valerie bromann:::journal

1. Dallas is winning the race against Charlottesville for places to visit. They have several muffler men and the World's Largest Patio Chair. Although the Patio Chair comes nowhere close to the World's Largest Rocking Chair...I base all of my travel decisions on who has the largest what.

2. Last Wednesday Chelsa and I went for some Turkish food at Cafe Orchid. I had the Uskudar which tasted kind of like eggplant parmesan if you substituted lamb for the mozzarella. Delicious!

3. Friday night we had a ticketing department field trip to see Eric's moustache in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. His moustache was so awesome in the play! It played a very pivotal role.

It was also Matt's last day at work. I was sad :(

We were all sad to see him go and happy for Eric's moustache!

4. Saturday night I had to dress up all purdy and head off to a gala at work. Basically I had to follow around a photographer for two hours and take people's names. Fun stuff, eh? I got to stay for the cabaret though, which was awesome. I mean, how often do you get to see Mark Delavan singing Johnny Cash and playing his guitar?

(I had to memorialize my boxed dinner)

Afterwards I headed over to The Southern. Two weeks ago The Southern was Chaise Lounge. But then they closed and reopened. I was supposed to go on Thursday for their friends and family soft opening because Mat is a waiter there but then he told me they had too many people and I couldn't go. Lame.

So I went on Saturday and it was more bar-y than restaurant-y now. But they had delicious peach martinis. I had three of them while I waited for Mat to get off work. Then some amaretto. :-)

5. So, Valentines Day is Sunday. Sigh :(
All my secret admirers out there should feel free to send pink flowers to my Roscoe Village address...or to my work on Friday ;-)

1. Heather has reminded me of a few things I forgot to write. Like that on my birthday on my way out she bound out of her room singing the Disney Happy Birthday song! Or that the cake I made for her had her favorite homemade frosting that is all butter and powdered sugar and deliciousness :-)

2. I kind of need to get away and am considering taking a massive road trip in April...suggestions on where to go? Right now I am kind of debating between visiting someone who I've met three times or visiting someone who I've met for three hours...

3. Man vs. Food Live was on this week! Actually it was pretty boring, but the Sheas were hosting it. That was odd and awesome.

4. I've been highly distracted lately. I don't know if this is really how I feel or if I've convinced myself of it. It probably doesn't matter.

5. I am also considering dying my hair red again. I am always considering that. Thoughts?

6. Couples Snuggie. Who wants to share with me?

7. "It's like in high school when you'd try to run into someone in the hallway. Except replace 'hallway' with 'internet.'"

8. Sometimes you don't sleep well one night but instead of going to bed early the next day you convince a friend to come over at 11:30pm and drink wine until 2:30am...

9. Typically January is my worst work month of the year. But subscriptions are on sale! With little drama! Having more control over the content made everything so much easier.

10. Me: Want to go to Vegas tomorrow? Him: I can't. Me: OK, how about Amsterdam?

Heather's birthday was...
...dinner at Riverview Tavern - nacos and mushroom pizza. And mango martinis.
....pool and darts and juke box albums at Four Treys. And a random dog.
.....a final drink at Four Moon.
......cake (by special request - white cake from a box with vanilla frosting) and wine and snuggie wearing back at the apartment.

Happy Birthday Heather!

More photos here.

one.
Thursday at around 3pm the new Superdawg location in Wheeling announced that it was now open. SO of course I went for dinner. Because, really, how often do you get to say you went to Superdawg on its opening day? About every 60 years, that is how often! I got myself a Superdawg and Superveggies and a chocolate shake. And I totally managed to dump ranch dressing all over my car!

More of a write-up at Silly America.
More photos here.




two.
I determined last night, standing over the stove, eating raw on the inside, burnt on the outside Swedish pancakes straight from the pan, that I will never have my favorite pancakes again because my dad was the only one who could make them right.




three.
Yesterday we gathered at Glen and Jen's to watch 24. They made jambalaya.

