Favorites! (Alternate title Best Things Ever in the World)

This week I was asked what my favorite number was, and then the inquirer was completely perplexed that I did not have a favorite number. Is this a thing? Should I have a favorite number? Numbers are numerical (okay, that’s funny), so the favoritism is relevant. My favorite number to weigh – low, my favorite number of cookies – high. My favorite number for money in the bank – uncalculateable.

 Regardless, I do have a favorite Holiday, and it is Thanksgiving. I love being with my family, I love eating yummy food, I love reflecting and giving thanks for everything that we have. I also love that there is no stress of buying presents or trying to open them before you have to leave for the next celebration (thus Thanksgiving over Christmas). I also have a favorite season: fall (completely coincidental that they are at the same time, promise).

 So today I made a list of some of my other favorite things with no real regard to order or ranking or theme or pattern (this is more of an exercise in being less OCD than a blog post I suppose)

 Anyway, here are some things I think are super great!

 Giraffe’s

This one is obvious and needs no explaining. Giraffe’s are awesome. If you don’t get that, then we probably can’t be friends. In fact if this is in anyway surprising to you, I doubt that we ever were friends.

  

 

 

 

Any and all things things that are pink

Take any object, make it pink, it is now 10 times better. Fact.

  

 

 

Super high heels

I don’t know what it is about heels, but I love them. I love them on the shelf. I love them in my closet. I love them on my feet. I love them on other people’s feet. I would totally buy a Dr. Seuss book about them. I could probably write a Dr. Seuss book about them. I like all colors, all fabrics, so long as the heel isn’t gross and clunky. The heel should be slender, much like how legs look when you wear them. There is something powerful about a great pair of heels.

 

Things that sparkle

See pink above and Neon below. Things that sparkle are awesome. Every two year old on the planet agrees with me. If you don’t agree, you should probably go argue with all of them. I for sure think you’ll win J

 

 

Neon

Seriously. Neon anything. If something is neon green or pink I will want it. It could be something I don’t need, it could be something I hate. I will still want it. Double points if it sort of hurts your eyes when you look at it.

Giant fluffy blankets

I don’t really think that this needs to be explained.
So I won’t.

 

  

Pushing my limits

There is nothing I love more than doing something I never thought I could do. I love the exhaustion that comes from pushing your physical limits, I love the mental clarity that comes from overcoming an insurmountable obstacle.

I even love limping and bruises, and wear them as badges of awesomeness. To me a good limp tells everyone “I did something epic this weekend. How was that Real Housewives marathon you watched?”

  My dad’s laugh

 

What can I say. I’m a daddy’s girl and his laugh is one of my favorite things. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

 

 

 

 

Scarves/Boots/Sweaters

 I think I just really like being warm AND fashionable. Not always an easy feat; here's an example of Mr. B rocking a classic fall scarf with a herringbone pattern. He's very photogenic.

Lasagna and Leavenworth (but mostly just lasagna)

I made my first lasagna. I actually made my first 2 lasagna’s (or my first and my second? Hard to say….). At the same time. Using recipes I adapted (based on my years of lasagna cooking, obviously). I just like to make life complicated like that.

Kitchen Helper! (help meaning begging and getting in the way)

Luckily for me, I have an excellent cook for a father that does not mind me calling to ask him silly questions about cooking lasagna noodles. Also, lucky for me the lasagna’s turned out. Oh, I did mention that I was making these lasagnas because I was responsible for feeding 20 people I didn’t know right? Like I said, I like to add an extra challenge to life.

So I made one meat and one veggie lasagna, entirely from scratch. Apparently they were super delicious. Roommate has been asking for another every day. I did not eat any of either of them. I’m not sure why. Actually, that’s a lie. I know exactly why. When they came out of the oven I was busy curling hair and getting into my costume. Also, I wasn’t really that hungry. Then when we got home at 1am and everyone else was drunkenly eating round 2, I still wasn’t really that hungry. Then the next day, when everyone was eating them for breakfast, I decided lasagna for breakfast was weird. I also decided they had been on the counter too long for consumption. By the time we drove home from Leavenworth with them in the backseat, they had really been out too long for consumption. Except for by roommate. I’m pretty sure she ate half of a pan of lasagna by herself over the next four days. Roommate has a stomach of steel and the immune system of a nurse.

 I was told by everyone it was the best lasagna they had ever had. Specifically the meat one. I wish I could take more credit for the recipe, but I got it from one of my favorite blogs, the Pioneer Woman.

When I grow up, I want to be her. But that’s another post entirely.

So here is a link to her blog, because I in no way to want to take credit for her amazing work.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_lasagn/

Below is the recipe as I adapted it, from her.

• 1-1/2 pound Ground Beef
• 1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
• 2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• 1/2 cup Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles
• (add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)

The only change I made from her recipe for the meat lasagna was to use fresh parmesan, not Kraft. Cheese that doesn’t need refrigeration bothers me. I refuse to consume it; same with meat for that matter.

For the veggie lasagna, I adapted the recipe by leaving out the meat (obviously) and adding mushrooms, zucchini, onion and bell pepper. I would like to tell you how much I added, but I mostly just added it until I thought that it looked right. I think half an onion, 2 large zucchini, 1 bell pepper and 1 package of mushrooms

For the meat lasagna I browned the sausage and the beef together, and added the garlic at the same time. I drained off as much of the fat as I could, I’m sure there was still plenty hiding in the pan where I couldn’t see. While the meat was browning I set a large pot of water to boil for the lasagna noodles.

Once the meat was well cooked, I added the paste, whole tomatoes, parsley, basil and salt. In another pan I mixed the same ingredients, less the meat, as the base for the veggie lasagna. I let both sauces simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I added all of the cut up and prepped veggies to the veggie lasagna sauce  after about 40 minutes, so as not to over-cook them, since they would be baked as well.

 

 

 

 

While those were simmering, I put the lasagna noodles into the boiling water that I had salted and added oil to. This part was surprisingly stressful to me. I read all these horror stories of noodles making a clump, or cooking unevenly, or falling apart. I was also concerned about over cooking the noodles, since they were going to be baked for an hour after being cooked. All of that stress is why I should stay away from the internet and just call my Dad instead. The noodles came out perfectly. I put them in one at time, pushing them down as soon as the bottom was softened by the boiling water. I only cooked them for about 5 minutes, instead of 7-9, since they would be baked. None broke, there was no problem. They did start to stick together once I drained them, but I separated them, then kept them in a pan of cold water until I was ready for them.

 

No problem. Morale of the story: stay away from the internet. Except this blog of course J

Once the sauces were done I mixed up the cottage cheese sauce and starting layering: thin meat sauce layer (just so the pan is coated), noodles, cottage cheese mix, mozzarella, meat sauce, repeat once!

 

Bentley really wanted to help taste test

Bam, two lasagna’s just like that. I was able to refrigerate them for 48 hours until they were ready to be cooked Saturday night. Then I added a layer of cheese on top, baked for 1 hour and presto!

Done! Minus the final cheese topping....

 

Dinner for 20 people has never been so easy. I served them with Roasted Garlic loaves from Costco that I coated in butter and an Italian cheese blend. Not the most healthy dinner ever, so we danced the night away working off all the calories.

We had such a fun weekend and made so many great new friends, it really deserves its own post. So for now, here’s a picture of all the ladies before we headed out, more to come soon!

 

Playing catch-up….and dress-up

Life has been crazy busy, hence the lack of blog posts! As promised here’s a post about Roommate’s birthday extravaganza!

 Roommate and I have so much fun on a regular basis that it’s hard to up the ante for a birthday celebration. Regardless, I think we succeeded. Friday was her actual birthday, so we put on pretty dresses and headed out to Teatro Zinzanni.

 

SPARKLES!

Yes, Roommate’s dress is indeed made of sequins. Would you expect anything less?

Teatro Zinnani is one of the most fun places in Seattle. It’s a five course meal with a full cirque du soleil type performance. As always the food was great and the performers were amazing. The only problem with this place is that you’re eating rich dedecant food while watching performers with 0% body fat. Much like the Olympics, watching this makes me never want to eat again and also makes me want to triple my gym work outs. Then I tell myself that if I were paid to have 0% body fat, then I would. Since I’m not, bring on the chocolate (and the wine)!

I probably need more wine.....

 After the theater we went to Purple because roommate had never been there before. Purple is a super swanky wine bar downtown. We each had a flight of wine, I had Red’s, Roommate and our third friend had rosé’s. To cap off our classy night, roommate and I stopped at Wendy’s on the way home for a midnight snack. Side bar – I think I just realized why my weight loss has plateaued….

When we got home I gave roommate her birthday presents, which she loved. I was so happy that she liked them, not that I should have been too worried. No one knows roommate better than I do, and no one knows me better than she does. I got her a super classy coach wallet to go in her super classy coach purses. I also made her a sort of scrap book. I mentioned before that I had sent her a quote of the day for 26 days (which just HAPPENS to be how old she turned lol).

Pretty Pink Sparkly Things!

