Super Helpful Recipe Site

I have pinterest to thank for this one.  I came across this cool site while pinning, instead of working, called My Fridge Food.  It allows you to check off things you have in your fridge and then comes up with recipes using the things you have.  If you are missing 1 or 2 items, it will tell you.  How fun is that!!?!

I'll definitely be using this on the days I don't feel like heading to the store!
Love B

Friends, Family and Delicious Food

Hello and goodbye Thanksgiving week.  This year has just been flying by for me.  I blink my eye and it's going to be Christmas.  This last week it has been really nice to take some time off, although, I still tried to find something to do....

We started the weekend off with our annual Sunday Friendsgiving feast!  A bunch of friends get together, and we bring our favorite dishes and of course drinks to share.  We had everything from pumpkin mac'n'cheese to oyster stuffing, and let me tell you, it all was delicious.

About to walk out the door for the party.  Little did I know I'd spill a few cupcakes on my lap on the way and we'd be back.  Great start on my part... 

The girls getting 'Mary' out of the fryer.  I'm not sure the exact process for cooking this turkey, but it was freaking delicious.   

Wouldn't be the holidays with out a little spirits. 

Jen and Corbett hosted this year.  They broke out the fancy china and silverware.  It looked so pretty! 

Another great shot of Mary and Joe's fabulous cutting skills. 

 

The final delicious spread...

Then on to my favorite - Dessert! 

It was such a fun evening with such good friends!  Now if we didn't have enough food to last us until next year, we of course had to have our family Thanksgiving on Thursday. 

Our annual tradition here in Austin is to host at our house.  I was excited to finally get the rest of my pretty green glasses, so I decorated our table with those in mind.  Not completely Thanksgiving-ish, but it was pretty. 

I actually had it all placed on Wednesday night and got up to make yummy cookies and cinnamon bread Thursday morning.  Since Scott bought a smoker, we didn't need the oven room for the turkey and could have a more relaxed afternoon.  

He got apple wood and pecan wood chips for the smoker, then soaked them both in water and they were good to go.  Scott had to add them in every 30 minutes or so throughout the day.

We rubbed the bird with butter and sage and placed it on the smoker.  He started on it at about 8 a.m.  This was just getting started... 

The bird is on and looking good!

This was at the end.  How good does this look!!!?!

Here was our final spread for our Thanksgiving...

We ended the evening by watching a super entertaining show called Punkin Chunkin.  Yep, the perfect conclusion.

I must say I really enjoyed the run Friday morning to burn off all these delicious calories.  We didn't do much Black Friday shopping, but did venture out to the dog park!  I love all the time I can spend with the family, especially over the holidays!

Hope yours was just as wonderful as mine! 

Love B

Happy Thanksgiving

Love B

Oh pinterest...

...you have officially taken over my life.  I must admit that I signed up for Pinterest quite a while ago, but never really got into it.  Not really sure why... What's not to love about an endless supply of inspiration, DIY projects, and all sorts of pretty little things. 

Now that I've wrapped up my fall wedding season, I have so much more time for activities!  I now have a ton of things I want to start making for the holiday season, and I can't wait to start getting crafty!!

I wanted to share a few of the things I put together this last week.  I didn't have a ton of time with a wedding celebration Friday and Saturday, but these are SUPER quick and easy!

Adorable hair style... 

I'm not quite as pretty as the girl above, but I did really like how the wrapped braids looked on me.  I actually have worn my hair down and up with this style. 

I loved this frame and the idea that you can get a dry erase marker and write out a message for your loved one!

My version is a little different, but with the same concept!  Still need to go get the marker... :o)  

Absolutely loved this framed cut out of the states.  

I decided to just do Texas since me and the hubby were both from the same state.  

Heart placed where home is!

I had an extra frame and decided to go ahead and make a cute little sign for Christmas!   

Can you guess which Christmas movie this is from??  

Only my favorite... Elf!! 

Today I went supply shopping with a friend in preparation for all the adorable Christmas decor we will be making after Thanksgiving.  I'm technically not cheating on my 'Don't do Christmas until after Thanksgiving thing'... No decor up in my house yet!

You can see all my boards by following me on Pinterest - B Walker is my user name.  Also, if you'd like and invite, let me know. 

Love B

Pain is Temporary

Those simple words got me through all 13.1 miles on Sunday.  At around mile 4, I overheard a marathon runner tell his buddy who just ran up that exact phrase when asked how he was doing.  Pain is temporary, he said, and that it's all in between the ears.  SO true.

{Warning - this is a long post with not a ton of pictures}

Let's start at the beginning...
We drove down to San Antonio on Saturday afternoon and headed down to the convention center to get our bibs and of course all fun swag. 

We actually got a cute brooks shirt and a bag that we could check our extra items in the next day.  We got to try some, quite yummy, Chomps from GU.  They were one of the sponsors of the race and handed out packets in our goodie bag.  After we got our fill of freebies, we headed to find our hotel.  We opted to not stay downtown and deal with that insanity.  There was a free shuttle that left from the AT&T center to take participants to the starting line, so we stayed at a sweet (sarcasm) Travelodge Inn that was close by for the evening.  We really only slept in the bed, so I really couldn't complain for $50.  Like all of our trips to San Antonio, we never find what we are looking for on the first try.  I put in the address on Google maps in my phone, and it leads us to a street with no hotel to be seen.  Lovely.  We finally found it under a complete different road name - thanks Google maps! 

Once we finally got settled in, we talked with our friends that were in town as well for the race and planned to meet for dinner.  There wasn't a huge selection around us, but we decided to try a BJ's Brewhouse that was closer to them.  Again, lovely San Antonio.  We drove to the address and nope, didn't exist.  It worked out for the best, because we went to Blue Star Brewery about 15 minutes away that was local and yummy!  We decided to carb up one last time and I got the chicken strips and D got the buffalo chicken sandwich.  Fries, check!  We ended the night with some delicious ice cream from the gas station on the way home.  Lights were out by 9 p.m.

The morning of the race, we got up at 4:30 a.m.  We wanted enough time to wake up and use the facilities before we had to head to the shuttle.  We ate our yummy bars for breakfast.  I had a Cliff Bar, and D had a not so healthy bar, and checked out.  We also each had a Gatorade and some water in the mix.  The AT&T center was packed with cars and people everywhere.  Come to find out there were 30,000 people running this race - HOLY COW - so many people. 

Not the best picture, but this was our excitement for the race!

It was a little chilly in the morning, so we both had on long sleeves and D wore shorts, while I opted for capris.  When we got dropped off, we headed to the starting line, but took a detour at the first port-a-potty site.  We figured we might as well get it all out to start with.  We had about an hour and half to kill, so it was a good move.  Once done, we headed to the starting line.  We were all placed in different corals by our estimated times, and I was in coral 15, while D was in 3.  He obviously is way faster than me.  We grabbed some more free water that was being handed out and looked around a bit.  We started to stretch and just really took it all in.   D needed to head to the bathroom again, so bathroom trip number 2.   We talked about it at dinner the night before, but really it would be horrible to start and have to use the restroom right away.  They have port-a-potties along the way, but who would want to wait in a line and mess with their time?  So after we killed some time, we headed to drop off our bag and our long sleeves, as it was warming up quickly.  As San Antonio always is, humid was in the forecast, as you can see from the fog. 

Had to have someone snap a picture before we parted!

As time went on it started to get super crowded and D decided to head towards his corral, about 30 minutes out.  It was my turn to hit the restroom one last time.  Of course now there was super long lines, which were mixed into some of the corrals.  It took me about 25 minutes to get through the line, but it was worth it.  I headed to my corral, and by the time I made it, they were singing the national anthem and getting the first group ready to go. 

I was definitely starting to get anxious.  I was excited to get started and there were just so many people around it was hard to not feel excited.  I haven't run a race like this ever, so feelings were all over the place.  I really tried to calm myself down and not exert more energy then I needed to.  About 45 minutes after the first group went, my corral got to go.  I actually ended up going with corral 14, but it really didn't matter.  No one really kept with their corrals and people were just mixed with who they wanted to be with. 