Here are some of my thoughts on the current season of 24:
- If you are infiltrating the Russian mafia, don't you think you should be talking with a Russian accent?
- How can I turn my Blackberry into a bomb? Is there an ap for that?
- Do they not have phones in a presidential motorcade? Is calling and saying "you might want to pull over" really harder than speeding around people and blowing yourself up?
- You are already on plot #2...I wonder when we will find out what this season is really about.
- Really, CTU, you might want to start doing better on your background checks. Walmart has a better system that you.
- Speaking of which, it is apparently really easy for anyone to find the Counter Terrorism Unit. Shouldn't they do better to hide themselves?




four.
Bison mini-burgers on toasted pretzel bread.





five.
Scallops with asparagus.





six.
In November Chelsa and I went to the Fifth for dinner. I never told you that. It was one of their first weeks opening and they were offering 50% off food if you followed them on Twitter. We had free savory doughnuts, and a cheese plate, and I got chicken and Chelsa got a burger. It was good but nothing I would go out of my way to go to again.

seven.
Last Friday my boss took some of us out to Greektown for dinner right after work. I got home drunk at 11. My boss is a bad influence.




eight.
Last Friday Chelsa and I went to the French Market for lunch. We split an order of curry chicken and an order of fries with mayonnaise and peanut sauce. Delicious fries.




nine.
Last Thursday Mat came over and we went to the moon for dinner. I had meatloaf. Then we played Guitar Hero because after 9 months of it sitting around I finally set up the Wii. After 4 weeks of it sitting in the freezing cold of my car I also finally brought up my new TV.

Heather and my birthdays are only ten days apart. Which kind of makes January a super-awesome month for partying. We celebrated my birthday on my birthday on Tuesday. And we will surely celebrate again for Heather next Friday...but there was nothing stopping us from hosting an event in between!

Last night we had an amazingly awesome party at Lincoln Karaoke. After a quick stop for Guatemalan food Heather and Jeremy and Alyssa and I headed over to Lincoln Square to meet up with about a bazillion other people. We got to Lincoln Karaoke at 9 and a few were already awaiting us. The place kind of looks like a cross between a dentist's office and a red light district brothel. You walk in to a plain white office-type space and then the guy leads you through some non-descript hallways into a room. Not everyone was there right at 9 so we were ushered into a small room which we quickly knew would not cut it for long. The karaoke machines were cranked up and we sang songs to the background of random Korean music videos and nature scenes that really had nothing to do with the song we were singing.

I loved the space for so many reasons. First you got your own room so you saved the embarrassment of singing in front of anyone you didn't know (or at least you semi-know everyone). Not that I get embarrassed my horrid karaoke skills. 2) Since you get your own room you don't get to experience that put your name in for a song and wait an hour until they call your name thing that happens at regular places. 3) There were several mics. So basically it was more of an everyone sings along if they know the song instead of one person stands while everyone stares.

We ended up with a pretty large crowd. Definitely over 30. I didn't even try to count. I was so excited that some people I hadn't seen in a long time came out and some people from Urbana. So they moved us into a much bigger room to finish off most of our night.

I don't really remember how much I had to drink. But the good thing about it being your birthday is that you can demand people bring you vodka cranberries all night :)

And then the owner made me do a shot he called the "Rocky Mountain Bear Fucker" which I managed to take in only three gulps with a lime as a chaser. How many times have I mentioned that I can't do shots here? At least I didn't throw up on myself though :)

We ended up staying until three in the morning and we sang everything from everyone. ABBA and System of a Down to Skid Row and Radio Head and Madonna and Pearl Jam and Ace of Base everything in between. And it was amazing. Well, a lot of the singing was awful. But that is what karaoke is. Awful singing

It was such a blast singing until the wee hours of the morning with tons of close friends and new friends. Thanks to everyone who came out and sang or didn't sing!

More photos here!

I've kind of always loved my birthday. It mostly stems from the fact that I grew up with a lot of social anxiety and my birthday always was the one time of the year that I felt I could plan something and expect people to come. And its a day where you can allow yourself just about anything because it's your birthday.

For instance, you can wear a new pair of fuzzy socks. And a brand new Anthropologie sweater you've been saving for months. And stop for a Starbucks mocha in the morning. And get Chipotle tacos for lunch (even though you know you'll be having a big dinner). And eat several cookies your coworker baked for you and some coffee cake your department bought.

