What's Baking Round Up & C25K

Hello Dolls,

Do you know what the best thing about Tuesday is? It isn't Monday.

Aren't Mondays just the worst? They definitely are for me. They just show up out of no where and scream "Hey! You're weekend is over!" By Tuesday I am a little less bitter about it and I can get on with my week.

I hope you guys are having a good day but if not, here is a little something to brighten your day. The Mess Pot hosted our What's Baking challenge this month and has posted the monthly round up..

I will definitely be trying some of the recipes posted this month and I am sure that you will too.

These round ups always remind me that I desperately need a new camera :) Christmas present, perhaps? Hint, hint, Colin if you're reading this haha.

On a completely unrelated note, I started Couch to 5k yesterday. I have wanted to run a 5k for awhile now and even tried C25k with my best friend Stacey last year but didn't stick with it. Being healthy wasn't really a priority until recently when I started having some minor health problems. I don't want those minor health problems to open the door for major ones so I am getting serious about what I put into my body and also getting exercise.

Not to mention, Colin's family is taking us on a cruise in March of next year (there is like a billion of us going) and I need to drop twenty a couple of pounds lol.

Anyways,
Have a lovely Tuesday and enjoy the round up post!

My New Favorite Blog

My Mom called me the other day and said she had found a blog that I just HAD to look at. Now, these phone calls are far from rare so I really didn't think anything about it. My Mom is always finding new blogs and I read the posts that she liked but rarely go back to them.

This blog is different. I literally check it for new posts every day. On Confessions of a 20 Something, "Pink Lou Lou" writes mainly about fashion and hair styling but with a sweet and sassy southern charm. She is all about "the poof" which I haven't seen much of since moving to Chicago and Carrie Underwood, who she actually got to meet.

I like this blog not only because she made a curling iron tutorial that basically changed my life but also because she reminds me of my friends back home.

So, go check her out because she is pretty much what being a 20 something southern girl is all about :)

What's Baking? - Strawberry Pie

When the theme for August was announced in the What's Baking group as Celebrate Summer, the first thing that came to my mind was a fruit pie. To me, fruit pies basically scream Summer and as we are winding summer down and heading full force into Fall, I jumped at the chance to make one. I have very limited experience making pies. Some of you may remember my attempt at pumpkin pie when I tried to make a homemade pie crust... And failed miserably. This time I decided to go with a store bought pie crust and Annie's strawberry pie recipe.

I learned a couple things while making this pie...

1. When a recipe tells you to use pie weights, it is probably necessary. I skipped that part and my pie crust rose dramatically.

2. Don't take a shower and ask your husband to watch the pie crust.. It will most likely be over cooked..

3. Don't do dishes while your Kitchenaid mixer makes whipped cream unsupervised. To say the whipped cream was over whipped is the understatement of the year.

4. Things that don't look very good can still be delicious.

I was not excited about how this pie looked... At all. However, when I tasted it, I completely changed my mind about it. This was the first time I have ever had strawberry pie but it definitely won't be the last, I'm in love.

So, Goodbye Summer 2011, I will miss you dearly in just a few short months when the snow starts coming down in Chicago again :)

I will direct you over to Annie's blog for the recipe because I didn't change anything except I used Ball brand fruit pectin instead of Sure-Jell.

Book Review: The Hunger Games

This book is EVERYWHERE right now because the first movie will be in theaters next year. I kept hearing that it was great and that I was crazy for not rushing to the bookstore to pick it up and devour it in one sitting. My attitude towards the book was very "eh". I wasn't excited by it or to quote my friend Jamie. I just "wasn't feeling it". Because I work at a movie theater, I watch a lot of movies. A lot. And I try to make a point to read the books that movies are based on before they come out so I can compare the two. Of course, the book always wins. Reading the book also tells me whether I even want to bother seeing the movie.

Take "One Day" for example. I know that there has to be people out there that adore this book but I read three chapters and just couldn't get into it. I never finished the book and I have no interest in watching the movie even though I like Anne Hathaway, especially when she is clothed :)

On Wednesdays, one of my days off, I have a tradition. Colin goes to work around 4pm and I walk to Target (4 blocks from our apartment) and just browse. Browse in this context could also be replaced with "spend money on things I don't need".  Target gets me every time :) Anyway, I always get a Dr Pepper from the snack bar, browse through all the clothes, try on what I like, look at all books and electronics, and make my way to the make up. By the time I am done in the make up section my arms are so full with things I don't need that I can barely make it to the register.

Yesterday, on my Target trip I decided to pick up The Hunger Games. "If I don't like it, at least I can tell everyone to shut up about it" I thought to myself. No such luck. You see, I started reading it around 8pm. By 8:15 I thought about putting it down and spending hours stalking on Facebook. By 8:30, I wouldn't stop reading that book if my house caught on fire. In fact, I didn't stop reading until 2:30am when I finished it. Yep, it grabbed me. It sucked me in and I couldn't stop reading, couldn't fathom putting it down.

Run to the bookstore. Lose yourself in this book. Devour it in one sitting. It is just THAT good.

If I tried to explain to you what it was about, you probably wouldn't be that interested so I won't. I'll just say go get the book. If you don't like it, you've only wasted $6.47 at Target.

I am currently neglecting all of my adult responsibilities while reading the second book, Catching Fire.

After I finish this series, what should I read? Any suggestions? This has been my replacement for Harry Potter and Twilight but just like they did, this series will end all too soon. Three books just isn't going to be enough!