The sold-out West Loop Craft Beer Fest was an absolute blast. I went with my friend Nicole, her boyfriend, and their friend Amy. 

I was the first to arrive by a long-shot. I showed security my ticket, and they let me past the barricades that were blocking off Clinton Street. I showed someone else my ID that got me the souvenir cup that you see below. I also got a blue wristband, but nobody checked it! Once I was beyond the gates, all that I needed was my cup.  

I needed to get some food in my stomach before I started drinking, so I wandered into the French Market in Ogilvie Station (the festival was right outside of this building). I wanted something full of carbs and delicious and filling, so I headed over to the first sandwich shop I could find. I ran into Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine. I've heard people rave about their food before, so I decided to give it a try. 

I ordered the Caprese Pastorale, which was slices of fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese, pesto with fennel, and tomato on a baguette. It was absolutely heavenly. It reminded me of my favorite sandwich shop that my friends and I frequented when I studied abroad in Perugia, Italy in 2007 (a semester before Amanda Knox got there). I always got a similar sandwich there, but it had sliced turkey. The ingredients were very simple, but they were so incredibly delicious when put together that we could not stay away from that shop. Sitting on the steps of the duomo in the square in the middle of the city and eating our sandwiches for lunch were some of my favorite memories of Italy. This sandwich from Pastoral, believe it or not, rivaled my Italian panino. I will be back, Pastoral.

I finished my sandwich and was sipping on my first beer sample when I ran across two friends from high school. We caught up on life and drank some beer together until Nicole and company finally arrived. We ran around and had a blast. There were so many vendors there. All you had to do was walk up to their tent with your cup, and they would fill it for you. It was like wine tasting in the sense that they had buckets that you could spill your beer into if you didn't want to drink your whole sample. I had to dump out a lot of beer so that I could try all different kinds and still live to tell the tale. 

If I was a better blogger and Chicago beer advocate, I would have kept track of all of my favorite brews and maybe told you my favorite three. I can't remember the names of the beers, but the three most memorable breweries (that I had never tried or heard of before) of the day were Solemn Oath Brewery, Revolution Brewing, and Deschutes. 

We survived the beer festival. At 5, we wandered off to Randolph Street for dinner. Randolph Street goes through the West Loop and is lined with some fabulous restaurants. I've never been out over there, so I was excited to explore. We still had time to kill before dinner, so we headed over to RM Champagne Salon for- believe it or not -more pre-dinner drinks. The restaurant is located off of the main street and requires snaking through the alleyways a bit, but it is a hidden gem. It's a cozy little place with chandeliers, fancy chairs, and some very pretty desserts (I tried to take a picture of their dessert cart, but it was too dark in there to turn out well). The rest of the party split a bottle of champagne, while I opted to stick with beer. 

Once we finished our drinks, we walked over to Au Cheval for dinner. It sounds like it's a pricey place, but it's a relatively affordable, laid-back, European-style restaurant. Per Amy's suggestion, I got their famous Bloody Mary. It was loaded to the brim with olives, pickles, and different types of savory relishes. I sipped some and snacked on the pickles, but I ended up giving the bulk of my drink to the rest of the table. It was really good, but I'm starting to think that I don't like Bloody Mary's as much as I think I do. I was also starting to feel the effects of my previous drinks. 

I got a basic burger for dinner. It melted in my mouth and seemed at the time to be the most delicious burger I ever tasted. I have to try it again while I'm not under the influence of a beer festival. Al loves burgers, luckily, so I'm sure we'll be able to make a trip there soon. 

We headed to one more bar after dinner to watch the Blackhawks game, but we slowly started to fade. I walked over to my brother's apartment to say hello to Libby and take her for a quick walk, and then I called it a night. 

Libby is currently at her grandparents' house, because the whole family is going to Mexico on Saturday! My cousin is getting married on Sunday. We're going to Cancun for a couple of days, and then we're spending the rest of our vacation in Tulum. Stay tuned for lots of pictures!