Apparently "allow yourself anything" means "allow yourself to gain 50 pounds in one day."

So on Tuesday I turned 29. If you don't know me well are you shocked? See, I am dealing quite wonderfully with the fact that I am a year shy of 30 because I still look 24 or so. I am finally at the point in my life where I love looking much younger than I am.

Since Heather's birthday us next week we decided to do a big joint party this weekend, but I still made an excuse to have people come out! Because really, who wants to sit at home alone watching American Idol on their birthday?

My theory on birthdays: if it's on a weekday you get to have two parties.

I met up with a few friends at Volo Wine Bar for dinner and drinks. It's a nice little place and right down the block from me. Unfortunately a bunch of people had to cancel for various reasons but I still had a few come out.

It was nice to see Nadia and Josh because I hardly ever see them anymore. And Heather and Alyssa came too! I had a flight of whites, a glass of Riesling, some mussels in a garlicky white wine sauce (that I may have finished off like soup), some Wagu Steak Tartare with a sweet sesame cracker, and duck confit. See, your birthday is an excuse to eat anything and everything you desire.

After dinner Nadia and I headed back to my place and Eric and Eric's friend Adam and Chelsa and Jen came over.

Eric looked through my photo albums but alas I had no dance recitals to show him. He was also impressed that we no longer lived in a frat house.

We busted out the cards for Trivial Pursuit 80s. I told everyone that the game was impossible and that the answer to every other question was Ronald Reagan. Eric read a question. Chelsa said "Ronald Reagan." She was correct.

Alyssa gave me a present. It was in the freezer with Jack Bauer. I love Jack Bauer. Just sayin.

Turned out to be some high heel shaped plastic ice cubes. In pink. Of course. I put them in everyone's wine.

We cut the pink sparkle cake and used some candles that were in a candle holder. Heather held my hair back so that I wouldn't set myself on fire. And I made everyone sing. Again, on your birthday you can get anything you want.

We had lots of dessert wine. OK, maybe I had lots of dessert wine.

Eric left early to go make a porn with Adam. Here's a sneak peak of it...

Thank you to all those who came out! :-) Happy birthday to me :-)

p.s. by the end of the night my photos were getting really bad...

Saturday afternoon was...
coffee at Julius Meinl.
brunch at Southport Grocery.
Hash with mushrooms and eggs and sour cream.
I picked around the peppers.
Waiting forever for the check and being told that we just had to go up front.
Even though they brought a check to the people next to us.
we swear.
Buying pink sprinkles.
a giant blow up of a drunk guy drinking beer at kinkos.

Saturday night was...
Ron's birthday party.
Rum and cokes.
Ron taking a piece of cake with no fanfare.
Ron's tongue turning blue.
A guy telling me the same story about his nickname three times in ten minutes without realizing it.
A guy throwing up and using my coat as a blanket.

Sunday night was...
24 premiere!
Veggie lasagna.
putting together the sky.
Jack wielding an Ax!

Monday was...
baking.
Heather was perplexed by the fact that you could bake a cake without a box of cake mix.
my cake fell apart so we smooshed it together.
And then I covered it in pink frosting.
And then I covered it in pink sugar.
And then I covered it in pink pig sprinkles.

1. Tuesday Chelsa and I headed to BW3s for some wings, because I haven't been there in forever and I like their wings because I like the selection of mild sauces and I am a wimp.

2. Last night Mat and I went to the iO and saw Felt and another group. It was a really funny program. And he explained how improv worked in a way that made me actually get it. Not that I didn't get it before but I always thought when the audience yelled out the suggestion of nougat they were supposed to do an improv show about nougat, but apparently they aren't.

3. American Idol Started again. I watched the first episode and didn't pay much attention to it. I haven't watched last night's episode yet.

4. The 2010 color of the year is turquoise. This makes me happy because everything I own is pale to this shade of blue. And now I will be able to own more.

