Tuesday, February 9, 2010

A Sweet Gift and a Funny

You may remember me swooning over this pillow a few weeks ago. Well, my sweet aunt made a special delivery this weekend with none other than a Pottery Barn bag carrying the pillow! It was a thank you for helping her get back on track with diet and exercise. How sweet and appreciative is that?! Needless to say, I was totally suprised!


And I just had to share this ridiculous picture of our pup who, as you can see, thinks she is one of us! About fifteen minutes after waking up yesterday I walked into our bedroom to see this! How she got herself nestled under the covers like that is still a mystery to me!


Happy Tuesday!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Our Weekend Plus Some D-licious Cupcakes!

Happy Monday! While I'm sad to see our fun weekend come to an end, at least I can say it was a delightful one!

Our Friday started earlier than usual because Chris left work a few hours early, giving us a chance at a fun afternoon! We ended up going to see Edge of Darkness, the new Mel Gibson movie. We would definitely recommend for an edge-of-your-seat flick. Very good!

Saturday morning I took a bootcamp class at my new work and besides kicking my butt, it was fantastic! I had an opportunity to meet the two part time trainers and also some regulars to the class. Let me just say, I love the whole environment and the people and am so excited I get to work with them!

We also had some yummy sushi with our friends, the Hookers, cleaned a lot, ran a lot of errands, Chris cleaned our cars, and we ended up having our friends Brad and Laura over for the Superbowl.

And that brings me to the one thing I was actually looking forward to about the game, making these delectable Dark Chocolate Stout Cupcakes!

I found this recipe several weeks ago on my fave food blog, Pinch my Salt, and have been stowing it away especially for the Superbowl. I just knew Chris would love them!

They are ridiculously moist and not super sweet, but the cream cheese frosting takes care of your sweet tooth for an amazing combination that is just oh-so-scrumptious!

Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting


2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup plain, thick yogurt, at room temperature
6 oz. dark stout (I used Guinness), at room temperature
2 t. vanilla extract
1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tub cream cheese frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with cupcake papers; spray the whole thing, cupcake papers and all, with nonstick spray. Set aside.
Melt butter in microwave or on stovetop, then set aside.
In a large bowl, preferably with a pouring spout, whisk together eggs and yogurt. Add beer and vanilla whisk until well combined.
Sift all the dry ingredients together (cocoa powder, sugar, flour, baking soda, and cinnamon) into a separate bowl.
Add about a third of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and using a hand mixer, blend well. Add the rest of the flour mixture, a third at a time, mixing well after each addition. When all ingredients are blended, add the melted butter then continue mixing until very well combined.
Pour batter into the twelve cups, filling each only about 3/4 full.
Bake on center rack of the preheated 350 degree oven and for approximately 25 minutes.
When cupcakes are done (toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake will come out clean), remove the pan to a wire rack. Let cool for ten minutes then remove cupcakes from pan and let them cool completely on wire rack.
Frost cupcakes once completely cooled.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Dream Job Made a Reality


Happy Friday sweet friends!

I have some extra exciting news to share today! Yesterday afternooon I was offered a personal training position at a place my "job dreams" are made of!! We have been praying that a wonderful opportunity like this would come up and I am beyond grateful it is finally a reality. I am so ready to get started!

Without going into too much detail just yet, I will be training at a personal training studio where I can offer private sessions on my own schedule without the hassle of having to sell products, work floor hours or fight for clients like I would in a gym setting. The studio is amazing and full of the best equiptment! I'll definitely keep you updated as I make this wonderful transition and put my degree back to work!

This weekend I am looking forward to celebrating a lot, getting my business cards made and even a boot camp class tomorrow morning! Although Chris and I had talked about having a little Super Bowl thing, it is honestly the farthest thing from my mind right now...we'll see how that plays out.

Have a lovely and exceptionally grand weekend!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

"We Need A George"

Since Chris and I have been together, he has always said he wants a Great Dane someday. Contrary to their enormous size, they are known to be wonderful apartment dogs! Even so, we have decided to wait on getting our Great Dane until we are in a bigger place. Can you imagine a Great Dane and Abby in our apartment?? I don't even want to!

All that as a little background to the email I received from my husband this morning that said, "We need a George!".

When I opened it up this is what I saw~




This is George and his owner, Dave. George is a Blue Great Dane measuring 7 feet and 3 inches from nose to tail and weighs nearly 245 lbs! They are trying to enter him into the Guiness Book of World Records as world's tallest dog. Ya think?

Apparently he eats 110 lbs. of food a month and sleeps in his own queen size bed! The owner has had him since he was 7 months and never expected him to get so large. Talk about not knowing what your getting yourself in to!

My husband cracks me up and mostly because he's serious!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Mid-Week Motivation


"We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort." ~Jesse Owens

Opportunity awaits!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Oh My Yum!


Last night I finally had a minute to sit down and look through my new issue of Clean Eating magazine and man oh man, are my taste buds watering! Many of you sweet readers have become subscribers to this wonderful magazine and I could not be more pleased that you understand my sheer delight when the newest issue arrives!

If you have not yet received yours let me just tell you, it is chock full of fresh flavors promising the arrival of Spring! I am personally salivating over the Lemon-Grilled Chicken and Bulgar Salad as well as the cover recipe, Beef and Broccoli Orange Stir fry over Soba Noodles. Let's not forget the 5 new ideas for homemade pizza (one of my personal favorites!). And finally, I almost squeeled with excitement when I looked at the Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies on the back cover (a gluten-free option), which I will be making very soon!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go grab the newest March/April issue! You will not regret it!

Happy Groundhog day!

Monday, February 1, 2010

True North Snacks


One word about these delectable little snacks: Addicting! Chris and I simply can't keep our hands out of this bag! They are positively delicious and with 5g of protein per serving, they make a perfect snack to keep in your purse for those pesky little cravings of a sweet/salty snack. And an added bonus, they’re all natural: no preservatives, no artificial flavors, no added colors, no trans fats. Most varieties are gluten free, wheat free; all are vegan and kosher. Hooray!

Check out their website and see all the other great products they have to offer!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...