Miles and a Milestone

On March 15, I finally got off my pasty arse and ran my first race. It was the Emerald Across the Bay 12K (which is about 7.5 miles for us metrically challenged). The course was a fantastic tour-bus route around SF. It started across the bay at Fort Baker, went over the Golden Gate Bridge (epic!), through Chrissy Field, past Marina Green, and ended up at Aquatic Park/Ghiradelli Square. Pretty awesome. I felt great, had my iPod blaring, and soaked up the scenery... with "soaked" being the operative word. It rained the entire time! Everyone was drenched and freezing before we even boarded the buses to take us to the starting point. Puddles, mud, rain pelting you in the face--it was a soggy, sloshy mess and I had a blast! No pictures of me will be posted at this event, obvi. Thanks to the BF and fam for coming out to support me!

Happy birthday Mom!

April 4: It's not every day that yo mama turns 60. We all surprised her at dinner at an Italian restaurant, then went back to Steve's place for dessert. I wanted to make something special, but couldn't decide between something chocolatey/different and something fresh/fruity and seasonal. Since it was my mom's birthday, I thought it was appropos to employ one of the life lessons I learned from her when I was in my teens. [Picture this: you're at the mall and can't decide what to buy: the Hypercolor tee that changes color with body heat, or the fluorescent pink sweatshirt with "totally rad" on it. Mom's sage words of advice: Get them both.] Above are pics of the finished desserts. Spring cupcakes with lavender icing a la my hero Martha Stewart (left), and enormous individual strawberry shortcakes, recipe courtesy of celeb chef Michael Mina (right). I was a bit of a whirling dervish in the kitchen (naturally I overslept that day and was pressed for time!), but still managed to snap some pics of my progress:



1. Letting the shortcake dough rest; 2. Chopping; 3. Whipping; 4. Best part about whipping, licking the beaters; 5. Cooling; 6. Icing (and appropriately dressed in Culinary Academy apron!)