Be the Best

Here we are again....

It being the new year and resolutions being foremost in mind, I have decided I will not make empty promises about updating this blog. I swear I am starting to sound like a broken record. I am hoping to update more consistently but until the day where I get paid for these little ramblings, I can make no promise to do so on a regular basis.
Ok, now that we have got that out of the way.....

Happy New Year!

I believe this is the first year that I have not thought long and hard about resolutions. Most years I sit down at least a week prior to the new year editing my list to ten things I feel I might be able to tackle. Most years I am able to say that I have accomplished at least one thing on that list. I figure I would just carry over any resolutions I made last year but didn't fulfill and only add one more to the bunch. The one that I want to make this year is a little vague but easy to keep in mind on a daily basis.

This year I want to be the best I can be.

More specifically I want to:

Be the healthiest I can be.
Be the best looking I can be.
Be the best wife that I can be.
Be the best friend that I can be.
Be the best employee I can be.
Be the best Christian I can be.
Be the best daughter I can be.

and if given the chance this year....

Be the best mother I can be.

I started this morning by shaving my legs....already off to a great start.

Here's to the hopefulness of 2012! Can't wait to see what it brings.

Picture This: Day 15

Day 15:
A picture of something you would like to do before you die.
This has always been on my bucket list. It was only since the first of the year that I could even consider getting it accomplished. Amongst the many, many, many things I would like to do before I die, currently at the top of the list is to get through a marathon. For me, a marathon will most likely be a once in a lifetime thing. Because of this I am hoping that 2012 will be my year, more specifically November 2012. You see, if I am going to do a marathon, I am going to make it more special than say...the time I jumped out of an airplane. I did that over farmland in central California and to think about it now, if that would have been the last thing I was looking at before the chute potentially didn't open....well, that would have been pretty lame, right? I promised myself, if I am going to do a marathon, I am going to do it up right.
Something I would like to do before I die? Run a marathon, in Australia, during an eclipse! Lucky for me, there happens to be an eclipse in Australia in November of 2012...funny how that works out. I think Cocodoodle, Camo and G might come along for the ride.

Run, Fat Girl, Run

Well, actually, this is the first year that I haven't felt like a fatty. The scale still tells me that I am but I am telling the scale to suck it this year. Oh yeah, and while I am at it the mirror can suck it as well.
The only resolution I made this year was to commit to the things I say I am going to do. I figured that I would end up watching my mouth and making sure that I didn't absentmindedly open it to say things that begin with "I think I am going to..." I have already shot myself in the foot and its not even 2 weeks into the year. I have committed myself to a half marathon.
I haven't fully committed myself  because I haven't yet registered, but I have said it out loud and, for this year, that is commitment enough. Drats.
My plan is to register for The San Francisco Marathon. It takes place on July 31, 2011. The tough choice I have to make is do I run the first half or the second half? The first half takes you over the Golden Gate Bridge and then a bus takes you to the finish line. The second half lets you actually cross the finish line. Decisions, decisions. I am pretty sure I will be doing the first half. I like the idea of running with the hopefuls instead of crawling with the haggard. I have a friend (Camo) that will be running it for the American Cancer Society and in my office, my coworkers (including my boss) and I have almost convinced ourselves to do it. Its not like I will be out there alone. Its not like I can SAY I ran it when really I might have been in the Marina at Judy's having their fantastic french toast. I am stuck to it now and more than likely there will be witnesses.
I am considering the Bay to Breakers as a fun little run to take some of the pressure off the big one in July. I have said I had wanted to do this every year for the past 3 or 4 years and this year marks its 100th anniversary. This year I am seriously considering it but I refuse to commit to anything.
Camo sent me a schedule that she planned to work off of (because she is a newbie runner like myself). Tomorrow I start Thursday of week one and will repeat week one next week before moving on to the rest of the schedule. I should get to bed because I have promised myself that I will wake up early and head to the gym before work....wish me luck.

The 'Allllll Baaaadddd' Sunday

Sorry again for the delay between posts. Events have been happening but I have been horrible about writing them up. At this 'new' job (not so new anymore), I sit in front of a computer all day. By the time I get home I do a quick check of my emails and designated social networking site and then I try to stay away from it. This last weekend was quite eventful in fact.
First up, my good friend had her baby girl 2 weeks early on Friday morning. Both baby and mama are happy and healthy. She is too cute for words and I find myself 'cyber-stalking' her pictures online (but not in the creepy or pervy way). Congratulations T on your little OG!
I camped out in my kitchen for 2 nights working on sweet treats for the bake sale that I mentioned before. For the Saturday delivery I made, what I call, Dirty Southern Red Velvet Cupcakes and Grasshopper High Hat Cupcakes. I have almost perfected my red velvet cupcake recipe and topped it with a whipped cream cheese icing that turned out lighter than most cream cheese icings I have used before. I garnished these with homemade, chopped pralines. I mentioned these in the last post and was excited that they worked out to be the perfect topping to a cupcake favorite. The Grasshopper High Hat was a devil's food cupcake and buttercream lightly flavored with peppermint piled as high as I could get it. After setting these puppies in the freezer for a bit, I dipped them upside down in a chocolate opera glaze. I was trying to get them to taste like a peppermint patty but ended up tasting more like a Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookie (which, in my opinion, was a better turnout). For Sunday I stuck to our traditional 'Monster Cookies'. This is a recipe that was handed down from the Mr.'s grandmother and I make them every year as gifts at Christmas. We also included these in our wedding favors as his childhood cookie (mine was chocolate chip and walnut that my mother used to call 'Frog Leg Cookies' to try to keep us kids from eating them. The 'frog legs' were the walnuts.) The recipe is meant to make an obscene amount of cookies and I had dough left over. I finally got around to baking the rest of them and now they are in my house looking for a home.
After dropping the cookies off at the bake sale on Sunday, I stopped to visit with my grandmother. The visit was pleasant. I left and was in a little bit of a hurry to get out of town to SF to make it to my french macaron class (taught by the same instructor at Baking Arts where I learned the opera glaze used on the High Hats) that I had been anticipating forever. I realized I forgot my phone at home and made my way there to pick it up before getting out of town. On my way there I got into a little fender bender. Everyone was alright but after the police report was taken and all was said and done I was running really late. I made it into the city 30 minutes late and could not find parking ANYWHERE! I finally gave up, called my instructor and hoped that he would call me back so that I could reschedule the class. I met up with my brother at the 'Secret Starbucks' in the Presidio. Walking out of the Starbucks we saw, hand to God, a three legged dog!! My evening was starting to look up slightly. We had some fantastic seared ahi sandwiches at Pacific Catch and we had dessert at the Grove Cafe. The Grove Cafe was adorable, when we walked in it felt as if we were in a ski lodge in the middle of the mountains. It was the perfect setting for my cheesecake and hot apple cider. I dropped my brother off and started for home.
The reason I couldn't find parking anywhere when trying to get to my class was because it was the last division game for the SF Giants (Go Giants!). I have nothing but love for the Giants, but the Giants fans in the city that evening...well...that is a completely different story. These guys had no clue how to drive in the big city. It took me 2 and a half hours to get from my brother's apartment to the other side of the bay bridge. I was beyond irritated. Oh it was alllll baaaddd.
The next day I ended up getting sick, but that is for another blog post later...

