Nothin' But a Good Time {Weekend Recap}

Saturday: 5 miles in 58:10, average 11:38 min/mile
Sunday: Rest!

One word sums up this weekend -- SUPER.

{I know, totally corny, right?}

This weekend was Super Bowl Kickoff Weekend, and it was AWESOME. On Friday night, we went downtown for a couple free concerts - one by DJ Pauly D from The Jersey Shore and the other by Bret Michaels of Poison. We also had some time to walk around and see the roman numerals and Indy cars up by Monument Circle. It was definitely was Nothin' But a Good Time.

the zipline along capitol street

TJ in front of the NFL Experience

the location for our flash mob on Sunday...you can see the ziplines overhead

BOO PATRIOTS!

cool ice sculpture

DJ Pauly D!

all the Indy cars lines up with Monument Circle in the back

yay Saints!

this picture cracks me up...TJ and Matt "Tebowing" in front of the Broncos car

me and Tiff with the Colts car

Super Bowl XLVI Bud Light bottles

pyrotechnics show outside the Fieldhouse before Bret Michaels

"Every Rose Has it's Thorn"

We were about 40 feet away from him by the end of the show!

As we were walking back to the parking garage, Matt {my brother-in-law that works as a camera guy for one of the local news stations}, ran into a group of his co-workers starting to do a live shot for the 11 o'clock news. So what did we do? We hung out and got on TV! You can see the whole clip here. {Watch for us when they pan towards the left.} Pretty awesome if you ask me.

Saturday started with a good 5 mile run on the treadmill, and I'm just so glad that my knees held out for the whole five. Not gonna lie, they were starting to get a little achy, but I did it, and it felt good. I rewarded myself with a nice hour-long massage. Actually, TJ and I got a couple's massage at one of the local day spas, so we both got a little R & R. After that and a really big trip to Target, we went home to get ready for our Second Look Party at Maggiano's that night. My residency program hosts a "second look" dinner for applicants that want to come back and talk to more people before submitting their rank lists later in February. If you aren't familiar with the whole residency match process, I explain it a little more here. Basically, it's the twisted way a soon-to-be-graduating 4th year medical student applies for his or her first job {aka residency}. Anyways, it was a really good night with a TON of yummy food. Mmmm....

Yesterday was "Super Families" day at the Super Bowl Village, and it was the day of our Flash Mob. TJ and I went down with my parents and my aunt and uncle from Cincinnati, and we met up with another one of my aunts and uncles and three of my cousins. The sun came out instead of snowing like they had predicted, but, boy oh boy, was it windy! They actually clocked a 51 mph wind gust at Lucas Oil Stadium! Crazy! Anyways, we had our Flash Mob, and it was a lot of fun. There were a ton of people there despite the windy weather {a lot more people than on Friday}. I think it all went really well {based on what my family said}, and I'm definitely glad I did it. After the mob, we walked around a bit more, I got a t-shirt, then we had an awesome lunch at Harry & Izzy's before heading home.

{I'm in purple with a black headband with the white shirt hanging out.

Sorry for all the wind noise...like I said it was REALLY windy}

All in all, an amazing weekend. I think I need another one to recover.

Have a SUPER week!

~emily

Friday Randoms {about me!}

So, Hilliary at Happily Ever Healthy tagged me on Wednesday for a little thing where I post 11 fun facts about myself then answer the 11 questions she posted before tagging more people to do the same. I randomly found her blog one day and after reading a bit, I realized that she went to Butler University in Indy and was a dancer, so we've got a few things in common!

Some of you may know these things about me, some of you may not. Anyways, here goes...

