Archive for February, 2009

Those of you that know me well, or have worked with me for any amount of time, know that I have horrendous allergies. It started as a seasonal thing, but has slowly progressed into an every single day of the year problem. For the most part, I blame Texas. This may not be completely fair since I had minor allergies in Kansas, but things have definitely gotten worse since I’ve moved south. I’m continuously sneezing, blowing my nose, coughing, and suffering from sinus pressure/headaches. During a bad week, I rub my poor nose completely raw. However, it was when I realized I was going through 2-3 boxes of facial tissues a week (the extra fluffy lotion kind is worth the price my friends), I knew it was time to make a change.

Through several recommendations, I made an appointment with Dr. Tanna at the Allergy and Asthma Clinic of Fort Worth. The weekend leading up to yesterday’s appointment was not pleasant. They ask new patients to refrain from taking any antihistamines 4 days prior to the appointment. Not taking my allergy meds is a terrifying thought. But in an effort to figure out what was wrong with my immune system, I gave up my Zyrtec-D for 4 full days. During the application process I also had to list all of the medications I have tried. Um…yeah, that list is embarrassingly long. Basically, if it’s out there, I’ve tried it. I’ve even tried adding a little bit of local honey to my diet everyday, but quickly dropped it when I saw little to no results.

As I expected, Dr. Tanna made the decision for me to get an allergy test right then and there after hearing my woes. It’s not that the allergen scratch test is painful, it just itches like crazy! And if you have no self restraint like me, then it’s very difficult to keep from scratching the heck out of your back. I seriously thought to myself, I wonder how mad Dr. Tanna would be if I just scratched AROUND the test? I survived, and with a clear set of results. Turns out, I’m allergic to everything!! Okay, perhaps that’s a little dramatic. I’m not allergic to most strains of mold, cattle, and guinea pigs. Everything else (trees, grass, weeds, cats, dogs, horses…etc), I’m very allergic to. Looks like we’ll have to trade Jabber in for an stupid and ugly warbling guinea pig!

There is a solution, not one I’m terribly fond of, but one that will help boost my immunity and help me conquer my allergies. (giving up Jabber really isn’t an option) I will be getting custom designed for me allergy shots. Twice a week for the next nine weeks, I have to go to Dr. Tanna’s office to be injected. Doesn’t that sound like fun!! Actually, I’m really hoping this will work. Success in this endeavor means that I can say goodbye to all those pills I have to take every morning to get through the day. It means I will have finally conquered Texas’s hostile air pollutants and can breathe again at night. My first shot is this coming Thursday, wish me luck!

I love weekends, as I’m sure most people do. The most difficult part is deciding what I’m going to do during the minimal amount of time allotted! Should I be productive and feel like I’ve accomplished something important during my time off? Or should I be a completely lazy bum and catch up on sleep, magazine reading, and junk food eating? Thankfully, our weekends are usually a good mix of both extremes.

On Friday night, we headed to the UNTHSC‘s game night. Our friends were helping throw the event, so we thought it would be nice to go and support the grad students. We watched Ethan beat the Guitar Hero tournament, Mike and Eric ruled at the foosball tables, and entirely too much money and excitement was spent on Bingo.

Donald, Brandon, and Brittany show off their bingo faces! Come on N28!!

Ethan and Andy concentrating on their fancy schmancy bingo cards. Why does concentration mean mouths wide open?

Later that evening, we headed to Ten Martini Bar to relax and chat. It’s one of my favorite parts of a nice weekend night, getting to sit back with a tasty drink and just enjoying time with my friends.

Us being silly and unwinding from a long week of work, classes, and stress.

On Saturday, we were pleasantly surprised to find out my parents were able to come for a quick visit. They had originally planned to come down Friday night and stay through Sunday afternoon. However, the entire Chao family came down with the flu last week. So, they thought they weren’t going to be able to come. Thankfully, everyone was recovered and feeling much better by Saturday. Mom and Dad arrived Saturday afternoon, just in time to get some tasty Mexican food at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Molcajetes. We spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up.

Daddy Chao and me being goofy.

On Sunday, we had some very tasty dim sum at Kowloon’s in Arlington. I LOVE dim sum, and I’m so glad we found a decent place somewhat close by. My absolute favorite item is shaomai, I think I’ve mentioned that before, but it bears repeating. Yum!

Striking a pose, our speciality!

We had a lovely weekend, and I’m sad to see the parents leave. But now it’s time to leap into the next week of work, stress, and being busy, all in anticipation of another fun filled weekend! (Ashley’s coming to visit, YAY!!) Click here for more February 2009 photos!

Spam. I have to admit, I’ve never really thought that much about Spam. In case you’ve been living under a rock and are oblivious to the wonders of mystery meat, Spam is a preserved and precooked pork shoulder/ham concoction in a can. I’ve never thought to try it, the idea was just never all that appealing. When my friend and co-worker Sonny discovered I had never had Spam, the shock and disbelief that followed echoed throughout the pharmacy. After taking a quick poll, I believe it’s really a 50/50 ratio of people that LOVE Spam and those that despise it. Since I’ve never even picked up a can, I thought it only fair to give it a try. (turns out, Andy’s never had it either)

Me looking very incredulous that I'm about to prepare a Spam meal.

I simply couldn't bring myself to purchase the original Spam! It had 33% of your daily intake of sodium! It's a heart failure in a can!! So, even though 25% less sodium isn't all that great, I feel a little better about my life span.

Carefully, I pulled back the lip to open the can…

Yuck! What's with the jelly like substance? Not to mention, the meat looks like baby's brain!!

It took some coaxing to get the Spam out of the can in one block. Let’s just say, it very greatly resembled getting cranberry jelly out of a can. It even made that slurp sound when it slid out. Blech, I was very dubious indeed at this point. However, I was determined to persevere! I had gathered from fellow Spam lovers that the best way to prepare Spam is to…

...dice it, fry it, and serve with some sort of starch. I chose rice, since I love Jasmine rice! It's looking a little less eww at this point. Though I'm pretty sure pan fried baby's brain looks pretty similar to this too.

Since I didn’t want us to eat completely unhealthily, I also picked up some broccoli. However, at the store, I did find…

Broccoli Wokly? Really?? Because steamed broccoli in a bag just isn't cute enough?

At the end of my preparations, we ended up with a nice looking meal. I’m a little shocked, to tell you the truth!

Our first Spam adventure, may there be many more ahead! Come on, admit it! It doesn't look all that bad! You're surprised too, no?

Andy gives a forks up to Spam!

Truthfully, Spam tastes rather like a weird version of bacon. I like the saltiness, and when pan fried, it’s nice and crunchy. It’s definitely not an everyday kind of food, but then again, what is?

In fact, this is what you might look like if you eat too much Spam...in human form of course.

I’ve heard chicken fried Spam, Spam fried rice, and Spam and cheese sandwiches are all very tasty. If you’re feeling adventurous, click here for more Spam recipes. Wishing you a Spamtastically awesome experience!

Sometime last week, Andy randomly asked me what we were doing on Tuesday, February 17th. I informed him that I had nothing planned. (After asking “why?” several times, just to be a pain of course. ^-^) Turns out Neil deGrasse Tyson, the astrophysicist, was going to be in town for a lecture at University of Texas Arlington. Even if you don’t recognize the name, I’m fairly most people have heard of this guy. Remember when Pluto used to be a planet? Well, Tyson is the guy that got it demoted to a dwarf planet status. He’s frequently on the late night shows, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, NPR, the Discovery Channel, PBS…etc. Basically, whenever there’s an outer space/astronomy program on television, he’ll probably be in it.

So, we gathered our friends together for a Tuesday evening lecture. What nerds, right? Actually, the best part was that it’s free. Even if it’s a horrible speech, all you waste if a couple hours of your life. And we were in the pursuit of knowledge! I don’t consider it a waste at all! But we were very pleased to discover that he is an excellent speaker. He did keep the entire talk very generalized and aimed toward the common person. However, for 2+ hours he kept me quite entertained! Which can be a difficult feat, ask Andy! He talked about his views of the universe, his belief that America is being dumbed down, and how we need to continue to strive for new discoveries and challenges. He’s really quite a funny guy, better than most stand up comedians that I’ve actually paid money to see!

However, since we rushed from work to the lecture, several of us didn’t get a chance to eat dinner. So, we had to leave during the interesting Q&A session (sorry Kareem!) to get food before we passed out from hunger. Our friend Sonny knew of a terrific late night Italian restaurant in the area. So, we trusted his advice and followed him to Birra Porettis. After 9 pm on Tuesdays just so happened to be $2 drinks and 1/2 priced pizza!! The pizza was absolutely delicious! I even liked the crust, which it does take a mighty awesome crust to impress me. It was a wonderful night, and I’m so glad we all got to go! If you ever hear that Dr. Tyson is in your town, I highly recommend you get tickets to his lecture!!

Bright and early Sunday morning, Andy, Ethan, and Erin got up and ready to run the Austin Half Marathon. Carrie and I? Um…yeah, seeing as how the race started at 7 a.m., we made the executive decision to sleep. The master plan was for us to meet up with the runners as they were crossing the finish line. After a quick calculation, we decided that 9 a.m. (still really early on a weekend in my book) would be a logical time. Unfortunately, even though we had a time, we did not have a meeting spot! There were close to 14,000 people running, and I’m supposed to find 3 of them?

Finding a single person in this crowd is like finding a sweaty needle in a gatorade packed haystack!

Let’s just say it was not an easy task, and I only found 2 out of 3. (Even though he probably walked right past us without our knowledge, Ethan got tired of looking for us and went back to the apartment to shower and rest.) All three athletes finished their 13 miles triumphantly! We’re so proud of them and in awe of their feat.

Andy showing off his hard earned bling.

Erin and Andy at the end of the course, hip hip hooray!

After showers, we headed to Taco Deli for lunch. Oh yum! It’s making my mouth water just thinking about their tacos. The Cowboy Taco is to die for!! I usually hate eating outdoors, but the weather was so gorgeous that not even I could complain.

Carrie, Erin, and me smiling eagerly in anticipation of fantastic tacos!

In the afternoon, we decided to wander around Austin a little bit. The city never ceases to amaze me, there’s always something new to find. We stopped by Whole Earth Provisions to peruse their amazing collections of odds and ends. The best part? The hammock display out in the front of the store! I LOVE hammocks! My parents used to hang one on our porch and let Cathy and I play in it when we were good. Ever since then, hammocks have always been a special treat. I dream of the day that we’ll have a house big enough to put in a hammock stand.

Should I get a single seater hammock? (It's fun, but has a tendency to spin and spinning is very bad for Angela)

Or a slightly larger version? Carrie and I had some trouble getting in and out...

Or perhaps a lovely brightly colored cocoon like hammock? See? Everybody can relax in a hammock, even half marathon runners.

Eventually, we dragged ourselves out of the hammocks and headed to a neat little shop that Erin saw during her run called Ten Thousand Villages. (there’s one in Kansas too!) It is a fair trade crafts store, where the company helps artisans from small villages in disadvantaged countries get the best price for their items. I bought a lovely blue recycled glass pitcher from Bangladesh. I can’t wait to put a nice batch of lemonade or raspberry mojitos in it!

We had a marvelous time this weekend, and I definitely can’t wait to explore Austin again soon. But in the end, there’s nothing quite like being at home with a loving puppy!

Jabber's the gold medal winning puppy for goofiness!

Click here for all my Feb 2009 pictures so far.

Valentine’s Day, a single day out of 365 that people are supposed to buy cheesy cards and cheap knick knacks from gas stations to show their romantic feelings toward their significant others. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly don’t mind getting a few chocolates myself, but I’d rather show those I care about that they’re loved all year round. Of course, this is definitely easier said than done!

