Crumbled

Cupcakes.  How I love them.  I once thought of a brilliant idea of starting a Chicago cupcake tour, but low and behold, one already exists.  I've been to just about every cupcake shop in Chicago, and that's a lot.  I do have my favorite places (Sprinkles & Sugarbliss), but when I new shop opens up, I'm willing to venture outside my comfort zone and take a risk.

I was really excited to hear that there would be a Crumbs Bake Shop opening up nearby.  I've heard lots of great things about these colossal cupcakes and couldn't wait to give it try.  When I got to the shop, there was a line.  I debated on whether or not I should be the crazy girl who waits in line for cupcakes, and decided that if I can wait in line for Garrett's popcorn {during Christmas season when it used to be right on Michigan Ave} I could wait 10 minutes in line for a cupcake.      

I got in and was faced with more options than what I'm used to.  How was I going to make a decision? I knew right away that for hubs, I would get him a mint patty cupcake.

And after careful consideration, I rolled with the chocolate/peanut cupcake.  Chocolate/peanut butter is probably my most favorite combination of any two foods ever {Behind cheese & wine of course}.  So naturally, I had very high expectations for this cupcake.  I couldn't wait to bite into this piece of heaven after dinner {and a workout of course}.

 Meh.  This cupcake failed to deliver.  The cake part of the cupcake was VERY good! It was very moist and it was the right amount of chocolate (not too rich).  The frosting on the other hand was a huge problem.  I'm not a very picky eater.  But when it comes to frosting, just call me Goldilocks, because it has to be just right.  Not too sweet & sugary and yet not too buttery or bland.  My all time favorite frosting is cream cheese frosting.  Crumbs bake shop frosting not only kept me awake all night because of the amounts of sugar, but also because the stomach ache I got just after a few bites of it.  And the frosting tasted nothing like a peanut butter frosting.  Hubs didn't really care for his either, which is surprising because the man loves him mint chocolate.

Maybe it was a bad batch?  Or maybe I just make bad choices when under pressure.  I'm willing to give Crumbs another try in the future only because they had many other delicious looking options to choose from.  But for this week, I'm pretty maxed out on my sugar intake.          

My Green Weekend, Wieners & SIDI for the Week

This past Friday, I completed my last long run before my 1/2 marathon this Saturday (EEK!)  10 miles.  It wasn't the easiest, but I'm glad it's behind me.  In my opinion, the hardest part about running a half marathon, is the training.  Once race day is here, it's a completely different feeling. A high that only 13.1 miles can provide. 

On Saturday, my mom rolled into town, just for the day.  We brunched at a new place in Wicker Park called Prasino. Prasino means "green" in Greek.  I picked out this restaurant because they are a gluten-free friendly restaurant (my mom can't have gluten) & it was a healthy brunch option.  My mom had a delicous looking omlet and I had the French eggs benedict and a kombucha mimosa.  The eggs benedict was okay, but a little bit salty for my taste because of the ham.  The drink was very tasty! I wanted another one. 

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I love venturing around the different neighborhoods of Chicago.  I don't get to the Bucktown/Wicker Park area as often as I'd like to.  But when we're ready to purchase a home, LC and I have pretty much decided, that this is where we'd want to live.  After brunch, we walked around and went into some little shops.  One of my favorites we went into was Green Heart.  They're a fair trade shop and they have awesome stuff! Jewelry, clothes, home goods, etc.  If you're unfamiliar with Fair Trade, look it up *here*.  It's a pretty amazing way to help out communities.  The gist of Green Heart is they sell handcrafted goods made by people from all over the world.  The workers are all volunteers & the money goes back to helping that community from which the item came.  I bought a supercute bracelet from India for $10!  If you're in the Chicago area, definitely stop by.  

      

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After brunching & walking around, we went back to my apartment and relaxed a little bit before my mom left to go back to WI.  Oliver & I love when she comes to visit, and we're both in agreement that her visits are always too short.   

On Sunday, I went to my happy place, and boy did it feel great :-) Especially after my 10 mile run on Friday.  

Yesterday, hubs treated me to my first ever Superdawg experience!  I've lived here for over 3 years, and have never had Superdawg.  This year, I put it on my Summer 2011 to do list and we finally got to it yesterday.  The concept of it is a lot of fun.  It's a drive-in where they bring the food to your car :-) The hotdog was good, but I've had better in Chicago.   

Last but not least, I've hopped back on the "Say It, Do It" train.  So here's this week's workout line-up. 

Monday: Rest day (aka-very busy day!)

Tuesday: Run 4 miles + abs

Wednesday: Run 3 miles + upper body

Thursday: Run 2 miles

Friday: REST!

Saturday:Lake Country 1/2 Marathon!!

Sunday: Rest :-) & enjoy Carried Underwood at Ravina, thanks hubs! 

I hope everyone's having a great week so far! I'll be back tomorrow with my 2nd "Wedding Wednesday" post. You can read the first one *here*.

Say It, Do It + Weekend Recap

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.  LC & I had the perfect summer weekend.  It's been a while since we've been in Chicago for a full weekend where he didn't have to work.  We took full advantage. 

