Candy Making 101

Alex and I had a couple of parties to go to on Saturday.  I decided to be a good guest and bring a treat to share.  I usually bring my pecan tassies (mini pecan pies of heaven) but they are pretty labor intensive so I decided to make some English toffee instead. 

Toffee is so delicious but it's a very temperamental thing that requires soo much patience and attention.  You constantly have to stir the mixture while it is cooking or else it will burn.  Alex and I took turns stirring but never once took the spoon out of the mixture while switching off.  Finally, when I removed the spoon so I could pour it onto the pan, this is what I found...

Somehow, I didn't think people would enjoy toffee with melted plastic in it.

Paula Deen would be proud

Life is about learning from your mistakes, right?  The second batch turned out MUCH better....

caution: you will gain weight just looking at this picture

The first party was at the home of Alex's coworker, Eileen.  I definitely did not leave with an empty stomach.  The food spread was crazy delicious!  After stuffing my face, I spent the rest of the party feeding my baby fever by holding precious, three-week old Nolan.  Life was very good that night :)

Just when I thought things couldn't get any better, we headed out to an ugly Christmas sweater party.

I'm so glad that my mom has plenty of crazy Christmas sweaters.  I borrowed this one from her and wore it as a dress.  I put a string of tinsel around the bottom and BOOM!  You're looking at the first place winner of the ugly sweater contest!  Alex and I also had the good fortune to walk away with those velveteen Santa boxers from the white elephant gift exchange.  This party was soo much fun!

He's all mine.  You're Welcome, Ladies!

Do you love or hate ugly Christmas sweater parties?

Have you ever melted anything while cooking?

Happy Halloween!

Win for Halloween and utter fail for healthy living!  I have consumed my weight in chocolate and peanut butter today :)  I had been able to steer clear of the candy dishes in the office until today.  It just didn't feel right not tempting a diabetic coma on Halloween. 

Julia was totally excited about trick-or-treating.  I explained to her that the houses with front porch lights on had candy and the dark houses did not.  I didn't have to tell her twice!  In no time at all, she was running down the sidewalk saying "No light, no candy!"

It was so much fun seeing her so excited about it.  It really made me think about the great times that I had trick-or-treating.  When I was young, we lived in a townhouse community and there seemed to be a million kids my age.  Our community had a Halloween party complete with a cake walk and costume contests.  We always had SO much fun!

Does Halloween seem better or worse than when you were a kid?

What's your favorite Halloween memory?

My runs revolve around vices

Good Morning!  I spoke earlier about needing to sign up for another run in order to keep me motivated and running.  There is one thing that I need no motivation to do: eat!  Why not enter a run that promises me lots of delicious foods at the end??

My first half-marathon was the Disney Wine & Dine.  It was not a successful run but the end was amazing :)  The after party was held at Epcot and you got a free plate of food and beverage of your choice at any of their countries. 

Another run I did was the VA is for Lovers 14k, which I really enjoyed.  It was definitely cold but the after-party was worth it!  It was catered by Yuengling and Moe's :)  I also loved that I received a technical t-shirt, medal and souvenir glass! I should do this race again next year....

So the next run I am planning to do is the Hot Chocolate 15k!  It's official, I have registered :)  A finish line filled with Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate, fondue and many other chocolate treats sounds like the perfect motivation for a run.  The race is 10 weeks away and it's time to get running!  I will be setting up a Daily Mile to keep track of my training :)  I'm excited!

What's your vice?

~Andrea

An Evening of Indulgence

Good Afternoon!  I'm writing to you guys from Denver International Airport and I'm pretty much hating life.  Apparently, Denver had some dumb fog this morning which delayed my flight an hour and a half.  That was exactly the amount of time for my layover and I missed my connecting flight :(  So here I sit, for the next four hours, waiting for a flight to take me home.  Lucky you, I will stop giving you the silent treatment and get everyone up-to-speed on my life!

I attended a baby shower last Saturday for a friend of mine and I really let myself have a good time :)  

Rebecca is having a little boy next month (she's the one in the middle) and Becky (on the far left) is another friend that I used to work with at the airport.  As per usual Becky-style, she made a delicious tres leches cake that I simply couldn't resist.  In fact, I inhaled it so quickly that I forgot to take a picture of it.  Another delicious indulgence was a banana cupcake with chocolate frosting, yum!  They were adorable too!

There may have been a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting that I ate as well.  I did not record photographic evidence of that either. 

One of the activities that we did at the shower, was decorating onsies for Rebecca's little boy.  Since Rebecca and I used to work together, I decided to base the design on our job.  It was very pleased with the final outcome:



It says "On Duty" on the booty

We also played the diaper game.  You know, the delightful game where they microwave fun-size candy bars in diapers and you have to try to identify the type of candy bar.  It was really gross haha.  At the end of it all, Rebecca gave us all a bag of candy...you guessed it...the fun-size candy bars from the game.  It should have grossed me out but I ate every delicious piece.

It was so much fun to see my friends again!  It was very delicious too.  I need to repent now, haha.

What is the grossest baby shower game you have played?

~Andrea

Closer to my goal!

Happy Thursday!  This morning was wonderful when I stepped on the scale and I had lost another pound :)  Just one more and I will officially have lost thirty pounds since April (twenty since Patrice).  I'm very satisfied with my progress so far.  If I can get over to my parents house, I will try to post a "before" pic.  The picture that I want to post was from a couple years back (2008?) and I was at my heaviest weight of 235 pounds.  Whew, that was painful to say! 

On the road to a healthier lifestyle, I have found some things that I truly enjoy.  One of them I stumbled upon just the other day because I  had a coupon for them. 

Source



I love almonds and I love chocolate so these are a great fit for me!  What I love the most is that you can have a handful of these babies and there is less than one gram of sugar!  AWESOME!  These are my new go-to for a chocolate fix.  There is also a cinnamon flavor that I MUST try next.

Another fun discovery was kimchi.  We have a very eclectic buffet on the main floor of the building where I work and I go there sometimes for lunch or to grab a snack.  I try to keep it to veggies just so I don't blow my day on items swimming in grease.  On one mission to find veggies I noticed some cabbage and cucumbers in a reddish sauce.  I decided to try it and it was delightfully sour and spicy.  I have since googled it and learned that it is kimchi and I love it!

I have also come to the realization that I want to be am a runner.  I feel like I have finally gotten my running feet back under me and it feels great!  Recently, I have really noticed an increase in my speed and my endurance. I'm really looking forward to the Maymont 8-Miler and have no doubt in my mind that I will complete it :)  My goal is to complete the race in less than 1:25:00.  Only two weeks until the big day!

What's your favorite healthy snack?

~Andrea