Yummy Squared!

I always have good intentions to post pictures. Truly I do. And then I see a shiny object and I'm off again.

So, there are no pics of us in our matching sweatsuits at the gym...because we're not 80 and we don't own sweat suits! But here are some pics of recent baking excursions at Casa de Leonard.

Bake on bakers!

Cupcake Cheeseburgers!
Go ahead, get out there and buy the next size up in pants...you're gonna' need 'em!

And what is a cheeseburger without an order of fries. Fries made out of sugar cookie dough, that is!

And for dessert I will have mini turtle cheesecakes. Yes, I will!

I also made mini lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting and candied lemon peel for a party last night...but the pics of those are as of yet non-existent. Too much partying, not enough picturing! I will snap some when I get home. Cross you fingers they turn out because they're adorable and you want to see them! :)

My new obsession?

Anything in miniature form.

I've got to find me one of those garden gnomes!

Chow for now...

We're In the Club!

The bag is packed, the bottle is full and we're ready to work out! Yes, I said WE! The hubby and I have joined a gym! Do you hear the harps in the background? I'm pretty sure the angels are singing! It's a lifelong (or at least year long) dream come true...and I'm delighted!

Technically we're still in our trial period...but we're joining it up and working it out! Thank you to Medica and Blue Cross, Blue Shield for a $40 discount off our $60 monthly dues. Yes, yes, we will have a gym membership for $10/person each month! How crazy is that???!!! At that price we can afford to be svelte and sculpted for our Mexico vacation! Oh, and we can add on a tanning package for only $15 month. Don't think we won't be doing that before we hit up the blazing hot Mexico-ian sun...because we so will!!

Today is our first day. We each packed our bags before we left the house this morning (he at the crack of dawn...me just a few half-hours later) and we're going to meet at the gym after work. There will be squatting and lunging and running (that's all me) and lifting and pulling and pressing (that's be my man). And there will be sweat! Oh, and we couldn't have picked a better day to work out in an air-conditioned gym since it's supposed to be 95 degrees here today (with a heat index of 105!) But don't worry ladies of the running club, we're still hiking it up tonight! Bring water!

So, I'll let you know how it goes...and I'll try to post pictures. I'm not sure how the gym feels about cameras...they're probably not fans. But I'll be sneaky and grab at least one of us in our workout duds! Woo hoo!!

Oh, and I PROMISE I have fun pictures of recent baking adventures that I'll post soon...I just need to get them off the camera and onto that neat little memory stick thingy. Ah...technology.

Adventures away!

Big Plans!

Well I lasted about a week on the "no sugar" kick. Seriously, who am I kidding? But the craft bug is still whispering sweet nothings in my ear. And sometime this week I need to take some measurements for curtains, learn how to thread my sewing machine (thank you online manuals!), and skip on over to Fat Quarter Quilts for some of their deliciously addictive fabrics!!

Oh my, I'm getting excited just thinking about it! Last night I had my sweet hubby hang art in our dining room and now I can finally see the 'decor' starting to take shape.

Now all I need is a trip to Zimmerman, MN to visit an antique store or two and I'll have a buffet for the dining room and (fingers crossed) a storage bench for my front entryway. Ooh, I bet that bench is going to need pillows! Hello crafts!

I have abandoned the idea of making my own rug. Visions of cats using it as their new scratching post and the dog mistaking it for his new "throwing up place" made me re-think labor intensive crafts at feet level. I'll just watch my local Menards store for a fantastic deal on a remnant or an area rug and Save Big Money! :)

Warning: I am now obsessed with the idea of making my own accessories! Think funky headbands and vintage cuffs and bracelets! Yum!

And this is all in addition to the new business I'm starting as a Butterfly Boutique Coordinator! Do you need a fabulous handbag or a one-of-a-kind jewelry set? How about some home fragrance or beauty supplies? I've got you covered!

I'm having a boutique at my house on Monday, June 29 at 7 pm and you're invited! Come shop with us! I'm baking, so they'll not only be eye-candy...there's a good chance there will be actual candy! Hey, then you can have a sneak peak at my newly decked-out love nest!

Email me if you need my address or directions from your place (fashionkate_07@yahoo.com)

Happy Adventuring!

So, I have this great idea!