• I used to love going out a lot, but now I'm much more of a homebody. Maybe I'm just getting old and boring...
• I'm definitely more of a morning person, but I can certainly be a night owl if I have to. {Hello, night float and all the 30 hours calls I've had to do over the last 2 years!}
• Going along with being a morning person, I'm much more likely to work out in the morning than after I come home from work in the evening. All I want to do at 5pm {or whatever time I get home} is put some comfy clothes on, eat dinner, and lounge around. 
• I really wish I could still dance like I used to. It's one of the best forms of exercise {in my book} and there's nothing like floating through space and getting a combination or dance routine perfect.
• Without a doubt, dancing for almost 20 years shaped who I am today. It provided me with a lot of opportunities and perhaps brought me to where I am now, but it also led me to a very difficult experience in high school and in college. I had an eating disorder, and although I've overcome it now, some of those thoughts and habits will forever be with me. 
• I have A LOT of debt, thanks to college and medical school {mostly the latter}. Thankfully, my parents are helping me out with the college stuff, but the med school loans are up to me. Trust me when I say that you don't want to know how much it totals. Yikes. 
• That being said, I wouldn't trade my 3.5 years in New Orleans at Tulane University {for undergrad} for the world. It was life-changing and something I will always treasure. I met some of my best friends there, even though the only person I knew on the day I moved in was my brother {he was a junior when I was a freshman.} And if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have graduated a semester early.
• I never like seafood growing up...except for fish sticks {eww!} and tuna casserole that my mom would make during Lent. However, living in New Orleans expanded my palate and I'll try pretty much anything now.
• I would love to learn to sew on a sewing machine, but I'm not sure I have enough patience for it. My mom started sewing clothes for herself in 4th grade and still sews a lot now {not clothes}, but I just don't know if I could do it.
• I hate unloading the dishwasher, folding laundry, and putting it away. There's been a load in the dryer for a few days now...thank goodness for the "refresh" cycle. Oops.
• If I weren't doing this whole doctor thing, I'd love to do something in graphic design. I love that kind of stuff.

And now for Hilliary's questions...

1. Do you tend to follow fashion trends, or stick to a more classic look?  How do you define your style?
I would call my style classic, with a few fashion trends thrown in the mix. I'm more okay with spending money on quality staples that I know I'll have in my closet for a long time. For the trendier pieces, it's got to be cheaper because I know it won't last more than 1 or 2 seasons.

2. Whats your go to piece in your closet right now?
Speaking of classic clothing items, I'd have to go with the gray herringbone jacket from J.Crew I got for Christmas. Goes with everything. Love it.

3. What is one thing you wish you could go out and buy right this minute?
If we're talking food, I could go for some honeycomb cereal right now. I also really want new running shoes.

4. Who is your celebrity style icon?
I've never been the kind of girl that goes crazy over celebrities, so I can't say that I can pinpoint a particular icon. Sorry folks.

5. Do you wish you could know what your life looks like 5 years from now, or would you rather it be a surprise?
I'm a Type A person and a planner, so I'd like to know. I certainly have ideas of how I'd like it to look, but I know that it's not entirely up to me.

6. Who is your favorite musical artist?
Dave Matthews. I could listen to his music any day, and I LOVE seeing him in concert. With my high school girls. Good times. {love you ladies!}

7. What is your favorite Broadway play?
I've only seen 2 musicals actually on Broadway {Chicago and Phantom of the Opera}, but I've seen lots of other musicals on tour. Gosh, that's tough, although I'd have to go with Chicago. Saw it with my mom in NYC, January 2005, second row. It was amazing.

8. Dogs or cats?
Seeing as TJ and I are both allergic to both dogs and cats, we don't have either. However, I am definitely more of a dog person {can't really stand cats}, and I hope to get {a hypoallergenic} one eventually...maybe a malti-poo {maltese-poodle mix}.

9. What was your favorite board game growing up?
I loved playing Sorry! with my Grandma Ruth when I was little. For some reason, I always won! ;-)

10. Would you rather not be able to talk, or not be able to walk for the rest of your life?
Wow, that's a tough one. I love being active, so I would have a really hard time not being able to walk, dance, or run.

11. What is your biggest fear in life?
For a long time {when I was in high school/college}, one of my biggest fears was getting a divorce. I'm not sure exactly why, but I did. Thankfully, I have been blessed and have a wonderful hubby to share my life with. Love you babe!