For the book I took the 26 quotes and put them in pretty font onto pretty pink paper, then I found 26 pictures of us doing awesome stuff. I made an 8x8 book with a quote and a photo on each page, using pink sparkly pretty paper. I wanted her to have tangible evidence of how great our lives are, so that if she’s ever bummed out, she can cheer herself up.



Finished Book

 

 

 

I was worried that it was a little too corny, but she absolutely loved it. Yay!

 

Saturday we were mellow all day, we took Mr. B to dog training (someday, he will be a good dog. I’m sure of it) and then went shopping for a little while. We also put in a solid work out at the gym (mandatory after the excess of the night before!) then Saturday night we rounded up all our favorite people and headed out to Ozzies.

Best Wallet/Photo Prop Ever

I think this pretty much sums it up

We danced and played pool until closing then went home for quesadilla’s and bed. (seriously tho, I now know how I work out 5 days a week and don’t lose weight)

Sunday we had some quality roommate time and went to breakfast at one of our favorite spots, Luna Park Café. If you’re in Seattle go there. Order the 3 pigs hobo. Eat all of it. Then roll yourself out of the restaurant and straight to the gym. That’s pretty much what I did. We capped off the weekend with dinner with Roommate’s dad on Sunday night. All and all successful birthday weekend, I hope roommate had as much fun as I did!

I still have so much to catch up on, posts about Raw Apple cupcakes, Lasagna, and Leavenworth soon to come!

Sorry if I'm obsessed.....

Sorry to talk about this again, but I did warn you that there may be another tough mudder post once I got the photos. I just wanted to share a couple of my favorites….

Best Teammates ever!

 

This is the 20ft drop.

 

See how much time there was! Enough time for 4 pictures!

Question: Do ice baths make you cold?

Answer: Yes.

(And no, I was not resting, I was waiting for my team!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the final obstacle. I barely addressed it in my previous TM post, as it didn’t make much of an impact after Everest. Shocked with 10,000 volts, multiple times, and not worried about it.

That’s how you know your day has been epic.

Now for a quick baking update.

Here are roommate’s birthday cupcakes.

Bailey’s Irish cream cupcakes with bailey’s Irish cream frosting. I am not impressed with the recipe, so I’m not going to post it. The cupcakes are rich, and very flavorful, but they are also super dense; like pound cake dense. I prefer light, fluffy cupcakes. Usually this would be a challenge to be surpassed, but as I’m not a huge bailey’s fan, I think I’m going to let this one go into the recipe vaults, never to be seen again.

This weekend I’m heading to Leavenworth for Oktoberfest. Roommate and I rented a house with a bunch of friends, should be an excellent time. Last weekend we got beer wench outfits to wear for the festivities, so there promises to be glorious photos next week. We’re responsible for Saturday dinner as well, so I’m planning out a delicious lasagna, I’ll post about that soon as well.

Roommate’s birthday weekend was epic enough to warrant its own post, so more to come very soon….

Rain, Rain go away…….Or not

Okay, I have to admit it. I’m stoked it’s about to start raining. I love the fall. It is my absolute favorite time of year. I love pretty leaves, I love scarves, I love boots, I love curling up on the couch and listening to the rain outside, I love comfort food, I love all of it.

 

My absolute favorite memory from growing up was listening to the rain. My room was the only one that faced the backyard and we had a large deck that was covered with this plastic roofing. I don’t even know what it was called, it looked like a tin roof, but it was yellow opaque plastic. It made so much noise when it rained; I didn’t have to look out my window to know whether or not it was wet out. I loved waking up and falling asleep to that noise. When I have a house, I want to put a piece outside of my bedroom window so I can hear it again.

I also love the sense of purpose that comes with fall. The rain washes everything clean, and people in general seem to refocus on what’s important. I like the reset mentality; we’ve had fun, we’ve goofed off all summer, now let’s get back to what’s important. I feel like it’s so much more genuine than New Years. New year everyone makes a big deal, and feels like they’re supposed to start fresh. Fall, everyone just starts fresh, because it’s what we do. Kids go back to school, we spend more time indoors because of the weather and the lack of daylight.

Additionally, at least for me, Fall kicks off baking season! I get out of the habit over the summer, because I’m busy and it’s hot, but in the fall I start making all sorts of deliciousness again. Roommate’s birthday pretty much kicks off fall baking for me. She requested I make Bailey’s Irish Cream cupcakes for her. This breaks one of my cardinal rules, which is “Never make the exact same thing twice”. Coincidentally (or maybe not) roommate hates this rule. Apparently I make delicious things and she loves them, only to have them never seen again. I’ll make things that are similar more than once, but the only thing that I will make exactly the same way every time is Chocolate Chip cookies. I perfected my recipe, it can’t get better. Also, when you really want a chocolate chip cookie, no other cookies will do.; whereas with cupcakes, I usually just want a cupcake, not a particular kind of cupcake. There are so many flavors, so many potential toppings, so much room for creativity, why would I make the same thing more than once?

I’ve been daydreaming about this Raw Apple Cake that my favorite Uncle would make growing up. It’s perfect for fall; it’s sweet and tart and has no match that I have found. I’m thinking that I’m going to turn it into cupcakes. I was thinking a cinnamon cream cheese frosting, but the cake itself is so moist and sweet it doesn’t require frosting. I think I might do a drizzle glaze, instead of a full frosting, since the cake pretty much stands on its own.

Unfortunately, that is not what roommate requested. So I will be making Bailey’s Irish Cream cupcakes. I may dye the frosting pink for her. If I could make that frosting out of sparkles, I would also do that. There is nothing that roommate likes more than pink sparkly things. If I can combine alcohol, cupcakes, and pink sparkly things, her head might explode.

Here are last year’s birthday cupcakes

I put black edible glitter on last years cupcakes. Yay sparkles!

And here are the Bailey’s Cupcakes from when I made them last spring

They have green sprinkles for St. Pats!

 So excited for Teatro Zinzanni on Friday night and to give roommate the special project I’ve been working on for her. I really hope she likes it. I might take a couple of pictures of it and post them on here as well. Also, here is a picture of the bag with her present in it. I put it on the table on Monday for her to stare at all week. That’s just the kind of roommate I am J

I AM a Tough Mudder

*Disclaimer: Super long post, sorry!*

Another item can be checked off the bucket list I didn’t know that I had. This weekend I completed the tough mudder. It was so hard. It was also so awesome. It was by far the most difficult thing I have ever accomplished. I knew it would be challenging when I signed up and especially when I started the work outs. I had anticipated the distance being difficult. I had anticipated the weather conditions possibly being difficult. I completely under estimated the mental part of this challenge. As with the most things, the only thing that was standing in my way was me.

I am so proud to say that I (with the immense help of my team) completed every single obstacle that was set before me on Saturday. I am not so proud to say, that there was a moment in the middle of the race, where I did not think I could do it. But I preserved, kept pressing, and finished. It helped that my amazing roommate was next to me telling me that I could keep going, and how amazing I was doing. I hate that I’m always my biggest obstacle. I was out there, I was doing this. I was able to do all the obstacles as well as any other girl on my team. I was lagging in the beginning while running, behind the rest of my team, but at the end I was at the front of the pack (my half marathon training has given me a steady pace, that can last me the whole 12 miles). It didn’t help that I have a nagging tendonitis issue from over training in the spring, which has never quite healed. It also didn’t help my pace that this was trail running, with hills, and bushes and logs to jump over, not the steady city running I’m accustomed to. Despite all of that I was doing fine physically, it was only mentally that I was weak. No one was disappointed with my performance or felt I didn’t belong except me. My weakness did not over power me though. I pushed it out of my head and pushed myself forward to earn that orange headband!

There were so many obstacles, it’s impossible to remember all of them. Below are a few of my favorites, and a little bit about why. I think all of my favorites could also be classified as least favorites (you really had to be there to understand).

Artic Enema

This was the second obstacle. It’s an ice bath. Not a “put ice in at the beginning of the day now it’s just cold bath”. They keep this obstacle between 30 and 34 degrees and we watched them add ice after every wave before we started. Not only do you have to make your way through literally ice cold water, that came up to my chest, but there’s a divider in the middle. I figured it was a two by four set at the top of the water, so you’re forced to dunk your head under. That was wrong. This divider went down 2-3 feet. I had to dive, feel the bottom and pull myself under it. There was no ducking under and staying on your feet. The other side of the divider was where most of the ice was, so while resurfacing you had to break through a layer of ice maybe 6 inches thick. It was by far the coldest water I have ever been in. I couldn’t get air into my lungs. The person in front of me was taking their time hauling themselves out of the water and if I could have moved fast enough I would have pushed them; without a second thought. Once I was out of the water the air felt warm, I felt energized! I would recommend ice baths for crazy people that need a burst of energy and hate being able to breath J

Berlin Walls

This obstacle was at much mental as physical for me. There were two sets of walls, the first 8ft and the second 9ft. These are muddy plywood walls that go straight up. The boys on our team ran at the walls and lifted themselves to the top, then two boys stayed at the bottom boosting people up and the other two boys at the top grabbed you and hauled you over. This was physically challenging, as you have to boost yourself up then sort of flop your torso over the wall then use your arms to push your body over and then drop and hang by your arms before dropping completely to the ground, to lessen the impact of the fall. It was also mentally challenging, in two ways for me. The first way is, 8 or 9 feet doesn’t sound that high. When you’re on top of flimsy plywood, it is. The other part of this that was hard for me was that I still struggle with my own body image. All the boys on our team were strong and positive and amazing. Pushing the ladies of the team over obstacle after obstacle did not faze them. But I still had flashes of being that “large” girl and felt guilty about taking their help, because I felt like I was asking too much of them. It’s one thing to boost a 5’0” size 0 over a wall. It’s another to boost me. The only problem with that is it isn’t really. I’m taller than those girls, so I can get a grip easier, and I’m stronger than those girls so I can help pull my own weight. In reality we’re the same. It’s only in my head that there is a problem. Which is exactly why I keep doing these events; to show myself how great I am and how far I’ve come. 

Walk the Plank

This obstacle was all mental. Actually that’s not true. Like all the obstacles, the masterminds behind tough mudder made this mental and physical. This was a 15 foot high platform you have to jump off of into water that’s an unknown depth. 2 things: You come up to the back of this platform, so you can’t see how far you’re going to have to jump until you’ll at the top and military guy is yelling at you to go. The second thing, they couldn’t make this nice stairs to the top. It was a plywood wall. So it was another obstacle that the amazing boys on our team boosted us up and then pulled from the top. I wasn’t even thinking about what was on the other side as I scrambled to the top. Once you’re up there and you look down it is intense. I got to the top took one look and was ready to scramble back down the wall I just climbed but before I could breathe there was a drill sergeant type in my face telling it’s my turn don’t look just go. He was scary and I jumped. The fall was far; far enough for me to have a cognitive thought of “why haven’t I hit the water yet”. The water was also freezing, the climb out steep enough to require a cargo net. It was amazing though, it’s such an exhilarating thing, to do something you never thought that you could. Even when it’s for the 12^th time that day.

Everest

This was by far the most challenging obstacle for me, mentally and physically. As you can see Everest is a giant quarter pipe, that’s covered in slippery mud. You had to run up as far as you could, jump and pray that your teammate not only catches you, but is strong enough to pull you up the rest of the way. You can try and get footing on the slippery surface, but it’s unlikely. This was the only obstacle that had a long wait. About 20 minutes. This meant that while you tried to run up this slippery pipe, at least a hundred people were watching you. These are the most supportive 100 people you’ve ever met. While we were waiting our turn we were cheering and clapping for every team that made their way up. They pipe is wide so there were probably a dozen lines of people trying make to make their way. When our team got to the front of our line, 3 of our strong boys ran and either got a helping hand from another team or were able to grab the lip and muscle their way up from a full hang (did I mention this is the second to last obstacle, so we’ve been enduring grueling feats for over 3 hours?). Then the ladies started going. We had 5 ladies on our team of 15 or so. 3 little tiny nothing ladies weighing less than 130 and 2 average sized ladies. The first 3 smaller girls went, and were able to run and grab on to a hand and get hauled up relatively easily (I can say this, since I didn’t do the hauling). Then it was me and one other girl, and the rest of the boys. I made two attempts and was able to grab a hand both times, but those hands weren’t able to haul me up and I wasn’t able to kick my legs up high enough to have anyone grab those. Both of those times everything slipped and I slid to the bottom of the ramp. It was so embarrassing. I felt defeated and every tall/large/fat insecurity I have ever had came up to the surface. But I had come here to do the tough mudder. I had done every obstacle so far, I was not stopping now. I took a break and watched a couple more of my team and other teams get hauled over this ledge. I decided now was not the time for quitting. It was the time for redoubling my efforts. So I took one more running leap. I got up high enough that the teammate grabbing me got my wrists and not my hands. I was able to get me feet perpendicular to the wall and get leverage to help them hoist me up. I made it to the top of the wall. It felt amazing. I get goosebumps now just thinking about it. It ranks up there with completing my half marathon. The final obstacle after this was a series of electrified wires that we had to run through. Those 10,000 volts did not faze me after everything else we had been through that day.

Overall the tough mudder was amazing. I’m bruised and cut and bloodied and sorer than I’ve ever been in my life. I’m also the strongest and most fit I’ve ever been in my life. There were so many more obstacles that I didn’t mention from thick mud up to my neck, to slippery tubes that slide down into more muddy water. I’m sure I’ll have another Tough Mudder post when I get the official photos, but for now I am so proud and so excited to start training for next year.

I will be stronger, mentally and physically and ready to tackle the world’s toughest obstacle course yet again.