tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10021281320253966982024-02-22T13:06:38.891-06:00Adventures of Daniel and JoanneOur life together as a newly married couple. May include pictures of delectable foods we cook, interesting animals we see, and wonderful people we love.Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-12422538170428283522011-06-09T13:12:00.000-05:002011-06-09T13:14:42.911-05:00Air and SpaceCold War plane. SR 71, known as Blackbird. I'm like a kid in a candy store.Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-9446323357142839592011-05-26T09:40:00.000-05:002011-05-26T09:41:53.767-05:00TestThis is a testDan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-41062175905577433942011-05-25T12:56:00.000-05:002011-05-25T12:56:21.169-05:00Comings and GoingsLast week, Dan and I had an epic 3 nights, 3 dinners fiesta with our dear friends, Suj and Shamita A. Dinner #1 was grilling, Dinner #2 was home-cooked Indian food, and Dinner #3 was spring foods like prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, citrus salad mix, and zucchini fettuccine. I love the Acharyas. Here's me and Shamita.
Quick jaunt to Washington (the state, not our nation's capital) for another Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-78986543369952254672011-05-16T16:10:00.000-05:002011-05-16T16:10:08.044-05:00Spring is a coy thing in ChicagoSpring arrived in a brief glorious moment two weeks ago in Chicago. Bewitched by the 80+ degree weather, Dan and I joined our fellow Chicagoans in pretending like this wasn't Mother Nature's joke. Hey, here's awesome weather, oh wait. Just kidding. It's back to the 40's and 50's. Haha. Blame the lake effect, right? They blame every bizarre weather pattern on the so-called "lake effect."
Like Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-48031916530379883772011-05-10T11:46:00.000-05:002011-05-10T11:46:22.710-05:00Weekend of Solving Math Problems...NakedThis past weekend, Dan flew to Los Angeles to spend time with his grandmother. She was recovering from major surgery following a hip fracture, and Dan was worried. The decision was made, tickets were purchased, and off Dan went in short order. Good news: she's recovering nicely.
Here's grandma at our wedding last year during the Korean bowing (paebeck) ceremony. Isn't she adorable?
I Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-51557091507651103082011-05-02T08:59:00.000-05:002011-05-02T08:59:07.039-05:00"So-Called" Yuppie Life in CostcoWhen Dan and I were interviewing last weekend in Des Moines Iowa, our realtor and community tour host was an adorably racist Chinese-American mother. She complained loudly that her daughter's husband was white, while simultaneously praising her daughter as God's gift to mankind. We learned more about her daughter's educational accomplishments ("Youngest person ever to enter University of Iowa Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-44451241777817692092011-04-24T17:56:00.000-05:002011-04-24T17:56:52.603-05:00April bookends: A Summer Teaser & Des MoinesThe first April weekend in Chicago had temperatures in the 80's, giving us a brief glimpse of the beautiful summer that Chicago is known for and the sole reason why we endure awful winters.
We broke out our bikes from winter storage and rode south along Lake Michigan, all the way to the Adler Planetarium. We even walked to get passion fruit Italian ice at Annette's, one of our favorite local Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-4660792659963148352011-04-12T16:56:00.001-05:002011-04-14T19:56:12.006-05:00Scrumptious Home-cooked Meals PicsThis past weekend was the 1st one in a long time where we had no formal plans. We spent almost all Saturday preparing our 2010 tax returns and documents. YAWN. I don't to bore y'all with tax Schedules D, E, and the rest of the alphabet, so here are some pictures of delicious foods we've made at home since January 2011. Let the drooling begin!
First up: French caramalized onion soup w/ Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-26911513647609896722011-04-03T18:50:00.002-05:002011-04-04T19:58:31.108-05:00Rainy Cherry Blossom Festival in DCI've been traveling 4 days a week to Washington DC for a client since the end of January. Since this project coincided with the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in DC, I decided to stay one weekend and fly out Daniel from Chicago. Since it's been a couple of crazy workweeks for both of us, I didn't get to the usual researching and planning of tourist recommendations and food establishments.
Dan Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-25779449780479656482011-03-27T19:11:00.004-05:002011-03-29T14:29:34.692-05:00Happy (second) One Year Wedding AnniversaryDaniel and I were married (for the second time) last year on March 27, 2011 in front of 350-odd guests in Hollywood, California. We had a 10-course lavish Chinese dinner with the USC all men's acapella group serenading us for our 1st dance, a traditional Chinese tea ceremony, Korean drummer troupe, Chinese dragon dancing troupe, a Korean bowing marriage ceremony, 550+ cupcakes, and an after partyDan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-57743149566568668612011-03-22T08:08:00.001-05:002011-03-22T08:09:38.997-05:00We *Heart* Shedd AquariumFriends and family know that we love Chicago's museums. Because of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition aka "World's Fair", much of the construction and ideals of public exhibits and spaces permeates Chicago's lakefront area. About 3 years ago, we started buying 1 yr memberships to one select museum to explore to our heart's content. We started with the Museum of Science & Industry close to Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-92047492231201275992011-03-12T18:55:00.000-06:002011-03-12T18:55:59.389-06:00Where we imagine our retired selves yelling "Ahoy! Ahoy!"The weekend after Dan and I came back from our sailing vacation, still in the happy shiny cloud known as post-vacation bliss, we took it upon ourselves to go to one of the biggest sailboat conventions in the US. At Chicago's very own Navy Pier, all the major manufacturers came out to display their newest models.
