Feb 8

In the spirit of relationships and Valetine’s day on the horizon, I thought I’d repost this blog entry I originally posted in June of 2007. I discussed why men should pay attention if their ladies suddenly seem to have dropped issues they were having with their relationships.

Last weekend I had dinner with 2 boys and a girl. We girls forced the boys into girly-slumber-party-like questions and conversation. We called it game of “Truth or Truth.” Poor boys. We asked them fun questions from last time they cried to weirdest place they had sex. The juvenile game soon morphed into a conversation about gender differences. One guy wondered why females have a tendency to go into this silent psychological warfare where they are grading their significant other silently, going through a “check list.” He likened it to a ticking bomb.

“Tick tick tick.. and all of a sudden they go off and do something drastic, like break up or start a blow out fight.”

The other girl and I nodded knowingly. We’ve done this ‘ticking bomb’ thing. We’re both sticking to our guns that the “ticking bomb” is a fantastic last resort. Often times we find ourselves voicing what we want over and over again. It’s not fun. It could be as small as “You don’t ever ask me how my day is” to something bigger such as, “I’m not going to wait for you to get your shit together another year, it’s already been 6 years.” Eventually, the asker gets tired of hearing her (or his) own voice so she (or he) stops asking.

Cue “Ticking Bomb” phase.

This is the point where they’re deciding on whether to fold and walk away with least amount of damage to themselves. I like calling it the silent tally. Silently counting how many times the party in question is falling short. No more reminders. No more gentle coaxing. No more arguments. So my hint to mainly the men out there. If your significant other has been nagging you about something for a long while and all of a sudden, she’s quiet. Contrary to what my male friend thought it was (“I thought she changed her wants”), you’re probably being silently monitored and about to approach a tipping point in the relationship. :) Beware of silence.

Why I will stand by it? People generally don’t change. Unless the pain of their not changing exceeds the pain of changing.. right? Why fix something that ain’t broke? So if someone doesn’t embody something you think you need in a relationship, the “ticking bomb” helps illustrates the futility of waiting for someone to change… Count the tally marks then fold and walk away with what you have.

Jan 1

I wish everyone a safe, better than 2009, healthy new year in 2010. I had a wonderful time last night and spent today eating good barbecue, seeing Jen T one last time before she goes back to Philly tomorrow, browsing a bookstore, and now I’m doing some cleaning and game planning for 2010. I’m feeling good over here.

Dec 31

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.

Dec 22

10611 Research Blvd
Austin, TX 78759
(512) 382-5864
www.terraburgeraustin.com

Alan texted me while I was at my night job tonight asking where the spaghetti was. I told him I threw it out and feeling nice, I offered to pick up something on my way home. He wanted to try out Terra Burgers. Neither of us have had it. It’s an all organic burger joint. I’m pretty indifferent to the organic movement. I know Alan prefers it so sometimes I cook with organic ingredients when I cook for us, but really, I don’t care.

So my goal was to only buy him a burger and at most take a bite of Alan’s. I had dinner at work with bags (2) of chips and pudding and wasn’t hungry. I almost succeeded in ordering just for him. “I want a Thousand Island Burger with fries, please…………….um make that two Thousand Island Burgers.” Dangit. It’s the lure of a new place. I like to try new eats, dammit. It’s impossible to ask me to order something for someone else at a new place and not expect me to get in on the action.

My bed time is midnight which gives me 6 hours of sleep a night on weeknights. It was 10:30pm when I ordered that burger. Bad! I have a New Year’s dress that has very little no room to grow in. I was counseled by a friend only to eat HALF of the burger and no fries. So on the way to Alan’s, I told myself that I’ll only eat half a burger and bring it for lunch tomorrow.


I failed.


I REALLY failed.

Well, here’s the review of Terra Burgers, written with a guilty conscience.

I prefer my Mighty Fine over Terra. At Terra Burger, all burgers are 1/3 lb and they’re 5.99 for just the burger. I’m guessing you’re paying for it being organic. Meh, it didn’t taste like a 5.99 burger to me. The fries were crumbly. Maybe it was my ordering at 10:30pm when they close at 11pm but the girl at the window told me I’m waiting a while because everything is being cooked as ordered. So, maybe they’re just crumbly or she just bullshitted me.

I like a little more seasoning in my burger or maybe a tiny bit more grease. Some more taste. I’m left wanting! Hard to believe with how much of it I ate, I know. The beef patty was so thick it was hard on my lockjaw. (BTW, I have a constant persistent case of lock jaw. The HORROR!)

Alan on the other hand enjoyed it. He think it’s pretty good for how healthy it is. I think he’ll be going back.

Anyway, it’s past my bedtime. Good night!