These six little words seem harmless...but they rule my life. I am an idea maker. I make ideas. And then I share these brain bursts with others, spilling idea juice out all over the place! There's excitement and jubilation over this new idea, there's much resolve and grand illusions (or disillusions) of victory and accomplishment...for about a week. And then reality hits and I realize that rock hard abs aren't attainable when your favorite food is brownies, books don't write themselves, and cute little puppies turn into bumbling, messy, neurotic BIG dogs!

And yet reality never seems to detour me from my next big idea. Oh, and I'm not immune to sharing YOUR big idea. Oh no! If you have a great idea that you share with me and the excitement pony (that lives in my brain) saddles up to your idea, I will take it and ride! I will embrace your idea as my own and run, run like the wind towards a usually unrealistic goal. And I love every moment of it! It makes my life adventurous, fun, and unpredictable. And I am a fan of all three of those things! Ah, and it incorporates another of my favorite addictions: Change! Sweet, delicious, candy coated change. Yum-scrumptious!

And it's been about two weeks or so since my last big idea of putting down the cookies (pretty sure I was eating a cookie before I was done typing that post) and shaping up. And this morning my mirror proclaimed that I still looked the same as two weeks ago, same thighs, same tummy, same, same, same. Ah well, onward and forward, and upward!

I have a NEW idea. Well, actually I have two. And they're completely unrelated to each other. Yeah, that should be fun!

Share time? Is it share time yet? I want to show and tell! Pick me, pick MEEE!!!

Great Idea #1 (thank you to the Allison's for this one)
No sugar for a month.

Did you gasp? Were you shocked? Did you drop your fruit snack right onto your computer keyboard? I know, it's a lofty goal. And I've already failed a little bit this morning. You see, while hiking it around the GV with my running club (Hi girls!) Allison and I decided to take the other Allison's challenge to cut sugar out of our diets for a month (I know, too many Allison's...but what can I do? I know! I could rename them!). Allison 1 is now Sugar (because she's honestly the sweetest person I know!). Ok, so Sugar and I agreed to undertake this massive goal, holding each other accountable and encouraging one another. Hold the phone! I forgot to mention that we're also not allowed to eat any refined or processed foods. No chips, crackers, white bread, bakery goods, etc. My fridge is going to need a total makeover!! And that takes me back to my failure. So, it was too late to hit up the g-store after our run so I woke up this morning and realized I had nothing to eat! I cheated a little bit by having an english muffin. I feel better about that than the Peanut Butter Cap'N Crunch XL Family Size box I was eyeing the minute my slippered feet hit the hardwood this morning. By the way, does anyone NEED a box of Cap'N Crunch? Cause I know of a XL Family Size box that isn't going to get any lovin' at my house for a month! But I have big plans to bound into the ghetto Cub by my house and shop it up this afternoon, so I'll be back on track soon.

Great Idea #2
Crafts!

My poor husband. He really should get an award or a sticker for living with a woman who is constantly exclaiming, "Honey, you know what we should do???" Such a good man!

Anywhoo, the other day I was staring at the vast expanse under our dining room table and realized that somewhere in the recesses of my brain I had filed a picture of a hand-painted rug. In some craft brochure, or some Good Homes Better Housekeeping Ladies Journal, or a random article on hgtv.com I encountered instructions on how to design your own rug...and I LIKED it. This little image popped into my brain and has hence been stuck there on repeat. And with it have come all these great ideas for jewelery and hats, and curtains, and pillows, and aprons, and summer dresses (thanks mostly to a day of antiquing and shopping painfully adorable stores in small towns with my mom and sis).

For some this doesn't sound like such a grand idea, but there are several reasons why crafts are an adventure for me. I don't know how to make any of these things...I have virtually no crafting supplies at my house (thanks to a pre-wedding clean out of my boxes 'o crapft [that's crap and craft mushed together - if you have these boxes, you know why])...and my calendar suggests I do not have TIME to be creative. Nevertheless, I am convinced that by the end of the summer my house will be a little sparklier, a little homeier, and a lot more decorated-er!! Sorry about that last one, I felt pressure to add the {er} since that's how the other two words ended. :)

And somewhere in between these two ideas I need to paint the rest of the walls in my house, buy new furniture, get a second job, learn how to sew, bake bread in my fabulous neused (that's new-used!) bread machine, master cupcake decorating (stinkin' bakerella blog making me dream of delectable cupcake creations!), plan and take a vacation, sculpt a rock-hard physique through a disciplined regimine of running, cardio and strength training. Oh, and I HAVE to throw in some Hot Yoga too!

Whew! I'm tired just looking at all of that...oh wait, no I'm not! I'm super excited! I'm giddy, and giggly, and completely insane!! Who else is with me!?!?! Who LOVES a new challenge, a new adventure or a new goal???

Idea Girl!!! Netflix here I come!!
Sidenote: How cute is her dress????

Let there be sweat!

I am a bad blogger girl! I have abused my blog hiatus and now it's been more than a week since I've written anything longer than a grocery list or a note for my husband's lunch box. Where are the days going?

Apparently I've been consumed with reading other blogs, and working (ugh!), and sweating in hot yoga! Oh yes dear reader, your little eyes didst not deceive you! I have embarked upon a brand new adventure into the world of sweaty (yet surprisingly not smelly) bikram yoga. And let me tell you, it's deliciously addictive!

Last week my friend Allison, stunning, momma of three Allison, invited me to sweat and laugh and pose with her (for FREE) at Core Power Yoga. Not only did I accept this invitation, but I already had one leg in my yoga pants before I got off the phone! I do love me a little downward dog!

I loaded up my trusty blue yoga mat ($12.99 Target special!), slipped on my sandals, and headed out to sweat and pose my way to a better bod!

I got to the studio a bit before Allison and was treated to a tour of the facilities by the assistant manager (who, it turned out, was our instructor for the evening). She was one of those blonde Barbies who makes you seriously regret the fried chicken fingers you had for dinner and swear off anything sugar or carb related for at least a day or two! I'm pretty sure she wouldn't even know what a Skittle was if presented with the option to partake in it's lovely candy-coated fruity goodness. She'd probably just stick with her wheatgrass smoothie and her tofurkey burger. Ah, but she was beautiful. And I followed her around the building wondering if by the end of my yoga experience I'd look like a yoga goddess too. Here's to hoping!

I was shown the two classrooms (8 Limbs is the only name I could remember...but the other was something new-agey and silly too), the stunning locker rooms (complete with complimentary EVERYTHING!), and encouraged to observe silence in the studio. Ha! Oh, little quiet, blonde girl, if only you knew how startling that "request" was to me! We can't talk??? Oh man, what have I gotten myself in to??

After Allison arrived we chatted outside the studio for a brief moment, then slipped off our kicks and headed towards an hour of blood, sweat and tears. Ok, maybe I didn't think there'd be blood, but I was certain of the last two! Me of little faith; I didn't cry at all. In fact, several times I had to stifle laughter (honestly, you'd laugh too if faced with a sweaty man with a beer gut posed in King Frog four inches from your face). Plus, I'm pretty sure our instructor was just making up some of those pose names. Supta Baddha Konasana? That's from the Lion King, right? Oh no, wait, that's Hakuna Matata! Meh. It's all the same. Just tell me where to put my arms and legs...and give me a minute to wipe off my sweat!

As a runner and a slightly obsessive cardo exerciser, I am no novice sweat-mama. I can sweat with the big boys! I don't just get a girlie glisten. Oh no Nellie, I don't shine, I drip! But, I can honestly say that I've never sweat as much as I did those two nights in Hot Yoga. And I felt amazing! Now, brace yourself for an overshare, a veritable TMI moment: I didn't even smell bad! Imagine that! I was so sweaty that I actually had to sit on a towel in my car for fear of dripping sweat juices into my car's upholstery! And yet I could still smell my Victoria's Secret Vanilla Lace body spray wafting from my skin. I'm not sure how that happens, but I will take it!

And for all the posing and holding, and falling over (apparently my balance needs some work!), I wasn't sore or exhausted. The next day I could definitely feel the workout in my muscles, but it was a good sore, a detoxifying, healing sore!

I might be obsessed. I'm certainly addicted. And I have a dilema. What's in my wallet? Money for our mortgage, and our cars and even some groceries...but probably not $150/month for yoga. Why must health be so expensive??? What to do, what to do??

Maybe a professional yoga studio membership will have to wait until I win the lottery, but that doesn't mean I can't search the Twin Cities for other great fitness deals. Ooooh, that sounds like a new challenge for me! I like it!

Ok, consider this my first gift to you: Click on this link and print out the coupon for one week of FREE yoga (really! No strings attached - go sweat!).

Core Power Yoga

And while you're working on that, I'll be working on my next adventure! Until then...Namaste!