I'm being a rebel and not tagging more people, but I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about me. Here's to a great weekend...I'll be sure to recap all of our festivities this weekend on Monday!

Happy Friday!

~emily

Have a Super Day!

Wednesday: no 4 mile run as planned, spending some time with my foam roller instead :(

You may or may not have realized from yesterday's post that my hubby and I like sports. Well, TJ much more than myself, but I love them enough to make them part of my career!

You may or may not have also noticed that we {TJ and I} are a little excited about all the Super Bowl festivities here in Indy. And by a little, I mean a lot. :)

Anyways, TJ signed up months ago to be a volunteer in the NFL Experience that starts this Friday and runs through a day or so after the Super Bowl. On his day off yesterday, TJ went downtown to pick up his volunteer packet, credentials, and everything he needs for his first shift on Friday. Let's just say that the NFL Host Committee {or whatever committee it is that is in charge}, treats their volunteers VERY well. I wish I had known....I may have volunteered myself!

{just kidding...sort of}

He got a nice heavyweight black jacket/coat, a blue dry fit pullover, a hat, a handmade scarf {including a note from the person that knitted it!}, and two complimentary tickets to the NFL Experience! That's a lot of stuff!

That's TJ's why-are-you-taking-another-picture-of-me face. Sorry babe, I like taking pictures.

This weekend is going to be jam-packed, and mostly with free events going on around town. TJ is volunteering during the day on Friday, then we're going to the Bret Michaels concert Friday night. On Sunday, I'm actually going to be part of a FLASH MOB in the Super Bowl Village.

I'm SUPER excited! :)

Happy Wednesday!

