Category: misadventures

Case of the Mondays

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I’m groggy. I’m cranky.

So I’m trying to budget OUT 400 dollars a month to engage in a weekly activity I think may be beneficial to me. Hence the trying to bring lunches and dinners to work. Extra 400 is kind of tough with all the other miscellaneous expenditures (yes, I really needed those Conan tickets and yes, all weekend celebrating my roommate’s birthday IS necessary, dammit. Finally, I DID call my dentist to make sure they take my new dental insurance but they ended up charging me for that visit anyway.) Needless to say, I had to cancel next week’s appointment til further notice.

On to happier things, some happy photos from this past weekend.

Brandi blowing out candles
Blowing out her candles off the dilapidated cake I made her.

Brandi and me at Bacon Takedown
We went to the Bacon Takedown yesterday! As part of my birthday gift to her.

Happy Ides of March, ya’ll. How was your weekend?

7 Quick Takes Friday (vol 3)


1.

Today is Brandi’s birthday. We have a full weekend of birthday activities planned that include a bacon SXSW event and maybe rock climbing! I’ve had some pretty amazing adventures with Miss Brandi (can’t beat skydiving) and have enjoyed living with her this year. Lots of roommate bonding that may or may not include lots of ice cream, episodes of Ally McBeal, extremely candid conversations, and beauty nights! Sadly, she’s moving to Dallas after our lease is up :(


2.


Brandi’s a cake decorator. She’s made a couple of birthday cakes for me. Pictured below are my 24th birthday cake and my 26th birthday cake.


I was feeling the pressure when making her cake last night. I’m a complete novice. I had her help me shave the top of the cake off for me so it was even to ice. Then I experimented with my first piping experience. Brandi has all sorts of tips in her cupboard of baking supplies but intimidated, I thought I’d just cut a hole in a bag and use that.

Ummm. It’s not as effortless as people (namely, Brandi) make it look! I just never got full command and control over how the icing would come out. The lettering looks as if I’m still learning how to write. Poor Brandi!


3.

There’s a superstition on the University of Texas at Austin campus that if you see an albino squirrel, you’ll have success on your next test. I’ve never come across one as an actual college student but I had my second sighting since working on the campus this week. Both sightings were on 24th Street. The first time I scared it away with my camera. This time we practically had a photo shoot. Here are my two favorite pictures.



4.


It’s also Thomas’s birthday this weekend. We’ve been friends going on 10 years now. Since graduating college, he’s lived in Taiwan, Dallas, and now Los Angeles. He hasn’t lived in Austin for about 5 years now and I’m so thankful that we still manage to remain great friends despite being miles apart. You might also notice, I use a lot of his photos on my blog. Happy early birthday to him too!


5.

I was getting my afternoon coffee on campus when I saw this post-it on the wall.

I like the message and I think it’s true for everyone. There are people who would kill for your job. Your family. Your health. Your friends. The fact that you have a car. No matter who we are, we all have blessings worth treasuring.


6.

As always I keep my reading plate full. Currently am reading One for the Money (This month’s book club selection), How to Save Your Own Life (because I really love Erica Jong), The Last Lecture (because it was 5 dollars at Half Priced Books), and still working through Stumbling on Happiness (because Nam recommended it ages ago).


7.

On a whim, I signed up for my first food blogging workshop that is part of SXSW. I did this without looking at the roster of attendees and boy after studying the roster, I have to say I’m intimidated. I feel like the lowly water boy who dreams to be good enough just to warm the bench! That said, as nervous as I am and as much as I feel like I’m out of my league, I’m excited to soak in these big food bloggers energies.

Valentine Cookies Redo: Broken Hearts Mended!

Recently, I reposted a Valentine cookie misadventure from 2007. In case you missed it and don’t want to click on the link, here’s a picture of how these cookies turned out in 2007.


Broken hearted cookies of 2007 :( Aw. The irony.

Well!! Brandi and I tackled these cookies again this year. They didn’t come out broken or smoking this time. Hurray. And are more tasty than I remembered! Irony might still be there, though.

If you missed it, first tip of the hat to Valentine’s day this year here.

Repost: Broken Heart Cookies

I’ve always celebrated Valentine’s day as long as I can remember. It is my absolute favorite holiday. It didn’t matter if I didn’t have a boyfriend or if I was dating someone who cared enough to acknowledge it with me (I lived and learned!). Anyway, in 2007 as a single girl, I spent the day at a Single’s Mingle with my roommate at the time and my current roommate Brandi. After, I went home and baked Valentine’s cookies! The thing is, it ended up being a Vday misadventure. Read further to see. As taken from my xanga on February 14, 2007.

After my Roomie, Brandi and I mingled at a single’s mingle tonight (very fun by the way), we decided to end Valentine on a sweet and cute note by making those ready-to-bake sugar cookies. They were so so cute in the package I decided to take a picture of it. Still in it’s wax-paper package.

I lined the cookie sheet with wax paper instead of cookie paper. Roomie walked by and paused. “Linda, you sure wax paper is okay to bake?” I thought to myself a little. “Hmm. You’re right. Wax melts. Not good.”

