Tac Quick: 4 of 5 Zs

Here are two amazing sides from Tac Quick, a local Thai restaurant: fermented pork sausage and papaya salad. I've been there three times and love it. It truly is authentic Thai -- we always eat off the "traditional Thai menu," which you have to ask for -- which is great to try if you haven't. The preparations and ingredients are different than the typical American Thai restaurants, and it reminds me of the Thai food I had in Sydney, which is incredibly close to that of Thailand, I'm told, b/c of the number of Thai immigrants and proximitity to the motherland.

Dishes I'd recommend from Tac Quick: the Thai beef jerky; Tom Kha soup; pad thai with shrimp in an omelet; green curry with chicken, egglplant and egg; and the pork sausage. I'm sure I'd recommend more if I had samples the entire menu.

Bonus: clean atmosphere, incredibly friendly staff and cheap! Lots of bang for you buck.

It's Random Meal Week!

I just got back from the grocery store and have the makings for many individual side dishes but not a main meal:

• Sweet potatoes for mashed sweet potatoes
• Brussels sprouts for some type of dish (olive oil, a little butter and some brown sugar? no sugar and just salted?)
• Collards
• Chicken breast and green pepper to throw in with jambalaya mix from a box

I've recruited Brian to make the collards at some point, and I have to whip together the potatoes and collards on my own. Sometimes I start the week with set menus in mind. This time it's all over the place. Randomness is good sometimes.

I'm really excited for Fiber One's version of Pop Tarts in strawberry, two slices of carrot cake forwhenever and Fudgcicles, which are on sale at Jewel for those who might be interested. (Can you tell I have a sweet tooth this week?)

We'll see where this food leads!

The Concert High

Members of Airborne Toxic Event join The Henry Clay Band, the opener, on stage -- one of the many joint songs throughout the night

I'm currently on a concert high, which is what I use to describe the first 24 hours after seeing an amazing concert. They're the concerts where you find yourself sticking around after the show in hopes the excitement keeps going or you catch a glimpse of the singer. The ones you find yourself wanting to stare at the band. The ones you know you'll remember and immediately force you to shift around your list of the best concerts.

Brian and I went to Airborne Toxic Event at Metro. They're they band from L.A. that sings "Sometime Around Midnight," and we both love the CD and the band themselves. In interviews, they always seems super down-to-Earth, which is refreshing. Also shocking is we love their songwriting (how often can you say that?) and their musical talent, too. So we were pumped going into the show -- we even got there early to make sure we could see the stage clearly -- and situated ourselves center balconl.

The show kicked ass! They put so much energy into what the were doing, had just the right amount of talking with the audience, and on top of it, invited the openers to do "People Who Die" by the guy who wrote "The Basketball Diaries" (and unfortunately just died). All three groups (Matt Gomez, The Henry Clay Band and Airborne Toxic Event) were jumping up and down, jamming out, throwing water and beer on themselves and the audience and joking around with eachother -- and the audience was involved. We couldn't stop cheering and clapping! The right elements were at play.

That doesn't happen often, but when it does, it makes for a great concert experience. I got to thinking about other great concerts I've scene and how they shift around. Here are some highlights of my favorites, in no particular order:

• Airborne Toxic Event, Metro, Chicago, as I just described
• The Editors, July 2006, 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C. Being the third person back from front row in a small venue is awesome, especially when the band throws themselves into the show as they did, you're listening to one of your favorite albums with a Yeungling in hand, and you're with one of your coolest friends. It all comes back to the energy of the band, and this one had it. I lost contact of how many times I made eye contact with the lead guitarist (knowing he was a flirt) -- totally added to the show!
  
• Radiohead, Grant Park, Chicago, 2002 or something? Perfect quality, perfect scene: a warm summer night with the Chicago skyline in the background (and good friends with you to boot!)
• Coldplay, Riverbend (?), Cincinnatti, 2005. I was with one of my favorite friends, Cynthia, front row at one of my favorite bands. Need I say more?
• Coldplay, The Rave, Milwaukee, 2001. Small venue (about 3,000 people) before the band turned huge. Everyone there knew their songs and sang along; Chris Martin made the most of it and was probably one of the most interactive, personal concerts I've ever been to. I can't remember if it was before or September 11, but I do remember him teaching the audience the lyrics (for those who didn't know it) to "Everything's Not Lost" for the closing song of the encore. Dare I say it was sprirtual? My friends Jen and Justin felt like it too. 
• Peter Yorn, August 2009, Park West. A more mature Pete Yorn decides to sing one of my favorite songs. He's one of my favorite artists. Just an overall good night.
• U2, United Center, May 2005. Laurie and I were about 50 feet away from the stage, knew all the lyrics and just had some moments. Classic moment: At the start of "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" blurting out, "Ah! The song of my life!" to spur Laurie to say, "But that's the song of MY life!" We still joke about it.
• Cari Clara, 2005, Cincinnati. So there's this guy in Cincinnati who used to record individual parts of songs and put them together himself, then have his friends learn the parts so he can do acoustic sets in Allyn's Cafe. He goes by Cari Clara and also wears red pants a lot (or used to) and exudes "rock star." I love the CD, so hearing it live was definitely a moment. Having him dedicate a song to the Chicagoan in the audience may or may night have been a highlight. :)
  