~emily

The Man Cave Makeover

Workouts:
Sunday: Rest!
Monday: 2 miles in 23:03; average 11:32 min/mile pace {stupid right knee pain kept me from running 3!}
Tuesday: 30 min of stretching, abs, and free weights

~~~~~

We have been in the process over the past 2 and half {almost 3!} years of painting every room in our house. When TJ bought our townhouse in 2007, every wall had that lovely light tan color on it, with what seemed like scuff marks every couple of feet, especially in the basement and the stairwells. It was just a single guy {a former Colts player!} who lived here for a couple years before TJ moved in, so of course, nothing had been done to the walls until my mom and I got to them. Little by little, every wall has been covered with a much better color {in my opinion}, and we got another room checked off the list this weekend. My mom and I gave our basement, aka "The Man Cave," a little makeover. It was in need of some TLC.

The basement pre-wall art rearrangement and pre-painting. Light tan walls = yuck.

We decided to continue with the same yellow-gold color that is in our living room, entryway, and stairwells, just to keep some continuity. And, it's a good neutral background for all of TJ's sports paraphernalia {Colts, Notre Dame, Purdue}. Someday, when we have a bigger house with a big basement complete with a bar, game area, and media room, we'll have a lot more space for TJ's stuff, and I'm sure that he'll acquire a few more things by then too.

On Saturday, my mom and I spent the afternoon and evening moving things around on the walls and prepping everything for painting on Sunday. After church and breakfast Sunday morning, we got to the painting part!

making good progress...

my mom did all the edging/cutting in while I rolled the rest of the walls

After hours of hard work with a few interruptions to check on the scores of the football games {boooo Patriots!}, we were done! We let the paint dry while we ate dinner, then got to the really fun part of moving everything back into place and hanging things on the walls!

The ND corner

close up

my view while running...Colts stuff in front, and an empty frame on the left for some running pics

close up and not so dark...I think we're gonna frame a couple pics from Lucas Oil {our new stadium} to put on the ledge

I'll use that bottom shelf for my workout towels

my new running displays from my Christmas wishlist!

TJ's pic with Muhammed Ali...how cool is that???

My parents got us a new full-length mirror for Christmas to hang in the basement because I still had my old crappy one from my med school apartments, and it has definitely seen better days. Our basement actually has the door to the garage, so I like having a mirror there to look at before I walk out the door. {TJ always makes fun of me for looking at my outfit/shoes/etc one more time before we leave to go anywhere.}

Don't mind the mess that's still there in the corner...

The mirror close up...it has a cork board all the way around it!

Et voila! The semi-finished room! Anyone have any suggestion for hiding those ugly cords??

We have a few more things to do in the basement before it's done. I want to get a nicer shelf to store the DVR, DVD player, Wii, and stereo. I got a weight rack from Dick's that I need to put together that will go against the wall in front of the treadmill. I also need to put the Colts Super Bowl Champions poster {the big one in the corner in the "before" picture above} in it's new, nicer frame before it goes back up on the wall. We also need to move a 5-shelf unit to the right of the TV for storing our DVDs, Wii games, and some books. Lastly, we have to hang our two autographed, custom-framed jerseys above the couch. TJ had framed his ND Jeff Samardzija jersey a few years ago, but had waited to frame the Reggie Wayne jersey till now. It's at Michael's and should be ready by the weekend. I can't wait to have the room all put together and finished!

Now, all that is left is the upstairs hallway....hallelujah!

~emily

The New & Improved Running Playlist

Friday: Ran 2.86 miles in 31:24; average 10:59 min/mile
Saturday: Ran 5 miles in 57:30; average 11:30 min/mile

Saturday is my long run day. I was only supposed to do 4 miles, but with my new running playlist {see below} and watching Top Chef {yes, I prefer sensory overload while running on the treadmill}, I felt so good after 4 miles that I went for 5. It was a great run, but now my right knee is hurting a bit. I'm afraid that I'm getting IT {iliotibial} band pain again {happened with my left knee towards the end of training and the Mini last year}, so I'm going to do some research and probably buy a foam roller this weekend on Amazon.

the foam roller.

Must. Stay. Injury. Free.

I've been meaning to revamp my running music for awhile now, but I kept forgetting about it and then remember again each time I went for a run. So, after we got back from dinner last night, I went through iTunes and put a new Running Playlist together. I've had a Workout Playlist for years that I just keep adding to, but lately, I end up wanting to skip through half of the songs to get to the good ones. My current Workout Mix includes everything from Bon Jovi {yes, I love him and his music}, Madonna, and Michael Jackson to 50 Cent, Outkast, and Usher. As you can tell, I have a wide range in music taste. After adding, deleting, and moving some songs around, here is my new list. There are 32 songs totaling 2 full hours of music.