I walked into the grocery store the other day, and the first thing that I saw was a produce table with avocados next to roma tomatoes. I instantly got a craving for a tomato-feta-avocado salad. I bought one of each and made them into a simple salad when I got home. 

I diced the tomato and chopped the avocado into small pieces. I mixed in a handful of crumbled fat free feta cheese, a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. The result was a fresh and flavorful salad that took only minutes to make. 

The next time that I make it, I want to add fresh cilantro and some black pepper. I've lived in my apartment for a month, and I still haven't bought pepper. I should add that to my to-do list. 

I'm now off to bed (with Libby- she's staying at my apartment for the night!) so that I can rest up for a very eventful day tomorrow. I'm going to the West Loop Craft Beer Fest with some friends, which is conveniently located within close walking distance to my apartment. I should remember to take pictures and share some of my favorite Chicago brews with all of you. I unfortunately can't sample everything, because we all know what happens to 5-foot girls who try every beer at the festival and have the tolerance of an average person on a 6-month juice cleanse.

I've been on a huge oatmeal kick lately, but one of my favorite breakfasts during the school year was what I called a "bowl of mush". It hardly takes any time at all to prepare or clean up. Despite the name, it's very yummy. 

All you need is:

• a banana (any size will do)
• 1 serving of yogurt (6-8 oz or 1 cup)
• 1 tablespoon nut butter
• cinnamon and/or pumpkin pie spice to taste
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds

Peel the banana, put it in bowl, mash it well with a fork, spoon in the yogurt, stir in your nut butter, sprinkle on your cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice/chia seeds, and mix well. That's all you need to do! 

I rarely like yogurt by itself, which is why I love mixing in a mashed banana with it. I like to use plain Greek yogurt or strawberry. 

Lately, I enjoy Wild Squirrel Nut Butter (now called Wild Friends). They make some fun flavors such as Curious Cocoa-Nut, Honey Pretzel, and Chocolate Sunflower Seed. I like the single-serve packets. 

If you want to give some of these flavors a try, I recommend buying the Variety Single Serve 10-Pack It's fun to sample all of these different kinds of nut butter. Just make sure that you knead the packet well before you open it so that it has that soft peanut butter consistency. 

So, if you don't like yogurt but need new sweet breakfast ideas, try it my way! I'm sure that you will like it. 

I seriously got the LASIK procedure done last Wednesday. I never thought that I would go through with it. 

On Wednesday morning, I did a quick arm workout and then ate some cereal with bananas and almond milk. They told me to avoid caffeine and dairy that day in case it upset my stomach during the procedure. They also told me to eat a light snack before going over there. I chose to eat dry cereal in a bag in the passenger's seat of the car while my mom drove me. It was such a typical choice on my part. 

Upon arrival at the surgical center, I signed some paperwork, produced a urine sample, had my blood pressure taken, and I ingested a Valium tablet. I don't know the exact dosage of this tablet, but I figured out about 20 minutes later that I was very grateful for it. 

I sat next to my mom for a while in the waiting area as I anticipated somebody calling me back for the surgery. While I waited, I saw one young guy go back there and return 20 minutes later with his eyes looking bandaged up with sunglasses over them. I realized that he just had LASIK, and this would usually scare me. Instead of being frightened, though, I laughed at how ridiculous he looked (knowing perfectly well that I would soon look like that and have to be physically walked out by my mom while I stumbled to the car). I knew at this point that the drug was getting to my head and making me feel very relaxed. 

My doctor finally came out to take me to the surgical room. He apologetically explained that they had to frantically look over paperwork since they thought they were about to do surgery on the wrong person. It turned out that I booked the procedure under my maiden name Cooke, but the paperwork that I signed about 30 minutes earlier was under my married name Martin. Whoops. You would think that after being married for almost a year, I would know better. I visited Wheaton Eye Clinic before I got married, and it never occurred to me that withholding my new name until the day of my surgery would lead to problems. 

This is probably a good time to stop reading if you don't want to know details about the surgery. I figured I'd warn you. If you don't care, then read on. 