Called Strictly Sail, it was like a Star Wars convention for sailing enthusiasts. Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-60728378244814438582011-03-06T22:09:00.000-06:002011-03-06T22:09:23.063-06:00And we are back after a long, long hiatus! I'm pretty sure I missed the entire last quarter of 2010 on this blog, but I've declared "blog bankruptcy" and start anew. First up, Dan and I took a week long sailing vacation during the frigid month of January in Key Largo, Florida. Our boat was the "Kaya", a 41-foot, 40,000 ton Morgan that was like a tank; almost impossible to heal. Most of the Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-4904182281266642282010-11-15T13:54:00.000-06:002010-11-15T13:54:20.203-06:00A Foodie's Wedding in San FranciscoPeople say that they remember exactly what they were doing and where they were during seminal events. JFK assassination. When Obama was elected. My event: When one of my best friends, Cat, got engaged to Brian. I was studying immunology with my study group in their Somerville house. I'm also pretty sure I unleashed a scream so loud that they came running to see what was wrong.
Fast forward to Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-90475668882544439392010-11-02T09:04:00.000-05:002010-11-02T09:04:26.358-05:00A Walk in the Clouds: Wedding Numero UnoIt was mid-summer when Dan and I realized that we had 2 weddings in 2 consecutive weekends in California. "Why not take the whole week off?" A wonderful, albeit rainy and cool week was puncutated by these 2 weddings, and my Mom's birthday thrown in for good measure. Celebrations!
We flew back to LA on the 3rd weekend of October to attend Patty & Chris' wedding. Patty was a good Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-27501088377814748902010-10-12T17:02:00.000-05:002010-10-12T17:02:49.541-05:00The Really, Totally Awesome, Rad, W-O-W Yosemite WeddingI was totally stoked when my bachelor friend de jour announced he was getting married late last year. The consummate good guy who never got the girl, he finally found a beautiful Vietnamese woman who was the Asian female version of himself. Ann is about 90 lbs soaking wet, and could easily pass for a co-ed. Then Sean told me they were planning to get married in Yosemite. Yosemite, for me, falls Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-22128653625361204572010-10-12T09:44:00.000-05:002010-10-12T09:44:09.069-05:00Labor Day Getaway to Traverse CityAnd........we're back!
Speaking of which, we have done so much between our last post and today that to cover it all would be overwhelming. First off, we road-tripped it to Traverse City, Michigan for a rainy Labor Day weekend. If you're anything like me, when I think of "Michigan", I think "Detroit". This conjures up unattractive images of boarded up ghost neighborhoods, urban blight, factories,Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-46789756415860373702010-09-08T19:40:00.000-05:002010-09-08T19:40:50.404-05:00August Comings and GoingsWhere did August go? I did intend to post weekly, but with all the event and travel every weekend, updating this blog has slipped. Never fear, I intend to get right back into the thick of things.
For the month of August, we checked out the excellent Girl and the Goat, the new West Loop restaurant by Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard with our good friend Lolita, hung out with old and new friends Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-46220504199860885032010-08-04T15:09:00.000-05:002010-08-04T15:09:58.174-05:00I Just Might Wet My Pants With ExcitementThe conversation started innocuously enough.
Dan: "I'm thinking we need a larger hard drive to store all our media."
Me: "I thought we had sufficient space scattered across our computers."
Dan: "But we're getting more movies and music and will run out of space soon."
Me: "Why don't you spec it out and see how much it will cost."
Dan: (already running off to his computer) "Okay."
(Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-44125063508606849402010-08-02T22:10:00.002-05:002010-08-02T22:28:29.666-05:00"All I Need is You and Cheap Mexican Food"About 2 years into our dating relationship, Daniel took me to a favorite cheap Mexican haunt next to the University of Chicago called Maravillas. This is the kind of place favorited by cheap college kids and starving residents. In short, its Dan's kind of place. If my memory serves me correctly, we ordered approximately 47 tacos and 234 enchiladas. More or less. On the ride back home on Lake Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-45281270362386165552010-07-18T23:25:00.000-05:002010-07-18T23:25:56.108-05:00It's All About the Food, Full Stop.By now it should be pretty clear that we are crazy about food. We plan our days around what we're going to eat. Entire vacations have been given over to culinary gluttony (Exhibit A: Napa Valley and Tokyo). We don't like "foodies" to describe ourselves because being a "foodie" implies that we like haute cuisine and trendy restaurants. I think "equal opportunity eater" is more accurate because we Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-8707728480346274162010-07-05T22:32:00.000-05:002010-07-05T22:32:23.227-05:00Carpe El Weekend
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I remember an arm of the US armed services had a slogan like "We do more by 7am than most people do all day". Our July Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002128132025396698.post-76571339361898477762010-07-03T10:42:00.001-05:002010-07-03T20:53:19.048-05:00Welcome to Our BlogTomorrow is Independence Day, also known as BBQ-sailing-eat-corn day in the Chang-Kwan household. It also happens to mark the day, 3 years ago, when Dan first kissed me and this whole crazy journey started.
Many of our friends have blogs, and it keeps us (well, mostly Joanne) updated on the latest road trip, home improvement projects, and wee stories that keep us feel like we're involved, even Dan and Joannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718559280078285075noreply@blogger.com2