february 07, 2010 1027pm

My race is less than a week away. I am running the Austin AT&T half marathon in the early hours of Valentine's Day. I am not really too nervous about it, which leads me to believe that I should be trying to run the full. BUT, the thought of running a full marathon right now frightens me a bit.

Today, for Once Over coffee shop hang, I made some vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I mostly made them for Raina, who had a birthday last week. They were great. Krys Kagan gave me the recipe. I ended up making more glaze, because we all know, when it comes to cinnamon rolls, you can NEVER have enough of that yummie sweetness. I spent the rest of the day being lazy and making bread. I got the bread recipe from Vegan Planet. It came out perfect. I also made a recipe from Krys' blog, Two Vegan Boys, roasted poblano corn chowder. Everything went great, until it was time to make the roux, in order to make the chowder creamy. I messed it up and ended up getting chunks, similar to dumplings. Well, guess what? I LOVELOVELOVE dumplings, so it ended up being a win.

This past Wednesday, Raina had a birthday gathering at East Side Show Room. I am starting to really like that place. Though when it comes to alcohol, I am not a fan of much besides beer, that place has a wicked bar. The bartenders are serious about their jobs, and they are in to making old time drinks.

Last night we all headed to The Ghost Room (formerly the Gingerman) to see Country Willie, Precious Blood and The Mcmercy Family Band play. It was a great night. My work friend Kathryn came out with her mom, who was visiting from Chireno, Tx, population 415. They loved it. I think my favorite was Country Willie. Andrew played bass with him and Ted played drums. They make a great trio. I am slowly warming up to that place as a music venu. I am still bitter about the Gingerman having to move to a new location.

Robert and I hung up a large piece of art in our house today. It is a piece by Adam Rader. I guess it is a bit weird that I am hanging up a large piece of art painted/drawn by my ex boyfriend. But I like it. It is for sale if you are interested.

january 31, 2010 932pm

Krys Kagan nominated me for the "Honest Scrap" award. Krys is one of my dearest friends. I met her at the Blood Center, and we instantly bonded. When she was pregnant with Arthur, she asked me to be his godmother and I nearly cried. Now, Arthur is 3 and he has a younger brother, Adam, who is 1. They are both my godsons. Krys is the mother I hope to be, should I decide to have kids and meet some guy that wants to be with me. She is also my inspiration when it comes to vegan cooking. I am not vegan, but like her, I enjoy cooking vegan foods that people love. There are three rules for this "Honest Scrap" award: Thank the person that nominated you, list 10 honest things about yourself and link to 10 other blogs you feel embody the spirit of Honest Scrap and whose blog you find brilliant in design and/or concept. I am not going to do the latter, but here are 10 honest things about myself.

Hanging at Thunderbird with Krys and the boys March 2009.

The news is getting out about UT phasing out the Cactus Cafe by August 2010. I found out this past Saturday first thing when I got to work. Since then, a dark cloud of depression has formed over my head. I am literally heart broken about this. The Cactus is the reason I have the majority of my closest Austin friends. I cannot stomach the idea of seeing that room as something besides a listening room. I have had some of the best laughs and saddest cries in Griff's office. I often envisioned myself in my 30's and 40's, coming back to the Cactus, ordering a drink and telling the current student bartender about the days when I worked behind that bar. We are not going down quietly.

Friday was payday, so a few coworkers headed to Sago, a modern Mexican eatery located in the Triangle, to get drinks. I met up as well. They had $3.00 bloody mary's, so I had two. It was a nice way to end the workweek, laughing and joking with friends. I also decided that I am going to go a month without eating chips. I have come to the realization that I cannot control myself when chips and salsa are set in front of me at dinner. I eat and eat and eat them, filling my belly before I have even started my meal. I think I did well, considering I was a bit tipsy. I managed to forgo chips at Sago and at dinner later with the roommates.

Saturday night there was a ballroom show at the Cactus Cafe, so naturally, I had to be there at 2pm to work what could be a 12-13 hour shift. Thankfully though, the crowd was not all that keen about drinking, so I left at 1100pm and was able to make it to Stubb's to see Some Say Leland and The Blue Hit. If you have not heard of either of those bands, check them out. Now. Grace, the lead singer of The Blue Hit, has the voice of an angel.. A sexy angel that is.

Last week I made a peasant loaf with black olives and sundried tomatoes. It was a hit. Robert, Jack and Andrew polished off a loaf in one evening! I tried to make it again today and failed. I did not cook it long enough, but did not realize till after it cooled and I was on my way out the door for a long run. So, I just trashed it. I will just go to Central Market tomorrow and get some bread for the carrot and roasted pepper soup I am making for dinner Monday. Bummer.

My friend Kelly works in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at a hospital. She randomly brings me tiny versions of medical equipment that are used on the little babies. I get really excited, because I work in a medical environment, and seeing tiny versions of things such as blood pressure cuffs, makes me happy. I think my exact quote (I was drinking a bit, mind you) was "tiny things make me happy!" Here is a tiny blood pressure cuff. It barely fits around my index finger and does not quite fit around the arm of the penis cup Andrew gave me for Christmas.

january 26, 2010 1016pm

I found out today that two of my friends that work with me are getting a divorce from each other. They have been married for 15 years. I was chatting with her and saying how much of a bummer break ups are and she chimed in "Oh, I have never had a breakup. He is my first everything." After picking up my jaw from the ground, I thought, "How can you have gotten to age 30-something and not felt the awesome terribleness of a heart wrenching break up?" My next thought was, "You poor woman, you have no idea what you are in for." She is very optimistic about the whole ordeal. She is getting her own apartment in the same complex and they want to remain close friends. That is good and all... but it is not that easy. Some days are harder than others... or maybe she will prove me wrong? Probably not though. Another thought that entered my mind was "Does anything EVER LAST??!? JESUS FUCKING CHRIST." Marriages that end, even if the end is needed, make me doubt happiness and love and togetherness. And it reinstates my fear of people changing their mind on me.

Andrew Pressman had a birthday gathering at the house a week or so ago. I did not take too many photos though. We had an all day house hang. I made some sweet potato red bean curry with Grizz while Trevor and Andrew had practice with Grace from the Blue Hit in the living room. I also made Andrew some badass vegan chocolate cupcakes with cookie n' cream icing.

Kelly and I went to a BBQ. It was at a coworker's house, so obviously there were other coworkers in attendance. But, there were also platelet donors there too, which was... interesting. They were introduced to my foul mouth and dirty mind. You know, I was thinking about how often I think about sexual things daily, and it is pretty often. But I was also thinking, how could you not? As a woman, I have two prominent sexual features (tits and vagina,) and I see them everyday. I am very aware of them. So, it is only natural that I think about them and sex, right? Maybe what makes me different than some is that I vocalize my perverted thoughts more often than not? Thank goodness the people I work with are on the same page as me concerning such things.

Andrew and Trevor have a residency at Flipnotics every Monday for a couple months. I generally work on Monday nights, but I was able to catch them play with Dan Grissom on MLK Jr. day, since the Cactus was closed. Dan Grissom writes such beautifully heartbreaking songs. If you are happy, they will make you a bit sad but in a good way. If you are heartbroken, they will make you cry. I did a good job for the most part that night, considering Adam played with them and it was the first group hang since the breakup.

Tonight I made a recipe from the newest Vegetarian Times. It is actually on the cover: Roasted Vegetable Linguine with Fresh Basil. I also added some greens fresh from my housemate Lindsey's garden. Kristen came over and brought bread and s'more making materials. It was a nice hang, since I never get around to seeing her much.

january 15, 2010 1003pm

Every fiber in my body is relieved that today is Friday. Although I only have one day off this week, it is much needed. Each day this week I said to my boss, "I am calling in tomorrow," which sounds ridiculous, but it forced me to not do so and come to work the following day. What good would staying home do? I would languish in bed all day, being incredibly unproductive and childish. I think Monday was the worst. I knowingly took a bus that I knew Adam would be on, when I had another option. I thought I would be fine. Nope. The other bus allows me to sleep and extra 20 minutes anyway. This week has been full of great friends though, which helped distract me and realize that this is not really that big of a deal. It just feels that way right now. Monday night, Andrew and I cooked a bag of potatoes that were on their way out. I roasted some with olive oil and spices, and he mashed some. Jack had a hankering for fried chicken? So, they got some fried chicken from Popeye's (which apparently you can follow on Twitter...) I made a Kale Spanakopita from Vegan Planet.

