Buddy's 1 year passing anniversary

So, haven't been on here for about seven months. A lot of exciting things are happening in life...but this weekend whipped me back into reality. Buddy passed away a year ago this past Saturday.

So. Depressing.

I remember writing that blog last year with tears streaming down my face, but Saturday, I decided to do it up one more notch by watching "Marley & Me" on Sunday afternoon while doing laundry. SUCH a bad idea. What the hell was I thinking?

I have to say that a year went by quicker than expected, but it was as sharp a pain as it was last year. My dad sent the Buddy Smilebox picture compilation to my brother and me, which I watched for five minutes straight with a box of Kleenex by my side. Poor Mister Velveteen ears, I miss you.

Kitchen Tales: Blackberry - Orange Teacake

So, I bought the Cook Yourself Thinbook about 6 months ago after seeing the series on TV & hearing good feedback from friends, and I must say I am completely surprised and happy with the things I've made out of the cookbook.

As there is with any cookbook, there are favorites among myself and friends. The #1 choice for my new roommate is the teacake recipe. In the book, it is a raspberry - lemon; however, blackberries were on sale when I first made it. So, that's what I used. I did add a bit more sweetness to it by making a lemon glaze. Yes, I realize it's not healthy, but it made the cake shiny and sweet on top.

Here is the result of my second round at the teacake. For the glaze, combine 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon (or more until you reach your desired consistency) of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Stir, stir, stir. I promise you that it doesn't take a lot of liquid to thin out the powdered sugar.

Great Chicago weather...as bikini season starts.

The weather has changed this past week. No more of this half-ass Spring weather mixed with Winter cold/frosts. It has been above 87, consistently, since Sunday! Summer is here, people. Officially. Unfortunately, it makes me realize I am NOT ready for bikini season. At all.

This is getting out of control. 2 summers ago, I was walking around proud. Not right now. Time for some changes. Hence the weight loss challenge my friends and I are in right now. We've created our own separate blog, The Celery Stick, that you can go to & read up on our journey.

10% of our weight in 12 weeks. Through diet & exercise only. None of this diet fad BS. I'm ready for this. I'm ready to get back to where I was less than 2 years ago, before life, work and love stress hit me. No more excuses as I am the person of my own destiny!

My dad thinks of Buddy today...

So, our family isn't over our loss of Buddy this past December before Christmas. He sent me an email this morning that Bob, his friend who runs Dirks Fund Golden Rescue in the St. Louis area, has been subtly hinting that my dad should adopt Clifford.

Clifford is a cute golden with an angular face. He has recently gotten over bloat and now has a 13-inch scar on his tummy. My reservation is that when dogs get bloat and survive, they are much more likely to experience it again.

This is my dad's email to Bob and it made me cry (like anything does when I think of Buddy). I love my dad.

My Buddy would have been eight today. His family of humans, canines, and felines still miss him. He was one of God's great blessings in my life. When I walked the neighborhood with my three boys, I felt like the richest man in the world. Some of the angels God sends us walk on all four legs.
-John Ewers

Kitchen Tales: EASY PEAS-IE STIR FRY

So, I haven't posted quite a few of my foodie rants. Time for catch up.

Watching Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution" solidifies that I need to start cooking with more organic foods. Furthermore, I need to use what I've got in the kitchen rather than going directly for processed, packaged items, which I've been doing more and more when I don't feel like cooking. On one of the episodes of FR, Jamie does a cooking class and he teaches people to make an easy stir fry. I make stir fry's all the time and decided to show Jamie what I got.

EASY PEAS-IE STIR FRY
*Rule #1--use what you've got! I had celery, carrots, mushrooms, onion and pea pods in my fridge. So, that's what I used. Nothing fancy. But, use what you have!

Ingredient list:
Veggies &/or meat of choice

1 medium large orange--zested & juice from 1 half

2 Tbsp organic honey
1 inch grated ginger (I get fresh at the store, pop it into the fridge until I need it)
2 cloves grated or finely minced garlic
1-2 Tbsp peanut oil (or veggie oil/EVOO, I just like peanut oil because it adds another layer of flavor)

Soy sauce

Sesame oil (optional)

Let's get started...
Slice veggies
Heat a large skillet or wok over medium high to medium heat
Pour peanut oil (or veggie/EVOO) into skillet, swirl to coat bottom

Add veggies/meat and stir quickly (don't let the veggies stick) for 1 minute

Add orange zest, garlic and ginger (*You may need to add a touch more oil to the pan if there's not enough. If the garlic burns, you'll have to toss out the batch)

Cook veggies with ginger and garlic for 5 minutes until veggies get a more vibrant shade

Add honey, OJ, soy sauce & sesame oil to taste and bring to a simmer

Let simmer for 1 minute until soy sauce infuses with the veggies

Now, I had a half box of whole wheat pasta left in the pantry. I decided to add that to my stir fry instead of rice. Just cook the pasta as normal and have ready to add. After the veggies have been cooked with the soy sauce, add noodles and toss. Add a bit more soy sauce if you think it tastes bland.

