The View from Friday

I thought that after the wedding, time might resume a normal pace and I wouldn't wake up on Fridays wondering what happened to the first four days of the week (or on Mondays wondering where Saturday and Sunday ran off to), but it seems that for now, at least, life's going to continue at full speed. I was lucky enough to score a four-day workweek this week, but it was so chock-ful of having friends and family over, grocery shopping, catching up at the gym, cleaning, cooking for friends, and rescuing one overly curious cat from behind the washing machine that I feel like it could have been two weeks crammed into one... except it all happened in the space of a blink. The only thing that kept me moving was the knowledge that thanks to our good friend Chris:

(who is certainly better known for his discoveries than his looks...)

 ... this weekend is also a glorious three whole days. Sadly the hubs left bright and early this morning to go play army for the weekend, so it's just me and this guy:

(such a helper)

holding down the fort. We have exciting plans for cat naps, college football, and some yummy food. I went grocery shopping last night for the first time in so long and I'm really looking forward to getting back in the kitchen and putting some of our wedding gifts to good use! The menu for next week includes chili, buffalo chicken pasta, pumpkin muffins, and ribs on this beauty:

an amazing wedding gift from two wonderful friends!

Besides all the cooking, I have a lot of cleaning to do... our house still looks like a wedding exploded, so I'll be devoting a some quality time to sorting through the piles and finding new homes for all of our new stuff! I am also dying to do a little fall decorating, so I think a Target trip may be in order.
Tonight, though, I'm treating myself to a night off: I have a date with my couch, an artichoke, a pumpkin beer, and a movie. Exciting times, people. Try not to be jealous.
Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

   Love,

    Meg

Another Monday?

I'm not sure how it happened (goodness knows you can't plan this kind of thing), but this weekend turned out to be the perfect mix of busy and relaxing, fun and boring, accomplishment and... well, sleep. It wasn't jam-packed with excitement (although there were very exciting parts, we'll get to those), but the phrase "I'm bored" certainly never crossed my mind, either. For the first time in recent memory, the days didn't dart by at the speed of light, but seemed to linger long enough to savor the best parts. It was the kind of weekend that makes you wonder why you ever bother to plan weekends, if the unplanned could always yield such wonderful results.

Friday night, I headed back to our amazing local bridal shop to visit the two dresses that had been pulling me in different directions all week. I tried on one, tried on another, and then tried on the first one again, but after a lot of thought, many twirls to see a certain angle in the mirror, and an agreement about a few alterations that will really make the dress "mine," I made a decision. It was incredibly hard to give up on the other possibility, but the best part is that we are (hopefully) going to incorporate a part of that dress into the one I did choose. And unfortunately, those are all the details you get, since my sweet hubby also happens to read this blog... hi, dear! Afterward, my mom, stepmom, and I headed out for a drink to celebrate the purchase. We talked about wedding details forever and ironed out a few details. It's so hard to believe we are down to almost 4 months... exciting with a rather large touch of terrifying, because I know those four are going to zip right by.

Saturday poor hubs had to go to work, although luckily his shift didn't start until 10 so we were able to sleep a little late. Since I was up, I headed out for a short, hot run before braving the local university's graduation crowds to get new running shoes and pick up a well-earned recovery bagel. I spent the afternoon taking advantage of the gorgeous day by the pool, browsing through bridal magazines and even sneaking a short nap. Dan picked up dinner on his way home and we had a quiet evening in... so quiet that I may or may not have fallen asleep on the couch super early... no regrets here.

Yesterday, I hit my snooze button about a billion times before finally dragging myself out of bed and facing the reality of the day: a long run. I knew there was no way out of it, because just days ago I pledged that I would get better at following through with these dreaded weekend miles, so I laced up my new shoes and headed out. My goal for the day was 9 miles, and I made it through 6.5 before the heat got to be too much and I sought refuge in the air-conditioned gym. I finished my last 2.5 miles on the treadmill (which has never felt so wonderful), and threw in an extra mile since I know that treadmill running isn't the best substitute for pounding it out on the road. I was pretty relieved to have finished and even technically exceeded my goal, although I'm a bit nervous about the race coming up in a few weekends -- it's only a 5k, but the warmer temperatures are tough to get used to.

We were invited to dinner with Dan's family last night, so I spent yesterday afternoon in the kitchen, whipping up a new recipe to share: cookies and cream cheesecake bars. They were relatively easy to make and turned out pretty well -- not the most exciting dessert I've ever had, but everyone else seemed to really like them. Not a bad way to use up that package of Oreos that has been tempting me from the pantry for days now. I also made egg salad and spent what seemed like forever washing a sink full of dishes. It was so nice to have clear countertops before going to bed last night!

Unfortunately, that phrase "all good things must come to an end" continues to ring true. This morning came rather quickly for my tastes, and getting out of bed was even harder thanks to the rain. I would have paid good money to stay in bed, but today is a crazy day at work so I did the right thing and got myself to the gym so that I would actually be awake when I made it to work. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be hitting the pillow early tonight, though -- despite the extra sleep this weekend, I still seem to be coming up a bit short.

   Love,

    Meg

South End of a Bunny Going North (among other things)

It seems that over the past several, life sort of got in the way of my blogging (I hate it when that happens). There were too many things to be done, and just not enough minutes in the day to do them and write about them, too. This week will likely bring more of the same, as I work through my last real week at my old job (before I start two weeks of hell training my replacement next Monday), get ready to head out of town yet again this weekend, and fight the never-ending battle against our apartment and its messy tendencies. Hopefully I will find a bit more time to write about all of that excitement (I know, I know -- hang on to your seats).

Until then, here's a little peek at what we've been up to lately:

I'm finally getting to run outside in the mornings again -- the sunrise right now gives me just enough time to get in a quick 4-5 miles before I have to head home and get ready for work. It has been pretty chilly a few mornings, but this view beats the treadmill any day.

We've enjoyed lots of time at the dog park lately, getting to know our neighbors as Tess chases their poor pups at top speed. I laugh because when we first moved in about a year and a half ago, I thought going to the gym was the perfect way to meet people from the neighborhood. A year and a half later, I've not yet made a single friend at the gym, but we meet new people practically every week at the dog park.

Important to note: Tess only gets to sit on the benches like a human (which she loves) when she is the only canine present. Spoiled much?

Saturday morning I bit the bullet and ran my first race since last October. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it felt and glad I (finally) made the decision to run it. There will be a more detailed race recap coming soon. A huge thanks to my awesome mother (a race pro at this point), wonderful father-in-law, and this handsome guy:

who came to watch me run. It was so amazing to see their faces when I got past that finish line!

Saturday evening I did a little baking...

and Sunday morning woke up to assemble this guy:

(A little hard to see, but there are two back paws, a tail, and two ears -- retrospectively realized to be backwards. Those things in the top right corner are supposed to be carrots.)

Hopefully the title of this post makes sense now. The recipe was actually pretty easy and turned out very cute. He tasted delicious, too -- I used boxed devil's food cake but made my own icing, which I think helped. If I ever do this again, I think I'd try a spice cake to go with all that coconut.

And just in case you needed reassurance that all is right in Toby's world:

... never fear, this guy doesn't miss many naps.

On top of all that, there were several hours spent on taxes (no pictures there... it wasn't a terribly exciting process), lots of miles run, some quality Easter time with family, and one very long-anticipated Saturday afternoon nap for me, as well.

Now, I'm off to create my weekly to-do list -- you know, the one I've been writing in my head all weekend but waited until now to put onto paper. I'm thinking the first item on the list will be "write weekly to-do list," in an effort to ensure that at least one thing gets checked off between now and Friday...

Happy Monday, everyone!