Tuesday night, Andrew, Bob and I went to the East Side Show Room to see Sick's solo performance. Not only did we want to see him, but we also wanted to leave the house quiet so Grizz could do some recording downstairs. It was fun and nice to get out of the house with the roomies. I made another recipe from Vegan Planet for dinner Wednesday night, Middle Eastern Lentils. I had some chickpeas lying around, so I added them into the mix as well. Andrew and Bob loved it. I also picked my third vegan cookie recipe, Snickerdoodle. They were pretty great. I cannot wait to make another recipe next week.

At work, donors have the option to fill out comment cards about their experience. At the end of the year, our manager does our review and gives us the cards that mentioned our name. I picked my favorite of the bunch to share. It is plain and simple, to the point.

january 11, 2010 1246am

SO, what do you do when your boyfriend of 6 months (7 months Tuesday) tells you he is not in love with you? Put on some Mississippi John Hurt, because he was such a cute little old man that sometimes sang about dirty violent things. Also, you should probably not update your relationship status to "single" on facebook, because even though it was a hidden relationship status, facebook tells the world and you get a bunch of people wanting to talk to you about it. But I guess you also get people wanting to take you out for a drink, which can never be a bad thing. Taking a sick day tomorrow also crossed my mind, but then I would end up at Once Over for coffee, where I would find Adam. Funny how that works.

I went to a couple of the South Central Barista Competition events this weekend. Andrew and I went to the party at Café Medici Saturday night, and then I rode my bike downtown Sunday morning to the Sheraton hotel to see some of the finalist compete. Lorezo, who works at Café Medici, was the winner! Woot!

I hope this is big enough to read. My friend Cole sent this to me, and I thought it was funny.

I took this photo during the previews at the Alamo Drafthouse. LEGO band. Cute.

january 08, 2010 540am

I am up way too early. Normally, it would be nice to be up this early so I could run, but since it is freezing and the wind can be heard from indoors, I will do this instead.

My throat hurts from yelling and cheering during the Rose Bowl last night. Kristen got to Little Woodrow's on Guadalupe early and snagged us a good table, so we could watch the game close to campus, just in case we won. None such luck on the winning part. Man, I STILL cannot believe Colt McCoy pussed out in the first quarter?? But, the most disappointing part of last night was some douche bag yelling a racial slur, which offended me and especially Kristen. It was something about slaves... aimed towards Alabama. Kristen is half African American. At first, I could not believe my ears... really? People still do things like that in public places? Kristen turned around and said something to him. I think his justification was that "I was talking about Alabama, not UT." Dickhead. I was very dissatisfied with myself though. I gave him multiple dirty looks, but he was so wasted, I doubt he caught any of them. By the time I got the courage to lay into him, he looked more wasted, and too much time had passed. He definitely killed the mood though. I could see in Kristen's face that she was hurt, and she left pretty bummed.

january 05, 2010 1013pm

I made another recipe from Vegan Planet tonight, Spicy Vegetable Tamale Pie. And, once again, I was a bit too heavy handed with the spice. It was not nearly as hot as the chili, but it was hot. I think I bought an extra spicy blend of chili powder this past grocery visit. It was still tasty though. Trevor and I ate that vegan delight while the boys ordered pizza from South Side Flying Pizza. I am trying to minimize my cheese intake, making exceptions for the occasional pizza and queso dip. Cutting queso out of my life is like cutting sex out of my life. Not gonna happen. I redeemed myself, however, with this excellent recipe from my other newest cookbook, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. These Chocolaty Crinkle Cookies were everything a cookie should be, soft on the inside with a slight crip on the outside.

