Sliced avocado with Sriracha + freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt

Lately, I've been on somewhat of a health kick. I run 4-5 times a week and I've been meticulously tracking everything I eat using an app on my phone called MyFitnessPal. Just the lone act of logging my food consumption has made a pretty difference in my eating habits. I used to mindlessly snack out of boredom (a habit that once earned me the nickname "Rolls" on a project team because I surrounded myself with 3 or 4 different types of food at my desk). But I'm also lazy - and knowing that I have to put all that into my tracker has been an effective speed bump in deterring me from grabbing fistfuls of Milk Duds and shoving them all at once into my pie hole.

One of my favorite healthy-ish-maybe-Ithink snacks is sliced avocado with Sriracha sauce, garnished with freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt. I discovered this combination one day when I had a few avocados laying around but no onions or tomatoes to make guacamole with. Out of laziness (see a trend here?) I thought, what the heck, let's substitute in Sriracha, sprinkle on some s+p, and hope for the best.



The result was decidedly not guacamole-y, but really tasty in a different way. The flavors of smooth avocado and tangy, garlicky Sriracha combine beautifully into a creamy spicy blend, all enhanced by the salt and pepper. This snack perfectly fulfills my cravings for all things spicy, satisfying, and umami. Mmm...unami.

The best part is that it is ridiculously easy to make, with ingredients that are probably hanging out in your cupboard already. The hardest part is picking out an avocado that's on the firmer side. The second hardest part is resisting the urge to blend this stuff and hook it up to an IV and live out the rest of your days in Sriracha heaven.

Horseshoe Canyon Ranch

Last week, the boy and I took off a few days of work to join some friends in Jasper, Arkansas for a climbing trip in the Ozarks.

We first got into climbing a few years ago and have been doing it on and off ever since. There was a period when we were living in Glasgow in which we'd bike to the gym after work or on weekends and climb three times a week. At the peak of my strength, I was top roping the European equivalent of 5.12s and I could do two whole consecutive pull ups, which was two more than I ever imagined I could do in my life.

This was my third time climbing outdoors. Altogether there were 31 of us on this trip, including an infant. We stayed in cabins on or near the ranch and literally emptied several shelves of the nearest grocery stores when buying provisions to feed our small and hungry army.

Each morning was the same: we'd wake up early, meet at the main cabin on the ranch, pay the paltry $5 climbing fee, hike to a wall with our gear in tow, and set up our ropes.

This was a trip of several firsts for me. It was my first time lead climbing outdoors. I also cleaned my very first route, which involves climbing up the route, clipping in to the bolts at the top using a personal anchor, taking down the other anchors placed in the first place to support the rope, taking down the rope and clipping into it using a belay device, taking the personal anchor off the wall (gulp), and rappelling down to safety. This all went swimmingly until I had to rappel down, at which point I looked down, saw how high up I was, realized that nobody except me was in control of the rope that my life depended upon, and had a panic attack. After a lot of hyperventilating and coaxing and promises from below that no I would not die, I slowly and painfully rappelled my way down. Words cannot describe how good it felt to have my feet planted back on the ground after that.

I think that's part of what keeps climbing interesting for me - the twinge of fear that I still get when I look down, or the rush of excitement when I am able to finally literally grasp something that had been out of my reach. It's an activity where I can keep pushing my limits both physically and mentally. I also appreciate that climbing is something where being a relatively small person is not necessarily a handicap - in many other physical activities, that's not the case.

My sore muscles and bruised knees made sure I spent plenty of time off the wall too. In the afternoons, the hardcore climbers usually moved on to more challenging routes and I would either wander around on the ranch or soak in the hot tub and take in the beautiful, peaceful surroundings.

We converged in the evenings to play board games, drink beer, and stuff our faces with a hot meal. There aren't too many options when cooking for 31 people in a normal-sized kitchen so we went with real basic dishes like spaghetti and tacos. But it's amazing how good that stuff tastes after a long day outside.

I learned to play a game called Legends of the Three Kingdoms that's supposedly a rip-off of the card game Bang! In it, you play a role, work in a team and try to deceive others into thinking you're somebody else whilst accomplishing your mission. I got really addicted to it....surprise of the century.

On our last morning, we awoke to horses from the ranch grazing just outside our cabins.

I'll conclude with this beauty of a collage.

State side

I can't believe it's been two months since I've blogged. That's so strange. I feel like I always go through this weird disgruntled spell - usually in winter, when things are most depressing - where I abandon my blog and then one spring day I come back, tail tucked between my legs. I call this seasonal blog abandonment disease.

Some recent developments...


The job

Upon returning I was immediately staffed on a project and helped run the inception in Dallas. Now the work is being carried out with half the team in Chicago (myself included) and the other half in Dallas. It feels fantastic to be working from my home office and not to have to get on a plane every single week. The project is in its early stages. I'm feeling good that we will be in a position to deliver something awesome.


The move

The boy and I are back in our condo and are pretty much unpacked and settled in, barring a few last things. Moving was a grand adventure. We were on the verge of hiring movers but decided to hold off to see if we could do it ourselves and save some money. And we did! Well, the unloading of the storage unit into the U-Haul, at least. We had some much-needed help from the boy's brother and his fiancee when it came to moving things inside the unit.

One thing about living abroad is that it forces you to get used to not having so many things. Unboxing all of our worldly possessions felt strange. I was flabbergasted by how much stuff I had held on to. It was insane! I think I ended up donating about half of my clothes and a quarter of the books I was still lugging around from college. And even having pared it down that much, it still feels like so much, especially compared to what I was used to abroad.

There were some other things I loved re-opening though. Like mao jing bei - these Chinese towel-like blankets that are really comfy and soft. Like our nice salt and pepper shakers. Man, how I missed freshly cracked black pepper and sea salt. #yuppieconfessions


The wedding

Everyone asks me about this. And I'm like, what wedding? No, seriously. Nothing has progressed. Nada. If anything, things have only regressed. I feel like I'm standing still in the middle of a high-volume bridal highway, watching in a state of semi-terror as engaged couples are whizzing past me - confirming venues, buying dresses, sending out save-the-dates.


The birthday

I turned 26 on Saturday! It was also when the city was celebrating St. Patrick's day. Which in Chicago is a total shit show. Drunk people everywhere and a lot of green dye dumped into our river. This year I reigned my birthday in style by buying furniture (a kitchen table), dropping a ton of stuff off at Salvation Army (see "the move") and having a wonderful home-cooked meal with family followed by a few rounds of Ticket to Ride. It was a perfect birthday.


That's pretty much it for now. More developments to come as I rediscover stuff to blog about and organize my life a little more, both literally and figuratively.