5. I am in love with this Polaroid. Except I am a little creeped out by their new creative director.

6. Remember when my credit card was cancelled and I thought it was for no reason? I actually think there was fraud and it is still happening! UGH! I don't know how to deal! There was a random charge on my last statement then it occurred again on this one (this is after my card was replaced so I am so confused!) I called the company and they wanted me to give them my cc number to look up the charges...umm, yeah, I am not handing my number to people who I already think are charging me unfairly! Hopefully the bank can deal with this...

7. I always crave Bonkers and Dynamints. All my favorite candies were discontinued after the 80s.

8. "We'd cover more sky if we stayed split up."

9. Oh, so I went to see Doctor Pain about my back. He said it was nothing and to just stretch it. I kind of figured but it lasted a long time. It feels better now. I need to make an appointment with a podiatrist next though. I am falling apart.

10. Top Ten Things I want (or have) to spend a lot of money on that I need money for:

1. Backpacking Europe/Australia/New Zealand/etc.
2. Road tripping the U.S.
3. New Camera (Yes, I know I just bought one last year, but if I want to do anything professionally it is wise to have a second body)
4. Canon 35mm 1.4 lens (because almost every photographer I admire says its their favorite)
5. Condo...eventually.
6. Wedding...eventually.
7. Surf Camp. And Swimming lessons (to take before surf camp.)
8. New Computer. Considering switching to Mac because all I do is design work and photography, in which case, new software too...
9. Asia, Africa, Antarctica, everywhere else in the world, etc. etc.
10. College Debt.

In my effort to save money I've been touting around my old Intermezzo travel mug full of coffee each morning. Chelsa commented on it the other day and I told her that it was the cafe in the Krannert Center where I spent most of my undergrad volunteering.

By far, the thing I remember most about Intermezzo was the time they introduced the meal of the century: the Seven Layers of Kevin Bacon... seven burgers on a bun with a side of your choice. It was amazing. OK, so it tasted really disgusting. But it was amazing. And you bet when I got it I ate the whole thing...

p.s. Thank you Brian for remembering the name of it! I couldn't think of it!

As part of our new years resolutions Chelsa and I have started to make a list of restaurants in Chicago that we really want to try. On Friday we kicked off our eating out efforts with a trip to the new DMK Burger Bar.

The place was small but nice and had some weird thing on the TV that looked like what plays on Windows Media Player when you play a song. As I don't like beer and didn't feel like spending $10+ on a mixed drink I decided to go for their house-made cherry soda. Which was basically an Italian soda and was really sweet at first and then more dull taste later but was still pretty good.

I got the #1, which had bbq sauce, bacon, balsamic red onions and cheddar. It was delicious but, as with most things with bbq sauce that kind of overpowered everything else. Chelsa had a lamb burger that she really liked but she found a few little bones in it.

We shared a small order of sweet potato fries with lemon aioli dipping sauce. Those were delicious and honestly I kind of want to go back just to try some of the fries. I basically love anything made from a potato. Maybe I will just make my own flight of fries! (The small fries were only about $2-3 per a decent-sized serving, and I really would want to try the parmesan fries with truffle sauce!) Also the guy next to me got the ac and cheese, which looked yummy too. I love me some mac and cheese.

After eating we went to Bobtail to get some ice cream. Why Chelsa wanted ice cream in 0 degree weather I don't know...but I got an espresso with mint chocolate chip ice cream (I decided to deny myself my $3 savings that day). And we played Sorry but the game was missing most of its pieces and we didn't really play how we were supposed to. Oh well. I somehow managed to win both times.

Chelsa had to call it an earlyish night since she had to work the next day so I went back home. Heather was getting ready to go out to Martyrs with Alyssa. OK, she wasn't getting ready, but that seemed like a decent segue. So when Alyssa came I joined them in going to the bar. We watched some of three bands. The first one was the best and had a guy on keyboards who was also playing something from a tube in his mouth. And I had a couple of vodka and cranberries. Because Mat bought me one the other night and before that I didn't think I liked them. But now I have found out that I do and therefore have a new drink. And ALyssa and I danced, which still kind of hurt but made me feel good because it didn't hurt that much. Yay my back is getting better!