This is easy for anyone to make and is great for using up veggies, pasta, rice and other random things in the fridge. I made a big batch and put the majority in the freezer for quick, healthy meal options. It takes less time than ordering take-out and goes a lot further for the money. Slice up the remaining half of the orange. Never let anything go to waste! Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you have them.

Adventures in redecorating

Since I moved into my current apartment over Memorial weekend 2009, I have HATED the color of my bedroom walls. Well, actually only three of the 4 walls, because the 4th wall is the "accent" color. The remaining 3 walls, though, were an awful brown...a mixture of what I call a poopy-orange. Definitely not my color palate or choice.

But, I didn't try painting my room because I knew that I might want to change my bedding at some point as it was time for an upgrade. Still, almost a year into our 15 month lease, I hadn't found bedding I liked nor did I paint the walls. That was until this past weekend.

My new roommate, Stephanie, moved in on Friday, and our first task Saturday was to get our living room decorated. Which meant we were painting our accent wall in the living room to fit our styles. While Stephanie and I talked about what color to paint the living room, I told her that I hated my room.

I took her back to my room, opened the door and showed her the gloriously tacky color on my wall. She sort of laughed and said it "wasn't that bad." To which I replied, "Yeah, for you! Try staring at the wall with that color on it." I also told her that part of my hold back in painting my bedroom was that I didn't want to paint it to fit my current bedding, because I was looking to get a new set but hadn't found one I really liked enough to buy. (Actually, I found one a few at West Elm but couldn't rectify spending $200+ on just a comforter when I could get a whole set at Target or Carsons.)

So, when we were out running errands at Target before heading to Home Depot to stock up on paints and supplies, we went through the bedding. And voila! I found a set I really liked. Just so happened that this set was the same that Steph had been deciding against the one she ended up buying. I'm learning we share a lot of the same tastes....

With the new comforter in toe, we went to Home Depot. We picked out a slate blue for the living room. And I then turned my attention to getting my paint picked out. I decided to go with Behr paint, because I've heard good things. And it was cheaper than the eco-friendly paint. (Why is all the stuff that is GOOD for the Earth up to 30% more expensive? I know we need to save THAT question for a Coffee Tawlk discussion.)

Roll this around on your tongue...Mushroom Bisque. "A yummy soup?," you might ask. Indeed, it is; however, it is now the color on 3 of my walls. It's a neutral, so the next tenants won't be shocked by a poopy-orange wall. As for my accent wall, I ended up using the same slate blue as we painted in the living room. And while it's a little darker than the seafoam blue in my comforter it goes...but it doesn't match. Ladies, you will understand this concept more than men.

Steph and I painted the living room that Saturday night, but I knew my bedroom would have to wait until Sunday. The bed room was a bit larger project scale after all.

Sunday @ 7:30am, I hop out of bed and start taping off my walls, door frames, window sills, outlets, vents and baseboards. 9:06am rolls around and I finally am finished. I couldn't believe it took me just over an hour and a half to tape off my room. I started to get scared at how large the project was. I still had a few things I needed from Home Depot. So, out I ventured again.

Coming back, I told Steph I was going in for the kill. It was party time. Sure, I had a few hiccups. Like when I thought that it would be a good idea to NOT paint the wall that was already the lighter shade already. I mean, the colors were so similar. Yeah, but when I went to put some touch-up paint on that wall where a crack was showing, it revealed the colors were NOT that close. So, I ended up having to paint that wall, too.

Or how about when I dropped my wet "mistake" cloth on the floor, bent down to pick it up and hit my head on the wall which resulted in THIS:




When I hit my head, all I could do was say an expletive, close my eyes, shake my head and keep going. I didn't look at my hair until after the entire room had been done, and all I could do was laugh. I consider myself to be a great painter, and I haven't had paint in my hair like this EVER. Just minor splish splashes.