I received a letter from my dad in the mail today. Looking at his handwriting brought back a Christmas childhood memory. We grew up in a single father household till I was about 6. My dad then, of course, played the roll of Santa (and Mom). Maybe it was because of his hectic life 4 kids + full time job as a Civil Engineer for the city of Dallas, but he made no attempt, whatsoever, to disguise his handwriting when playing Santa. He would write "To: Mary From: Santa" in his very recognizable writing. I have provided an example below of his penmanship. He also told us that Santa really liked cooked sweet potatoes better than cookies and milk (he is and always has been quite the health nut).

This past Sunday was my friend Meredith's 25th birthday. We all got together at Phara's, a Mediterranean eatery on North Loop. I ended up getting a bit tipsy on wine, which is quite unusual for me, the red wine, not the tipsy part. I lost a mitten along the way, which makes me sad, considering I just bought the mitten/glove hybrids a week ago.

january 03, 2010 344pm

I want to start this post off by directing your attention to a new link I added at the top, the new folk revival. My friend Charles has started this awesome music blog. He likes to field record and captures some amazing musical moments.

Last night I went to a friend's house for dinner. I walked there, since they live a few blocks form me. I like walking to people's houses. It reminds me of being small and having childhood friends. When I was in elementary school, I would walk home with my best friend Andrea, hand-in-hand. Then someone made fun of us for holding hands and we stopped. Funny how you do not think something is weird until society tells you so. ANYWAY, back to dinner last night. My stomach still hurts from laughing. And I was not even drinking (though I think I was getting second hand high from others smoking ganja.) It was just a handful of friends, dinner, Cranium and good times.

We just had some tacos from Torchy's. Andrew's old roommate and best friend, Jane, was in town this weekend for New Year's. I was super excited to meet her. She is a big part of Andrew's life and since Andrew and I are buddies, I wanted to meet her. I loved her, of course. Before she left, we HAD to take her to get some damn good tacos. I think she liked the fried avocado best, which is my favorite. We are all sad to see her leave.

january 01, 2010 724pm

The Annie St New Year's Eve party was epic. Really, if you were not there... sorry? Sadly though, I have misplaced Adam's camera (the one I was using) OR someone stole it. So, this is the one photo of the evening that I was taken with my iphone. I am showing off my New Year's Eve drinking glass. I definitely carried that cup around with beer in it all night (it holds 1.5 bottles of beer, btw.) The back of the cup almost looks like a sweet ass of a woman, which confused people. Guys at the party would say "yeah Mary, I like your glass" and then I would turn it around and they would say "whoa, wait, never mind" blush and run away. Ha. I hear some friends with fancy cameras got some good shots, so as soon as I get them I will share. I hope everyone had a safe New Year.

december 28, 2009 1005pm

Today I went home early from work due to severe stomach pains and heartburn, brought on by myself really. I made some wicked hot chili last week, which made everyone cry. Well, I decided to freeze it, thinking it would stop the chili from getting hotter. I was wrong. I ate if really fast, not even chewing the rice that I mixed in. I have never had heart burn in my life, but I now can sympathize with those who have heartburn on a regular basis. I wanted to throw up so bad. Instead, I came home, ate some chocolate banana bread with soymilk, and took a long nap.

I spent the TWO WHOLE DAYS that I had off for Christmas in Spring, with Adam and his family. It was fun. Adam's parents were so lovely and bought me gifts like I was one of the kids. Abbey woke us up at 8am, anxious to open gifts. Donna made us doughnut holes for breakfast and then Maddie made us some baked ziti for Christmas lunch. But, it was still not home, sadly. I was doing fine until I called Christmas morning and talked to my grandma. I have a close bond with grandma, and I see her age and it breaks my heart. I also managed to leave my wallet here in Austin, which was a bit scary since I was driving. I definitely set the cruise control on the speed limit the while time.

Saturday night was the big Christmas show at Stubb's BBQ. It was a Christmas variety show of sorts, with some crazy hot burlesque girls thrown in the mix. Adam and I enjoyed watching the faces of the boys on stage as the girls bent over, scantily clad, in front of them. I enjoyed the boobie tassels. hummmmm... The boys on stage definitely had the best seat in the house.