Cookies for Kids Cancer and Antiquing

First up...pralines! Why have I never made these before?
Next weekend I am participating in another charity bake sale. This time it is in support of Cookies for Kids Cancer. More specifically it is in support of two amazing young men (Noah and Caden), one beautiful angel (Chase) and their families that have been affected by this terrible disease. I was asked to break out my mixing bowls and measuring cups. Anything that I can do to help I will. A high turnout is expected because of the overwhelming support of friends and a small write up in the local newspaper (Around the Region),  I thought it might be the perfect time to try out some new recipes. I spent the better part of last week just trying to perfect a red velvet cupcake recipe. I am still working on it but I am determined to get it by the sale. I got the idea to sprinkle homemade pralines on top of the cupcakes to make them extra extra southern. After my first attempt at making them I found myself asking, "Where have these been all my life?" They are crunchy, sweet and salty (with my own addition of a sprinkle of sea salt to the recipe). The first batch didn't last for my second try at red velvets. I am actually grateful that I have not known how terrific these lil guys are because I am sure I wouldn't be able to fit through the front door if I had known about them before now. I can't wait to debut them next weekend.

On Saturday, even though it was scorching hot (at the end of September, I am more than ready for fall weather), I took a little trip to the Antique Warehouse. I was prepared to look and not buy but, for the most part, the prices were extremely reasonable. I got lots of inspiration for future decorating. The store is right off the freeway and when you pull into the parking lot the entrance can be kind of tricky to find. Good thing they have flags up at either side of the door to make things easier to figure out. The great things about this place is that it is comprised of multiple stalls that are rented out by people wanting to sell their collectibles. Every stall is different making it a place for all sorts of different styles. The staff is very helpful and will call the stall renter for you if you want to barter on an item. It had been years since I had last been and it was just as fun as I remembered it. Part flea market, part museum.
Below are some of my favorite and not so favorite finds.
The Good...

I had to show some real restraint when I found the cookie cutters and I loved the old tool boxes. I am a big lamp fan as well, can you tell? 

If I was going to buy anything it would have been a tea set bit nothing screamed out to me. I really liked the weathered cookie jar and the ice crusher might be on my Christmas wish list. I found some vintage linens with adorable retro bows printed on the corners that I thought seriously about buying. I forgot to get a picture of those (I think subconsciously so that no one else would buy them and I could go back and get them). 

My favorite things in the shop that day were these AMAZING porcelain bunnies...could you just die?!? I love them so much. These I definitely might go back to get...now I just need to find out where I would put them...

The Bad...

What tha??? Old timey toilet? Kinda gross. 

...and The Downright Creepy...

Nightmare inducing dolls that follow you with their vacant eyes....creeeeeeeppppyyyy...

Bake Sale: Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale No Kid Hungry

Hello, hello. It has been a long time, right? I know, I know...I'm sorry. I have been busy, I promise.

Just this last week I slaved away for hours baking for a charity bake sale. Because it was for charity, it really wasn't slaving away but I like to be over dramatic. A couple of years ago I participated in the Cupcakes for a Cause bake sale that benefited Cancer Care for Kids. It is a great organization that helps kids and teens cope with a cancer diagnosis. It is a great cause and you can find more information about it HERE. It came together last minute and was a pretty good success considering how short notice it was. We were able to raise almost $200 for such a great organization.

This year the cause was for childhood hunger. In partnership with C&H sugar, Share Our Strength brings us the Great American Bake Sale, No Kid Hungry. I joined up with a friend of mine and again in a short amount of time we put together a somewhat spur of the moment bake sale. This one was more or less a pilot effort for us because the deadline is October 31st to turn in all of our donations. We are hoping to host a few more bake sales and become "Bake Sale Rockstars". To do this we have to raise at least $1000. I think we can do it. To find out more about this organization click HERE.

Like I said, this was our test sale. We figured out what worked and didn't work for us and things that we might want to incorporate into future sales. All in all we had a great time and were able to raise $215 in our first go around! Woo hoo!!

Oh yeah, it happened to be the start of the fourth of July weekend so we made everything red, white and blue!