Once that was settled. my doctor led me back to my surgical room with his assistant. He promptly removed my glasses (the last time I would ever wear them) and asked me to sit down in a chair that reminded me of a dentist's chair. He had me sit all the way back in it. Once I was properly positioned, he put five drops of numbing drops into my right eye. I knew that there was no going back at that point.

He then taped my right eyelids open (they only do one eye at a time) with what was probably some serious adhesive tape. Blinking was impossible. He also put some sort of a clamp on the outside of my eye to ensure that it stayed open. This was actually the only painful part of the procedure. It pushed against my orbit and stretched my skin. It was very uncomfortable. My doctor said that the pain wouldn't last for long, and he was right. Either that, or I was distracted by everything else that he was doing to my eye. He also covered up my left eye. 

My doctor was very good about talking me through the procedure. He told me what he was going to do, and he told me what I had to do. I only had one task: stare at the red light blinking above me. If my eye strayed the slightest bit, he would tell me to move it back. The numbing drops kicked in very quickly, because I hardly felt any sensation. There were a few times when he had to use a small sponge to collect the moisture on my eyeball, and I could not feel it. It was bizarre. Then, he placed a suction cup on my cornea. I could only feel pressure. The suction cup was what created the flap on my cornea. This was the cutting part. The scariest part of this was the approximate 10 seconds (or maybe less- I don't know) where I couldn't see anything out of my right eye. I felt like I was blind. That darkness ended quickly, and I could slowly make out the red blinking light again. 

The next step was the laser treatment. He moved the flap of my cornea aside (warning: you can see the doctor moving your flap), and the laser was activated. I felt a little bit of burning, but it was no worse of a sensation than getting soap in your eyes. The laser is the most important part of the procedure, and that's what makes the improvements in vision. It alters the shape of your cornea so that you can see better. 

After the laser, he replaced the flap (I could see it) on my cornea. Corneal tissue sticks to itself, so no bandage or anything is needed. Thank you for sticking to yourself, eye tissue. 

Once he was done with the right eye, he covered it and did the left eye. The procedure was exactly the same. It was all a little bit scary, and I would have vomited all over myself and possibly the machine (if it was a projectile vomit) if it had not been for the Valium. That stuff was gold. I could feel my heart in my chest during everything, but it would have been pounding so much harder otherwise. I may have even passed out. This may not come as a shock, but a laser in your eye is scary.

My mom said that I was back there for something like 25 minutes, but each eye only took something like 2-3 minutes. I only endured 4-8 minutes of something that I didn't like for a lifetime of damn good vision. I'll take it.

When my doctor and his assistant were done with me, he taped my nerdy eye mask onto my face (await photo) and put some awesome sunglasses over them. As I predicted, I looked just like that other guy in the waiting room. He gave me my medicated eye drops (cortisone and antibiotics) along with lubricating drops and walked me out to meet my mom. I made a comment about being able to see the TV without my glasses, and my doctor laughed. He must have been proud of his handy work. My mom then drove me home while I leaned my chair all the way back in the car and closed my eyes because they were tearing like crazy. They were very sensitive to sunlight, just like they had just been dilated (but worse). Now, I understand even more why you need somebody to drive you to and from the surgery. There is no way I could have competently been able to drive home. Driving with your eyes closed=not safe for anybody. 

I was supposed to go home and sleep for two hours. Since nobody woke me up and I was drugged and tired, I slept for four hours. That night, I watched TV with my eye mask off and could see the TV perfectly. Other things were still a little blurry. The next day, nothing was blurry.

I went back for a check-up at Wheaton Eye Clinic the next morning. I learned that my eyes were 20/20 combined, and they would only get better. Not bad for something like 8 hours of work, right?

I had to sleep with my eye mask on for three nights so that I couldn't unconsciously rub my eyes. This is what it looked like:

They had to be taped onto my face individually. I wouldn't have minded them, except for they left insane marks on my face in the morning. The plastic (although not uncomfortable) dug into my face and left lines, and then the tape was so sticky that the adhesive stayed on my skin. It took about three minutes in the morning just to peel it off. I'm serious. My face looked red and blotchy and swollen. There are are worse misfortunes in life, so I didn't complain. 