The re-decorating was all worth it, because now, I live in THIS room....





I'm quite proud that I did it all by myself. I took ownership of it and got it done around 3pm that afternoon. It was fully dry and aired out by bed time. Going through this, I realized that one reason why I didn't hang out in my room more was because I couldn't stand the color in it. It's amazing how much our environment can influence our moods. But now, I don't think I'll be worrying about that. And yes, I realize I have only 4 1/2 months left in my lease, but I'd much rather do this now, enjoy the rest of my time and know what I will be doing in my new apartment if I move out at the end of August.

A Traffic Halting Puppy on the Ike

For the past two days, there were traffic and news reports of a black pitbull mix puppy dog running along the Ike (290) in morning traffic. The dog wasn't hit yesterday and people assumed that he was back home or had been picked up by animal control.

Not so! This morning the little guy was back in his four-legged action running along side cars and weaving through the 2 lays of traffic. The worst part is that the Eisenhower is under construction and any reason to slow down on top of the already reduced speed limit can be frustrating for drivers. Thank God drivers on the road were willing to break for the pup.

When the police showed up, the puppy had been running for almost an hour and a half. I still cannot believe that the pup hadn't gotten hurt. Or any drivers for that matter. The pooch evaded police for about a half hour before they got him sandwiched between the concrete barrier and a couple police SUV's. One of the officers put out his hand in greeting and patted his leg. The dog, which has been rightfully named Ike, ran up to him and followed the direction of the officer into the back of one of the SUV's.

The follow-up story on the news this evening had him hooked up to an IV. Poor thing was in rough condition. Check out the link here. Read the story and watch the video!

*ARF ARF*

Chicago Marathon 2010

So...I've never run a marathon. Never ran anything over a 10k. Still, I'm going to attempt (and hopefully complete) the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in October. I'll be running as a member of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention charity team.

I've been volunteering with them for the past year and did publicity for their community walk this past October. Still, this marathon is a bit more frightening. It's 26.2 miles. Am I nuts?

AFSP's marathon team is the 1st of its kind in AFSP history. And we're hoping to set an example in our efforts, do some fundraising and give other state chapters inspiration to try this in their community.

Now....which running shoes to get? I need to get in marathon shape!

If anyone out there is running but isn't affiliated with a charity team but wants to...check out our team website!

Cindy the CR-V

I've been thinking of trading in my car for awhile now. But I love my CR-V and really don't know what car would or could possibly take Cindy the CR-V's place. That car has moved me to and from Phoenix. Moved me to Chicago. Taken me to Orlando, Houston, Toronto, Niagara Falls & Buffalo for Spring Break. And has been my outlet when I needed last minute road trips.

But...tomorrow's the day. I test drive a Honda Insight. In my efforts to go "green" when I can, I'm hoping that if I do decide to downsize to a sedan, it will be reliable and green.

More to come.

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day to all! I don't understand the people who don't believe in Global Warming or that our landfills could essentially kill the planet. Are you absolutely insane? Or can you just not read?

People need to start realizing that the actions we are taking can and will either kill or maintain the Earth. We've only got one planet to live on...so far...but we seem to take for granted what we have at our fingertips. I hear too many people say, "Well, I won't be around when the Earth dies." Wow, what great humanitarian ideals you have. It shows maturity and care for your kids, nieces, etc.

I tweeted some easy green tips today. That EVERYONE can do:
1. Recycle your plastic bottles/aluminum cans!
2. Turn off the lights if you're not in the room!
3. Don't leave the water running when you're brushing!

Sadly, I got the inspiration to tweet this today, because 3 of my best friends DO these things, and it drives me absolutely insane. I have never and will never tell them to change what they do, but it doesn't mean that it's not any less important. Everyone making small steps can make a huge difference. I watched Oprah this morning and couldn't believe some of the things I heard.

One family left lights on from 6am-11pm, even when they weren't home. The air conditioning was set on 68 with the windows open at the same time. Oh, and the external temp was colder than the A/C setting. This family also had 3 garbage cans of trash but no recycling. Oprah ended up doing her version of a green "Wife Swap" with a family from Oregon, and that eco-friendly Portland mom taught the new family to recycle, turn off lights and don't waste what you don't need at the time (i.e. electricity). All these things are easy to do and can conserve valuable energy.

