Upcoming walks

I just signed up for a 5K on September 12th at Tower Grove Park and am about to sign up for the Lewis and Clark 1/2 marathon in October. Yikes! I'm nervous about that one. I will be walking both of them, though, with different friends.

Will it seem like I'm a fraud if I get a 13.1 sticker afterward for my car? I have always wanted one, but know I can't run it. I worry that I'll kind of seem like a fraud for having one without doing the running. Thoughts?

Quick book review

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book was a bit odd. I thought it was a little odd when the only weird thing was that she can taste emotions in food. It got more weird toward the end of the book. It wasn't awful, but not a book I'd read again.



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Book review

Insatiable by Meg Cabot

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Very different than the other Meg Cabot books I've read. I probably would've given it 4.5 stars if I could. Even though it was yet another vampire book, it still held my attention. I wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen next. Honestly, I was a little disappointed with the ending. Maybe she ended it that way to allow for a sequel?



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18 Bridesmaids?!

I'm watching a DVR'd episode of Say Yes to the Dress while catching up on blogs. A bride had 18 bridesmaids and over 400 guests at her wedding. I can't even imagine! I realize I had an extremely small wedding party (a maid of honor and a bridesmaid), but 18?!

Can you imagine even trying to get 18 girls to agree on a dress? I think you'd either have to just say this is the dress - deal with it. Or, let them choose. Tell them the color, length, and fabric, and let them choose a style.

To each his own...

Supper Club

Angie and I thought it would be fun to start a Supper Club so we had a regular get together with some of our friends. Angie brought Nick along with her this time. He was so well-behaved! He didn't cry at all and was a good sport at being passed around.

For our first dinner, we went to Cheese-ology in the Loop. Most of us had never been there before. I guess I'm a bit of a purist with my mac n' cheese, because I wasn't so sure about adding in things like chicken and beef. I ended up going with the four cheese. It was yummy! The mac n' cheese comes in a little cast iron skillet, piping hot from the oven.

After dinner, we went to FroYo. I think I was the only one who had been there. I love the tart flavor and the mochi you can put on top. Delish! It's self-serve, and they have several different flavors you can choose from, such as tart, peanut butter chocolate, and cheesecake. You add your own toppings (nuts, fresh cut fruit, cookie dough, brownies, sprinkles, granola, mochi, syrups, even cereal!). Then, you pay by weight. FYI - the mochi is a bit heavy so it costs a bit more if you want mochi (well, at least mine does since I like it a lot).

Angie was taking the photo. Here's Alicia, Pilar, Maggie, me, and Donna:

I'm looking forward to next month! We still need to pick a place. We've discussed somewhere out west since that's where many of us live. Somewhere on Main Street? Thyme Out in Cottleville? We probably should decide soon!

Angie - Thanks for letting me use your pictures! :-)

Three Monkeys

Last Friday evening, I had the pleasure of meeting some fabulous ladies at Three Monkeys. I had never been to the restaurant, let alone heard of it before. Luckily, it was pretty easy to find, and I lucked out with a parking spot in their lot. (The sign about them not being liability for your car being broken into or stolen worried me a bit, though!)

I hadn't met most of the girls before. We ended up with 6 girls total, all local STL bloggers. (Well, I use the term "blogger" loosely for me since I can't seem to think of much to say lately. It feels like my life is boring, so I never know what to write!) We took advantage of the half-price appetizers by trying their spinach artichoke dip - yum!

The service left a bit to be desired, but it was a busy Friday evening. Poor Alyssa had to ask at least 3 times (and 2 different waitresses) to get some ranch dressing. Angie loved her shrimp with cheese tortellini. Most of us ended up ordering pizzas, which made for a very cramped table, since three of us ordered the 16 inch pizzas. Oops! Guess we could have just gone with the 12 inch and still had leftovers. Oh well...I've enjoyed the leftovers. :-) I tried the philly steak pizza. I was a little worried about there being too many peppers, but I think it could have used even a little more.


Here's Angie, Alyssa, and Heidi:


And Randall, Sarah, and me:


It had been a long week, so I tried a drink called the Crown of Roses. It was pretty good. Angie decided to try the Island Escape. It contained Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, Malibu Coconut Rum, Absolut Vodka, pineapple juice, splash of O.J. & a dash of grenadine for $6. She said it was good, so I thought I would try it as well. I agree - it was tasty!


It was a great evening, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!

Kale chips

Recently, I found a new blog to follow - KERF (Kath Eats Real Food). She posts photos of all her food, and I have been inspired to try some new things. It's also motivating me to be healthier.

I saw a couple of posts when she mentioned making kale chips. I've never had kale before, so I was a bit hesitant to try these. While at Wal-mart, I saw some kale, and it was pretty cheap (I think around $2 for a bunch). So, I figured, why not?!

I forgot to take a picture of my chips, but they looked pretty much the same as Kath's. Here's the recipe:

• Preheat oven to about 375*
• Use about 1 OXO salad spinner’s worth of kale (which was a stuffed grocery store veggie bag). Tear the leaves off the thick stems into bite size pieces. Spread out on cookie sheets.
• Drizzle with about 2 tsp of olive oil
• Sprinkle with Parmesan, Asiago or your seasonings of choice. Plus a sprinkle of kosher salt.
• Bake for about 15 minutes, until edges are brown and kale is crispy when moved in pan.

I didn't make quite as big a batch since we hadn't tried these before. Since my DH doesn't eat cheese (and to cut calories), I omitted the cheese. Instead, I sprinkled a little bit of garlic powder and onion powder (not the salt version of those since there's already salt).

I was amazed at how they crisped up. I topped mine with ketchup, and DH dipped his in siratcha (however you spell it!). All in all, they were delicious, and we will definitely be eating these again!

With our kale chips, we each had a turkey hot dog on a wheat bun, a pickle, and a serving of baked beans. Delicious, healthy, and filling!

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
For some reason, I enjoyed the first half of the book a lot more than the second half. I would have given it 3.5 stars, but that's not an option. I decided to go with 4 since I enjoyed the first part of the book so much.

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Book review

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella by Stephenie Meyer


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book was ok. It was no where close to as good as the Twilight books, though. I think I didn't like it that much because Bella and Edward weren't a part of the book until the very end.

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Giveaway

My friend Amy is hosting a giveaway on her blog. She is giving away a $60 gift certificate to CSN stores. The site hosts over 200 different stores, so there's something for everyone! You can find lighting, kitchen appliances, furniture, home decor, and all other sorts of items.

Visit Amy's blog to enter the giveaway. You never know...you might win!

Thanks for the comments

I just wanted to say thanks for the comments so far about my recent post! I think I have decided to just continue TTC and see how it goes. :-) I will focus on eating healthier and hopefully not get out of control during pregnancy.

Decisions...

Yes, I know I haven't posted in forever. I don't know if anyone still has this blog in their Google Reader!

Right now, I'm struggling with a decision. Unfortunately, I gained quite a bit of weight after my wedding in 2008. My weight is something I have always struggled with. I managed to get down to a good weight for me, but I was still technically overweight by like 15-20 pounds! (The height/weight charts have never worked for me as an adult. Try as I may, I cannot seem to get to the weight I should be.) My biological clock is ticking really loudly, though, and I want a baby so badly. The hubby and I have been married for about 1.5 years, so it seems like a great time to try to conceive.

I'm struggling with the decision of waiting until this fall, so that I can lose some weight or just going ahead trying to conceive, regardless of my weight. The thought of not being pregnant until this fall or winter seems so awful and so far away!

Right now, my heart says to go ahead and try to conceive and hope that I can take off some weight after I have a baby. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Love walked in

Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I wasn't very into this book at first. Since I had read some good reviews, I decided to keep going. The further I got, the more I liked the book.

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