My doctor told me that I could start wearing makeup the next day if I wanted, but I waited a good four days before I tried anything. I've poked myself in the eye a good few times in the past with my mascara wand, so I didn't want to risk anything. I also have to be very careful removing makeup. I can't rub my eye over the iris (the colored part) for a good four weeks, so I have to push up my upper eyelids to safely remove it. It's doable, but it requires extra caution.

For up to two weeks after the procedure,  swimming or playing contact sports are discouraged. I don't want an infection or anything at all that may displace the corneal flaps while they are healing. 

Aside from some mild burning the first few days, my only complaint is dryness. The lubricating drops really help. My eyes are not sensitive in the sunlight, and I forget to look out for halos every time that I walk outside during the night. They must not be bad enough to distract me. I see them mildly when I look outside my window at night. The halos, like the dryness, should go away as my eyes heal and adjust to their new vision. 

The only other issue is a bruise on my left eye that should go away in the next week. It was from the suction cup on my eye, and it is very common. If anything, it looks like I'm tired. It's not much of an inconvenience. 

All in all, I am thrilled with my new vision. I keep reaching towards my face to adjust my glasses, and then I remember that they're not there. I can wear sunglasses again and apply makeup without having to hold a mirror to my face with one hand. I'm very happy. 

We've had some good times, glasses, but I'm sorry to say that I have to put you away forever. 

 Tomorrow, I'm getting LASIK surgery. 

You probably haven't noticed, but I've been wearing my glasses for the better part of a year. 

Not those glasses, though. 

I noticed in the fall of 2011 that I was blinking a lot more than usual with my contacts in my eyes. I had been wearing my contacts nearly every day since I was in eighth grade, and I never had a serious problem with them that lasted more than a day. I bought lubricating eye drops that fall that worked at first, but then my eyes got even worse in the spring. I had trouble wearing my contacts for more than a few hours at a time. I still wore them all day, but I was constantly putting drops in my eye. If I blinked too much, my eyes teared and my makeup smeared. It sounds superficial, but it sucked when I couldn't go out for a night with my friends without worrying about eyeliner and mascara running down my cheeks. 

I started wearing glasses more often last summer, and I visited 2 optometrists at Lenscrafters to try new contact lenses. I tried many different options, including daily lenses. The lenses that I wore at the time lasted up to two weeks, but everybody told me that daily lenses (the ones you throw out after wearing for only one day) may irritate my eyes less by being more oxygen-permeable. I tried them, along with every single sample of eye drops the optometrists could give me, but every trial was without success. I could not wear lenses for more than a few hours at at time without blinking and tearing.  

The optometrists told me that there was nothing more that they could do to help me. The worst part of this was that my wedding was coming up in less than two months, and I did not fancy the idea of getting married with glasses. Furthermore, the only kinds of glasses that I wanted to wear on my honeymoon in Cabo were sunglasses. 

The optometrists told me to see an ophthalmologist, so I did. I went to Wheaton Eye Clinic and met with a doctor who took one look at my cornea under a concentrated light beam and informed me that my corneas are "vascularized". In other words, as a result of wearing my contacts too much for too many years, my eyes were starved for oxygen and therefore had to sprout little blood vessels into my cornea (which apparently is not normal) as a poor attempt to get some. Finally, the blinking and terrible sand-in-the-eye sensation made sense to me. 

My doctor gave me more eye drops, told me to get a humidifier, and then she gave me the best news ever: I could wear my contacts for my wedding and my honeymoon without discomfort. In exchange for some serious $$, I got a small bottle of steroid eye drops to use three times per day (I think) for up to two weeks. Longer use than that put me at risk for some glaucoma and some cataracts, so I made sure to heed her warnings. 

As you see in my wedding picture, I was not a four-eyed bride. I remember having minimal discomfort after getting my makeup done, but I forgot about it completely once the wedding festivities got rolling. By the end of my honeymoon, I was wearing my contacts without any eye drops at all or discomfort. Those steroids on my eyeballs worked wonders!