Another part of the show this morning dealt with the huge aquatic landfills we've made of the oceans. There is plastic and garbage so sever that it can be as much as 90 feet deep. This debris is killing and contaminating our aquatic wildlife.

My parents have raised my brother and I do be aware of the little things we can personally control. My mom has a green thumb, and I remember having mini-compost bins at our house. The upkeep became overwhelming, and it ended up only lasting a couple of years. But I remember my mom saving our veggie and fruit "scraps" to feed the bin to create fertilizer.

Recycling was never a thought in our family--it was natural for us. My dad installed a pop can crusher in our garage right next to our recycling bins. And I remember my brother and I having a jumping war when we would crush the gallon milk jugs before tossing them into recycling. The sound they made as we both crashed our feet into the plastic was s0 loud. Back in the day before pop cans came in convenient sleeves, they came in 6-pack plastic rings. When we had finished a full ring, we would cut the rings because my dad would say we didn't want a seagull to get caught and die.

I just want everyone to care. Which is sometimes too much to ask. My brother says that people will live in the way they want and is most convenient for them. It just sucks we're killing mother nature doing so.

GLEE Auditions

So, Season 2 auditions are being held online via Myspace. I am determined to audition and get back into the world of the performing. It's something missing in my life. It's a void in my soul. I always wonder why I don't feel completely satisfied at work.

Probably because I'm getting bored with the everyday corporate scene...I need a little step touch, jazz hand action in my life....

Spring Break 2010

Every Spring, I try to take a mini vacation with my friends or family. I know that I've been out of college for almost 5 years, but this is one tradition that is needed both for my personal sanity and to fully disconnect from work.

After a very stressful year at work, I knew that Spring couldn't come soon enough. I was going with two of my besties. Like me, Lizzy was looking forward to a much needed break from domestic and corporate life. Liz's past year included some big life changes: a move to Wisconsin, an engagement and a new job. That is a lot of good stress but it can extremely shake up the normalcies of your everyday life. And Bri...well, Bri is a teacher, which basically means she's looking for to Spring Break from day 1 of each school year.

As you may recall from my post last March, Bri & I took a road trip down to Houston to visit my friend and roomie, Denise. We drove for 16 hours each way to have 3 days of vacation. And it was tiring! We decided this year that a road trip would still be the most economical solution, but we were set on finding something closer in distance. During a conference gchat with Lizzy, Bri & me, we decided to take our travels "international" and journeying to Toronto. It was only 9 hours away and was close enough to take a side trip to Niagara Falls--a wonder of the world none of us had seen!

In preparation for our trip, we all put together a food list to take in the car on the way too and from. Bri was packing a cooler wish some drinks, pretzels & grapes.

On my menu? Homemade granola bars. I made a chewy dried fruit & nut bar as well as a crispy almond chocolate bar. (NOTE: The almond chocolate bars were completely and horrifically consumed at the paws of Lizzy...who couldn't keep her grubby hands off of them!) The recipe is out of Cook Yourself Thin & was so easy to make, I probably will never waste money on pre-packed bars again. I also made the blueberry and banana muffins out of the cookbook, too. It was nice to have some easy go-to food for starting our day or snacking. I think that saved us a lot of money, too, as Toronto was more expensive thatn I had imagined.

We hit the road early on Saturday, March 27th and crossed over from Michigan into Canada in the early afternoon. I have never been in Canada before, and I wasn't sure what it was going to be like. Crossing over that bridge was the most amazingly beautiful site. The bridge is quite high, and due to the weather, there were floating ice chunks in the lake. The water was shimmering in the sunny afternoon and the trees were already turning green. Yeah, the beautiful scenery soon was dull when we got about 5 miles past the border. It looked like Oklahoma. It was all tan and flat with no civilization other than farms!

The drive into Toronto on the QEW was a nice entry into the city. We got a pre-sighting of: CN Tower, harbor, China Town and Dundas/Yonge. When we finally arrived at the hotel that evening, we grabbed a late dinner in time for Earth Hour. Toronto had so many things happening, including a free concert in Yonge|Dundas Square. Yonge is like NYC's Time Square. What I loved most about Toronto was the multicultural atmosphere. It's the most diverse city I've been to. The city has a lot of shopping, too, which surprised me. While it wasn't in my budget to ape-wild on my love of everything retail, it was nice to see some cool shops/boutiques. Looking for nightlife on Saturday, we took a cab to Queen West to Rivoli and had some wine/beer with some locals. Not exactly "bumpin'" but it was entertaining.

