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Who Has the Biggest Bowl?

November 23, 2009 by

Hello everyone! I am super tired right now because I stayed up until 12:30 AM to wrap Christmas presents (exchanged on Thanksgiving) and then woke up at 6 AM! Somehow before we went to bed, our alarm clock radio was turned up full blast. So when the radio alarm went off this morning I woke up to a blaring opera! I don’t think I’ve ever jumped out of bed so fast – it was pretty funny, now that I think about it. But it definitely was not amusing at the time.

I think the shock of the music may have given my body a jolt as well because I had a fantastic run this morning! Despite being a bit chilly outside at 6:30 AM (40 degrees), my body seemed to be in supercharge mode. I ran nearly 5 miles in 40 minutes and felt like I could run even more!  Typically, I do not run more than 4 miles on weekdays just because I don’t have the time.

I ended up eating my breakfast at work, which worked out just fine…

11.23 Greek Yogurt with walnuts

My Trader Joe’s Greek vanilla yogurt with walnuts kept me full until lunch. I also had a humungo cup of Tazo Awake tea love goin’ on today…

11.23 Tazo Awake Tea

My boss returned to the office today after being gone for nearly 10 days in Seoul, Korea on business. He was thoughtful enough to bring a little something back for everyone on our team (5 women). He gave me a very cute little orange purse..

11.23 Korea purse

I love the color and the soft, shiny texture. Because it is on the small and dainty side, I think I will end up using it as a jewelry carrier when I travel, rather than for a purse.

I didn’t end up eating lunch until 2 PM due to an unplanned meeting. I was sooo hungry by the time I ate my cream of chicken and wild rice soup…

11.23 Cream of Chicken with wild rice soup

It was Scott’s turn to make dinner tonight but he pulled one of my tricks and decided we should just go out to eat instead. We ended up at our favorite Asian bistro Big Bowl. We ordered our traditional crispy chicken egg rolls, which I promptly ate so fast I nearly forgot to take a picture. I was reminded by Scott only after I had already taken a bite – he he!

11.23 Big Bowl Chicken Egg Roll 

Next up, we split the make-your-own stir fry bar where we chose crispy chicken in a kung pao sauce over brown rice. We also added a bunch of fresh veggies from the stir-fry bar…

11.23 Big Bowl Stir Fry 1

Scott and I have this unspoken competition about who can fit the most veggies in the bowl. It’s all about how BIG the bowl (or the veggies in it) can get. To give him proper credit, Scott is a very good stacker and somehow manages to get twice the amount of veggies stuffed in the bowl than I think most people can. However, when he chooses the veggies, he usually choose the ones HE wants even though they are for us to share. He nearly always leaves out my favorites – mini corns, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots. So today, I took over the “big bowl”, and grabbed all of my favorites and stuffed them in. I didn’t do too bad of a job as you can see above! Aside from my three favorites, I also added:

  • Mushrooms
  • Spinach
  • Zucchini 
  • Red and Green Peppers
  • Shredded Carrots
  • Pea Pods
  • Broccoli 

Tomorrow is my last day in the office until Monday – woo hoo! Plus, I’m thinking of only working a 1/2 day so that I can run a few more errands related to my Thanksgiving family dinner.

By the way, any of you who still want to vote for your favorite foodie magazine, you have until tomorrow at 9 PM Eastern. Right now, Cooking Light is in the lead!

Have a great night everyone!

Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: , , , , ,

Squeezing Pears and Roasting Potatoes

November 22, 2009 by

Hi there!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day in Chicago! When I headed out around 10 AM for my 5-mile run, it was already 52 degrees and sunny! I hope we have many more days like this throughout the fall/winter season. 

After my run, I grabbed another LUNA bar to recharge…

11.22 Luna Bar

I do not eat LUNA bars or any granola/power bars for breakfast on a regular basis. Although they are very nutritious – full of protein and fiber – I really don’t feel like they fill me up enough at breakfast. But, like yesterday, today was another day of running a crazy amount of errands, so LUNA always comes in handy when you’re in a hurry to get out the door. 

