I absolutely love strawberries. I adore them. I could eat them every day. I love all things strawberry flavored, too, and lucky for me, strawberry flavored things are everywhere.

Unluckily for me, it appears that I have developed a severe allergy to them. And possibly some other berries.

Last fall, after eating some raspberry preserves, I awoke the next morning with a rash all over my face and body. I avoided berries for a few months after, which was easy to do, since it wasn't berry season.  2 months ago, I was making a fruit salad, and popped a strawberry in my mouth. The next morning, I had a burning rash all over my face and throat. Later that day, after eating some of the fruit salad, my bottom lip swelled up super huge and turned bright red. I took some benadryl and a few hours later, I was ok. I avoided all things berries for a while, until I wanted til a safe time to try it. I had one one night, and nothing happened. I had some strawberry jam last week, and everything was fine.

Until last night. While eating dinner, I ate 2 strawberries. Organic ones, too, so there was no weird chemicals or pesticides on them. The first one went ok, but when I ate the second one, suddenly I was hit with an uncontrollable coughing fit, then watery eyes and a huge painful sneezing fit. My throat started burning, and my face got hot. Before I knew it, my bottom lip and cheeks were tingling and incredibly swollen. My throat got tight, and it hurt to swallow. I took one benadryl, but after my face continued to swell and hurt, I took a second one and went to bed.

This morning, my throat hurt when I woke up, so I decided to forgo my run and bike into work. Since it hurt to swallow, I didn't want to risk getting dehydrated. Plus, I was still in pain and zonked out on the drugs. I am feeling a little bit better now, but my eyelids are so swollen, I can only open my eyes halfway.

According to BeyondAllergy.com, here are the symptoms of a strawberry allergy:

The most common symptom is oral allergy syndrome, characterized by allergic reactions in the mouth and throat. There can be tingling, itching, and swelling in the mouth, lips, tongue, throat, and palate. Watery itchy eyes, a runny nose, and sneezing can accompany the reactions.

Hmmmm.

I don't want to have to say goodbye to my beloved berries, cause I love them so, but if this is the price I have to pay to enjoy them, no thank you. So I will go upon my merry way, and maybe put my fruit focus on citrus. As they say, if you love someone, set them free.

Photo by Erica Livingston, courtesy of Flickr

I know I am waaaaay behind on posting about things, but I wanted to get this quick update in:

Run today--2.95 miles in about 33 minutes. I had to do a little walking in there, since it was my first run back in a week. Gotta stick with it. Still, it's not that shabby--11 minute miles with the walking. This is just shy of half the triathlon distance, at 6.2 miles.

Swim today--25 laps in a little less than a half hour. This is 1143 meters; the triathlon distance is 1500 meters. Not too bad! I was mainly focusing on swimming straight and not using my legs too much. I tried to breathe on my left side, too, but that wasn't too successful. I used to be a lot better at it. Oh well, I'll keep trying. I'm proud of that swim, since I haven't been swimming since January or February.

Now maybe I should try to get a bike ride in there tonight, too....

This is an email that I got from Fuzzy yesterday:

I thought maybe Parker had snuck outside, because I couldn't find her in any of her usual spots in the house. Until I looked real close.

I'll let these guys tell you about it:

Drunk Monkeys - Episode 25 - Live Show Promo from Fuzzy Gerdes on Vimeo.

Yes, that's right! Drunk Monkeys is not only starting season 4 this Friday, but we are also doing a LIVE STAGE SHOW as a part of the Chicago Funny Women's Festival on Wednesday, June 6th at 10pm at Stage 773 at 1225 W. Belmont. Tickets are $12 (plus fee) and can be purchased here. We're in a double bill with Tits and Bits.

I am so excited! We're going to be filming in front of a live studio audience. And yes, we'll have Salmon Vodka.

To get all legit and shit, we have a new website: www.drunkmonkeyshow.com and we're on Twitter @drunkmonkeyshow   You should follow us!

I love this show so much and am so proud of it, for one, because it is all ours. Jen and I just get to be ourselves and be silly (and get drunk). Special thanks to Fuzzy and Dave for being our support system, biggest fans, and water getters when we're a bit overserved. And double thanks to Fuzzy for taping and editing and uploading all of our videos. That's love.

Come drink with us on June 6th!!!

I biked today! Outside! My first road biking since my crash last June. I was terrified at first--really wobbly and scared, but then, as Fuzzy said, it was "just like riding a bike" and I got comfortable on it very quickly. Fuzzy, Shaun, and I biked down the bike path to Addison and back--about a 7 mile ride round trip. It felt great! Well, it was really cold, but it felt great nonetheless.

In other Working It Out News-
I've gotten off my game lately, because I've been so busy. I've put on some weight, and not committed to multiple workouts a week. Well, now I'm in hardcore training mode, so I can't afford the take many days off. The triathlon is August 26th! Here's the report this week:

Monday 4/30--27 minute run with Andrea
Tuesday 5/1--hour long private Pilates session. It was awesome and made my calves HURT.
Wednesday 5/2--28 minute run with Brandi
Saturday 5/5--40 minute bike ride

And tomorrow, CHEEROBIX! I can't WAIT!

Q: Guess what Fuzzy and I had for dinner the other night?




A: Stuffed Salmon Belle Mar!


Why, what did YOU think it was?

Here's a little treat for you, courtesy of iSwap Faces, an addictive app that Erica introduced us to last week.

(The Fuzzy side of the photo is cropped out. It was a little horrifying. Like Fuzzy was wearing a Latte mask.)

 

 

(Ok, fine, here it is, but smaller, so not to give you nightmares)

She REALLY wants you to donate to WBEZ. Here she is "Parent-Trapping" it up again, this time playing Bill O'Reilly and Steve Inskeep. Amazing. 

Since I've been a major fan of RuPaul's Drag Race since it began, I've seen a lot of commercials for the show that comes on after, 1 Girl 5 Gays. Cut to season 4, when one night, we stayed on Logo a little longer than normal and caught an episode.

Oh. My. God.

I'm obsessed. It's the best show.  A host (say it with me, ALIYA-JASMINE!) interviews a panel of 5 gay men and asks them questions about love and sex.  Fuzzy said that night, "Of course you love this show, it's just a conversation."

We love it so much, that we deleted our Tivo subscription to Conan (sorry Coco, your show stinks) and now tape 1 Girl 5 Gays five nights a week. So now we can get caught up on past seasons, and catch the new episodes on Monday night.

Since this is an MTV show filmed in Canada, I think we need to bring it to the USA, and I should be the host. I love learning about people, and I think that I have what it takes to keep a panel going and engaged.

SO! MTV! Let's film a new version of 1 Girl 5 Gays, set it here in Chicago, and I will be the host. I can help assemble the cast.

Here's my headshot:

Here is Parker's newest film, for WBEZ: