1. The highlight of my week was: a Dr. Pepper that my co-worker friend Sarah saved for me.
2. If I had to classify my interior design aesthetic it would be: Clean Cottage – no shabby chic for this girl, but I love my home to be cozy and inviting with everything in its place! At this point, Keith would like to remind you that the house is a mess right now, so it’s just “Cottage” aesthetic, haha.
3. My first vehicle was: 1994 Ford Taurus “Bling” who was tragically totaled in 2009.
4. An item I need to have in my day in order to function is: my Nalgene filled with water and Orbit gum
5. My favorite way to waste time is: catch up on silly TV on Hulu or soak my feet in a hot bubble bath
6. Right now I could really go for: a chocolate milkshake and crunchy french fries. and a pedicure. Definitely a pedicure.
7. This weekend I will be: spending all day Saturday at a dance competition with my kids and then making up for it by accomplishing nothing on Sunday :)
It’s been a long few weeks – another dance team competition on Saturday and I’m just tuckered out by the time I get home!
Today I decided to watch the new show Smash. Ah-may-zing.
It makes me miss the musical theatre world so much. Wish there was an opportunity to get back in it, but that door seems to be closed for awhile!
Still watching Revenge – wow, never thought it would go in the direction it has. But, ultimately, it was a long hot shower and some Nutella hot chocolate that forced me to relax.
I’ll be back to writing more regularly once Saturday has come and gone!
Today we participated in the Las Vegas Color Run! It’s a 5k where they throw colored powder at you every kilometer. It’s not a race, per se, since there’s no timing runners, so I did not feel the pressure to do something I’m not able to. I hadn’t run in weeks, so if there was a competitive component, I would have beat myself up. Lucky for me, friend Margaret hadn’t been feeling well, so we ran through the color zones and power walked the bits in between.
It was such a blast! A fun way to exercise and raise money for Three Square, a local food pantry that serves a huge percentage of the city. I can’t say much more, since pictures are the only way to do it justice:
Love this girl. So glad we got to leave near each other again after college!
After the “race”, there’s a moment in time where everyone gets to throw their own packet of “color”. It was insane!
They explain how to get more or less color. Clearly, I took their advice and made the most of the color experience and Keith stayed as clean as possible. I got green powder thrown in my face (and mouth) at point blank range and couldn’t see through my glasses at all. A photographer was right in front of me and said, “Well, there’s the shot of the day!” Anything I can do to help you out, man.
How the color works!
These crazies are awesome friends. Thanks for all the laughs!
Quadruple Bypass Burger at the Heart Attack Cafe. Gross.
They weren’t letting “paint people” in. How rude!
Vegas at it’s best – there are so many awesome, family friendly things to be part of in this city!
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As an aside, one guy saw my face and called me She Hulk. Here’s my self-portrait inspired by the new nickname!
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It’s Saturday, but this is totally something I’m thankful for and a favorite memory so far this year!
Can you tell how excited I was to have a weekend of total relaxation?!
And how much more excited I was to see that Keith was already filling up a bath when I got to our Staycation destination?!
It was too cold to take advantage of any of the pools, but we did enjoy the hot tub near the waterfalls. Ahhh…nothing like a little relaxation after the crazy 9 weeks of Keith on inpatient (a.k.a. 90 hours work weeks).
Happy to have 3 whole days TOGETHER and enjoying the cozy robes before getting massages. How did it take us this long to realize how therapeutic massages are? Crazy, I know!
Recipe for relaxation: swimsuit, a book, and lots of water!!
We went for a few long walks around the grounds and enjoyed the sun (even though it was a bit chillier than we had anticipated).
Lots of huge Koi in the pond. I couldn’t help but think of the “Koi Pond” episode from The Office. Haha. I love that episode.
Love this one!
So thankful for this awesome dude and the adventures we have together.
Had some fun with the camera.
*Sigh* Why do I have such a hard time relaxing without greenery?
So thankful to be spoiled this weekend…an incredible breakfast came with our room and Keith’s patient didn’t go into labor!
Oh, the lovely water features! Green things and water, how I’ve missed thee!
What did you do to make the most of three days? Keith may have bribed me with Watermelon Sour Patch candy to go see The Vow with him. It was better than I had anticipated, but I’m still a slapstick kind of girl.
I just went to sign my sister up for email updates and do you know what I saw?
664 followers
I don’t even know how that happened. All I can say is thank you to each of you who read about all my crazy insanity and offer words of wisdom, encouragement, and understanding!
It’s only taken me over a month to finally write this post, haha! It’s worth the wait though because Red Velvet whoopie pies are my new favorite treat!
I use the recipe from Gluten Free Betty and prefer Bette Hagman’s Featherlight Mix. I tried the all purpose mix on GF Betty’s site this time and did not like how crumbly the cookies turned out.
At first I forgot to add the xanthan gum and the batter got too warm, so this first batch spread out to cover the entire baking sheet! After adding xanthan gum and refrigerating, the rest were more fluffy.
Yum! I use the filling from Better Homes and Gardens. If you just glanced at the recipe and saw that it’s marshmallow fluff, butter, and cream cheese, you are correct to react with disgust. It sounds horrible, but tastes like a fluffy cloud. I imagine clouds taste sweet and creamy like this filling (the scientist in me wants to remind you that clouds are simply water vapor).
These were the whoopie pies the first time I made them for the Nerd Party. Much fluffier and more moist. Since I think the difference was the flour mixture, I’ll be going back to the Featherlight mix.
Every time I read about a blogger using dish detergent instead of dish-washing soap, I always chuckled to myself and wondered how long it would be before my time came.
Well, my moment has come…oy. I was in the process of making some GF Red Velvet Whoopie Pies and saw suds everywhere. Hence the towels because we decided to let the dishwasher keep running.
And then as I was baking the cookies, I realize I’d left out the Xanthan Gum! Aargh – this means for very thin runny cookies – not so good for little sandwiches! Sooo…tomorrow I’ll be buying the right kind of soap and taking another shot at the whoopie pies, it’s as if I didn’t make 10 dozen whoopie pies last month.
It’s just all a testament to my sanity – or the lack there of. I’ll try posting about red velvet whoopie pies again tomorrow!
Ana came over for some sushi making tonight :) We both needed some girl time, so it was a blast!
We started with some sticky rice, cucumbers, carrots, avocado, and cream cheese.
I finally found sushi grade fish! It turns out all you have to do is ask the guy at the seafood counter and they usually have at least one sushi grade fish in the back. As I’ve learned “sushi grade” really just means it’s stored at a certain temperature.
How beautiful are all those colors?!
Closeup, just because.
Ana gives it a try.
Happy Ana.
Ana’s sushi.
We interrupt this sushi roll to take a picture of how happy sushi makes me :)
We put aside two rolls for Keith. Lucky Keith.
Gluten Free Tamari sauce!!!
Then we got to talking, which meant Ana started stacking things.
The Vitamin Tower fell just seconds after this picture, so we continued on with our night by looking at Pinterest. I love this photo.
It’s official – I started choreographing for the Spring Dance Concert today, so I’ve got random song lyrics stuck in my head. In true Miscellany Monday fashion I will be presenting my miscellaneous thoughts in the “order” they pop into my head.
.1 2 3 take my hand and come with me.
One of my Dance II classes is using this song for their tap piece. I’m about to evict it from my head.
.etsy finds.
I’ve decided I would really really like to add the following two pieces of jewelry to my collection.
Oh, I don’t swoon very often, but these earrings have done it. I have always had a special place in my heart for birch trees (they’re almost as special as willow trees!). Bring me to a grove of birch trees and all my cares will wash away. I’ll be saving my pennies!
.pink tux to the prom.
This is a favorite song from college that my Dance I kids will be using. I’m hoping they get into it :)
.falling leaves.
I’m still working on Necessary Endings, but I stumbled upon this book the other day and decided it’s next on the list for the Mother-Daughter book club! Can’t wait to read it!
p.s. It drives me crazy that every time I search this book the color looks different.
.new blog look.
How do you like the new blog look? I’m all about simplifying things these days and that includes the blog! I love the clean lines! The only thing that’s driving me crazy is the icons in the side column that aren’t centered. They’re HTML, so I’ve got no clue how to fix them!
.doo dee doo doodle doodle doo.
At least that’s what I think the words are at the beginning of Singin’ in the Rain. My 1st period class got to watch the entire movie in November, so I thought it was only appropriate they got to pay homage to one of my favorite tap dancers :)
.shrimp curry rice.
I’ve been craving it for a few days. I got some asparagus to throw in too and seasoned seaweed to throw on top. That last one might be kinda gross. Maybe I’ll just have it as a snack.
.extraordinary measures.
We just watched this movie the other night (I finally got a library card, so I brought home a whole stack of movies!) and it’s fantastic. All you need to know is that it’s based on a true story and is so wonderfully done.
.oreo truffles.
I made these for Super Bowl and can’t wait to make them again. I even found completely GF oreo-type cookies!
Yup, those are the first lyrics that pop into my head when I think of this song. Oy. Anywho, my Dance II kids are totally blown away by my tapping skills and have taken the challenge to heart to be super Fred Astaire smooth by May :) Since tap is my favorite genre of dance, I’m so so proud!
.rice cooker.
Ah, the rice cooker is finished cooking. I love that little machine. It’s amazing for making sushi. I’m thinking of making an instructional “how to make sushi” video since so many people have asked. What do you think?
.77 likes.
That means I only need 23 more on Facebook to hit 100!! Will you help out?
I love me some quality time with Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and the gang. Keith got Super Mario Bros. for the Wii, so that we’ve been enjoying that. However, I’m beginning to realize that my quest to rescue Princess Peach has become a trigger for my anxiety. I kid you not. You have permission to mock me.
This past week was really good week for my anxiety – no panic attacks! I added a B Vitamin to my regimen and am still working to make better choices in my diet (low carb, high protein). Saturday night we decided to end the night with some Super Mario Bros. since Keith had to work today. I limited myself to 3 games, which quickly turned into four. Then we played some UNO and went to bed.
I tossed and turned all night and woke up with horrible anxiety.
So, yes, I can now say with 100% certainty that Super Mario Bros. is a trigger for my anxiety and panic attcks. How annoying is that?! I guess I’ll just have to watch the next time Keith wants to play :(