There are so many more concert memories that should be on the list -- The Twilight Singers with Cynthia, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah with Brian, my first concert ever (REM). I'm sure as the years go on they'll creep their way back up depending on what I'm remembering the most. Here's to the artists that make the memories for us!

Food of Late! (Restaurant Edition)

Sushi at Green Tea, Lincoln Park. Some of the freshest, best-prepared and reasonably priced sushi in town (4.5 out of 5 Zs)

I never knew about Vaccaro's Italian Pastries while I went to the University of Maryland, but apparently they're famous. After a visit, I could see why. Mounds of custard, eclairs, cakes and more beam from the refrigerated cases. Thanks to my friend Mindy, I experienced the rum cake (above) -- layers of yellow cake soaked in rum with vanilla and chocolate custart -- and cream puff.

Black bean frittata (I hate that word) at Great Sage in Maryland. Great Sage is the first stylish, clean vegetarian and vegan place I've been to whose atmosphere was more in line with mainstream people who aren't hippies, although clearly the people there and zen vibe came through. No fruit flies buzzing around. Very clean.

Oh, heavenly Chik-Fil-A chicken 'n' biscuit, how I wish thee were in Chicago (locations nationwide. Except within 35 miles of Chicago, of course).

Amish Chicken with herbs (can't remember details. sorry) at Feast in Wicker Park. I think Feast is a tasty, reliable restaurant. I'm never wowed there, but it's thoughtful, the menu has variety, and people always like it. Great for parents or people with varied tastes.

My New Favorite Stroke

Hear ye, hear ye: I have a new favorite stroke. For the past four swims I've incorporated about 10 min. of backstroke, and it's fun and also very efficient. I'm good at it, too (unlike writing ads, but that's a different blog).

The best part is my heart rate stays up. I was hesitate to do backstroke because the people I generally see doing it are lazying around. They're usually overweight and not committed to their workout at the time I'm watching them. That's fine, but the image doesn't make me want to jump into it. I've also been afraid -- for the past two years -- to not do freestyle, which is what 99 percent or so of triathletes do in the water. Why wouldn't I try to perfect it?

I've had it all wrong. I did learn proper backstroke technique in college but only jumped back into it when I read a sentence in a swim column in Triathlete magazine: Doing the backstroke makes you stand taller, and you develop leaner muscles. Here's to the power of the written word, because that image of a tall, thin swimmer stuck with me. (Note how much images influence me? Or is it ignorance?) The article dove into detail (no pun intended) about  all the benefits. I was convinced. And I appreciate the variety to my workout, too.

That's actually what the off-season is about: variety. Trying new things without the pressure of going hard each time. Going slow so you can focus on technique. What will next week bring?

Ad Class Recovery

My self-imposed 24-hour ad class recovery officially ended last night, so I was back at it today brainstorming for my next assignments. Twenty-four hours is what I allow myself to feel like a loser (it's about 22 hours if you count the last two hours of class).

It's been about five weeks since class started -- this week was a version of "mid-terms" -- and I can tell you the following: I am not destined for advertising. I'm a firm believer in the "either you got it or you don't" philosophy, and I don't got it.

I don't say that b/c my ads are getting ripped to shreds, which they are; the kids who "get it" get their fair share of criticism, too, but you can tell they know how to improve and what to improve on. I hear the advice, and I've read a great book that really taught me a lot, too, and it just ain't clickin'. That's what kills me. Of course, my instructors critique based on standards of major ad agencies, while at this point I'd like to be critiqued on an average agency level. Perhaps shitty agency level. Either would help me at this point.