Sunday, we took a guided bus tour around Toronto and got to see some amazing sites. The most breathtaking....Casa Loma. Back in the time it was being built, it took an estimated $3mil, which is about $300mil today. They ended up losing the castle due to money problems...duh...and the city of Toronto absorbed the property as a local real estate investment.



The tour allowed us to see some sites in Toronto and helped us plan what we wanted to do the next day, which was our last there before venturing to Niagara. We saw Parliament, City Hall, CN Tower & the harbor on the tour.

Starting off our final day in Toronto, we went to the harbor because the weather was nice and sunny. The private airport is on a small island close to the harbor. Kind of weird to see a hanger on a small island. I kept thinking it was going to sink into the water. But it didn't. Toronto's Police Dock is in the center of the harbor walk. It is close enough to patrol the lake and be close to the private hanger.



But what happens if the police need help? Don't you worry about that! The police have their own protector...the biggest male swan I have EVER seen!




After the dock, we walked into Lawrence Market and grabbed a quick lunch before taking a walk up to see the MTV building. We also wanted to go out that way because our waiter at lunch said he has seen Cameron Diaz & Justin Timberlake in the area. Yeah, we didn't. But it was still nice to think they might be there.

Other mention-worthy happenings were at China Town and Village Idiot Pub. Amazing, fresh and authentic Chinese food and a wonderful bar with amazing "house" beer. We had our last night in Toronto at the Village Idiot. I would definitely go back!

We left Toronto in the morning on Tuesday and took our second leg of our Spring Break. Niagara Falls or BUST! It was the perfect time of year to go to the falls. There weren't too many tourists and the air was crisp and fresh. It was beautiful and peaceful. I can't believe my parents never took my brother and me for a family weekend.








What we weren't expecting was for Niagara to take less than 2 hours. There really isn't too much to do there unless you want to shop or gamble. We had made arrangements at a hotel in Buffalo since it was only 45 minutes away. Back on the road we were. The cross over back into New York and the U.S. was a welomed site. IT was in the line at the border check that we finally turned our cell phones back on. If you haven't been able to shut off your phone on a vacation and completely disconnect, I sincerely recommend you do. After checking into the hote, we grabbed lunch at Gabriel's Gate and had an amazing burger...if you're in the area, go there! Our Front Des Rep at the hotel recommended it and we were not disappointed.


Note to self, if you are done at Niagara Falls around noon, just drive home. After lunch in Buffalo, we laid around in the hotel taking naps for about 4 hours. L-A-M-E! But we were short on cash & hadn't planned anything to do there. Around 7pm we did venture around Allen Street Neighborhood and grabbed a couple of drinks at a local pub. It was kind of scary. Probably wouldn't go back there.

We left Wednesday morning at 5:45am to drive back to Chicago and got into the city around 2pm. With a wonderfully adventurous trip under our belts. It was time to get ready to go back to reality. We unloaded my car, did some laundry, ate some lunch and went to bed.

Yet...my journey wasn't over. The next night, I flew out to Phoenix for Easter with Katie and baby Oliver. Travel blog to be continued.

Kitchen Tales: Meridith's New Signature Sandwich

There couldn't possibly be more delicious selections than what goes between two slices of bread. I'm talking about an American classic--the sandwich. Creations are ENDLESS. And while I like to go all out when I cook or entertain my friends, sometimes, you have to just stick to your guns and make it a sandwich.

When Brianne was in town a couple months ago, we had a lazy Saturday afternoon and decided to stay in for lunch. I knew we'd have sandwiches because I didn't have much else, but it wasn't until I went all gourmet on that sandwich that I got excited about it.

I present to you....Meridith's New Signature Sandwich.




Please wipe the drool off your face. Salivating will not help. To make this sandwich, you will need:

Ingredients:

Whole wheat & grain organic bread

Mayo mixture (see below)

Sliced chipotle turkey

Sliced pepper jack

Bacon, lettuce, sliced tomato & avocado

For the mayo mixture:
In a food processor combine lite mayo (I use Miracle Whip b/c I'm from the MIDWEST! WOOT!), 1 clove garlic & fresh dill. Pulse & blend until chopped, combined and smooth.