A few days after I got home, though, it was back to the same pain-in-the-butt eye problems. I wore my glasses during the day, and I wore my contacts if I was going out to do something social. 

By the time the fall rolled around, I was wearing my glasses unless I was sleeping. There might be an occasional night out where I could go glasses-free, but they were few and far between. As far as my grad school friends know, I've always worn glasses. 

Even now, I can only wear contacts for an hour or two without problems. I think that I look fine with glasses (as a matter of fact, aI am feeling nostalgic about them today!), but I would still rather not wear them.

This is why I am getting LASIK tomorrow. There is no medical reason to get it. Like most LASIK procedures, this is an elective procedure. My rationale is that the surgery will eventually pay for itself when I don't have to invest in new glasses, annual eye doctor visits, a year supply of contacts (which are pricey!), and contact lens solution as I need it. 

I'm scared, but I will let you know how it goes! I know that I'm in good hands at Wheaton Eye Clinic. These docs definitely know what they're doing. 

Hello again after many months! This has been the longest hiatus yet, and I blame it 100% on the fact that I can't balance my blogging and school life. I never had a problem with this when I worked full-time in Adelaide, but being a full-time student seems to swallow up the time that I have to write for fun. Instead, I spent hours memorizing notes and charts and writing papers for grades. I do love the things that I learn and am so much more knowledgeable in nutrition than I was a year ago, but TLJ is a passion project of mine that I miss when I spend too much time away from it. This summer, I want to focus on this and remind myself why I love writing so much in the first place. 

I finished up my 21-hour semester on Thursday (May 9), and this is the first summer in two years that I'm not taking any classes. 
YIPPEE!! 

This summer, I plan to:

• blog 
• walk dogs for money (I already do this for free, so I was pretty pleased when I started working for a dog-walking company this morning)
• read for fun
• read academic articles about nutrition so that I can talk about them here and to become a better-informed dietetics student
• laugh, spend time with friends, and get my husband all to myself

Here are some of the fun things that you have missed while I was in hibernation:

Since April 28, I have lived in this swanky new apartment with this view below. 

Alastair is spending his time between Chicago and Napa since his job allows him to work from home, but there are periods of time when I am all alone. June 28 will be the magical day when he officially finishes up work in Napa and comes to Chicago permanently. It will be glorious, but it will be even better when he finds a job here. 

Here's another great event: the first of my friends had a baby. Jessie was one of my bridesmaids at my wedding. She was about two months pregnant there, and only she and her husband knew. They managed to keep it a secret from everybody, and nobody even noticed that Jessie wasn't pounding down wine like everybody else!

Kaylee Paige is one of the cutest babies I have ever seen! Like her mother, she was born with a full head of hair.

Two days after Kaylee was born, my friends Kate and Dan got engaged. He took her to dinner and then walked her across the street to the bar where we were all waiting. Before they walked into the bar (Kate had no idea that we were there), he took her over to the window right in front of us and proposed to her. We got so many good photos of it. Once the proposal was over, they met us in the bar where we celebrated late into the night. 

One of the funniest parts was that I was with Kate for a few hours earlier in the day to meet Kaylee at the hospital, and she said that she thought Dan might propose that night. I asked her why, and she said it was because he was taking her out for a nice dinner. I brushed it off (I had known about it for a few weeks already, and I picked out both the bar and the restaurant for them) and changed the subject. She didn't mention it again, but she sent me a text when they finished dinner that night to tell me that he didn't pop the question. She obviously did not suspect that he was going to do it on the sidewalk across the street five minutes later. It was so sweet, and I'm thrilled that I got to be a part of it!

Fun upcoming events include me getting LASIK surgery in two days (unless I freak out last-minute and don't get it) and a week-long trip to Mexico for my cousin's wedding. I also need to get a couch since the only thing that I have to sit on is my bed or my desk chair. This may not come as a shock, but I am looking forward to Mexico the most and LASIK the least. I'm not really sure why I categorized it under "fun" events. I guess that as long as I don't lose my eyesight or have impaired vision as a complication from the procedure, I'll be happy in the long-term. 

More on that later. 

Now, it's time for bed!