31 on 31: Part 1

I discovered a few months back that my upcoming birthday would be a special one. Now, you may ask, what's so special about turning 31? It's not 30 or 21 or 16 or 50 or any other 'special' number. It's just a 3 followed by a 1.

However, it's not the number that is making it special, but what I will be doing and who will be with me.

I will turn 31 in exactly one week, on Sunday, December 8, 2013. On that same day, I will be running my second marathon, the MetroPCS Dallas Marathon.

Some of you may be thinking "why on Earth would you want to run, not only a marathon, but a second marathon, in celebration of your birthday?!"

Well, you see, like I mentioned, a few months ago I discovered something. I've run quite a few road races in my life. My first one goes back to my senior year in high school and it includes many races over the next 12+ years. As I thought about it, I thought about the people who I've seen out at these same races with shirts saying it was there birthday or anniversary. Something and some day that was special to them. Then I thought about my own birthday.

Last year, the MetroPCS Dallas Marathon and Half Marathon was held the day after my birthday, so we celebrated it early so I could run the half marathon on the 9th. But when I found out this year's race would be on my actual birthday I thought, wouldn't it be funny/cool if I ran my 31st race on my 31st birthday? I didn't think that would be possible, but it was an awesome idea if nothing else.

And then I thought about it more. Like, really thought about it, and discovered...it might be possible after all. So I sat down a made a list of all of my road races dating back to my first race in 2000. After multiple drafts, this is what I came up with...

1. Dallas YMCA 33^rd Turkey Trot – November 23, 2000
2. Max’s O’Hartford 5K – March 14, 2010
3. Max’s O’Hartford 5K – March 18, 2012
4. Ten Penny Ale Shamrock 5K - May 20, 2012
5. Amica Ironhorse Half Marathon – June 3, 2012
6. Color Me Rad 5K – September 8, 2012
7. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10 Miler – September 29, 2012
8. ING Hartford Marathon – October 13, 2012
9. Double Trouble 5K & 10K – October 27, 2012
10. Foam Fest – November 3, 2012
11. Mighty Mud Dash – November 10, 2012
12. Walking Dead 5K – November 17, 2012
13. Dallas YMCA 45^th Turkey Trot – November 22, 2012
14. Metro PCS Dallas Half Marathon – December 9, 2012
15. Electric Run – January 19, 2013
16. Texas Half Marathon – February 3, 2013
17. Hot Chocolate 5K – February 9, 2013
18. Race 2 Rescue - March 2, 2013
19. Dallas Rock n Roll Half – March 24, 2013
20. Hero Rush 5K – April 6, 2013
21. Big D Texas Half Marathon – April 14, 2013
22. Vampire 5K – April 26, 2013
23. Cinco de Miler – May 5, 2013
24. Drenched 5K – May 25, 2013
25. Run or Dye 5K – June 22, 2013
26. Hottest Half Marathon – August 25, 2013
27. Mud Factor – September 7, 2013
28. Patriot Games – September 21, 2013
29. Tyler Rose Half Marathon – October 13, 2013
30. Ugly Sweater 5K – November 30, 2013
31. Metro PCS Dallas Marathon – December 8, 2013

The marathon that I would be running on my 31st birthday was indeed going to be my 31st race! It was POSSIBLE!

When I found that out, I was excited. It was such a cool idea. When I determined that this was actually going to happen, I tried to think of ways to get friends involved to help me celebrate.

Sure, I could have them all cheer me on throughout the race, holding up signs and being at the finish line (which has maybe happened 3 times in all of my races...and honestly, those were the most special). But, I've run a marathon before and I know how hard it was for me. It's just as much a mental race as it is a physical one. When you are out on the road, even though you are surrounded by people, you feel very alone and it weighs you down. I know where I needed the support. I know where I needed the extra nutrients. And I knew how to get it this time...

One of the features of this marathon is a 5-person relay team.  I knew I would never get someone to run with me for the full marathon, but I thought that maybe I could get 5 friends to run the relay along side me, as a sort of birthday present to me, if you will.

Each person would take a leg of the race, running anywhere from 4.4 miles to 6.5 miles, and run beside me, keep me motivated and give me things to keep me going. And I was lucky enough to find those people!

Leg 1 - Mel - 5.7 Miles
Leg 2 - Megan - 5.0 Miles
Leg 3 - Kelcee - 4.6 Miles
Leg 4 - Leia - 4.4 Miles
Leg 5 - Patricia - 6.5 Miles

I also have Linda running her first half marathon, so she'll be with me for the first 7.5 miles before she turns back to finish her race and I keep going to finish mine. Ashley and my goddaughter, Jordan, along with Shannon, Stephanie and Blair and hopefully many others, will be out cheering for us throughout the course. My parents are even coming out and they have never been to one of my road races. I don't know how much they will see (as I anticipate a finish between 5 and 5.5 hours) but the fact that they are coming out to support me and celebrate my birthday means a lot.

I'm actually extremely excited about this race, compared to the daunting feeling I had during my first marathon. I know that I can and will improve upon my marathon time. I can only get better. And even if I still struggle through this race, I have my girls to keep me going. What I've learned through coaching them this year, is that when I focus on them, not only do they do well...but so do I. I wouldn't trade any of my time with them for the world.

So think of me on the 8th. Think of us. Think of the teamwork that will take place and the accomplishment of us combined.

Stay tuned as I will put up Part 2 to this post after the race and let you know how we did!! :-)

Ice Cream Cake for Andy

Well, it was my friend, Andy's, birthday earlier this week, so in honor of that, I decided to make his favorite kind of cake: ice cream cake.

Let me preface this in saying I have never made an ice cream cake before...but overall it worked and I feel I could easily do it again. It's just time consuming.

I asked, very sneaky-like, what kind of cake he would want, what was his favorite ice cream, etc. Never at the same time, never really mentioning his birthday cake, etc. It took a lot of planning. :-)

Also, I had to think of size...I knew that since I was going to make an ice cream cake, I had to really think. If I made it too big, what would people do with the leftovers? You couldn't really take it home, and leaving it out for others to eat when they wanted was going to be out of the question. Also, a typical round cake was probably not going to work either. If you thought it was difficult cutting 30 slices of cake out of a round cake without it falling apart on you, try it with an ice cream cake. So, I didn't want to do that. That meant either a rectangle or square. A 9x9 square pan won out because I thought the 9x13 pan would be too big.

First, I made the cake. He chose chocolate, so I made the chocolate cake.




While the cake cooled, I prepped the ice cream. Using my handy dandy Cuisinart 2-Quart Ice Cream Maker, I put together a simple vanilla ice cream. It only took about 15-20 minutes.




But I didn't stop there. I discovered in my sleuthing that Andy preferred cookies 'n cream ice cream, so I needed to add cookies to the creamy ice cream. So, I chopped up America's favorite cookie: oreos!

I placed Saran wrap in the cake pan, followed by the finished ice cream (consistency of frozen yogurt...a little soupy) and topped off by the cake. Then I wrapped the cake up in the remaining Saran wrap and into the freezer for at least 2 hours. (I let it set overnight).

The next day, I took it into work (in the cake pan still to keep it super frozen) and left it in the freezer there again, for a couple of hours. Then, it came time to decorate! First, I needed to pull the cake out of the pan and removing the plastic wrap.

Next, I frosted the cake with icing...yum.

...and surrounded the cake with oreo halves...to emphasize the cookies 'n cream ice cream inside!

And then...decoration...in the shape of the Green Lantern symbol...Andy's favorite super hero...

February was definitely birthday month for me, with Robyn and Andy each getting a customized cake from me....don't really know how I'll top them next year...or how I'll top upcoming birthdays for other friends! Yipes...better get thinking!!

Happy Birthday Robyn

Robyn's birthday requires a special cake, especially if this might be the last birthday I get to spend with her for a bit :-( so I had to pull out all of the stops.

So, with my darling former-roomie being a Stage Manager, I wanted to make a prompt book for her. For those who don't know what a prompt book is, it's basically the production bible that the Stage Manager keeps and puts together. It holds everything from the contact sheet, script, blocking notes, etc.

Since Robyn LOVES pink, I knew I needed a pink 'binder' for her book. I had to label it, so I picked a title that suited Robyn herself (no, its not a real play title).




Then...for the tabs (which would normally say 'Contact Sheet', etc) I decided to make it things from Robyn's life, which included:

• Family
• Maggie (her dog)
• St. Michael's (her college)
• Roomie (me!!)
• New London Barn (summer stock)
• HSC
• Mark (her boy)

...to name a few...

I had been pumping this cake up for days/weeks even, and I don't think she was disappointed...and neither was I.

Lord help me the next time I'm around for her birthday....ah!! I'll have to top this.

Jeff Dunham's Controlled Chaos

I bought tickets to see Jeff Dunham, my favorite ventriloquist. I was excited and not excited all at the same time. It was at the end of the Christmas season and work had been exhausting so I just wasn't really in the mood. But I went.

The arena was PACKED. Luckily I got tickets in the front center section. So, slowly, I made my way to our area.


Here is the stage from the seats. Not bad, right?

Here was the entire stage, so you can get the idea.

And then the show began! (Disclaimer: I don't own any form of Jeff Dunham's Controlled Chaos show or any of the dummies. I'm just a fan who was happy to be there.)

Jeff starts with his own stand up before bringing out the 'stars' of the show.

First up: Walter. I love Walter just because he is crotchety. I believe I will be this guy, just in female form, when I'm older. ;-)

Bubba J was next.

And of course, Achmed, the dead terrorist. :-)

Next, was my favorite, Peanut!! He is wild, zany, crazy...aka, me!

And the show can't be complete without Jose Jalapeno on a Stick!

We laughed a lot and had a great time. My abs and ribs were sore from the hysteria and while I had seen the Controlled Chaos show on TV, live was the way to go!

Happy Birthday to Me

For an early birthday present, my best friend Andy (come on, you've read this blog, you know him) took me to a Christmas concert. But it wasn't just any concert, it was the 96.5 TIC All-Star Christmas Concert featuring...

Christina Perri...who sang everything from Jar of Hearts, A Thousand Years, Arms and even Happy Xmas (War Is Over). She was wonderful. A great way to open the concert with true singing and a nice bubbly personality.




Gavin Degraw...who did some new and older hits, like Chariot and Not Over You. He started out pumped and never stopped. I liked that his 'mini-concert' just rolled from one song into the next with no stopping. It helped to really start to pick up the night. He even got on the piano!




The Fray...who like Gavin, really pumped up the crowd. They did all of their great songs like How To Save A Life and their new hit Heartbeat. Issac, the lead singer, even got off the stage and strolled through the entire crowd, really getting them off their feet.




and...KELLY CLARKSON. The headliner for the evening, she brought the whole evening home. Her music was really loud (I mean, beyond loud) and it made me happy that I knew the words to her songs because I couldn't always understand her. Other than that, the energy was great and honestly, I felt her best song was "I'll Be Home For Christmas".




This was one of the best Christmas gifts I have had in a while. Thank you Andy, for taking me to see some of my very favorite artists. :-)

Sara's Birthday Cookies

For my buddy Sara's birthday this year, she joked around about wanting Mickey Mouse cookies. So...I made it happen.