Dec 3

I’m a little disconnected and fragmented today.

The last two days I’ve hardly been online online mainly due to starting a new job and then going to an night job right after. I wake up at 6:30am (after going to bed at 3am last night) to go to work at my new job and I get off at 5pm after which I sit in traffic for 1.5 hours or 2 hours to go to my night job. By the time I make it home it’s 10:30 pm, I’m hungry and a little exhausted. I just had an eleven o’clock pork chop dinner with Alan. Brandi baked chocolate chip cookies. Though I’m pooped, it’s a good day. Alan cut up my pork chop into bite size pieces. Haha. Spoiled.

My Google Reader is backed up. I currently have 87 unread entries. I did manage to read Selina’s new blog post. She hardly updates anymore and I promised her a plug. ;) I always try to comment when friends start blogs as to encourage them to keep entertaining me/updating.

Another blog entry I read is Mary Ellen’s blog entry about word abuse. It echos a lot of my recent annoyances.

The good thing about just coming back from a packed weekend is that I have photos to blog without really haven’t to use my spent brain.

Today, I bring you photos from a high school reunion I had last weekend in Houston. I saw Hillary and Alex for the first time in a while. We’re lucky to see each other on holidays. I found some pictures of us that are duplicates of us from high school so I gifted them to the girls over Chocolate Bar’s hot chocolate. The BEST chocolate of my life STILL. I love that Chocolate Bar is purply. When I went over to pick up Hillary, she was wearing a purple shirt as well and her two sisters were in purple! Amused, her dad took a picture of us, all graduates of the same Catholic high school.


We forgot to take a picture of our hot chocolate before it turned ugly.


We asked a stranger to take a photo of us. It was kind of awkward. Note the folded hands and the nervous smiles.


So we took a self portrait. I wonder if that offended our photographer stranger.

Interestingly enough, December 2, 2007, exactly TWO years ago I blogged about my first time at Chocolate Bar.

Nov 26

I got to Alan’s from work at 10:30 PM. We’re both leaving for our respective hometowns after we wake up in the morning and pack. At midnight I had just gotten out of the shower and was lounging in just a towel while Alan was working in his office. I was pretty damn hungry since my dinner at work was a mere pudding cup and 2 bags of chips. I tiptoed into his kitchen hoping that he still had some tacos left over from dinner yesterday. No tacos. His fridge is bare, bare, bare. I looked in his freezers. He had tater tots, wings, and garlic bread. I opted for a snack of tater tots, preheated the oven, and then waited patiently for 20 minutes for the timer to ding. Mmm. Back in college, I lived with Laila and Aishah and I remember we used to make snacks of just tater tots. Aishah and I would have them with mustard. This was the happy memory I was nursing as I waited.

Halfway through my snack, Alan came out. He noticed I’m just in my towel.

“Put some clothes on!! It’s been an hour!”

I didn’t know what the big deal was. I’m in a towel. So what?! He practically PUSHED me into the bedroom. “Put some clothes on!!”

I humored him and was putting on a sweatshirt when the light bulb came on. THE MANIPULATIVE BOY WAS DISTRACTING ME FROM MY OWN SNACK! By the time I got back, my tots were gone!!

Thief!! I should have known better after him ninja stealing my organic lollipop last week while I was in the shower.

We went back to the freezer and decided a meal was in order. Out came the rest of the tater tots, the garlic bread, and the frozen buffalo wings. It was an impromptu feast.

Although it was a meal made of default items already in the freezer, it made me happy as technically, we’re spending the first few hours of Thanksgiving together and we broke bread.

Nov 25

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Before I head home to Houston, I’m going to squeeze in a third Gratitude list.

If you missed the first two here they are:

- 10 Things I’m Currently Thankful for
- 10 More Things I’m Currently Thankful for


Another 10 More Things I’m Currently Thankful for

  1. A full time job! As I mentioned once or twice before, I landed a job and will be working at my Alma Mater. I start next Tuesday.

    I went to the lab to talk about the job offer last week and as I was hanging out I saw one of my old professors. It’s kind of a funny thing to see professors after you graduate and be inundated with academic memories. Some not so good ones! I had to suppress an urge to shrink away. Anyway, I digress. I gots a full time gig after not having a full time gig since June.

  2. Reunions over Thanksgiving! I have a handful of friends I haven’t seen in months and I get to see some of them in Houston this weekend for Thanksgiving. Although, it’s going to be challenging to time budget between friends and family in just 3 days, I think it’s not too shabby of a problem to have.
  3. My car.


    My first baby.


