 years of marriage a couple of weeks ago. With four children Amanda 17, Alec 12, Spencer 10, and Katie 7, Jeff has always been the only full time entrepreneur in the family. I have practiced real estate, sold cosmetics, worked in the Wake County Public school system as a substitute teacher, as well as many other odd ventures but with his travel schedule and the kids' need for everything that is me, I was the obvious one to quit school and begin the adventure which is martyrhood, I mean motherhood. We moved to Raleigh in 1994 and then settled in Holly Springs 10 years ago and can't imagine anywhere else in the world we'd rather live.
When Amanda was little, Jeff began working in the restaurant industry, all facets. He loved it and spoke of owning his own one day, however the hours kept him away from home more than we could stomach. Fate led him into the mortgage industry where he quickly advanced and eventually opened his own company. Lucrative and flexible hours led us to believe we had fallen into a family utopia that would last forever. When the industry became saturated, business became more challenging and the day finally came when the kids would point up to an airplane and say "Daddy." Clearly, this was not the career path for a father of four, so with a giant leap of faith we decided to follow a dream and open our own restaurant.
Fat Philly's is our love child and required all the sleepless nights and endless hours of caretaking that any newborn would. My closest friend Paula gave it a name and too many friends to name helped us, from brainstorming to painting the final product. We have placed everything on the menu that we would eat and nothing that we wouldn't. Just as a child receives genetic DNA from both parents, our baby is half authentic Philly cheesesteaks, barbeque and cheeseburger hoagies, cheddar FLIPS and fries and many other guilty pleasures. The other half (from mom) is three very different twists on salads, wraps of every kind and veggie hoagies. We actually have a significant vegetarian following.
The best product of Fat Philly's has been the time it has allowed for us to spend with our kids. They are there with us and have learned valuable lessons that can only be taught by example. For example, jumping off a plank toward your dreams when everyone around you thinks you're crazy. Or working 18 hour days with no sleep while smiling simply because you're together. There was an adjustment period to learn to work with my husband (a continuous, daily adjustment) as well as for me to work 40+ hours with a home and four kids. We do find it worth it and know that we can leap again if it ever becomes anything else.
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite family place in the Triangle and why?
Dana: Museum of Life and Science in Durham has been my favorite even before the new outside expansion. If I were 5, I would want to live in the Butterfly House.
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite place for yourself in the Triangle and why?
Dana: Any used bookstore, preferably with coffee. I grew up with avid readers and writers and the smell of used books brings me back to childhood.
Mom2Mom: What's your favorite ritual with your kids?
Dana: When one of them receives straight A's (or what we know to be their best), we allow a day of "hookie" and let them pick an entire day with one of us. The last one we spent the whole day at the museum and shared ice cream on the way back.
Mom2Mom: What did you eat last night? Can you share the recipe?
Dana: Old fashioned chicken pot pie is my childrens' favorite. It's online at Pillsbury.com.
Mom2Mom: What's your guilty pleasure?
Dana: A slice of Edward's key lime pie, a glass of red wine and a good book, all in bed. Or just sleep anytime of day.
Check out our other daily themes at TriangleMom2Mom:
MONDAY: Meet!
TUESDAY: Ask!
WEDNESDAY: Eat!
THURSDAY: Play!
FRIDAY: Out!
WEEKEND: Relax!
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall
Sarah is in charge of content for TriangleMom2Mom.com and writes about family-friendly events, local moms groups and other topics for the site.
She lives in Raleigh with her husband and three-year-old daughter. Sarah has written for newspapers since she was a teenager living in snowy Central New York. After graduating from the University of Virginia, she traipsed a bit around Europe and Mount Airy, N.C., before settling down in the Triangle. She moved here in 1999 to take a job with The News & Observer. She once aspired to play flute professionally. More recently, her daughter started crying when she played it.
Read more about:
