Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Why I Love The Fair

NEW FOOD ITEMS FOR THE 2006 STATE FAIR OF TEXAS
(These are the new items only--they don't include all the good ol' stuff like corn dogs and fried pickles with spicy ranch!)

Beef & Beans Fire Bowl – A fired-up, one-dish meal made from ground beef, spicy beans, corn, crushed red peppers and Hotter N Hell seasoning covered with a baked-on jalapeno cornbread top. Not for the weak-hearted.

Cajun Shrimp On A Stick – Spicy shrimp in a custom Cajun batter, fried and served with a choice of dipping sauce.

Candy Apple Turnover – A flaky turnover, filled with apples, crushed red candy and brown sugar, is deep fried and topped with powdered sugar.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries On-a-Stick – Fresh strawberries are skewered on a stick and dipped in deliciously warmed chocolate.

Cinnamon Praline Bananas Foster -- Caramelized banana rum sauce poured over Blue Bell Cinnamon ice cream, covered with whipped cream and topped off with a rich pecan praline sauce.

Deep Fried Cosmopolitan - Contest Finalist – A delicious fried pastry is filled with rich cheesecake and topped with a sweet & tangy cranberry glaze and a lime wedge. Served on a stick.

Donkey Tails - Contest Finalist – Large all-beef franks, slit on one side and generously stuffed with sharp cheddar cheese, are wrapped tightly in a large flour tortilla and fried until golden brown. Served with mustard, chili, or Ruth's salsa.

Down Home Banana Pudding Cheesecake – Created for people who like the rich flavor of homemade pudding or the elegance of cheesecake, the ingredients include bananas, pecans, cream cheese, brown sugar, coffee liqueur in a vanilla wafer crust. Served on a small plate.

Fernie's Fried Chicken n' Waffle – A toasted 7" round waffle, brushed with melted butter and topped with three extra-crunchy honey-battered chicken breast tenders. Served with syrup or white cream gravy. Sweet and salty.

Fernie's Fried Choco-rito - Contest Finalist – A flour tortilla – stuffed with marshmallows, coconut, candy bar pieces, caramel morsels and cinnamon – is dipped in pancake batter and deep fried to a crispy, crunchy outside and sweet, gooey inside. Drizzled with honey and topped with whipped cream.

Fernie's Fried Mac 'n Cheese - Contest Finalist – Texas-sized bites of macaroni & cheese, covered with a layer of garlic & herb-flavored bread crumbs, are deep fried until crispy outside and hot & cheesy inside. Served on a stick with a side of dipping sauces.

Fried Avocadoes – Hand-battered chunks of scrumptious avocado are breaded and fried to perfection. Choice of dipping sauces. A culinary hit in California.

Fried Baked Potatoes – French fries right out of the fryer are topped with a choice of queso cheese sauce, bacon bits, chives or butter.

Fried Cinnamon Crispas – Hand-cut strips of flour tortillas are crispy fried and dusted with cinnamon sugar.

Fried Coke - Contest Finalist – Smooth spheres of Coca-Cola-flavored batter are deep fried, drizzled with pure Coke fountain syrup, topped with whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a cherry. Served in souvenir contoured glasses.

Fried Pancake Sundae – Tasty country sausage bites wrapped in a light pancake batter, deep fried to perfection , topped with whipped cream, lightly glazed with hot fudge sauce and finished with a cherry on top. Pineapple and strawberry glaze options available.

Fried Praline Perfection - Contest Finalist – Guaranteed to melt in your mouth. Plump coconut and pecan pralines, battered and fried to a rich golden crust. Served warm with powdered sugar.

Hast Texas BBQ Nachos – Fair-famous Hast Texas Nachos are topped with BBQ beef and covered with a special-recipe sauce.

Melon Monroe – Honey dew melon sauce ladled over chocolate chip ice cream, topped with whipped cream then garnished with two fried-dough, shaped "legs" filled with a special caramel sauce. Served fresh out of the fryer. "Some like it hot !"

S'mores – A new twist on a campfire favorite. Two graham crackers are pressed together with a marshmallow crème filling, skewered on a stick and dipped in delicious chocolate.

Texas Cajun Steak On-a-Stick – Tender morsels of steak coated in a spicy Cajun batter, fried golden brown and served on a stick with red or white dipping sauce.

Texas Waffle – An extra large waffle is freshly cooked and topped with whipped cream and a choice of chocolate, strawberry or pineapple sauce.

Texas Trash – In response to fairgoers' requests, this to-go sack of less-than-whole Hast Texas Nacho chips is served up in a white doughnut-style bag.

Wedgee's – Frozen chocolate-covered Wisconsin cheesecake-on-a-stick offered in Turtle (caramel) and Key Lime flavors.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Make New Friends But Keep The Old

Today I got an email from one on my old bosses and good friends, Christina. It was so good to hear from her! She was always more of a friend than a boss to me, which made my work life much more enjoyable. She now has a second son, David, which I'm so excited about! I remember when she was pregnant with Joey and I got to see him at the hospital the day after he was born--such a cute little guy! I'm only sorry that we're so much farther away from her now or I'd go and see her right away!

I start working at my new WS tomorrow. Pray that I meet some great people and enjoy the new management! I had such a great team at my old store and I miss them but I'm hoping my new team is just as wonderful. Stop by if you're in the Galleria, I just might be working! The demo area in my new store is quite a bit bigger than my old space so I'm hoping they remember how much I said I love doing demo. I think I'll print out some WS recipes today to show some initiative. Gotta go do some work around this place--I think Sam is calling my name to go outside!

4 days until the Fair, the Fair!

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Cool Weather

The heat has finally subsided! Last I saw the weather this morning, it was a cool 67--that's amazing for middle-of-September Dallas weather! Yesterday couldn't have been prettier for Stephanie's moving day: it was sunny, but not hot, and there was even a little bit of a breeze. Of course, the night ended on a good note: a trip to IKEA! Hooray! Stephanie needed some CD/DVD holders (the same ones that we got--we've now spread the joy to both Becca and Steph) and a tv stand since her current one is a bit rickety. I hope everything is going ok at her new place; I haven't talked to her yet this morning...

Michael's new job is going well. He got his new laptop and case yesterday and had his first "real" workday. He also had to wear a tie and suit all day since he got his picture taken for the website (www.pattonboggs.com but the picture's not up as of this morning). He also had to do a draft of some sort of legal document (I don't remember what he said, sorry) that a partner wanted by this afternoon but he got it done yesterday late afternoon/evening! (Can you tell I'm proud of him?!) Oh, and he has a secretary! Her name is Bernice and he shares her with 2 other attorneys but still it's very fancy schmancy. And I'm sure she's nice and helpful. He does have his own office (with a window!) on the 28th floor but he'll only be there for 3 weeks, after that, they're moving him up to the 32nd floor so he's waiting to put pictures up and whatnot. Smart move, I think.

That's about it for now. I'm going to venture forth and try and find the closest Kohls today, I think. I also have some cleaning and wrapping of baby presents to do. Oh, and I start working at WS next Mon. so wish me luck that everything goes well with my new team!

10 days until The Fair!!!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Ireland Photos

Powerscourt Gardens

Powerscourt Manor

Newgrange Passage Tomb

Guinness Factory

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

Sunday, September 10, 2006

We're Baaaack!

Hello all,

Well, we survived 4 plane flights and the perils of jet-lag and being without luggage for a few days and are now back to an almost-normal life! Ireland was WONDERFUL!! So gorgeous, so green, so rural (outside of Dublin and Shannon, of course). I'll post pictures later when I'm on a faster connection. We both highly recommend visiting Ireland but only if you're going to be brave and drive around the countryside by yourself. You really can't see Ireland any other way. Once you get past the initial terror and nervousness of driving on the wrong side of the road (which only took us 1 day to get over!) you can revel in the joy of being able to stop wherever, and whenever, you want. You can get a million great pictures on your own (or, in our case, almost 800) and it's a very freeing sensation. I just can't believe we're back already. As all vacations go, after so much planning, it's over too quickly. I wonder where we'll go next...


We missed our adorable Sam, of course, but he says he had a grand old time with Aunt Stephanie, Aunt Bunny, Aunt Keri, Uncle Nathen, Gracie, Teeny and Sadie. Thank you for taking such good care of him!!


Michael got his diploma today and it says "High Honors" on it, which is FANTASTIC!! I can't wait to frame it and hang it in his office downtown! I call in to work on the 18th (yes, I transferred to another WS here until I figure out what I want to do next) and Michael starts on the 14th, so he'll have a very short first week. After sleeping all of yesterday away, Sam is now...sleeping...again...on our couch. Such is the life of a dog. Our upcoming events include: Stephanie's birthday (hooray!!!), packing/moving Steph, going to the Fair (the Fair, the Fair!), and then going to Sea World for our 2nd ticket day once it cools off a bit. Not sure how holidays are going to work yet with Michael's schedule. We'll see how that goes soon, I suppose.


Maybe I'll go swimming today...Slainte! (
Slan-cha...Irish for cheers!)

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Condensed Version

Here's the condensed version of the last 48+ hours: plane from DFW to Chicago was late because of stupid air traffic controllers in Chicago. Bumped plane to an hour and a half late. Could possibly miss connecting flight b/c of this, so change flights. This flight also gets delayed but only leaves 10 min. after time of original flight. REALLY annoying people on flight to Dublin--spoiled loud preteens and whatnot. Arrive in Dublin. Luggage does not. Pretty much wear the same clothes and shower in the worst shower in the entire world for 2 days. Luggage arrives tonight at 8pm. Happy dance!!

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Ireland, Here We Come!

We leave tomorrow for the Emerald Isle! We are SO excited--please say some prayers that all legs of our flights go off (and land) smoothly!

This week has been a teensy bit hectic but it's all been fun. Well, 90% of it has been fun. The 10% that wasn't fun was that I got an ear infection on Tues. It hurt like the dickens both inside my ear and down the side of my neck, near my jawline, and it hurt to move my head in certain directions. After 2 days of pain, I decided that it was necessary to see the doctor for several reasons: 1.) I haven't had an ear infection since I was probably about 7 years old or so, 2.) my throat was hurting too, 3.) with flying I
really didn't want my ears to be hurting beforehand, much less in the air with pressure and 4.) I remember why I hated ear drops so much as a kid. Not fun. So, I saw the doctor, got some antibiotics and a decongestant and have since finished taking the antibiotics (which is good because I'm apparently part of the 5% of people who get stomach pains, nausea and intestinal distress from this medicine).

The 90% fun stuff was, in this order,: 1.) our new chair-and-a-half and ottoman were delivered and we now have a real living room, 2.) almost all of our pictures and whatnot are hanging on the walls, 3.) we've ordered toll tags so we'll be able to get around Dallas even more easily when we get back, 4.) our washer and dryer got delivered!, 5.) I was told that I'm going to be working at the Williams-Sonoma in the Galleria, right by the apt.!, 6.) my dad came to visit for a couple of days, which is always fun (except I got my booty kicked in Scrabble and Upwords) and slightly boozy (LOL!) and 7.) Stephanie spent the night last night (there were plumbing issues at her house--it wasn't pretty) and we get Liberty Grace today.


Cheers to all and we'll be back in September!

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Finally in Dallas!!!

WE'RE HERE!!!! Admittedly, we've been here for 1 week and 3 days so far but with the sluggishly slow dial-up that we currently have at home, surfing the 'Net has not been so very fun lately. We just finished eating at Atlanta Bread Co. and are using their fast (and free!) Internet--hooray!

Moving day went quite smoothly. Abracadabra Movers ("Poof! You're moved!") did an excellent job (loading us in in Austin at a rapid 1 hour and 15 min.) on both ends. I highly recommend them if you're moving from Austin to Dallas. Stephanie and Becca were troopers and helped me do some major unpacking before Michael ever got here. Much obliged, I'm sure. We only have a few boxes left and most of those are DVDs and CDs that have no home (we got rid of our holder that we had in Austin) and Michael's done a stellar job hanging up almost all of our stuff. Best of all, our chair and a half comes tomorrow!! And, hopefully, our washer and dryer will arrive as well! My dad comes to visit this Thurs.-Sat. so he'll be the first parent to see all of our new glory! And Sam got groomed today so he'll be nice and pretty for his grandpapa!


Stephanie and I have already hit Roomstore, Ikea, Target, Walmart, BJ's and Luna de Noche--I love my sister!! And when she moves she'll be even closer than before--so exciting! Also, everyone needs to be proud of me: I got to and from Steph's house in Plano this weekend for Kris' baby shower (love you, Kris!)--I'm a big girl now!


We leave for Ireland this upcoming Mon., the 28th and we'll get back on the 8th.
If anyone can either take us to or pick us up from DFW airport, we'd be much obliged!!!! We're incredibly excited about our trip and now we're going horseback riding there too--something I was really wanting to do! (Seriously, doesn't a 90 min. mountain ride in the beautiful Irish countryside sound amazing??) So, we're getting all organized for that (spreadsheets and lists, anyone?) and trying not to get too stressed out.

That's all for now. Michael's going to kill my if I keep hogging the computer. Much love to everyone.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Sam Look Alikes!


We saw these cuties today at Town Lake Animal Shelter, Austin's city pound.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Monday, August 07, 2006

T-Minus 6 Days and Counting (that's including today)

We're moving to Dallas! We're moving to Dallas! This thought hits me at the most random times, I swear. I had my last day at the Austin WS this past Sat. It was sad but we had a good time together. I got to work with some really great people (you know who you are!) and had a lot of laughs. My love to all!

Packing is coming along. I still feel like we have a ton to do but we still have 4 days to go so I guess we'll be ok. Our travel agent, Doug, emailed me on Fri. with our list of all our Ireland lodgings, minus one that he's still working on. Plus, we have our rental car now too! Things are chugging along in all aspects of our lives, it seems.


Cooking dinner is what's going on right now: Kung Pao Chicken, yummy! I'd better go before Michael burns down the kitchen. Again.

Monday, July 31, 2006

The New Aranda Family


So Happy Together

Michael's finally back!!! It's wonderful being together again, especially without the stupid Bar hanging over our heads. :) Now we wait until Nov. to find out the results, so keep praying! I did finally start packing on Fri. night and now our walls are mostly barren, sad! But we're moving in less than 2 weeks so it's ok!!! Hooray! Yesterday we went to the city pound--not to get a dog--just to see what cuties they had. We saw a little Yorkie who was adorable and he could jump incredibly high from a dead standstill. Cutie pie! I gave him some treats. Then we went to the new art museum on UT's campus, the Blanton. It was fun and pretty cheap and the gallery is beautiful. We got some dinner (mmm, Jersey Mike's) and played Smash Bros.--I even won--twice!

In very exciting news, my friend Jeremy and his new wife Molly (they got married last Oct.) had their twins!! Both are boys: Jacob James and Joseph Powers (Molly's maiden name). They were born pretty prematurely (i.e. supposed to be due in Aug./Sept. and Molly's been on full bed rest for 3 or 4 weeks now) and only weighed in at about 3-4 lbs. each, both have tubes up their tiny noses and down their throats and Joseph has an IV in his head. Both were in NICU as of 5 days ago so please keep this new family in your thoughts and prayers.


Love to all!

Saturday, July 22, 2006

The Bar Exam

The Bar Exam is finally upon us. Michael leaves for Houston tomorrow and then is taking The Bar this upcoming Tues.-Thurs., that's the 25th-27th. Almost surprisingly, we haven't killed each other yet. These past few weeks, well, few days, really, have taught me that there's stress and then there's stress. Michael was so nervous today that he made me nervous! Fluttery, clenching stomach, the whole nine yards. Just in the last 2 weeks, we've had to deal with, "my time of the month", studying, finding a mover, studying, me being sick and then more studying. If we haven't killed each other yet then I'm guessing we never will!! Now we just want this whole ordeal behind us so that we can move, go to Ireland and start our new lives in Dallas. He'll have the computer for a week so this will probably be my last blog for a while.

Say some prayers, please, that Michael passes with flying colors.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

'Za

Cheese Pizza

Traditional and comforting.
You focus on living a quality life.
You're not easily impressed with novelty.
Yet, you easily impress others.

I Hate Being Sick

It all started about 2 days ago...suddenly, I started sneezing and sneezing. Then my sinuses started hurting and the coughing began. Now I have a full-blown mini sinus infection: sinus pressure, headache, coughing, cracked nose and lips and I'm alternating between having a stuffy nose and a runny nose. So today I've been drinking my tea and going through old magazines, which is productive since I've been wanting to do this for a while and continue on my de-cluttering process. Unfortunately, it always takes me a week to get over these, no matter how poorly I feel. Sad. Oh well, it could be worse--I could feel this way in 2 weeks when the moving insanity really begins! There's my silver lining.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

SO HOT

Today is one of those days where you just feel like you can't cool down at all. I have to say that I'm surprised that it took this long to feel this way. It is already the middle of July, after all. Today it's supposed to be a heat index of 106. Last night, at 10pm, it was still 95; now that's hot! This makes me more and more glad that we've hired movers to do all the sweating and schlepping. Speaking of which, here's my desperate plea for money: if you have any just laying around, that you happen to not need for whatever reason, feel free to send it to us! I don't really expect anyone to respond to this, it's just my way of slowly going crazy.

And what have I decided to do this hottest of all hot days? You know, the usual: lug boxes in 3 or 4 trips from WS to my steaming car and do all of the laundry--not in the air conditioned paradise of my apt., of course, but meandering my way across the parking lot multiple times.


Enjoy your day and I hope that wherever you are, you're cool!

Yarrrr!!!

Your Pirate Name Is...

Dirty Jenny of the High Seas
What's Your Pirate Name?

I actually had a few but this one was my favorite!

Everyone Should Take This Test!!

You Are Likely a First Born

At your darkest moments, you feel guilty.
At work and school, you do best when you're researching.
When you love someone, you tend to agree with them often.

In friendship, you are considerate and compromising.
Your ideal careers are: business, research, counseling, promotion, and speaking.
You will leave your mark on the world with discoveries, new information, and teaching people to dream.