1. Pump It, Black Eyed Peas
2. Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen
3. The Way You Move, Big Boi
4. Only The Young, Journey
5. Love Makes The World Go Round, Madonna
6. Moves Like Jagger, Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera
7. Hey Ya!, Outkast
8. Forget You, Cee Lo Green
9. Yeah!, Usher featuring Lil' Jon & Ludacris
10. Dynamite, Taio Cruz
11. Tightrope, Janelle Monáe (feat. Big Boi)
12. Runaway, Bon Jovi
13. Born This Way, Lady GaGa
14. More, Usher
15. Hold It Against Me, Britney Spears
16. Tonight (I'm Lovin' You), Enrique Iglesias [feat. Ludacris & DJ Frank E]
17. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart), Journey
18. Tik Tok, Ke$ha
19. Viva La Vida, Coldplay
20. Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It), Beyoncé
21. Closer, Ne-Yo
22. I Like It, Enrique Iglesias (feat. Pitbull)
23. Mint Car, The Cure
24. Ask The Lonely, Journey
25. DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love, Usher (feat. Pitbull)
26. Be Good To Yourself, Journey
27. Let It Rock, Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne
28. Somebody Told Me, The Killers
29. Over And Over, Madonna
30. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (2003 Edit), Michael Jackson
31. Club Can't Handle Me, Flo Rida (feat. David Guetta)
32. B.O.B., OutKast

I think it's a good start, but I'll definitely want to add to it so that I don't get bored with it after a couple of weeks. I plan on making specific 5K, 10K, 15K, and half-marathon specific playlists to motivate me through those races and hopefully finish them by my goal times. I promise I'll share those too once I make them.

What are you favorite songs to run to?

~emily

One Sleep till the Weekend

Happy Thursday! I'm so glad that tomorrow is Friday already...I'm so ready for the weekend! Today, I'm linking up with Amber & Neely for their "It's Okay Thursday" series. Here goes!

It's okay...

...to be ready for the weekend again {I realize that I am sounding redundant here, but it's just for emphasis, folks}

...to be going out to a nice dinner again tomorrow just so the hubs and I can take advantage of Devour Downtown

...that we're going to another restaurant we've already been to, instead of trying a new one like I said we were going to do

...to sometimes eat cereal for dinner {not this evening though, I'm cooking dinner} :)

...to be SUPER excited for the Super Bowl to be here in town in a couple weeks. This city is going to be crrrrrazy!

...to be jealous that my brother in law will be working with Jimmy Fallon while he is in Indy. That's freaking awesome!

...to watch The Bachelor yet again for another season, even though every time I always find myself asking the question, "why do I keep watching this???"

...to do the same exact thing with all the Kardashians shows...ridiculous. Just plain ridiculous.

...to not really have a plan yet for studying for the boards that I'm taking April 16. I'm talking the real boards, like THE Family Medicine Boards {so I can say I'm a board-certified family physician}

...to still not know what I'm going to be doing after I graduate from residency in June {but hoping for an answer soon!}

...to have Mardi Gras beads and random stuffed animals caught from Mardi Gras parades out for decoration right now {it's Carnival season!}

...that I need to stop rambling so I can start on dinner!

Thanks for reading my randoms!

~emily

Need Some Motivation?

Tuesday: Rest {was supposed to be cross-training, but I slept in instead}
Wednesday: 4 miles in 46:09, average 11:32 min/mile pace

I don't know about you, but I really needed some motivation today. My original plan was to get up and run before work this morning, especially considering I didn't have to be at the nursing home till 9:00am {the third Wednesday morning of every month is nursing home day for us family medicine residents}. My alarm went off at 6am, and what did I do? Hit snooze {remember I can hardly resist it}, then decided that I would run this afternoon and sleep for another hour instead.

Poor choice, Emily, poor choice.

When this afternoon rolled around, I had a snack, did some reading, used a lot of will power to NOT lay down on the couch and take a nap...basically anything other than running. Finally, I made myself put my workout clothes on and go downstairs to face the treadmill...

Four miles later, I'm so glad I did. {and I was still wishing that I had run this morning}

I decided to look for some motivation on Pinterest and here are my finds....

yes, but you better believe I'll still be drinking my coffee

{or everybody that is still in bed}

I WILL be able to say this someday.

{all images via Pinterest}

I'm hoping that I'll think of these when my alarm goes off in the morning...I'll let you know how that goes. :)

Oh, and today I'm linking up with Michelle from The Vintage Apple...if you're new here, welcome! Thanks for stopping by!

~emily

Let the Training Begin!

Saturday workout: 4 miles in 45:37, average 11:24 min/mile
Sunday: rest!
Monday workout: 3 miles in 34:36, average 11:32 min/mile