How to make...
Toast bread under broiler
Spread mayo mixture on 1 side
Top bread w/ turkey & pepper jack (*toast the meat & cheese under broiler for 1-2 mins if you want the cheese to melt)
Add turkey bacon, lettuce, sliced tomato & avocado


COOK'S TIP: Being that turkey bacon has proven to not be any better for you than regular bacon, you might as well just use regular bacon. God knows it tastes better. Just make sure it's a decent kind & tear off the fatty parts. Turkey bacon was all I had in the fridge that day.

ENJOY! And let me know how you like it.

Kitchen Tales: Wild Mushroom & Pea Risotto

So, I'm a mini-chef. I admit it. My friends know it (and love it). Growing up with a mother & grandmother who could cook, I sort of was born with it in my blood.

My family has their favorite dish of mine. Top family favorites: PB & chocolate chip cookies, Mediterranean Frittata & Fall Salad.

But the favorites might change after I cook this Wild Mushroom & Pea Risotto for my family and friends. Jennifer "Bacon" Blakeman got to try a bit of my leftovers this past Friday when she was in town for the 2nd Annual Chicago Snuggie Pub Crawl. When I told her she didn't have to tell me she liked it if she didn't, she turned to me, silent, with the spoon in her mouth. "It's delicious." She said. And I knew we had a winner!!!

Courtesy inspired by Emeril Lagasse.


I did add some differences in wine, which I truly believed made the best difference. I'm not telling you what kind I used; however, if you are nice, you can ask. This recipe really would be delicious with many other veggies, including asparagus.

I ended up making a huge batch but froze the majority of it. I took a couple servings out of the freezer last Tuesday. It defrosted and heated back up perfectly. You could add a teaspoon of water/cream, but don't do so until you are sure you need it.

Since you couldn't enjoy the deliciousness with me, here are pictures for your viewing pleasure:

BEFORE



AFTER

RIP Dixie Carter

Like many of my friends, I watched "Designing Women" with my mom. I loved the show because my mom did, even though I didn't understand a lot of the adult humor. As I got older and watched re-runs, I ended up loving the show and would stay up during college to watch it on the 11pm time slot.

My favorite character? Julia Sugarbaker, obviously. Probably because she was the center of the best parts of the show. The character had a feisty attitude and was blatantly honest. Come to think of it...Julia Sugarbaker reminded me a lot of my mom.

Honestly, I couldn't see anyone other than Dixie Carter in this role and doubt anyone else could have done the party the justice it deserved.

Dixie Carter's most infamous clip? Defending her sister, played by Delta Burke, to the '86 Reigning Miss Georgia World. And in honor of this brilliant actress. I present the YouTube link for your enjoying pleasure.

Click here

RIP Dixie Carter.

Hustle Up the Hancock 2.0

Well, being that I've had a blogging break for 2 months, I believe it's time to jumpstart this catch-up by discussing the Hustle Up the Hancock 2010 Climb.

Last year, my friends and I signed up for the Hustle as individual climbers, because we weren't sure we could get enough people for a team to make the cost do-able on our limited budgets. Being that I had never done anything like this before, my adventurous and challenging nature kicked in. The climb was amazing. I had never seen so many people up and ready so early in the morning before in my life! To make things better? My friend, Angel, ended up placing in the top 20 for the half climb (and in the top 10 for the half climb women results). My one complaint and overall shock was how stuffy and dry the air was in the stairwells. Even though our Hustle e-newsletter and tips warned about the air, it did counteract some of the training we all had done, because we weren't expecting it to be that bad.




So, this year, we were all in! And we were well aware of what to expect. I happened to recruit another friend to make our team 4 strong. The full climb was completely registered by the time our team went online to register, which meant we were stuck with the half climb. That ended up being perfectly OK as all of our schedules didn't lead to the best training.

Last year, my training consisted of Stair Master (at least) 5 times a week...sometimes training once in the morning and again after work. Yet, this year, I completely flacked. Elizabeth and Bri had a lot of stuff as well...gotta love work projects!!! Angel was the only teammate who consistently trained as well as she did last year, and she finished just like she did last year. She brings a tear to my eye...my little winner.

After we all reached the top and had eaten our banana, we were waiting waiting in line to take the elevator back down when it hit me. The worst allergy attack! I was sneezing non-stop, and I thought I was about to get a bloody nose. Liz reminded me that this happened last year, even though I had forgotten.

Our reward for the climb...a big cup of hot chocolate and brunch at Uncommon Ground. Definitely much needed after climbing a gazillion steps at 7:30am!