    My baby Civic

    I bought my car summer of 2007 after getting in a car accident. Ever try to imagine your life without your car? I wouldn’t be able to get to work (my current part time position is 45 minutes away by car.) I wouldn’t be able to drive to Houston to visit. No fun trips to restaurants, etc. Austin isn’t a pedestrian city. My car makes it possible for me to play, work, and explore. Yay car!

    I’m also grateful I didn’t play around and paid off my 5 year car loan in 1.5 years. This made the last 5 months of unemployment easier without having an extra 200 dollars a month to expense for a car payment.

  4. My Washer/Dryer. I remember the days of hauling my laundry to the laundromat and setting aside hours at a time to get laundry done. I’ve filled up COUNTLESS journal pages people watching as I think it’s extra interesting to see what people wash. Heehee. I haven’t had to use a laundromat for years now. I had a roommate 2007 with a washer/dryer. In 2008, Miss Jamie let Alan and I borrow her washer and dryer and we helped her “store” it. When I moved to my own place last year, I thought I’d forgo fun purchases and spend almost a thousand on a set. It was money well spent. There’s freedom in owning your own washer dryer.
  5. Trip to San Fran and Boston! I’m incredibly lucky to be able to travel a little bit this year considering my stint with unemployment.

    I took a trip to San Fran with Alan right before putting in my notice at my previous full time position. It was kind of a celebration of a new beginning for me and was also the first trip Alan and I took together. San Fran is one of my favorite cities now. I was also extremely blessed to have such a loving BFF/FFB who gifted me her flight miles to go see her in Boston. I hadn’t seen her in Boston for a few years and it was good timing for us. I can’t wait to go back to see her new house! :)

    I’m always thankful for any kind of travel I’m able to swing.

  6. Those who read what I write. I’m thankful for my regular readers (mostly friends and boyfriend). I’m thankful for the comments you take the time to write and just over all taking the time to read my humble little blog. I’m thankful for the mentions you make when we chat, for the followers, and the subscribers. I’m thankful for you!
  7. Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. I’m thankful for great memories and hard lessons from my past. I’m thankful for the photos and the journals that help me not to forget.

    I’m thankful for today and being alive. I’m thankful for the possibilities that lie in the future and my capacity to dream and plan.

  8. Friends.

    It would take me all day to name them all by name but I’m thankful for them all. I come from a small isolated family. We hardly have any extended family. My friends are my extended family. They want the best for me and are my cheerleaders in life. I’m forever thankful.

  9. Living in Austin. Did you know this year we hold the accolade of least stressful city in the US? I love living in Austin. I love how pretty it is with the lakes and hills. I love the events hosted by us. I love our downtown area. It’s a wonderful, fun, smart, and young city.
  10. Books

    I cannot wait to own my own place and have my library set up! Books and bookstores are foolproof sources of comfort for me. I grew up around a lot of books so they conjure up a feeling of youthful awe. I also grew up seeing my dad with a book EVERY NIGHT, and every moment he had free and anything that reminds me of my dad also releases a lot of dopamine in my noggin. All the positive memory associations aside, books nourish me. They’ve molded my philosophies in life, provided understanding, clarity, education, inspiration… the list goes on. I love books. I’m thankful I’m in a country that limits censorship and that my parents raise me to value and appreciate the written word.

Nov 15

I played at the park yesterday with my little from Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America (BBBS).

I almost cursed in front of her for the first time. She is ten and I’m sure she’s around some cursing but I do not want to be that comfortable around her. While driving to McDonalds (We both got Big Mac combos. I’m afraid McDonalds is losing their magic touch with me after a good 23 year run. McD hasn’t tickled me with joy lately), I got cut off by an asshole prick. I forgot she was in the car with me and said, “You ass……….inine …jerk!”

Without missing a beat, she asked, “What’s asinine?”

“It’s another word for stupid.”

“Oh.”

So close!

This reminds me of the first time she almost caught me divulging that Alan and I sometimes share a bed. When Alan first came back from Asia, he stayed at my apartment til he found his own place. I saw her one weekend and she asks about Alan often and usually inquires when I’m driving and distracted. She asked, “Is your boyfriend staying with you?”

“Mmhmm, he is.”

“Does he sleep on the couch?”

“No, he sleeps in my bed.”

“Oh. So you sleep on the couch?”

“…….Yes. Yes, I do.”

Hahah. I gotta watch it!

Nov 11

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, my second favorite holiday, here are ten things I’m at this very moment thankful for.

  1. Online conversations. I’ve been having more lately as I’m on the computer more often this week so I’m catching more people online. Kim kept me company a few times as I watched girly movies or shows on TV. Deesh and I chatted about college memories and we tried to piece together the tapestry of our shared college courses for a while late last night. I cannot remember the last time we had a conversation online. Apparently I dropped McCord’s chemistry twice (two different courses). Kym and I are bumping into each other more often too. I know I used to be a letter writing kind of girl but I’m thankful for the ease of Gchat.
  2. Chocolate . I got a box of truffles from my old coworkers for my birthday. I finally remembered where I hid them and broke into them. Nom. Truffles.
  3. Random dinner invites last two nights. Deesh grilled up some chicken 2 nights ago and last night Jesse made us burgers with spinach and Alfredo sauce. Thanks for feeding my scavenger self!
  4. Lunch date with Alan. I enjoy dates with that boy. Who doesn’t like dates? There’s a different light that shines on us when we’re outside our respective apartments. I’m a mush. Alan treated me to North yesterday. Ever since I tried Young’s order of Strozzapreti the first time we went there, I don’t get anything else. Though, we have only been to North three times. Did you know they have happy hour?

  5. I finally got a call for a job interview. Wish me luck tomorrow. I absolutely hate living off of my savings.
  6. Brittany! I don’t know if she’ll read this. Brittany is Deesh’s girlfriend. She has been doing some great looking out for me and it has humbled me with gratitude. I find her pretty enchanting too! I have a creepy-girl-platonic-straight-crush on her. Haha. Now I hope she doesn’t read this.
  7. Roomie bonding. I have a part time evening job that kept me from seeing Brandi for a bit. This week since I’m not working, we’ve managed some time together. Cooking, baking, eating. Today we plan on finally checking out the Cathedral of Junk!
  8. Checking out a new eatery. Yesterday after dinner, a group of us tried a new yogurt place. I haven’t checked out a new eatery in a while so it was nice! I’ll tell you about the yogurt venue next time.
  9. The thought of Houston. I miss my parents dearly. Mom reminded me that I hadn’t seen her since July. I cannot wait to go home for Thanksgiving. I get to see them, eat momma food, see Thomas, see Kim! Maybe eat at a few new places too (I haven’t forgotten about you, Jess). Such anticipation!
  10. My bed and delicious sleep. I have had friends tell me they never want to leave my bed when they lie in it. Trust me, it’s awesome. I’m about to go have some sleep. It’s currently 3:30 AM on Nov 11. This is due to post at 10am. I’ll be setting my alarm for 8:30am. I have some business to take care of!

    11. Your turn! What are you thankful for these days?

Nov 10


Shrimp Scampi Memories


I remember the first time I’ve ever made Shrimp Scampi was for my 22nd birthday celebration that I had with Kym, Dave, and Nam. It’s a fond memory of mine. The four of us took our ingredients and went downstairs to this community kitchen, Kym’s dorm had. I don’t know where I put my copy of the recipe but I do remember we dredged our shrimp in flour and that there was white wine in the sauce. It was super delicious and I used that same recipe twice more. The last time over 3 years ago was for my family and I forgot to cook the wine through. Consequently, it tasted like ass and my brother got drunk. Heeeee.

Anyway, I lost that recipe and the most recent time I’ve made shrimp scampi was a super easy no flour no wine recipe, I found on foodnetwork.com via Barefoot Contessa and I made it maybe two years ago when Alan and I were still roommates. I recently made Alan and me shrimp tempura (I used a tempura mix) maybe last week and I remembered I still have half a pound leftover of shrimp in my freezer. The Barefoot Contessa recipe came to mind and was appealing because it’s super low maintenance, fast, and easy. I still had parsley from the Chicken Scarpariello I made 5 days prior so I had all the ingredients lying around and no trip to the supermarket was needed! This was dinner Sunday night for Brandi and me.


How do you keep parsley fresh?


I googled how to keep parsley fresh. I usually end up having to throw fresh parsley out because they wilt almost instantly in the fridge. Apparently, you store them similar to how you would flowers! You cut the bottoms off the stems, put them in a water vase, wrap the bunch with a paper towel to soak up extra moisture and then you loosely tie a plastic bag around the vase. I tried this technique 5 days before and the parsley was still fresh! Neat.


Barefoot Contessa’s Shrimp Scampi and Linguine


Onwards to the recipe and pictures :) So easy. I used wholegrain linguine and scaled back the recipe a little as I only had 1/2 a pound of shrimp vs. 3/4 pound.

This recipe serves 3.


Sauteing the shrimp


Tossing the linguine with the sauce and lemon zest


Voila, and serve!

Ingredients
Vegetable oil
Kosher salt
3/4 pound linguine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1 pound large shrimp (about 16 shrimp), peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 lemon, zest grated
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds
1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Directions
Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the linguine, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or according to the directions on the package.

Meanwhile, in another large (12-inch), heavy-bottomed pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1 minute. Be careful, the garlic burns easily! Add the shrimp, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine.

When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and serve.

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