Saturday marked my official start to training for the Mini Marathon, and it started with a great 4 mile run on the treadmill. It would have been better if it had been outside, but it was a little chilly Saturday morning, so the TM had to suffice.

Last year, when I trained for the Mini {my first half marathon}, I kind of winged the whole thing. I had never run that far before and had no idea what my time would be....heck, I didn't even know if I'd be able to run the whole race! After doing some googling, I found some training plans that seemed doable, and then just kind of made my own training schedule from that. My plan ended up being fine for my first half, but this year, I need something more structured.

Enter Runner's World Smart Coach.

I found this handy-dandy tool thanks to Danica over at girlsthatrun. Basically, you enter your age, a recent race time, the race you're training for {and date}, whether you want to train easy, moderate, or hard, what day you want to run your long runs, and bingo! It comes up with an entire training plan complete with easy runs, long runs, tempo runs, and speedwork. Oh, and it's free too! It tells you the pace at which you should do all your runs and your projected finish time for your race. I actually fudged my recent race time a bit so that I could get my projected race time under 2:10 {my goal!}. What is really surprising to me is that most of my runs are supposed to be at an 11:xx min/mile pace; only the speedwork and tempo runs are faster {9:xx}. It just doesn't make sense to me that I'll be able to run a sub-2:10 half when most of my training will be running 11 minute miles. I guess we'll see!

If any of you are runners, where do you get training plans for your races?

Happy running!

~emily

What's Cool this Friday

Yay! Friday night is here!

First, let me start with what's NOT cool this Friday....

My migraines. Boo. I've been MIA the last couple days because I woke up Tuesday morning with a headache and nausea {and then some}. I had to call in sick to work, laid in bed all day {and night}, and still felt pretty iffy on Wednesday. Thankfully, by I felt okay by Wednesday afternoon, but, jeez, I could have done without that one. This past migraine made 3 bad ones in less than a month. Yuck. I ended up seeing my doc yesterday, and we're gonna try a new prophylactic med at a really low dose. I've been on a couple in the past {neither really worked}, so fingers crossed that this one will do something.

Secondly, this weather is not cool. Well, actually it is, but more like freezing cold. See for yourself...

My dash on the way home from work today...yikes, that's cold.

I tried to take a pic of the pretty snow, but didn't work out so well. It's the big, fluffy kind of snow.

Needless to say, I don't think my run tomorrow morning is gonna be outside...treadmill, here I come.

Anyways, here's what is cool today...date night at Harry & Izzy's, AND it's Devour Downtown! For any of you who happen to be in Indy, Devour Downtown happens twice a year, and it's a super good deal. A ton of the downtown Indy restaurants have $30 menus of their regular stuff {some of them even have 2 for $30!}. It's a limited menu, but still the good stuff. TJ and I said we should try and go somewhere new, but where are we going tonight? Somewhere we've been a ton of times. Shrimp cocktail {with lots of horseradish} and steaks, here we come! {Maybe next Friday we'll try a new place!}

Hope you all have a great night and a fabulous weekend! Stay warm!

~emily

There's a Baby in a Cake?!!?

Say what?!???

For those of you unfamiliar with Mardi Gras and the season of Carnival, there are, in fact, babies inside of cakes. We're talking plastic babies in king cakes, people.

A king cake is a type of cake associated with the festival of Epiphany in the Christmas season in a number of countries, and in other places with the pre-Lenten celebrations of Mardi Gras / Carnival. In the United States, which celebrates Carnival mainly in the Southeastern region {Louisiana and New Orleans in particular}, it is associated with Mardi Gras traditions. The cake has a small trinket {often a small plastic baby, said to represent Baby Jesus} inside, and the person who gets the piece of cake with the trinket has various privileges and obligations. The person who gets the trinket is declared the King or Queen of the day, however in some states the person who gets the trinket or baby will soon have a baby. Sometimes there are separate cakes to select the king and queen. In New Orleans, the cake for women is sometimes called a Queen Cake. The king or queen is usually obligated to supply the next king cake or host the next party or both.

{via Wikipedia}

Ever since my college days at Tulane {oh, how I miss it}, Mardi Gras and Carnival season have been a big deal to me. People up here north of the Mason-Dixon line don't really seem to get into it too much, so we {my parents and me} try to do it up right. It's a great way to get yourself out of that post-Christmas funk/Wintertime blues, let me tell you. King cakes are part of that tradition, so I decided to make my first one of the season on Sunday.

Mardi Gras 2007...oh my!