I couldn't find a cookie cutter I liked, so I headed to Michael's to pick-up some different sized cookie cutters and made my own Mickey Mouse shapes. If you want to do this too, here's what you need:

Sugar cookie recipe you like

Double boiler (or a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water)

2 bags of red-colored candy melt (vanilla flavored)

2 bags of dark chocolate candy melt

Yellow icing

White Icing

While the sugar cookies were baking in the oven, I started to melt down the chocolate. Here's what you need:

Once the cookies cooled, I dipped the top half of the cookie (aka the ears) into the melted dark chocolate and laid the cookie out on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Once the tray was filled, I placed it in the freezer. NOTE: You can use the refrigerator as well, just make sure where ever the cookies go, they are flat to avoid the chocolate running.

The cookies only need a few minutes to cool and harden. I then pulled the cookies out and repeated the process for the bottom of the cookie in the red chocolate. Once more I put the cookies on the sheet trays and chilled them.

Lastly, I decorated each of the cookies for the 'mickey' or the 'minnie' look I wanted. Yellow icing makes the buttons on Mickey's pants and the white icing makes the ruffles and dots from Minnie's dress.



Next step: TAKE A BITE!

Just remember to pace yourself when eating these cookies because they are super sweet....but super adorable!! Give them a try!

PS...Sara loved the cookies :-)

Attack of the Evil Sock Monkey...Cake?

My coworker, Emily, had her birthday this week and I knew I was going to make a cake her cake to bring into the office. And I already had my idea for it...

The inspiration came from a little sock monkey that we found in the recent office move and Emily adopted. I joked that I would make her a sock monkey cake for her birthday and the joke became a reality.

So how do you make this...


...into a cake?

Watch!

Once I split the fondant apart, I needed to color have of it for the body of the sock monkey. My forearms were a little sore the next after all of that kneading! Separating the body parts was next.

Even the ears got special attention!

Honestly, the mouth was one of the most difficult parts, but one of the most fun to do...it gave the monkey its best feature!

Then all the parts had to come together!

Isn't he cute?! What could make it better...

How about the hard hat of Emily's office nemesis...AT&T. I know they annoy her, but I wanted to make her smile at it because hell...a sock monkey wearing an AT&T hardhat? Even if you hate them, he makes it so freaking cute!

Add a homemade red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and...

You have a great cake that everyone thought was great...especially the birthday girl...and I had fun making!

So....who wants the next one? I now take requests! ;-)

Happy Birthday To Me...

This week was my 'birthday week' as deemed by a couple of people from work. And boy...what a week it was!!!

It all started with a trip to NYC with Andy! We drove down to New Haven to catch a train into the city. Once we arrived we had a few things to walk around and see before the main event of the day...

SO we headed to Le Parker Meridian...a high-end hotel near Carnegie Hall. They were having a Gingerbread Extravaganza and the theme this year: Movies In New York. Local bakeries created their renditions of some classics...


....like West Side Story...

....or Ghostbusters...(check out that Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man!!)

...and King Kong (whoa there....big monkey!)....

...and Andy's favorite....BIG!

We then headed out on our walk to Times Square....and saw a bunch of neat things on the way...

(those are some big ornaments)

(but damn...those are big lights!)

Once we got to Times Square...we visited the M&M store before heading to the main event...BILLY ELLIOT!! It was such an amazing show with great songs and awesome dancing!!

We then headed out for dinner (ps...really good) and then decided to go look around a little more...hitting the Disney store and then down to Harold's Square for Macy's...

I had never seen the windows at Macy's....hell, I'd never been to Macy's in NY.

Once we experienced Macy's (including heading up the 8 floors to see Santa Land)...I finally hit a wall...and we headed back to Grand Central to catch a train back home...

It was a long day...but an amazing one!! And definitely, a birthday I won't forget...ever!

Happy Birthday To Me

Well, you only turn 25 once and I just did it! A quarter of a century and I really don't feel any older than I did the day before my birthday. What made it fantastic was that my mother flew up here to spend the weekend with me and help me celebrate. A few great presents and many many many wonderful meals behind me, and I was thrilled that my 25th birthday went well! You only turn 25 once, and I had a great birthday!