Although I didn't sign up for the class with the intent to go into advertising, I admit I'm crushed. I have never, ever struggled so much with anything visual or involving words before. That's my schtick! And I'm failing at it.  It's so bad, that when we were randomly paired up, it dawned on me that it's extremely likely I might be the one who no one wants to be with, not because they don't like me, but because it's not a smart business move. (You know what I'm talking about; pairing up with the smart kids!) I have never been that person that's avoided. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa, damn it! I'm smart! 

Another confession: Deep down inside, I was hoping I'd turn out to be a hidden talent and therefore have a new, bright, shiney career aspiration in front of me. Um, next?.

Next week will be hilarious. My partner is this really cool Japanese woman who you can tell is smart and very creative. Her weakness is making the cultural translations, and the language gets in the way sometimes, too. My weakness is I'm just not getting it! (Truth: I was hoping to have a mid-term review that looked at my work, spotted a trend and told me how to review, but that's not quite what happened). The good news is we're both positive people, already brainstorming ideas, and her presentations kick ass. Woot!

In my defense, this is almost like signing up for a senior-year advertising portfolio class, although our lasts three quarters and you're expected to start from scratch. And I definitely wonder what it would be like if this were an actual, in-depth advertising class rather than a critque session that meats for three hours each week. (Can't get a lot more done than that).

Wish me luck. Our group project is for Zipcar and our individual assignment is for Ruffles potato chips. The assignment sheet instructs us to eat a bag of Ruffles and then do a campagin of three ads.

At least there's comfort food involved.

My Gym, My Community: Time for a Change?

I spent my flight home from Baltimore (great trip, btw!) catching up on all the articles I clipped from Brian's Triathlete magazine reference library we recently pitched (correction: I made him pitch). As you can see in the photo on the left, we had a few set aside as permanent reading material in the master bathroom. They dated back to 2005, which makes me laugh but really did allow me to go have my choice of articles to save to read now that I'm a more serious triathlete.

Note the words "more serious," as in "more serious than I was before." Newbies and sprint distance triathletes can definitely take away a lot of good information from the magazine on everything from sample workouts to exercise physiology. But make no mistake that the core audience is die-hard triathletes, many who do 70.3s and Ironmans.

A normal sentence in Triathlete might read, "After your morning workout, make sure to eat plenty of protein to help your body recover. That way, by the time you get to your evening set, you'll still have energy left to burn." Another favorite sentiment: "After an intense hour and a half of working out, it's good to stretch before jumping into your final run."

Hah! 1) I only have one formal workout a day, thank you very much, and 2) Who has enough time to spend hours at the gym? I'm there for 1 hr. 15 min. during the week (all my sched and gym's opening time allows) and about 2 hours when I can be on the weekends. I could go longer on the weekends but usually am happy with that amount and have stuff to do!

So I glean what I can from the magazine, and it is a good one. I got through about 10 articles on my flight home, and I walked off the plane pumped to take my training to the next level. I really hate keeping tabs on sets, so "stepping it up" for me, Sara, who has a life and doesn't want triathlon to eat up all my free time, would be to increase the time I spend at the gym. And that would mean switching gyms.

Horrors! I heart my gym. I know the people there, and they know me. By name. Sometimes we smile and nod. Sometimes we chat about an exercise class, or an injury, or a race. Regardless, they're all nice people, and it's my third community (work and friends/family being the other two). I've built up a relationship over the three years with it and the thought of letting it go troubles me. And not just b/c of the people, but the facilities. The building's old -- the locker rooms are spotless but have permanent dirt marks that don't impress -- but exercise equipment is new. The spin bikes are nicer than most gyms'. The core workout equipment is awesome. And the vibe is down-to-earth; we do not have a problem with cell phones or people who wear makeup to workout. 

If you belong to my gym, you're nice, you appreciate diversity and you're there to workout. The sense of community is a major bonus.

But the truth is, it's holding me back on my training, and every time I get a surge of energy from a Triathlete article, I struggle to fit the tips into my routine: Because of the limited lap swim time in the pool, I can't swim whenever I want. Because it only opens at 5:30 a.m., I can't tack on an extra 20 min. to add something new -- I do have to make it to work on time, after all. My evening availability is limited and doesn't allow me to commit to a workout routine, so I pretty much have to keep it to mornings.

The other gym I'm considering -- Brian's gym -- is more expensive. The people tend to be a snottier. It's all well-off white people and a ton of kids. And while there def. are some nice people there, the overall vibe isn't one I like. It would however accommodate my schedule, including swim and cycle flexibilities. That's huge when you're trying to excel at three sports while incorporating others.

Is it time to give up my gym? Brian's told me to give him the word to tack me on to his plan. It's up to me to make the call.