I love to cook and bake, but making bread from scratch has always kind of intimidated me. I know, I know, it's just yeast and baking, but for some reason, the idea of a bread machine doing all that rising and kneading business for me is just much more appealing than slaving away myself. I decided to try a new recipe for the cake on Sunday, and thankfully allrecipes.com had a King Cake recipe that used a bread machine so it took all the guesswork out of it.

King Cake {in a bread machine}

Ingredients

Cake:

• 1/4 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees F/40 to 45 degrees C), or as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed
• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Filling:

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Frosting:

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk, or as needed
• 1 tablespoon purple colored sugar, or as needed
• 1 tablespoon green colored sugar, or as needed
• 1 tablespoon yellow colored sugar, or as needed

Directions

1. Place the warm water, salt, softened butter, egg, sour cream, 3 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, flour, and yeast into a bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer, select the dough cycle, and start the machine. Check the dough after about 5 minutes of mixing, and add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of water or flour if the dough is too dry or wet.
2. Mix 1/4 cup of sugar, the cinnamon, and 2 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter together in a bowl. Grease a baking sheet, and set aside.
3. When the dough cycle is finished, remove the dough and roll out to a 10x28-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Spread the cinnamon-butter mixture over the dough, and sprinkle on an even layer of pecans. Pick up one of the long edges, and roll the dough into a 28-inch long log. Place the rolled dough onto the prepared baking sheet, seam side down, and form the dough into a ring. Moisten the ends of the dough with a little water; pinch the two ends together to seal. Cover the dough ring with a cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
5. Bake the cake in the preheated oven until the top is golden brown, about 15 minutes.
6. Mix the confectioners' sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter, vanilla extract, and just enough milk to make a smooth but not thin glaze.
7. Remove the cake from the oven, and cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack. While the cake is still warm, spoon the glaze onto the cake, allowing drips of glaze to dribble down the sides of the cake. Immediately sprinkle the cake with alternating bands of purple, green, and yellow colored sugar. Allow the cake to cool completely before serving. 

 

 

 Happy Baking!

~emily

Some Chips, a Drink, & a Cake {Weekend Recap}

Wow, Monday already...why does the weekend always go so fast???

Friday night after work, I met up with some of my high school loves for some quality Mexican food. Most importantly, beaucoup de chips, salsa, and queso. For some reason, I can never get enough of that stuff. Why is it so good?

Cassie likes chips & queso too :)

It was really good to hang out with some of my girls since I hadn't seen any of them for awhile. Unfortunately, it was Cassie's last night in the States as she headed back to Madrid {the one in Spain!} on Saturday, but at least we got to catch up a little bit! Hopefully us girls that live here can manage to get together a little more regularly this year!

On Saturday, I went for a much-needed, way-overdue, outside run. It was a beautiful day, and definitely didn't seem like a January day in Indiana. I ran about 3.5 miles and walked about 3 for a total of 6.5 miles. Not to shabby, but I've got a long way to go to meet my running goals this year.

The south end of the running trail...love that sun!

Saturday night, TJ and I went to dinner at Red Robin with his aunt for his birthday this past week. It was pretty yummy, and I definitely enjoyed their strawberry skinny margarita for 135 cals! After dinner, TJ and I cheered the Saints on to a win over the Lions. I'd love to see dem Saints here in Indy in a few weeks for the Super Bowl. Who Dat?!??

Enjoying a mudslide in my Mf Fleur de lis glass during the game

After church yesterday morning, I attacked the Christmas decorations and got them all put away in their bins until next year. I feel like the house is really bare now, and I really need to find something to put in the corner where the tree has been for the past month. TJ volunteered to stand in the corner and dance, and although that would be pretty funny, I think I can find a better option. {love ya babe!} Once I got the Christmas stuff put away, I started on my Mardi Gras decorations. I found a massive amount of Mardi Gras beads in the garage from our trip last March. Holy cow, we have a TON of beads. Anyone want any? We divided them up by color and I used some for decorations, but we still have so many. I put them back in their bags and back into the closet, but at least they're organized now.

Holy crap! That's a lot of beads!!!

I also made my first King Cake of the year, and it turned out great!

If you're curious about the recipe I used, I'll share it later this week...stay tuned!

Have a good week, y'all!

~emily