   Love,

    Meg

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Just an hour before we planned to leave town on Friday, with packing and laundry still to finish, I got an overwhelming urge to bake something for our trip. It was one of those urges that tends to strike at the least-opportune moments in my life (late at night, or when I am stressed and have a to-do list that could stretch for kilometers... or both), but one which I know better than to deny. I did a quick search and picked this recipe (detailed below) on a whim because I happened to have everything it called for, so I crossed my fingers that the finished result would be decent, taking comfort in the fact that at least I was using up the apples on my kitchen counter that were about to go bad. Thankfully the prep was simple and quick, and my helpful hubby was around to chop and taste test the apples, since I have that little deathly-allergic problem.

I had a little extra batter but didn't want to break out a third muffin tin, so I poured the rest into two ramekins that I baked alongside the 24 muffins. When they came out of the oven, I tried a bite out of one of these ramekins.... yum. These guys turned out delightfully moist and flavorful and were a huge hit with everyone from my baked-good-skeptical husband (who took one bite and told me he would "chop apples every week if I would keep making muffins") to our friends' nine-month-old. I'd call that a success.

I didn't have time to make the streusel topping that is included in the original recipe, but I did add one quick step to the recipe: after Dan chopped the apple, I threw it into a pan with some butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon and sauteed it for a few minutes. I drained this and then added the apples in to the rest of the mix. I can't say for sure that this made a huge difference in the end, but I think it may have helped boost the flavor.

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 (15-ounce) can solid pack pumpkin (don’t use canned pumpkin pie filling)
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 ¼ cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped 

Directions:

 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in the center of the oven. Generously grease 18 muffin cups or line them with paper muffin liners.

*my addition: Saute chopped apples in 1-2 tablespoons of butter with ~1/3 cup brown sugar and ~2 tablespoons cinnamon for 5-7 minutes or until soft. (sorry for the approximations -- I sort of made this part up as I went along)*

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs. Slowly add the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Whisk until the flour is incorporated. Stir in the apple pieces.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups; filling them almost to the top.

Bake for 18 to 12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool briefly in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Definitely worth a try if you're looking for something easy but yummy... or if you get one of those unavoidable urges to bake and happen to have apples and pumpkin hanging around. Just me? Oh well... Happy baking!

   Love,

    Meg

So What Wednesday

Because sometimes, especially on Wednesdays, it's a little hard to care.

So what if…

 -- I'm a little obsessed with breakfast foods right now. My amazing hubby indulged my need (yep, definitely a need) for crispy-to-the-point-of-burnt bacon last night (so worth the smoky haze that settled over the entire apartment for the rest of the evening). He also made cheesy scrambled eggs and the most incredible french toast. The guy has talent. But the cravings continue: today for breakfast and lunch, I packed pumpkin bread and oatmeal. I could seriously go for some hash browns, too. Nothing wrong with eating breakfast three times a day, right?

 -- I'm a little ok, ok, a lot late on the grey nail polish trend. I have been dying to try it for quite a while but didn't have the courage until I saw it on a coworker (on whom I admittedly have a bit of a girl crush... she has adorable, effortless style and is incredibly sweet and successful). Mine don't look nearly as good as hers, but I'm still in love with them.

 -- I park a little closer to the door on super cold mornings at work.

 -- I wish that Siri could do slightly more advanced tasks: "Pump my gas, Siri." "Go to the gym, Siri." "Unplug the shower drain, Siri." "Take Tess for a walk, Siri." No luck on these so far, but I feel sure that she is trainable -- I'll keep you updated on how this goes.

 -- Some days I miss college only because I long for the days that I could roll out of bed, throw on a pair of yoga pants, grab a fantastic cup of coffee, and prop myself up in class behind my laptop. Better yet, I miss the rare days when I could turn off my alarm, skip the class, and start my day closer to lunchtime. Life in the real world makes those four years seem better and better.

 -- I waste large chunks of time daydreaming about my next life, in which I will be a pastry chef with thick, wavy hair, a closet full of cute shoes, and a supersonic metabolism. I'm not asking for much here, people.

 -- I get a little annoyed at the girl in the car in front of me on my commute who is doing more dancing than driving. It may be true she will reach her destination in a much better mood than I if I choose to let her get to me... but happy or not, late to work is late to work.

 -- I forked over big bucks for a nice hotel room on a weekend trip this spring that I'd really rather not take. I'm crossing my fingers that the gorgeous pool and in-room jacuzzi will make up for the high levels stress and frustration that this little "vacation" (ha) is sure to cause.

 -- I crave the same foods over and over again day after day... even when I've just eaten them. I would be thrilled if I could eat pasta and toast and drink iced coffee forever -- days that include those foods are just happier.

So tell me: what are you saying "so what?" to today?

   Love,

    Meg

The Christmas Let-Down

There's nothing like the morning after a three day holiday weekend to jolt you back to reality. 6:30 this morning may as well have been 3 AM, as alert as I felt. I'm pretty sure I didn't actually wake up until about halfway through my run, which was luckily on the treadmill this morning -- I swear one of these mornings I'm going to open my eyes and find myself miles away from home. My only consolation this morning is that while it felt like a Monday, it is, of course, Tuesday, and the beginning to a four day week followed by another three day weekend... I could get used to this.

Our weekend consisted of one wonderful date night, two days of pure and utter chaos, and one of incredible laziness that just barely made up for all the sleep previously lost. Santa found our house (thankfully... we have no chimney) and brought me a lovely new laptop, a beautiful snowflake necklace, a gorgeous KitchenAid mixer, and lots of other nice things. I am very lucky to have married such a great shopper who takes Christmas very seriously, from the diamonds down to the chocolate in my stocking.

Somehow all of the baking got done, some just minutes before it was to be served/gifted. We handed out 16 tin cans of these yummy cookies:

[via, because my pics are all still on my camera]

They were a huge hit and looked super cute thanks to this wonderful printable label. The downside of this little project is that there are currently 6 enormous containers of fruit cocktail, canned peaches, and mandarin oranges from those tin cans in our fridge. We will be eating (un-)canned fruit until at least St. Patrick's Day...

I also baked brownies and made Santa hats like these:

... that of course weren't nearly so cute, but basically got the point across. Finally, I whipped up oreo balls dipped in chocolate and marbled cheesecake bites. My poor kitchen will never be the same: it looks like we had a small snowstorm of crushed candy cane bits, drizzled chocolate, and graham cracker crumbs.

The real adventure of the weekend, however, was our foray into veterinary care. My stepmom headed up to New York to be with her family for the holiday, and we volunteered to care for the pets over the weekends that she is gone (luckily there is a housesitter there during the week). This task is complicated by the fact that one cat is diabetic and needs insulin shots twice a day, and that currently all five cats (Yes, five. No, she's not a crazy cat lady. They're all very sweet and impeccably clean.) are being treated for some virus that requires two doses of a thick pink liquid each day (think pepto bismol but chunkier). If you have a cat, you can relate to the fact that trying to get liquid down such an animals throat is roughly as easy as scratching your ear with your little toe... and probably as painful. These cats certainly aren't dumb, so catching them got increasingly more difficult as the weekend wore on and typically involved shutting doors behind us to trap them in, launching ourselves under beds and between recliners, and holding on for dear life once we got a handful of fur. We started wrapping them in a towel upon capture to avoid minimize the claw marks we sported across our hands, arms, and faces. Then I would gingerly place my entire body weight on top of the cat while Dan gently attempted to pry open their mouth and stick the syringe down their throat while navigating the rough terrain of sharp teeth. It was nothing short of a miracle when we were able to check off all five cats for a dose, and I swear I have never felt so proud of anything before in my life. Dan and I will be resting up this week in preparation for another three days of this next weekend... all I can hope is that my stepmom will come home to five healthy cats and a daughter and son-in-law who are still alive.

For now, my goal is to get through this week with minimal stress, maximum sleep, and a little bit of pre-planning for what is shaping up to be a fun New Year's Eve. I am also hoping to catch up on the gazillion blog posts I have neglected to read over the last month or so... I am looking forward to finding out what my favorite bloggers are up to lately!

Hope that you all had a wonderful holiday weekend and that the transition back to the office (if you had to make it today), has not been too painful. Only three and a half more days until the weekend!

   Love,

    Meg

Bubble Bubble

I have a cooking hangover. 

I spent yesterday (after a quick trip to the gym for some preemptive calorie burning) scouring four stores to pick up everything I needed...

(this represents only about a third of my purchases)

... and in the kitchen. I spent at least seven hours chopping and dipping and stirring and simmering and whipping and washing my one spatula about 17,000 times. 

Every surface was crowded with cookie sheets and mixing bowls, and my very loyal friend had to get a little creative.

He watched diligently from his vantage point for quite a while...

but eventually the need to nap got the better of him.

The fruits of this labor? 

20 pretty darn adorable cake balls,

at least 10 not-so-adorable cake ball fails,

one yummy pot of chili,

a batch of pumpkin cream cheese muffins that managed to avoid the camera...

and one very full sink.

My night included just one emergency trip to the closest grocery store, as I learned that while milk chocolate chips melt as wonderfully as you could wish...

white chocolate chips are a whole different animal. They get chunky and sticky, they seize if you look at them too hard, and they are champions at sucking cake balls right off of their sticks.

And adding orange food coloring to the mix? Forget about it. It stayed beautiful long enough for me to take a picture...

and then hardened into a lumpy mess.

But somehow everything pulled together, and except for the 2 cake balls that slid down their sticks like Times Square on New Year's Eve, I loaded 20 cake balls and a plate full of still-warm muffins in the car this morning to deliver. 

The car that, upon starting, began to emit an ear-splitting, banshee-like shriek in an apparent display of Halloween spirit that, if you ask me, went a bit too far. Looks like a lucky someone will be visiting the mechanic tomorrow morning!

I guess you can't win 'em all, huh?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!

   Love,

    Meg

Friday Favorites: The Shin Splint Edition

Yesterday after work, I headed out for what should have been the perfect short run. The weather was ideal and the fall leaves are absolutely gorgeous right now. I was excited to head over to my favorite running neighborhood, because it had been over a week since I'd been there last, and I was looking forward to enjoying the trees and some super enthusiastic Halloween decorations. I was pumped up to be feeling good after a great race this weekend (that I really will write a recap for sometime) and 8.5 good miles on Wednesday evening. Finally, I was feeling great about getting in a little speedwork as I start gearing up for my next half marathon in (gulp) less than 20 days. Everything necessary to make for a fantastic run, no?

No. Sadly, not even close. As soon as I hit the pavement, I felt the now-familiar pain and tightness in my shins. This was normal and not-so-worrisome, as said pain has been present but bearable during the first mile or so of my recent runs, but then disappeared almost completely as my legs warmed up. So yesterday I kept going without much concern, waiting for the magical moment when things started to feel good.... but that moment never came. By mile 2, I couldn't keep it up and slowed to a walk. Several times I tried to speed back up, but after 50 yards was forced to walk again, and by the time I made it back to my apartment even walking was a challenge. I was in more pain than I had felt in a long time -- even worse than a few weeks ago, when all of this forced me to take several days off.

To say that I was depressed by the time those agonizing 3-ish miles were over would be a dramatic understatement. I was angry that I was wasting such a perfect day on walking, knowing that I could be enjoying a beautiful run. I was terrified about what this meant for the next few weeks leading up to my half -- what about the long run I had planned for this weekend? What about the mileage buildup that I need to do now so that I can taper? Even though my unique backwards taper (aka no taper at all) worked fine for a 10k, there's no way such terrible training methods would serve me well for what is still a rather long race to me. And the worst question of all: what if all of this horribleness wasn't better by the time of the race? Could I make it through 13.1 miles of pain? Would I be able to live with myself if I couldn't run the race? Needless to say, my head was not in a good place when I finally slammed through the front door last night.

After some serious icing, a dose of advil, and a heart-to-heart with my training calendar, I felt a little better. Unfortunately, I know that the only way to get rid of this awful pain is to rest my legs and let them heal. As impossible as it is mentally, I know that if I don't take the next few days off, there is no way that I will be able to even walk 13 miles on Nov. 13th. So my plan for the weekend includes postponing the long run (hopefully until mid-week next week) lots more ice, lots more advil, quality time with the elliptical, and (perhaps most importantly) trying not to let myself go insane.

So in a desperate attempt to infuse some positive into my dangerously discouraged life right now, here are a few of the things that I'm counting on to keep me going this weekend:

Oh. my. goodness. When I read about these in an article about how bad they are for you, I couldn't believe I that I had let such an incredible looking fall treat slip by in my fervent-love-of-all-things-pumpkin. In the few minutes it took me to inhale my first one, I fell in love. My plans tonight include another one of these, in an attempt to lift my spirits out of shin-splint hell. What's that you say? High calorie desserts paired with days of no running might be problematic? Shhh... didn't you know pumpkin is a vegetable??

As if ice cream wasn't enough, I'm also planning to spend the hours I won't be running this weekend baking instead. I will be attempting to recreate some of the adorable creations above for our office Halloween party on Monday, and my list also includes pumpkin muffins and my favorite sweet-potato-meets-apple-crisp recipe. This may prove to be a dangerous weekend for my scale.

Since I'll be spending lots of time on the couch this weekend while my legs swim in bags of frozen peas, I'm lucky to have this little app to keep me busy. Also, I've been stuck on one level of the Halloween Angry Birds for three days, so there's that.

Although none of these fuzzy phone pics do it any justice, this week has been absolutely spectacular: the leaves are peaking, the sunsets have been incredible, and I've been taking the scenic route as much as possible. On a whim Monday night, I took a back road on my way home and turned into the parking lot of an old church where Dan and I used to park and watch the sunset back when we were first dating. I got there just as the sun slid below the mountains, and was rewarded with an amazing light show (viewed through just a few tears for my absent husband... I missed him more than ever that night, I think).

And finally... the best for last. Over the weekend, I was a lucky duck and received a super early birthday present from the hubs -- something I had been positively yearning for over the past year. Since I have absolutely no self-restraint (hey, the name was on the box, so there was no way I could just let it sit there for a month), I have been enjoying loving obsessed with this baby for the past week:

Ahhhh... truly everything I dreamed of. I am currently loving the pumpkin spice and cafe mocha... neither of which taste like plastic. Amazing.

So despite the fact that it looks like another loooong few days of no running, I am certainly lucky to have these joys in my life. Hopefully I'll be back on the road before too long, my recovery powered by ice cream, cake balls, and an insane amount of coffee. 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

   Love,

    Meg

A Hoppin' Easter Weekend

[please excuse the terrible pun... it's that kind of Monday]

I am simply astounded at the speed with which our weekends fly by these days. I feel like I barely sat down, barely slept, barely took a breath at all this weekend, which was wonderful and exhausting all in the same sentence. Monday really did come a little too quickly for my taste. 
Dan and I often take Friday evenings off to relax and be boring, but not this week: as soon as I left work we headed straight for the grocery store and then home to make dinner. Dan's youngest brother Z and his adorable girlfriend came over and we had pierogies (best. appetizer. ever.), grilled chicken sandwiches, mashed potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, and this amazing pie for dessert. [Please, if you do nothing else this week, make that pie. It is surprisingly easy, sticky, and heavenly. Really, so so good. Go on, you know you want to.]

(before it went back in the oven to melt the marshmallows... all over my oven... which was absolutely worth it)

 Saturday I got up early for a long run while my awesome hubby went back to the grocery store to get ingredients for last minute sugar-less and egg-less cupcakes (my family has a thing for allergies). I made this recipe (not terrible but I'm not sure I'd make it again) and used a Splenda version of my favorite icing (definitely better with real sugar), finishing off some with sliced strawberries and the rest with sprinkles. While baking, I learned an important lesson which I feel compelled to share with any of you who are, like me, slightly clumsy and blessed with blonde hair: after turning the oven on to preheat, even for only 10 seconds until you remember that there are melted marshmallows lining the bottom, do not simply turn the oven off and dive in to start cleaning. The oven will be hot. You will burn your thumb to pieces and then jump up and down squealing, which will cause your husband to alternate concern and barely suppressed giggles. Two days later, your thumb will have a nasty blister that still hurts. You're welcome.
So Dan and I first headed out to my aunt's and uncle's to help celebrate my cousin's 8th birthday (we never turn down a party). We had a great time catching up with the adults, chuckling at the fearless 5-year-old-on-a-bicycle, and enjoying some fantastic hamburgers. Then we headed to Dan's parent's house for more grilling, easter egg dye-ing (for the girls), and a scary movie.
Sunday brought another morning run and super-fast baking session (this time cake-mix cookies and no burnt thumb... much better on both accounts) before we headed off to my mom's and then Dan's great aunt's to visit with lots of family and eat more excellent food. Last night, at the request of the four-year-old who I am convinced is stuck inside Dan, we went to see 'Hop.' It was a cute movie (although not nearly as good as Despicable Me or Alvin and the Chipmunks), and if you ask me there are definitely worse ways to end your weekend than a cherry coke, buttery popcorn, and holding hands with your hubby. 
Speaking of Dan, I was so thrilled to discover the most wonderful easter basket "hidden" in the pantry yesterday morning! Unfortunately, I was so excited that I didn't even think to take a picture, but it was filled with cute little tea towels, an adorable bunny dish, a piggy bank (because I am forever being made fun of for my overflowing "change cup"), and all the best kinds of easter candy. What a great husband, right?
As exhausting as this weekend was, I am so glad that we have been taking advantage of every last minute that Dan is here. I know that once he leaves, weekends are going to go from crazy busy to lonely and sad, so for now I'm loving all the time with family, friends, and my sweet hubby. I only wish time would slow down a little bit!
Hope that you all had a fantastic Easter with your own loved ones!

   Love,

    Meg

Weekend by the Numbers

6 trips back and forth from my apartment to Dan's parents' house to housesit/hang out with his brother while his mom and dad are in sunny Florida (I'm only a little jealous). Wouldn't be so bad, except we live on complete opposite ends of town. I tried so many different routes and they all took me at least 25 minutes. On the bright side, more time to roll the windows down and pretend it was really summer, since it was gorgeous outside this weekend.

2 classic movies that I was able to catch on tv (although I actually own one of them): Legally Blonde and Wedding Crashers. Laugh out loud funny and great to have on in the background while I cleaned, cooked, and did some very important relaxing on the couch.

8 pages read in the book I just started. Which brings me to a grand total of something like 17 pages. When I was young I could start and finish a book in less than a week. This one is a long one, but really? I definitely need to make more time in my life to sit down and read. There are so many books I want to start, but at this rate I don't stand a chance.

7 miles run on Sunday. As I try with all my might to get into running, I've so far been avoiding the apparent training staple: a long run on the weekend. My weekends are often jam packed with things to do, the weather has been cold and I don't have three hours to sacrifice to a treadmill, and, to be honest.... I'm a little afraid of what my definition of "long" might turn out to be. (Does 3 miles count?) This week, though, I worked on getting myself into a routine, where I ran before work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each morning I made it through 3.5 miles (and the plan is to increase gradually every week), so I figured if I could handle that, I could push myself to do a decent length this weekend. By no means did I run the entire 7 miles, but I ran more than I walked, and most importantly: it actually felt good. Plus I was seriously proud of myself by the end. The only problem is that a long run on Sundays messes with my MWF schedule because I need a day to recover, so I'm going to have to put some thought into that.

3.5 magazines browsed through. See, I told you I spent some serious time on the couch this weekend. My mom passed down two Cooking Lights and one Good Housekeeping, both of which I love even though Dan makes fun of me for being an old lady. I found a few yummy recipe ideas and dreamed a little bit about buying a house someday. I also made it part of the way through Martha Stewart Weddings:

but then I got sleepy. I love that yellow cake though!

1 guy with 4 wives: yep, you read that right. Last night I caught the TLC special and then the season premier of "Sister Wives." I think I'd heard of it before, but I'd never seen the show, and let me tell you: I was fascinated. It's a very real glimpse into the polygamist family (think Big Love, but true life) of one guy, four "sister wives," and something like 16 kids. I think what struck me the most was how normal they seemed -- aside from the major difference in way of life, the four wives and their husband really appeared down-to-earth, kind, incredibly normal adults and parents. I know that it's not something I would choose, but I thought the show did a great job of respecting their decision and portraying them not as bizarre oddities, but people who simply have differing views than most of the rest of the world. I will definitely be trying to catch more episodes this season!

24 devil's food cupcakes baked, with another batch of 24 still sitting in my fridge, just calling my name. I'm hoping I can hold off baking them until Dan gets home next weekend so that I have someone else to help me eat them. The first 24 are for my stepmom's birthday today, so between work and dinner I have to run home and whip up some of my very favorite cream cheese icing to frost them. I have chocolate sprinkles for some and raspberries for others. Can you spell yum? I got the recipe from this adorable blog and I may or may not have eaten one last night (every chef has to taste test first, right?). Absolutely delicious. We are going out for what is sure to be a fantastic dinner and then coming home for these. What a lovely night.

1 hour lost.... boo. It will be so nice to have the sun shining later every day, but I also kind of hate losing sleep. Even though I slept a little bit late to make up for it, so I suppose I should stop complaining.

That's how my weekend added up. Hope everyone else's was wonderful too!

   Love,

    Meg

This Thrilling Life

I was all set to blog today about the unexpected and fabulous snow day we had here yesterday.... until I sat down to think about it and realized that, in fact, there was nothing even remotely exciting about it. Actually, while we're being honest, I've been exceedingly boring all week. (I really had you going with that title though, didn't I?!) In my defense, yesterday was really less a "snow day" and more a "snow afternoon" -- I didn't even get to leave work until 3:00. But those two extra hours were certainly better than nothing, and I was thankful to get out before the roads got too terrible. Once I made it home, I washed some dishes, cleaned up a little bit, and cuddled up on the couch with my favorite feline to watch some TV and take a nap. That's right, I'm a champion of the early evening nap... and so is Toby. Like mother, like son:

I did finally rouse myself around 9:00 and felt the need for some productivity to make up for my lazy evening, so I did what I always do when that urge kicks in: I baked. I've had a box of cornflakes just sitting around since making sweet potatoes for Christmas (another of my favorite recipes!), and I knew exactly how I wanted to use them up -- a batch of delicious cornflake cookies! One of my mom's old recipes, these odd-sounding delicacies were my very favorite growing up. She baked them all the time -- to cheer me up, to send in my summer camp care packages, and she even shipped them off to me when I was in college. There is nothing better than ripping open a box from home and seeing tupperware full of these babies. The other great thing? They are also incredibly simple to make: pretty standard ingredients (if you have cornflakes and coconut) and quick to mix up. Our recipe is a little different than most you'd find floating around the internet, so here are the specifics:

Cornflake Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup flake coconut
4 cups cornflakes

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease cookie sheets well.  Cream butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla and beat in.  Sift dry ingredients together and cream into butter-sugar mixture.  Add coconut and cornflakes.  Cornflakes will break up when you use the mixer. [I don't have a kitchen-aid mixer (I asked for one for Christmas and my mom snorted with laughter. True story. Something about needing kitchen basics before luxuries. Humph.) and I had no trouble mixing all of this by hand. I typically cream/mix everything by hand when I'm baking, and this was one of the easier recipes to do manually.]  Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes.  Remove promptly from cookie sheets.  Makes 75 (small cookies). [I didn't actually make that many last night, but mine were pretty big. I probably got about 40 out of it.]

One important note: these guys spread waaaay out in the oven. Make sure to leave plenty of space between them so they have room to flatten.

I was so focused on eating cooling and storing the cookies after they came out of the oven that I completely forgot to take any pictures of them. You're just going to have to trust me on this: they are pure soft golden-brown heaven.

And that, my friends, was as thrilling as it got around these parts yesterday.

   Love,

    Meg