Just Do It..or whatever

So, I am wannabe runner.  I've breifly brought it up on here before but over the last few weeks I have become a little more serious about it.  I started running because I wanted to get into shape and just all around be healthy and feel like I had more energy.  But now I'm feeling the need to have a goal at the end of my running trail so I posted a comment on one of my favorite blogs, http://www.skinnyrunner.com/.  Not only is this site full of helpful info but also Sarah is funny and it's one of the first ones I read in the monring right after catching up with PerezHilton :).

So I had posted a comment about where to start with your first race and I inquied if a 5k would be a good start.  And she actually responded, which was amazing to me and a bit of a Wow moment.  I have only been blogging for awhile and mostly stalking other blogs but now I have become a little more active so I was very surprised.  I think I will be taking her advice and signing up for a 5k that will be happening here in Austin at the end of March.  I'm hoping to at least complete it without wanting to fall over and puke, but it's only 3.1 miles so I have high hopes for no vomit.

Thanks Sarah for responding to my question.

Cake 2.0

So, to continue from the previous post, I did have a request for the recipie of the cake that I made and subsequently devoured for my b-day.  (it was my hubs b-day too.)

So, the recipie that I used is a pretty simple one that I snagged from TasteSpotting (which by the way has some of the best food porn I have EVER seen.)

VaVaVanilla (cup)Cake

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups cake four, not self-rising

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes

4 large eggs

1 cup whole buttermilk (I used low fat milk and it came out just as soon)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.


2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes. (For the cake I made 2 8 inch pans and baked them for about 40-45 minutes but tested them after 35 minutes to determine how much longer they needed.)

4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
 
Frosting (the most unbelievable gift from heaven)
 
ingredients



1 1/2 cup (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (don't use the "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" baking sticks, it causes a weird after taste)

3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

1/8 tsp. salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp heavy cream

1 tbsp meringue powder (optional)



directions

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add half the confectioners’ sugar salt, and meringue powder; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds. Add the rest of the sugar and mix again. Scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds. Then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice
 
 
Let me just say that this is the first cake that I have made from scratch that came out like one I tried while auditioning bakers for my wedding last summer.  I was throughly impressed.

Mmmmm...Cake

Hello, my name is BeN and I am a cake addict.  There, I feel better already.  I LOVE CAKE.   It is one of my reasons for being in the gym so frequently or letting Jillian Micheal's kick my ass repeatedly.  But I will gladly take any punishment as long as I can have that glorious slice of cake when I want it.  Covered in delicious buttercream and filled with anything sweet.  Mmmmm....oh, sorry where was I.   

Oh yeah, so I  bring this up because I celebrated my birthday on Sunday and my husband celebrated his on Monday, even though it's hard to celebrate when your day falls on a wicked Monday.  But we made the best out of it.  I baked us a homemade marble cake with chocolate mousse filling and the wonderful vanilla buttercream.  I have to admit that I have become the avid baker since receiving  "big blue" as a wedding gift.   So I will keep this one sweet butI present my version of ametuer porn. 

All photos by me.

Something You Should Know About Me...

I love vampires.  There I said it.  But more than that, I loved them before they became the rage that they are now.  My love for all things blood suckers begain back in the 80's.  My mom introduced me to the show "Dark Shadows".  I know that there was an original version before the 80's but I watched the remake.  I fell in love with the fangs, the beauty and blood.

Oh Barnus, you were my first!

I continued watching this show for years and then there was a bit of a drought until the 90's.  I began reading Anne Rice in middle school and saw one of my all time favorite vampire movies, "Interview with a Vampire."  I mean did it get any better then  Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise (before he was crazy).  Not to mention Antonio Banderas and the sexual tension between him and Brad Pitt.  Oh I thought it was great.

 

Next up was the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".  The TV show, not the movie.  That piece of utter garbage was such a waste.  It was more kich than anything else.  The TV show was much darker and had much more depth.  I watched this show religiously throughout jr. high and high school.  In the dark.  Nothing better.

I continued to try and find books on my favorite character and I returned to Anne Rice and continued reading her vampire series and just loved everything I read.  This was eventually followed up with the making of "The Queen of the Damned."  I'll admit I was hesitant about the movie but I actually loved it.  The music was amazing and even though the writers combined the book of the same name and parts of the book "The Vampire Lestat" I still found it entertaining.

My next series of movies that I loved was the "Blade" Trilogy.  I mean the rave scene in the first movie, brills!  The second one had more heart and the third installment had some much needed humor.  All around great flicks.

Then came the "Underworld" movies.  For crying out loud, how badass was Kate Beckinsale.  I wanted to be her in the worst possible way.  Hell I was her for Halloween one year in college.  HOT.  I will admit that I actually really favor the third movie but the complete story was well told and full of blood and gore.

So that takes me to today, I have read all of the Twilight books, before they were all the rave.  I have probably read them each 5 times.  The writing is well done and the love story is well told.  Now as an adult woman, the sexual tension drives me nuts and that is something that I can't take in those books.  I have also seen both of the movies, neither in the theather, but I will say that the second was much better than the first.  The main thing with the second film is that there wasn't that annoying blue tint to the whole damn thing.  I will admit that "New Moon" was not my favorite story in the series, but the movie was well written and captured the feel of the book nicely.

I have also read the "Vampire Diaries" series. I preferred this to the Twilight series because it is darker and a little more sinister.  These books have now been turned into a TV series that I watch religiously and will be returning to my TV on 21-Jan-10 and it can't come fast enough for me.  I love this show.  Plus the guys in the show are HOTTTTTT!!!!!

While my fix for hot vampires has been on vacation I began reading another series of books.  Now to say that these are adult is an understatment.  I have read my share of sexually graphic books, but to say that these books are hot is like saying that the sun is bright.  The J.R Ward Black dagger Brotherhood series is a must read by anyone who loves action and romance or just a little bit of smut.  It's a fun time.


Finally, I recently saw the movie "Daybreakers" and loved it.  Now this is what a review called the "anti-Twilight" because the vampires in the movie drink blood, hunt humans, can't go in the sunlight, don't have reflections, the whole deal.  The story is amazing and the action is great and more blood than you can shake a stick at.  I highly reccomend this to any vampire lover out there.  Click on the link below for a great review.

So now that it's out there, you know.  I'm proud to admit that I was on the bandwagon even before there was a bandwagon to be on.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/1368-Daybreakers

Kids Are Overrated

So, to put it out there, I don't have kids.  I am not in the market for them currently, eventually so that my mom will finally have a grandkid to brag about, but not anytime soon.  So I am one of those people who considers their dogs their kids.  Now, don't get the crazy idea that I dress them up or throw them birthday parties, that's absurd.  But I snuggle with them and play and talk to them and verbalize their internal monologue while I tell them to stay away from the fence. 

My oldest will be 6 years old this year.  She is the sweetest, calmest, and most lovable girl ever.  Her name is Cadence, even though the vet seems to think that her name is Candace, but I correct them everytime.  My husband and I adopted her from the local shelter in Greenville, NC while we were in college at East Carolina University. (GO PIRATES!, ps. thanks for choking in the bowl game:)  We saw her outside the PetsMart and just fell in love.  We took her home and she settled right in.  She slept in our bed from day one and hardly ever had an accident in the house.  As time progressed and she got older we noticed that she started losing her hair.  It turned out that while being born in the shelter she contracted demodectic mange which caused her skin to itch and she ate her hair off from her midsection back to her tail.  She was still very happy and just looked like she wasn't wearing any pants for several months.  She is now healthy and happy and the number one girl in my life.

Now, for my second child, he turned two just last year and is the biggest lap dog I have ever had.  We adopted him again from a rescue organization, Paw Match, here in Austin.  He was a sweet little puppy who just stole my heart while going into PetSmart.  His name is Chino and named after the singer from the Deftones.

How could you not love that little face.  He came home with us and proceeded to annoy the ever living shiza out of the older dog.  He would nip and try to get Cadence to play but she would have none of it.  Eventually she would come around and they would snuggle and love on each other.  But they still get into the occasional squabble and Cadence will put him in his place.  He is the sweetest dog who wants nothing more than to sit in your lap and snuggle.  When my husband is away for a night Chino is always my substitute spooner.

So, these are my kids, they are only second to my husband, but these two have my heart and make my day better.  Even though they talk back and have such attitude when I tell them to stay away from the kids who harrass them in the back yard.  But I love them, attitude and all.

WTF?!

Ok, so I moved back to Texas to get away from the cold weather and now it's f-ing 30 degrees outside and dropping.  I am not a cold weather fan.  I know some people love to see snow and love to be bundled up, but that is not me.  Now don't get me wrong, I love cool weather so that I can rock my coats and boots, but I mean what the f, 30 degrees in Austin?!  I grew up in sub-tropical climates and never had to acclimate to cold weather.  So this is a bit of stange spot to be in when I live in a city where we broke the record for triple digit days this past summer.  Hell, I got married this past July, outside, in Austin during said heat wave.  And it was wonderful.   But I will say that at least we do not have snow or ice, so I am in a slightly better position than those people up in the Northeast. 

So as the temps continue to drop lower I will think warm thoughts and keep my coffee intake high.

So..How Is Your New Year Doin'?

Ok, so I was all pumped to start back running on Monday when I started back at work and I just have not been that motivated.  So much for those resolutions.  Part of my problem is that I just feel that I have been in  a funk since coming back to work after being out for almost 2 weeks.  But I am determined to get my sorry ass into the gym today and run and sweat out the funk. (wait, that didn't sound right.)  

Speaking of running, I started a pretty simple running regime back in September and had been pretty consistant with my routine until the holdiays came and I did not have access to a treadmill.  I know that I could have easily ran outside, but screw that when it's cold.  Plus I prefer not to run through my neighborhood because it blows.  But back to the plan, I'm ready to get myself in gear and on the running road again so to speak.  My plan for running doesn't really have much to do with training or losing weight (ok so that's a little bit of a bonus)but more about just having something to look forward to at the end of the day that I can do by myself to just clear my head and feel healthy.(but having a nice butt is a serious added bonus, so says the hubs)

I hope that anyone that reads this, which I believe is no one, is on the track to become healthy I wish you the best of luck and may we reach our goals for the year without falling off the wagon.