Friday, we went to the Taste of River North.  I much prefer this than the taste of Chicago.  The crowd was much different and the environment was much more relaxed.  I sipped sangria, while LC drank beer.  We ate good food, walked around and listened to fun 80's music.  Perfect way to end the week. 

taco platter from Zocalo

Sangria + Summer = happiness

On Saturday, we got up early and ventured to Lincoln Park to go to the farmer's market.  We picked up some tasty produce, lovely flowers and I discovered that I do actually like cherries :-) As a kid, I hated them and that always stuck with me.  But now, as an adult, I decided to give them another try and I can't stop eating them.  Me gusta! After the farmer's market, I went home and got  into some trouble with my Kitchen-Aid mixer. LOVE this thing! It was a wedding gift from my grandparents and probably one of my favorite gifts.  I decided to make a first attempt at gluten-free/vegan chocoloate chip cookies.  I got the recipe from my cookbook, BabyCakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery.  Now, I don't have any known food allergies, but I do know that my body doesn't love dairy, so I'm trying to steer clear of it as much as possible...with the exception of cheese.  I love cheese.  These cookies turned out amazingly! Even LC thought they were good and had no idea that they were GF/Vegan.  I will definitely be making them again :-) I was surpised at how well they turned out because 1, gluten free baking can be trickery and 2 I can't remember the last time I baked from scratch.  The last time I baked anything was when LC was overseas and I sent him a care package (back in December).  And even those cookies were pre-made.  Oops!  Later that night, we met up with some friends and went out to celebrate a birthday.   

On Sunday, LC & I ended our weekend with a Cubs game :-) Pefect summer time activity!

Now on to talk about some fitness.  Since the wedding, I've been lacking major motivation to do anything really.  I did workout last week, but not to the extent I wanted to.  So I'm hopping back on the 'Say it Do it' train and posting my workouts for the week in hopes that I stick to it and find my motivation again.  

Monday: Treadmill or Elliptical + a Fitnessista ab workout

Tuesday: The Bar Method  woke up too late but did a bridal bootcamp dvd :-)
Wednesday: The Bar Method + Volleyball

Thursday: The Bar Method + 30 minutes on the elliptical with intervals
Friday: Run 3 miles

Saturday: Cheer on LC at his tough mudder race!!!  

Sunday: Maybe some turbofire? I ordered the DVDs today so hopefully they're be here!

I'll be back later to talk about the 3rd & (final) honeymoon recap.  Here's Part 1 & Part 2!

Weekend Update

Weekends always go by way too quickly, especially when it's jam-packed. Friday was a fairly relaxing night. LC and I watched Get him to the Greek. His pick, not mine. What a ridiculous movie.

Saturday I woke up early and started my day at The Bar Method. Great class and no crazy ex-girlfriends. Always a plus! After bar, I met LC at the local gym that I belong to. I've decided to dump the gym and pass my membership over to him. It just makes sense, and he's already gotten more use out of it in the pass two days than I have in the past two months! The rest of the day, we just relaxed and I started reading the book, Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr. So far so good! Not going to go into too much detail about the book until I'm completely done with it, but I love it so far.

Last night, we had a date night and took advantage of Chicago Restaurant Week. One of my favorite times of the year :-) Many restaurants around the city offer a pre-fixed menu for a certain price. This year, we went to Duchamp in Bucktown. It can best be described as a French inspired, neighborhood bistro. For my first course, I had steak tartate. It was the first time I'd ever tried anything like that and it was different but good. We also shared a sauteed scallop with mushroom herb risotto. During the main course I chose fettuccine with herb pesto, roasted red peppers, grilled fennel finished with goat cheese. It tasted like a bit of heaven in my mouth. So amazingly flavorful. LC had the beef tenderloin with mushroom bordelaise, bacon wrapped asparagus and mashed potatoes. Also an amazing meal. We both really liked the atmosphere and the food and service were phenomenal. We will definitely be going back there again.

Today we made it to church, brunch at the Bongo Room, and grocery shopping at Whole Foods. All in all is was a productive little weekend. Tomorrow, I'm starting my week off with hot yoga! I'm in need of a good stretch session.

Weekend Happenings

Why do the weekends have to go by so quickly?! Thank God for a short work week coming up, I really need it. This past weekend was pretty eventful. Friday, I got into the holiday spirit by listening to Christmas music and baking some cookies for LC (peanut butter w/peanut butter cups and oatmeal raisin). I've decided not to put up any Christmas decorations this year, since I won't be home to enjoy them. The only thing I have going is a Christmas tree scented candle from Target which smells amazing.

On Saturday, I meant to wake up early to do an Insanity DVD, but that did not happen. I cleaned and prepared for my guests instead. My mom, sister and grandma drove to Chicago for a day visit. It was really nice to see them and much appreciated since I've been feeling homesick and a little lonely lately. The holidays are such a hard time for me when LC's not here and my family lives 2 hours away. I took them to lunch at my favorite restaurant in Chicago, Cafe Ba Ba Reeba. It was amazing as always. Their sangria is to die for! I definitely enjoyed a glass, even if it was only 2 in the afternoon :-) I really like the concept of Tapas style dining. You can have a small amount of different varieties of food and not come out feeling stuffed. My mom especially loved this place because of their gluten-free menu. They were so accommodating to her and they even bought her out gluten-free bread for her dipping oil. She was diagnosed with celiac's disease a few months ago and claimed that this was the best meal she's had in a restaurant since. After we indulged in some dessert, we walked around Lincoln Park for a little bit and ventured into Weddings 826 to look for wedding jewelry. I didn't purchase anything, but I will be back as the big day gets closer. That night, my family went home and I went out with an old friend of mine from college. It was nice meeting up with her at her apartment, having drinks and catching up. Then we went to Division street. And I felt old, which is funny because 2 years ago, I had a blast on Division street. Now, I felt sorry for the girls making complete fools of themselves (been there, done that) and I hated having to fend off creepy guys. An engagement ring stops no one. Don't get me wrong, I had a fun time hanging out with Allie and her other girlfriends, but it was just different this time around.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I'm looking forward to going home and seeing my family and friends and having out with my favorite lady in the whole wide world...my sister :-) One thing that I am thankful for is a SHORT WORK WEEK!!! Wooo!