My day was full of shopping, which let me back to Target – yet again – to get Christmas tree lights. It never fails, no matter how careful we are with our lights, we always end up buying new ones because the old ones don’t work.

I also stopped at Trader Joe’s. OMG, you would have thought they were giving turkeys away! I go to Trader Joe’s about once a week and I have NEVER seen it so busy. In fact, my regular grocery store, which I went to after TJ’s, was not 1/2 as busy as Trader Joe’s. It’s the holiday craziness starting already.

I headed back home for lunch, which ended up being another yummy sandwich…

11.22 salami sandwich

But I also enjoyed one of the fresh pears I bought at the grocery store. I must have really been on my squeezing game because I picked a perfectly ripe pear and it was so juicy and delicious…

11.22 Pears

I even picked up a few more when I went back to the grocery store today. Hmm, I’m thinking a pear crisp might be in my near future…

11.22 salami sandwich 2

After picking up a few things at Harry and David and Barnes and Noble (I really should own stock in that store!), it was time to head home to put up the tree and lights…

11.22 Santa Train 1

I even put out one of my favorite Christmas decorations, the Santa Train, as I call it. This is by far the best impulse purchases I’ve ever made – and it was at Costco! It’s a beautiful and very detail 4-part wooden train filled with old-fashioned toys – that are real toys!

11.22 Santa Train 2

11.22 Santa Train 3

That is one thing that I’ve come to learn about Costco – If you see something you really like, buy it, because it may not be there the next time you go.

Scott was working most of the day trying to finish project before Thanksgiving. So, I volunteered to make us dinner – and it wasn’t just reservations or take-out!!

11.22 Turkey burger

I whipped up some burgers on our indoor grill – turkey for me and buffalo for Scott. I also made some awesome oven roasted potatoes. These were super easy to make. Here’s how:

Easiest Oven-Roasted Potatoes

  • 4 medium red-skinned potatoes, washed and cut into cubes/chunks
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Salt/pepper to taste.

    • Mix the oil with the potatoes in a bowl and add salt and pepper. Spread potatoes on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven that’s been preheated. Take out tray and flip potatoes over. Return to oven for 10 minutes. Broil for 3-5 minutes if needed – then enjoy! 

For variety, I have added rosemary, Italian seasonings, and or parmesan cheese to the potatoes prior to cooking. It just gives them a little extra flavor.

    11.22 Oven roasted potatoes  

    Now,  I must be off. I have a ton of wrapping to do before Thanksgiving – when my side of the family exchanges our Christmas presents.

    Have a great night everyone!

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Bacon Makes Everything Taste Better

November 21, 2009 by

Hi Everyone! 

Last night, I watched Rachel Ray’s Vacation on the Food Network. She was reviewing some of the hot spots in Philadelphia. I was sooo excited to see that she actually visited two of the VERY places I went to last year at my company’s annual meeting! She reviewed Amada tapas restaurant and Naked Chocolate Cafe, both of which were awesome! I am very proud to say that I found these two places on my own before even seeing the show – so I guess great minds think alike. Maybe it’s a sign that I should subscribe to her magazine 😉

This morning, Scott and I had to rush out the door to run errands, so there was no time for a sit-down breakfast. And so it was LUNA to the rescue…

11.21 LUNA bar

Lunch was at our fave Italian cafe where I promptly ordered my signature veggie pizza…

11.21 Veggie Pizza 2

It was loaded with mushrooms, spinach, red peppers, pesto, and topped with goat cheese, all on a wheat crust – fantastic!