We spent Valentine’s Day with friends and family in Austin, what better way to celebrate a holiday of love? We had a happy lunch with Mom and Dad Trommer at Z Tejas. If you’re ever see a Z Tejas, you really ought to give it a try. The food is delectable! I had a delicious Chicken Avacado sandwich, yum! After lunch, Andy and I wandered around window shopping for a little while. Andy bought a couple of cd’s from Waterloo Records. One of the reasons I love Austin so much is because of the amazing shops and one of a kind items you can find!

In the afternoon, the whole lot of us (Erin, Carrie, Andy, Ethan, and I) went to the Alamo Drafthouse to see the Oscar pick of the year, Slumdog Millionaire. A lot of people have been telling me about the movie, and how I absolutely HAD to see it. Well, it was utterly and completely depressing! Yes, it was brilliant and had a nice little ending, but depressing nonetheless. If you haven’t watched it yet, I, along with everyone else that saw it on Saturday, also highly recommend it.

The girls looking sassy, well maybe not sassy, but at the moment that's the best adjective I can come up with.

Thank you Carl for being so generous and hospitable!

For a nice romantic dinner, I cooked a giant pasta dinner with the help of Carl and his lovely apartment. We had thought about going out for dinner, but with love in the air, I was afraid of long lines and very few available tables. Whether or not it’s a myth, I had to ensure that the athletes got their massive amount of carbs. In response, I conjured up a pasta buffet of sorts. I cooked all the sauces and meatballs in advance, and just added freshly boiled pasta right before the meal. I tried to find the perfect sauces for the dinner, but ended up just picking up bits and pieces from several recipes for the night. I made the chicken sausage meatballs and sauce from Rachael Ray’s Florentine Mac and Cheese. I also put together a tomato cream sauce, and a spinach-pine nut pesto.

The trio of pastas I made, oh it was a dieter's hell!

Ethan and Andy winning gold medals in pasta eating.

As if this wasn’t enough food, we still had a birthday cake to hack apart and eat!

Chocolate Ganache cake time for Ethan (and us)!

After dinner, we all played a rollicking game of Settlers while watching the best Valentine’s Day movie ever on television. I’m not a huge board game fanatic, but the game made for an entertaining evening full of sheep trading and road building.

The Settlers board, littered with tiny towns, settlements, and roads.

The bad part of Settlers is that it takes FOREVER to finish. While that normally isn’t an issue, three out of the five of us had to be up super early in the morning for the Austin Half Marathon! So, we wrapped up the game, said good night, and were soon off to our respective beds.

After a long week of hard work, we were up and out again. I really wasn’t kidding when I said that the month of February was going to be crazy busy! This time, we were off to Austin for the weekend. (we being Andy, me, Carrie, and Ethan) What was going on in Austin, you ask? Several things in fact, and fun reasons at that! Friday night was the first of the celebrations, it was our friend Ethan’s 26th birthday.

Unfortunately, due to work and traffic, we arrived in Austin at a fairly late hour. After a quick glam session for the girls, we headed downtown to meet up with some of Ethan’s good friends. We started our evening at the Beauty Bar. The live band was energetic and fun, and the deejay was rather decent as well. I’d never been to downtown Austin in the evening before, and it was a good start to my first trip.

A birthday drink for a birthday Ethan at the very masculine Beauty Bar! Manicure any one?

For a change of scenery, we headed to Moose Knuckle Pub on the infamous Sixth Street of Austin. I was amazed at the sheer number of establishments and people on Sixth Street. The best part? All the bars and clubs in Austin are smoke-free! It’s such a refreshing change to not end a party night with a handful of smoky clothes! The worst part? Hoards of intoxicated 21-22 year olds roaming around. I’m not ashamed of my age (yet), but I’d never been to that area of town and I wanted to see what the fuss was about. The only way to do that was to dive in and party amongst the college students. Let’s just say it’s slightly wilder and WAY larger than Ames, Iowa…

Carrie, Birthday Boy Ethan, and me ending the night at Moose Knuckle Pub

We were all completely exhausted in a very short amount of time, and since we had much to do that weekend, we decided to call it a night. It was a lot of fun, but I do wish we could have gotten to town earlier so we could explore a little more. There’s just so much to see! Guess it will have to wait for our next Austin adventure!