I'm definitely excited to do the climb again next year. We're going to keep going until we're all either married or move out of the city! It's always great to get to do things like this that are both athletic, challenging and with your friends. Note to self: Take an allergy pill before you go next time!

ERIC CLAPTON CROSSROADS GUITAR FEST

Earlier this week, I got an email newsletter from JAM Music. They always have awesome performances/concerts that I don't get from Ticketmaster.com.

The first concert it detailed was Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival being held at Toyota Park (in a Chicago 'burb) on June 26th. I knew he was back on tour; however, I had no clue that Guitar Fest was happening, and with SO many awesome performers. With the tickets being only $100, no matter what seat, I thought it was a steal for having the caliber of performers already confirmed.

Tickets were on pre-sale; however, you had to have a code or something. So, I had to wait along with the majority of the ticket buyers for the sale to begin on Saturday at 10am CST. As I waited the 48 hours to buy tickets, I kept getting more and more excited.

My dad had already told me he wanted to go, but we hadn't asked my mom or brother yet. But when my dad asked them, their response was "let's roll!" (Gotta love the Ewers family.)

I grew more and more anxious waiting for tickets because I KNEW this would sell out rather quickly. But I didn't realize exactly how quickly. I got on Ticketmaster.com around 9:50am and clicked refresh every minute until it opened at 10am. I put my request in for the maximum 4 tickets and went to the jump page that shows you how long you have to wait until your available seat confirmation comes up. Usually when I do it, it takes maybe 10 seconds tops but I waited well over 2 minutes. It was CRAZY!

Long story short, we were able to get Section 112, Row 10, Seats 1-4 reserved. I went back right after I got the confirmation to get 2 tickets for a friend who had mentioned giving them to her boyfriend as a gift, but they were already sold out. That was around 10:11am.

CAN'T WAIT UNTIL 6/26!!! We've seen Eric Clapton before (my parents a few times) and it was awesome. I can only imagine what the whole day will be like!

Kitchen Tales: A Valentine's Day Chinese New Year Dinner Party

So, this past Sunday's/Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year feast was AMAZING! Just a recap, I had quite a few things on my menu: baked mini egg rolls with sweet and sour sauce, sesame chicken, orange chicken, steamed broccoli and almond cookies (at first). I've never been afraid of cooking Asian cuisine; however, cooking it for a group of 6 people (3 of whom I didn't know), I was a tad nervous. But I must say, you get into a groove quickly.

Starting around 3:30pm on Saturday afternoon, I started making any and all the sauces from scratch. Since I've made the eggrolls with sweet & sour sauce before, I wasn't too caught up on it. However, making a homemade orange and sesame chicken sauces was a bit frightening. And as a side note, I must say that corn starch has become a new friend. My extensive knowledge and exposure to corn starch was from Thanksgiving, when my mom would use it for gravy. The sauces used a lot of similar ingredients, rice wine vinegar, sugar, soy, etc. So, it made the process more of an assembly line...which was also helpful in the timing of everything. By the time I was done with the sauces, the apartment smelled like my very own, personal Chinese restaurant.

Moving on to the chicken, I started marinating it in soy sauce and corn starch. I did fry the chicken but not in an actual flour-based batter in a deep fryer. It was more of a stir fry process. The chicken was not as I would have seen in take-out boxes, but it still looked nice and crunchy and yummy. I split up the chicken into two batches since the marinade for the sesame chicken was a bit different than the orange chicken. But it didn't really affect the overall taste from sharing the same pan. When the chicken was done, I popped it in the oven on a basic warm temperature to start dessert.

After consulting with D about about dessert, we made the executive decision to nix the almond cookies in case of allergies or dislike of almond flavor. Instead, we would make homemade fortune cookies in both traditional and chocolate flavors. I reviewed the recipe online and thought I had everything I needed. Which I did...except eggs. At this point, I didn't have time to run to the store again, and Denise was cleaning the apartment to get ready to meet her friends whom were coming into town.

Hurriedly, I called Chantel to pick up some eggs before coming over, except she had to run to Target and other errands when she got off work at 4pm. Which wouldn't work since she wouldn't be able to make it to the apartment in time for me to make the batter, cook, form and cool the cookies before the party started. So, we decided to do a light angel food cake, with frozen strawberry puree and chocolate sauce. D ended up rushing the final cleaning and getting ready so she could pick up the angel food cake before meeting her friends at the train.