11.21 Veggie pizza 1

Next up, was a little Christmas shopping. In just two hours, I managed to get to:

  • Crate and Barrel – Looking for cool wine glasses on sale for $2.95 – but they were all out 🙁
  • Bath and Body Works – I don’t shop here much because I prefer L’Occitane or Crabtree and Evelyn but BBW was having some great sales.
  • Harry and David – Looking for a foodie gift for my big sis.
  • Barnes and Noble – Hmm, no real reason to go here other than to pick up a mocha frap!
  • Fresh Market – Ahh, rotisserie chicken for dinner!

For dinner, I decided to try my hand at making brussel sprouts. Shauna’h suggested a great recipe from a friend, although I did not have all of the ingredients to make it. So, it was my own creation tonight – which usually makes Scott a little leery.

11.21 Brussel Sprouts

But for these, I fried some all-natural hickory smoked bacon in a pan until crisp. Then I removed the bacon and added steamed brussel sprouts (about 25 sprouts cut in 1/2). Then I sauteed the sprouts in a little more oil and the bacon drippings until they were slightly brown. Of course, I thought they were awesome. On the other hand, Scott remarked that he would probably not eat these again without the bacon. I guess bacon really does make every taste better.

One word of caution, if you do make this recipe, be very careful when pouring the sprouts in the bacon grease or you will wind up with grease burns…

11.21 arm burn

Not fun, especially since now they have progressed to tiny blisters – ouch! It was my own dumb fault though!

Aside from sprouts, I also tried my hand at making mashed sweet potatoes for the first time. I know, I know…how could I have gotten this far in life without making mashed sweet potatoes? Well, let’s just say we did not eat them very often growing up and when I did, we usually had the canned version.

11.21 sweet potatoes 1

For this bright orange and very festive dish, I followed the very easy recipe on Martha Stewart’s site. Seriously, this was SO easy. The hardest part was chopping the sweet potatoes -they are definitely not as easy to chop as white potatoes. Again, this dish was mighty tasty – I’m going to pat myself on the back for this one for sure!

11.21 Roast chicken and sweet potatoes

The side dishes all came together quite nicely with the white wine rotisserie chicken I bought from Fresh Market. Although, I swear these chickens are getting smaller and smaller. They’re almost like a cornish hen now. Scott and I used to be able to split one with leftovers for another full dinner. Now, we’re lucky if we have leftovers. And it’s NOT that we are eating more either!

11.21 roast chicken and brussel sprouts

11.21 roast chickena nd sweet potatoes 2

I paired this all with a nice Robert Mondavi Chardonnay I purchased at Costco last week. Fancy, fancy.

I think this made up for last night’s sandwich dinner, don’t you think?

OK, gotta run. I have a ton of pre-Thanksgiving cleaning to get to tonight! See you all on Sunday!

Filed Under: Dinner, Leisure Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How Do You Make Brussel Sprouts Taste Good?

November 20, 2009 by

Hey there! So what happens when you work 10 hour days Monday-Thursday?  You spend your Fridays running all of the errands that you would have during the week. Yes, that is exactly what I did today, I ran errands for practically the entire day.

After an awesome outdoor 4-mile run, I chomped on a hearty bowl of Honeynut Cheerios…

11.20 Cheerios

I really want to get some new dishes to jazz up my food pictures. But quite honestly, I have so much dishware that it’s hard to justify spending money to buy more. And I really don’t have much more space to put it.

Post-breakfast, it was off to:

  • Post Office – To Mail out Christy’s giveaway – yeah! I just hope the chocolate withstands the warmer Florida temps!
  • Target – LUNA bars and a birthday present
  • Grocery Store – Bread and milk

I went to my usual grocery store to pick up our favorite La Brea three-cheese bread, but realized that all they had was the pre-sliced kind. I prefer to slice my own as needed – I think it stays fresher that way. Well, one of the workers offered to bake me a fresh loaf right then and there! Woo hoo – jackpot!

But of course, since I had to wait an extra 20 minutes for the bread to bake, I spent more time at the store than I intended. As a result, I ended up buying more groceries than I had planned. Case in point – I bought brussel sprouts.

11.20 brussel sprouts

Now, I know many of you buy and cook brussel sprouts on a regular basis. Well, I have never bought or cooked brussel sprouts EVER and have only eaten them once in my entire life! However, after seeing a bunch of your posts featuring these little green cabbages, I decided to give them a try. I actually recall seeing a Tyler Florence show where he roasted brussel spouts and they looked fantastic. I’m not quite sure if that’s because Tyler made them or if it was because bacon was involved. Maybe it’s a little of both.

So, how do you make brussel sprouts taste good? If you have the answer to that question (such as in the form of a great recipe), please let me know! 

For lunch, Scott and I had minestrone soup with some of that fresh three-cheese bakery bread I mentioned before…

11.20 Minestrone

The soup was good, but the bread was outstanding! I admit that I had more than one piece 😉 On a side note – Bread is one of my vices, along with peanut M&M’s.

Later in the day, it was more errands for me, including a fruitless stop at Old Navy. Whenever I go into Old Navy, I have these high hopes of finding some great shirt or sweater – but that just never happens. Oh well, I guess it’s back to the Gap and JCrew for me.

Tonight was my turn to cook again, but you all have figured out by now that when it’s my turn to cook I make every effort to NOT cook. So tonight was sandwich night at the Running With Cake household…

11.20 Salami and Ham sandwich 1

The salami and ham sandwiches were a little fancier because of the freshly-made cheese bread. Who am I kidding – it’s still just a sandwich. But I did have a few mini bell peppers for some added vitamin C…

11.20 Salami and ham sandwich 2

And now, on to the best part of my day… dessert!

11.20 chocolate peanut butter ice cream

Scott made a run up to our local Oberweis dairy to pick up two quarts of ice cream – mint chocolate chip for him and chocolate peanut butter for me. Yum!

I have another busy day planned for tomorrow, between Christmas shopping and wrapping, so I’m going to sign off for the night. 

Every your Friday evening!

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Vote For Your Favorite Cooking/Food Magazine!

November 19, 2009 by

Hi All! I don’t know about you but today seemed to go by so SLOW! This is sort of our “slow season” at work, or rather a slower season. People are starting to go on vacation, some are working from home. As a result, it’s been very quiet at the office and the hours just seem to drag by. Luckily, I always have work to keep me busy, but when I see everyone else taking vacations or chatting with coworkers to pass the time, it’s hard to focus on work. 

Anyway, my day started with a great run on the treadmill. I tried to do a split – 1/2 treadmill, 1/2 running outside, but when I stepped out the door, it was just starting to rain. So it was back to the treadmill and away we go!

Breakfast was a small bowl of homemade oatmeal…

11.19 oatmeal with peanut butter

I added a handful of sliced almonds to the oatmeal and topped it with a spoonful of all-natural peanut butter. I find that when I add protein – especially extra protein – to my breakfast I usually don’t need to snack before lunch. And, that’s just what happened today!

11.19 oatmeal with peanut butter 2

The oats plus tons of monounsaturated fats (MUFA) gave me enough energy for hours. It also was so warm and soothing – just perfect for a chilly and rainy fall day.

Lunch happened to be leftovers from last night – spinach risotto…

11.19 spinach risotto

I have come to learn a thing or two about risotto. I’ve learned no matter how awesome and “very Italian” it tastes on the day you make it, by the second day it tastes just like Rice-a-Roni. Not very risotto-y or Italian, but still adequate for lunch leftovers.

If you can believe it, dinner was MORE leftovers in the form of Monday’s turkey tacos. But, I decided to change it up a bit and make a taco salad…

11.19 taco salad 1

This is what happens when Scott teaches at night. I become the sandwich-leftovers queen, and tonight was no different.

11.19 taco salad 2

After dinner, I starting flipping through my Real Simple holiday issue again. I LOVE that magazine! It is probably my favorite non-fitness magazine. But, I noticed my subscription is up this month and wondered whether or not I should renew. Ok, that took me all of 3 seconds to decide – heck yeah I’m renewing! But then I wondered if I should branch out from Real Simple and health/fitness magazines and maybe subscribe to a food/foodie magazine. 

With Gourmet magazine now defunct, I’m down to the following 4 magazines that I’m contemplating subscribing to:

  • Fine Cooking: It seems like such an elegant magazine, which great ideas for fancy full-scale dinners, etc.
  • Bon Appetit: Again, this tends to lean on the more elegant/fancy side of the foodie magazines, but they have great photos and recipes.
  • Cooking Light: This is the Real Simple of cooking/food magazines, easy to follow, and mostly uncomplicated recipes. Plus, most recipes and articles are geared toward the use of health ingredients and cooking methods.
  • Everyday With Rachel Ray: I do like this magazine, but sometimes I feel like it’s designed for someone with ADHD. It is all over the place as far as sections, articles, etc. But something about it still draws me to it, kind of like a car accident where you can’t help but look.

I’m fairly sure I will subscribe to one of these magazines, but I’d love your help deciding! Please send me your vote for your favorite food/cooking magazine! Just leave a comment on this post and let me know if you subscribe to any of the four magazines I mentioned above (or read them on a regular basis), what you like about them, and which one of the four you’d recommend. The magazine with the most votes will earn my subscription! Now I know all of you foodie bloggers out there must subscribe to at least one of these, so don’t let me down! You have until Tuesday, November 24, at 9 PM Eastern to cast your vote. I can’t wait to hear from all of you!

OK peeps, I’ve got a brownie sitting here with my name on it.

11.19 brownie 1

Have a great evening everyone! And remember, to vote, vote, VOTE!

Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: , , , , , ,

A Theme For Holiday Decorating

November 18, 2009 by

Hey out there in Bloggerland! Hope all is well. I just came back from a whirlwind shopping excursion. In just 1 1/2 hours, I went to 4 stores, including Target. But, before I get to the shopping details, I want to tell you about the awesome dinner I had…

11.18 Spinach Risotto 1

Scott made mesquite-rubbed chicken with crisp green beans. But, the real star of the show was the spinach risotto! He browned the rice just right which gave the whole dish a ton of flavor, plus adding spinach was a great way to get more veggies into the meal, and add a little color to the risotto. As far as the recipe, we just follow the recipe on the box – but when sauteing the rice, we add some onion; then we add spinach at the very end. Perfect!

11.18 spinach risotto 2

Now, back to shopping! Around this time of year, I start thinking about Christmas presents -who to buy for, what to buy, and what paper to wrap the gifts in. You may think it’s a little early to buy wrapping paper. However, in the past, when I’ve waited until after Thanksgiving to buy my paper, I’m left with a bunch of crap not-so-nice paper that just screams Black Friday leftovers.

Each year, I try to go with a different theme for wrapping paper, such s Toile, whimsical, Victorian, etc. Some years, I even try to match my decorations (tree, table, etc.) with my wrapping paper – that’s when we’re not in a recession of course! But, for my wrapping paper this year, I chose….woodsy!

Christmas wrapping 1

I almost always buy my Christmas wrapping from Hobby Lobby, but tonight I arrived at the store later than expected (20 minutes before they closed), so I started grabbing every roll that I liked, with no theming strategy al all. But then, I finally listened to my inner voice telling me to put everything back and just come another day when I had more time to really think about my theme.

Then, it was on to Target to pick up a few essentials – LUNA bars etc. Since I was already there, I just so happened to mosey over to the wrapping paper section. That’s when I saw all of the outdoor/tree/pine cone themed paper. I knew instantly, that was the theme for me!

Christmas wrapping 2

It’s kind of odd that I should choose to go with a woodsy/outdoor theme. I don’t like camping, hunting, or fishing, but I do love me a good pine cone! Now, all I need is some matching ribbon or twine and I’ll be all set!