Here are a couple photos from Once Over. When I have a weekend day off, Adam, Dru and I usually saunter on over to Once Over and have our lovin' spoonful, or two. Jen Hellow usually works Sundays, and we hang at the bar, demanding more drinks.

I was gifted two excellent cookbooks for Christmas, both from Adam's mother, Donna. She gave me a Vegan Cookie Invade Your Cookie Jar and The Baker's Apprentice. I decided to make an attempt to bake two of the cookie recipes a month. Yesterday I made the fig bar recipe. Man, they are WAAAAY better than Fig Newton's.

december 22, 2009 1047pm

I made veggie chili tonight to use for some vegan frito pies. The chili turned out to be "make everyone cry" veggie chili. It was so damn hot, it almost brought me to tears, and I am the one that always says, "If I am not sweating, it is not hot enough." I put a whole serrano pepper in there, but it was a large batch and I did not expect it to have such a kick. In the end, Kelly was eating ice cream, Adam gave up and downed some soy milk and I was eating apple sauce. ouch! Grizz loved it though. I used one of the chili recipes from Vegan Planet, my newest cookbook given to me by Krys Kagan for my birthday. It was an easy recipe. Next time I will leave half the seeds out of the serrano pepper.

We also did a little gift exchanging. I was finally able to reveal the chair I bought for Adam. The chair is a small vintage velvet chair that use to be at Annie Street's favorite coffee shop, Once Over. Adam and I would go to the shop and talk about how much we love the chair, and that we might one day steal it. Well, I talked to the owners and they sold it to me. I bought it Saturday and hid it in Robert's room till tonight. I put it under our tree when I got home from work and started making the family dinner. Adam walked in, and when he finally noticed it exclaimed "What the fuck is that doing here?!?" Hahaha. Dru and I had a good laugh. Adam decided it was the best Christmas gift ever. Dru gave me a mug with a man's junk on it, classy. And I gave Dru a free family style meal at the Salt Lick.

december 21, 2009 109pm

Last night we had a little holiday gathering (mostly work people) at Kathryn's house. It was a potluck. For some reason, I did not take many photos of the event, or the food brought, but I have a few. I of course took loads of the cherry pie I made... vain? Nope, just proud. It was not an easy task, especially for me, who makes about 2 pies a year, if that.

I found a little statue on my porch after the party. I assumed it was my secret admirer, who knows that I adore cats. In reality, Charles dropped it off as a house gift because it reminded him of Dru's Christmas sweater (see Dec 20's entry.) Somebody has a crush on Dru...

And just when you thought your day would be without some sort of cute item...

december 20, 2009 102pm

Last night Dru, Adam and I went to see the Master Pancake Theatre's Christmas variety show. We met our friend Melissa there. It was funny, of course, and I was not even drinking. Ever since our Hanukkah party at the house last week, drinking has been the furthest from my thoughts. I hope I get over that come New Year's Eve. We are having a big party here and I want to booze a bit on some tasty beverages.

I had lunch with a dear friend of mine, Cynthia, this past Friday. We went to Thai Kitchen on Guadalupe... BEST THAI FOOD around. Really. Their green curry kicks your ass. Probably the most memorable topic of conversation that night was Cynthia's Christmas present to herself. She..uhhh...split her tongue. Yep. Willingly. And she can move both sides of the split, like little tongue fingers. It was crazy!

december 18, 2009 116pm

This is the longest I have gone without updating. LIFE. Yep. So, I will sum up the past month. Here goes:

TRF. Texas Ren Festival. We went for barbarian weekend. The bar manager at the Cactus Cafe, Chris, made all of our armor! Hilary's car got stuck in the mud and everyone helped lift it out of the mud. All the people that stopped to talk to me were IN LOVE with my wolf hat. They all wanted to touch it. And me. Weird.

Thanksgiving also came and went. I spent 2 days at my 'rents house in Grand Prairie and 1.5 days in Houston with Adam's family. I met his sisters and his house. It was fun. I think his family likes me.They invited me back for Christmas. I also ended up the designated driver Friday night. HA. Adam's mom is a funny drunk.