The last thing I had to do was make the mini eggrolls. I encourage you...DO NOT BE AFRAID TO MAKE THEM YOURSELF! I bought wonton wrappers at the store, and they're usually right above the celery, carrots, snap peas, etc. Use pre-cute slaw mix for the base and add your other veggies/proteins of choice. I used the slaw mix, red pepper, scallions and mushrooms. Then you just wrap the veggie mixtures in the wontons, pop in a well heated oven and bake! Voila! While the eggrolls baked off, I just threw some fresh broccoli in the steamer. I set the serving burea and set the table.

Overall, the entire dinner party was a success, and we all had a good time. And minus a slight breakdown over the sesame chicken not tasting the way I wished, everything cooked perfectly with easy clean-up. The guests loved the food. They all commented on the freshness of the taste, which made me feel like I was truly on my way of mastering my most-loved Chinese dishes. It truly is noticeable when the food hasn't sat in a box in the fridge and was then reheated in the microwave. Do I wish I could have tried making the fortune cookies? Yes, but I will have to save that for another time.

The biggest "Oops!" of the night was when I discovered we were out of diswasher fluid tablets and couldn't run the dishwasher full of dirty pots and dishes before the dinner party guests arrived. But hey, if that's the biggest of our problems for the night, it wasn't too bad.

The picture below is for your taste buds' viewing pleasure. Let the drooling begin...

Happy Valentines Day...but I'm celebrating with Chinese New Year

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE! While this Hallmark holiday makes me cringe, I am glad to see my family and friends having fun with their significant others. I was lucky to have TWO valentines this year....Chippy Do & D. Best friends are the best valentines. This year, I got Hello Kitty mini valentines for everyone a la grade school when you got the box full of pre-made cards and had to leave one on everyone's desk! They've been a big hit so far! <3

Because we have no one to really smoochie-smooch today, D and I are throwing a Chinese New Year themed party for a few friends in OUR celebratory style. Screw V-day. ;-) We will be making homemade Chinese...because I've found I can pretty much cook anything...baked mini eggrolls, sesame chicken and crispy almond cookies. I'm a bit nervous about the cookies, because they have some big shoes to fill. When I lived in Oak Park, Lizzy & I would go to the same Chinese restaurant because it was amazingly delicious every time. You know sometimes food at a restaurant will be perfection, but when you return and order the same exact thing, it tastes like camel spit? Yeah, never here. This place has THE BEST almond cookies. So, while mine may be "ok" for tonight's dinner gathering, I already know they won't live up to the best almond cookie in the world!

Please have a great day, whether or not you like this Hallmark holiday. Find a way to deal with the overly zealous couples and have fun with friends. And if you can, steal a kiss from the person you're pining for!



(Hey, if I can break up with a boyfriend ON Valentines Day (literally on 2/14/07 @ 6pm) but still remain happy, anyone can!)

It's blizzard and earthquake season in Chicagoland

Only in the Midwest, and around Chicagoland,can the two polarized natural occurrences of a blizzard and earthquake happen simultaneously. Yes, it can happen.

Snow started falling the evening of Monday, January 8th and has been consistent since. We were supposed to get 6-10 inches over night, but I think yesterday got the brunt of the hit. It wasn't as bad as the East coast getting foots upon foots of snow. And while the swirling specks of snow are beautiful, I would never have thought that at around 4am this morning, we would have an earthquake (ranked at a 4.3 I'm told)!

Is it only me or is an earthquake in the midst of a blizzard just odd?

This earthquake is the second I remember happening in the past few years. A couple years ago, I woke up to my bed shaking. I sat up and looked across the room to see my dresser rocking back and forth with some spare change on top of the dresser sliding to the floor. It wasn't a HUGE earthquake, but my IKEA furniture isn't that stable.

My first thought was NOT an earthquake. Why would I think of something so obvious? Instead, I seriously thought there was a demon/devil in my room shaking my bed. I was FREAKED OUT! After a few seconds, the shaking stopped and I laid in bed clutching my blanket to my chest. It wasn't until I woke up and caught the news of the earthquake that I was ok. Otherwise, I would have slept somewhere else!

For this morning's earthquake, I was fast asleep at 4am and didn't fully wake up. But in my dream, I sort of remember thinking something was moving in my bedroom. It was about 50 miles Northwest of Chicago, almost at the WI border. My cousin in WI felt it.

Just goes to show you, our earth is a magical thing/place. Random things happen all the time!