So, I just have to ask – Do any of you go with a theme for your holiday wrapping? And/Or, Do you go with a particular theme for your decor or tree ornaments? If so, what themes have you done in the past and what are you going with this year?

I’m starting to fall asleep as I type, which is a very good sign I need to get to bed, don’t ya think?

Have a great night everyone!

Filed Under: Leisure Tagged With: ,

The Thanksgiving Spirit

November 17, 2009 by

Hi There!

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…the Winner of the Running With Cake Explorer’s Bounty Giveaway is: #5 Christy from SweetiePotato.

Christy wrote:

my favorite type of organic chocolate is newman’s own… i’ve had the espresso dark chocolate and it was amazing! anything with a little bit of coffee flavor (especially chocolate) is fantastic, in my opinion ;)

Thank you to Christy and all of those who entered my first giveaway. And a special thank you to all of those who gave me great ideas for organic chocolate! I’m hoping to do a few more giveaways before the holidays so check back!

Speaking of the holidays, there are so many things that I love about this time of year. So, instead of giving you a recap of my day (sometimes, I just don’t feel like writing about running/eating), I wanted to share with you a few things that help me get into the Thanksgiving spirit:

11.17 Thanksgiving decorating

1. Decorating for Thanksgiving! If you can believe it, this turkey actually has a twin; because, you can never have enough turkey.

2. Watching Thanksgiving specials, like the Thanksgiving Day Parade and Charlie Brown! Yo, Chuck..

Charline Brown 2

3. Perusing the Holiday catalogs that come in the mail…

11.17 Holiday Sale magazines

Does Crate and Barrel have the best Christmas stuff or what? I feel like circling all of the things I want, just like I used to do in the toy catalogs as kid. Or maybe I could just draw one giant circle around the whole magazine! You think my husband would get the hint? 😉

4. Sipping a hot skinny mocha, peppermint mocha, vanilla latte, ok ANYTHING from a Starbucks Holiday cup…

11.17 Starbucks Skinny Mocha

I enjoyed this skinny cup of chocolate Joe today as my “Happy Tuesday” surprise.

And…

5. Reading all of the Holiday issues of my favorite magazines…

11.17 Real Simple Magazine

With a huge chocolate brownie of course!

But, the two things I love most about Thanksgiving are being with my family in Michigan and going for a long run on Thanksgiving morning (it’s my preemptive Turkey Day strategy!)

So, the question of the day is…How do you get into the Thanksgiving spirit?

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Last Chance For The Explorer's Bounty Giveaway!

November 17, 2009 by

Don’t forget to enter Running With Cake’s first giveaway for a load of Explorer’s Bounty organic goodies! Enter by 9 PM Eastern tonight and I will announce the winner shortly thereafter.

Good luck!11.17 Explorer's Bounty Organic Products

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So, I was called into the Principal's Office….

November 16, 2009 by

**Don’t forget about the first ever Running With Cake giveaway! You may just snag yourself a huge bounty of goodies!**

It’s funny how your day can start off normal, with everything going along smoothly, then WHAM! A huge pile of bricks is dropped right on your head. Well, not actually, but that’s kind of how I felt today.

I had a perfectly lovely run this morning, bouncing along to my Christmas music and wondering what I was going to have for breakfast.

11.16 Greek Yogurt with walnuts

Ahh, Trader Joe’s Greek yogurt with walnuts – a super energizing breakfast. Followed by a steaming cup of Tazo Awake tea..

11.16 Tazo Awake Tea

Everything was still normal at this point. Little did I know, I would need this mighty breakfast to get me through a pretty stressful afternoon.

Next up, lunch – another incredibly yummy salad…

11.16 Chicken Salad

All was still well as I crunched along to a sound of my fresh veggies and chicken.