Dru's friend Reese came to visit. We put up Robert's version of a Christmas tree and ate cookies that I baked. Rober'st tree was made of this fuzzy dark green cloth he purchased. He cut out the shape of a tree and we stapled it to the wall. BRILLIANT! Such a aspace saver.

We had a Hanukkah party at the house this past Saturday. Dru is Jewish and makes some BAD ASS latkes. It was great. We invited our Jewish an non-Jewish friends over. Krys, Josh and the kids also came over. Krys brought some vegansweet potato latkes (eggs are usually used for latkes) and baby Adam Kagan kept steeling my beer. Arthur fell in love with Socrates and Jabba. He spent most of his time in my room with the cats.

november 13, 2009 720pm

A few months back, Krys Kagan sent me a recipe for making liquid laundry detergent. I still had quite a bitof store bought detergent left, so I decided that when I did run out, I would make my own. Well, that finally happened, so last week I successfully attempted to make my own detergent. It was simple. The only thing that I did not have was a 5 gallon bucket, but Robert helped me improvise. Also, when I put the homemade detergent in the washer while the water was filling, it did not produce many bubbles. I got on the internet to look for other websites about making liquid detergent and came across this one. It is the same recipe but she explains why it does not sud up much and why that is fine and dandy. If you are interested, here is the website with the recipe.

My usual run includes me running from my house to the trail and back. I run down Bouldin, turn right on Barton Springs and then make a left on South First. WELL, I do not know if you have noticed or not (probably not), but at the southwest corner of Barton Springs and South First, there is a small area that is usually populated with flowers. For a couple months now, I have noticed an AMAZING patch of swiss chard growing. I bet most people see it as decoration, but I see it as food. Swiss chard is a type of green, but it has hints of red with the green, which makes it pleasing to the eye. One of these nights when I am up past midnight, I am going to go "shopping" in that little garden.

Many of my life extra activities have come to a halt due to this full time job of mine paired with part time schooling. I had to put off violin lessons for a couple months. I have also had very little time and energy to cook. I made some hummus this past week for my daily lunch of tacos. I also made this badass vegan Mexican Casserole from a recipe Krys Kagan posted on her blog. It was a hit at the work potluck. Everyone loved it. I only had a little bit to take home for dinner. I added some green chilies and red pepper flakes to the vegan cheese sauce, because I like everything spicy in my life. Also, I got home from the grocery store and realized that I forgot to buy corn tortillas (one of the MAIN ingredients)? Halfway through shopping, my list blew off my cart and was nowhere to be found. I assumed I had everything. I assumed incorrectly. I was DREADING riding my bike back to the HEB when I remembered that I had some instant corn masa flour. So, I took the extra time to make tortillas, but it was worth it.

Jabba has been more of a cuddle bug as of late. He has been napping with me (when I actually have the chance.) Here he is taking a nap with me. His body is like a large sausage. I like to roll him around in the floor.

november 03, 2009 1000pm

This past Sunday we celebrated my godson Adam's first birthday... Adam Kagan, not my boyfriend Adam Rader. Rader is a bit older than one year. Adams Kagan's REAL birthday is shared with my own, October 17.

Halloween was fun. On Friday, I dressed as Max, from Where the While Things Are, at work. I doubt I will win the contest, but it ended up being a cute costume. That night I went to see Master Pancake Theatre do Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). I won the costume contest they had. The prize? 2 tickets to see Rob Zombie! Yeah! Grizz helped me sell them to Zach for $40. So I guess I technically won $40. NICE.

On Saturday night, I dressed as Lindsey Verrill, my housemate. Dru and I snuck into her room Thursday night and I hand selected my Lindsey attire straight from her closet. She was pleasantly surprised and flattered. Dru dressed as our other housemate, Dan Grissom. We all went to the Mohawk for the White Ghost Shivers Halloween Ball. On the bike ride home, some drunken woman put her plastic baby doll in my basket. Maybe she felt that it was safer with me. She was probably right.