Roomie read the box.. and here’s another phone camera picture. In case you can’t read it since it is poor quality, says “good for lining pans for baking.” or some shit like that.

5 minutes of the 8, things got a bit smoky in our apartment. Wax paper BAD idea. I acted without thinking and just pulled the wax paper out from under the undercooked cookies.

:( broken hearts.

We tried to fix them…

We couldn’t stop laughing…

We put the best looking ones on top.

This post still makes me giggle. This year, I’ve decided to relive this memory. I bought TWO packages of these same very cookies. You know, to account for any possible missteps.

Three Essential Rules of Being a Foodie

1. Share your orders

When I went to Gourdough’s last week, I hardly knew 5 of the 6 other people there. One of guys announces that they’re all foodies, so they “know how to eat.” What he’s talking about is sharing and tasting your company’s order. We discussed how some people get a little possessive and snobby about sampling from other people’s order or vice versa. That’s fine and all but to truly be a foodie, you must get down and dirty with your friends. Share! The point is to try as much as you can.

2. Talk to the owner whenever possible

I always try to chat up the owners whenever possible. It’s a treat to see the faces behinds the great ideas. One of Gourdough’s owners (there are two) is Ryan, pictured above in the photo. Commend them if you had a great experience and introduce yourself! We all said hello to Ryan and gave him a few recommendations for new donuts. (We jokingly suggested he make a Papa John’s donut.) There’s no real purpose for this rule except etiquette and gratitude.

3. Roll with the misadventures

If you’re out in the field long enough, you’re bound to get shot by the bad luck sniper every now and again. Restaurants closing down before you get a chance of trying, food poisoning, trying something you don’t really like (for me it was octopus), throwing up because you ate so much (not me, but my opponent in an eating contest, hehehehe), or GETTING FARTED ON! That was such a bizarre moment for Kim and me. We were eating brunch at Backstreet Cafe, when a man (pictured above with his back to us), lifted his butt and let one rip. We were aghast! We could almost taste it!! Ug. I’m gagging as I relive this. The point is though, we didn’t let it ruin our experience at Backstreet. Don’t let the snags deter you from your pursuit of great food experiences.

Yuck. That fart.


Do you have any foodie rules to add?

2009 in Review

In comparison to 2008, 2009 was awful! The one thing I can think of that 2009 had over 2008 was that I read more than double the books I read in 2008. I’m anticipating the fresh feel of a new year that is 2010. In the meantime, here’s a review of how my year has gone with heavier emphasis on my blessings verses my misfortunes.

Note: All links open in a new window.

January 2009


Celebrating New Year’s with the boyfriend

February 2009


Alan and I at the Killer’s Concert

March 2009


Rodeo, Austin, TX

April 2009


Selina’s Birthday

May


Celebrating Sae’s law school graduation

June 2009


Cindy and me at Grand Lux Cafe in Houston

July


Brandi and me on Fourth of July

August

  • The first two weeks of August, I tried to squeeze in as much time as I can with Alan because he was about to leave for Korea for up to 4.5 months.
  • Starting, August 16, I started counting days Alan was gone.
  • Kim came to visit the weekend of the 22nd and we saw Wicked.
  • I saw 500 Days of Summer three times this month, in theatre, of course. This is the first movie I’ve done that.
  • Jon visited from NYC.
  • I got a part-time, part-time (yes you read that right) job, thanks to Brittany dropping a good word for me.


Alan’s last night out with friends before going to Korea.

September

October

November


Having hot chocolate at Ren Fest.

December


After party in the car.

I’m a blessed girl. Instinctively, I’d tell you my 2009 was pretty awful but when I write it all out like this and focused on the good rather than the bad, I can see now I’m still quite lucky. Farewell, 2009.

Tell me how your year went. Or better yet, if you have a year in review entry, I’d love to read yours.

Misadventures While Cooking Pt 1

Sigh.

I’ve been excited about my first chili cook off that’s taking place at work tomorrow. I’ve never made chili before and I’ve always wanted to try a chili recipe with chocolate in it. I found the perfect recipe and have been REALLLLLLLLLLY looking forward to trying it out and making my first piping hot pot of chili. The recipe I chose has won numerous cook offs around the US.

I get in late today from a day out (late is 830pm) and after catching my breath, I sit the inside pot thingy of a Crock Pot on the stove and I brown my 3 lbs of beef. (The recipe called for 3 lbs beef, 2 lbs sausage, and 1 lb bacon. Meaty huh? Mmm.) Look, I didn’t know the inside of a pot is not stove friendly. It felt and looked like a dutch oven which was what the recipe recommended I use as a pot. Next thing I hear is a loud ass crack and I look over and the pot cracked and almost exploded and was still making scary noises. :( That is also not my Crock Pot. I borrowed it from my dear friend, Jamie not but an hour before. It was gifted to her from her grandmother! After chatting with Mary Ellen and confessing to Jamie, I learned that dutch ovens are made of iron and you cannot put porcelain on top of the stove. Good to know!

So no chili tonight. I accepted defeat and put the sausage and bacon in the freezer. I guess I’ll repurpose the meat for spaghetti.

I’m bummed, yo.