Then – the bomb was dropped right on my desk…

Stress reduction: www.flickr.com/photos/56661936@N00/1483037699

I was called into the “principal’s” office, aka our new CEO, for a little chat. That chat turned into a 45 minute conversation about changes that were soon to come in our office. My role in all of this is to help craft tactful messages about these changes so that he can then relay these changes to the staff. The pressure’s ON! Stay calm!

Focus: www.flickr.com/photos/56387066@N00/1810357551

Well, I guess it really did not go down in that dramatic of fashion, but still the messages will be very challenging to draft and convey. And, I can guarantee that some in the office are NOT going to like these messages. One change will really hit home with me – I can’t say now, but I’ll share details later.

Still, even with the challenge ahead, I am absolutely thrilled that he approached me to help him. I’m hoping that speaks quite a bit about my ability to do my job and do it well. 

After my exciting afternoon, I arrived home around 6:30 PM to a full made zesty turkey taco dinner. We started with a bit of guacamole of course…

11.16 Guacamole

11.16 Turkey tacos 2

Turkey tacos or even beef tacos are so easy to make and you don’t even need a boxed mix (sorry Mom, not everything needs to come from a box). You can just buy the taco seasoning spice, follow the directions on the bottle, add a few veggies while browning the meat, and presto – semi-instant turkey tacos!

11.16 Turkey tacos 1

Not bad for a Monday night! But wait, that’s not all…

As you all know, I’ve been on a red velvet cupcake kick for the last few weeks. So, Scott so graciously volunteered to run out to Barnes and Noble to pick up a cupcake for me.

11.16 Red velvet cupcake 2

Not only did he come back with the awesome cupcake, but he also came back with a JCrew bag – full of goodies for him though. Hmm, come to think of it, I could use a little retail therapy right now!

11.16 Red Velvet Cupcake 3

Alright my fellow bloggies, I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow, so I’m off to bed.

Peace, love, and red velvet cupcakes to all!

Filed Under: Dinner Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

RWC: A New Health and Fitness Challenge

November 15, 2009 by

Hi All! I have some very exciting news to report! First, let me give you a little background.

For years, I have played the part of the communications professional – I’ve been a journalist-health writer, a health-care public relations practitioner, and a public speaking instructor at a university. Although I’ve loved everything that I’ve done related to these positions, I’ve always felt like something was missing.

Women's Health Month: www.flickr.com/photos/36645092@N02/3971742249

Also during this time, and actually quite a bit before this time, I have been interested in health and fitness – not only for myself but for family, friends, and eventually my husband. However, in recent days, I’ve felt like I need to take this passion to the next level – make it official somehow. I’ve been contemplating switching careers, going back to school to earn a more health-care related degree. However, at this point in time, it’s just not practical for me.

So, I have decided to embark on a new journey, one that takes me on a path toward health and fitness but allows me to fit this new knowledge and training into my current lifestyle. Does anyone care to guess what I will be doing??

Woman on yoga ball

In just a few short weeks I will begin the training process to earn my Personal Training Certification. Although expensive and time-consuming (especially around the holidays) I am completely committed to this challenge. I admit, I’m both excited an a little nervous about the certification program – I mean, I haven’t taken a test in YEARS!

I am definitely not going to be quitting my day job. In fact, I really like what I do for the most part, I just feel like I need MORE in my life than what I do during the day. Blogging about health and fitness filled this void somewhat. But even then, the advice about health/fitness was more personal advice – what worked for me. By becoming certified, I will know truly that the advice I’m giving is coming from a sound and strong knowledge base.

I am very excited and relieved to be sharing this news with all of you. Telling all of you seems to make it more official, more real. I plan to chronicle the certification process on Running With Cake – all of the highs and lows of studying, testing, taking, and practicums, etc. I hope that you will stick by me through the whole process. Because, I will definitely need the fitness blogging community now more than ever!

And with that my fellow fitness and food bloggies, I will say good night!

Filed Under: Fitness Tagged With: ,