As I crossed the start line, it felt so good to finally be running.  I didn't want to go super fast at the beginning because it's so easy to just jump the gun and go way faster than I should have been.  I really tried to pace myself.  I got in a good rhythm and before I knew it, I was at mile marker 2, trucking along.  There was so much going on each mile.  There was a band every mile, cheer groups, family and of course TONS of runners.  Runners were in such good spirit - I saw one guy do a cartwheel in front of the first cheering squad and continue running.  I really was in the thick of it, D had a different experience.  I really started to have a hard time zoning out, which is when I do best. 

At mile 4, I started to struggle with continuing to push forward.  Training for as long as I did, I knew it was coming.  Mile 4 always seems to be troublesome and a hurdle that has to be crossed in order to go a longer distance.  It was nice to hear that reminder, it really is just all in the head.  I re-focused and pushed forward, reminding myself that this really was what I had been training for all this time and I could do this.  I also decided to have my first GU gel experience during mile 4.  I knew it took 15 minutes or so and would last for 45.  The next GU station would be at mile 10, so I thought it would help keep me going - it did. 

It was also around this point that I started to realize that I had someone running by me.  It was very odd to find that someone was running with me or pacing with me.  It was a guy and for the life of me I have no idea who he was.  I thought at first that I was making it up, but when I'd move around people or groups, he was right there with me.  I started to wonder... What is the etiquette for this during a race.  I don't know you guy, come on.  I just let it go and kept moving forward.  Around mile 5, I saw my friend and their running group.  It was nice to actually see her running, since she was the reason we signed up for the race to begin with.

One of the major challenges was the water situation.  My initial goal going into this was to run the entire time and the stations were a mess with water everywhere.  I did my best effort to run and drink water, but not the easiest thing to do.  The miles kept coming along.  The route has so many twists and turns there was hardly a dull moment.  Luckily the race elevation really was pretty flat with just a small hill in between 5-6.

Around mile 8, they were handing out salt packets, and for some reason, I decided to take a little with water.  Looking back, I don't think this was the smartest idea since I wasn't ingesting enough water with it.  Around mile 9, my Nike running app tells me that I'm about to reach my longest distance record... Thanks for the update.  I kept going, but I felt like I was dying and my pace was getting slower and slower.  I made it to mile 10.  I grabbed some more GU that they were handing out and prayed that it would keep me going. 

I really, REALLY wanted to run the whole time.  While I was pushing and pushing I finally hit my wall right before mile 12.  I was SO thirsty (salt packed not a good idea) and there was not a water station in site.  It actually hurt worse to walk.  It was like when you skate or bike for too long and you legs feel like you are still doing that motion when you stop, not fun.  So I actually quickly started running again.  I had a few brief stops, but again just had to keep going.  I kept up my slow pace until I got to the next drink station.  I decided I really should walk though this one and drank 1 cup of the sports drink and 2 cups of water before starting again.  Damn that salt!  After that I really felt SO much better.  I started picking up my pace again and was able to run the rest of the time with no problem.

I had heard the end was deceiving, and just when you think you are done, you are not.  I was prepared.  I picked up my pace just a little and turned the corner to see the largest hill of the race - thanks a alot!!  However, I actually felt great running up the hill and the ridiculous amazing joy of running up to the finish line!!  I was so excited.  I remember having a huge smile on my face and fist pumping at one point!  Makes me laugh, but it really was amazing.

Crossing that line felt so good and immediately after I wanted to fall over and just sit on my butt. :o)  Of course that wasn't an option with the hundreds of people that were lining up.  They immediately handed out cool towels and our super heavy metals for finishing!  Then it was a mess to get through the maze we were in.  It kind of felt like we were cattle being herded.  I grabbed all the drinks and food they set out for us to replenish and was off to find the hubby.  It was a sea of people and I was trying to call him, but no luck.  I just happened to look in a certain direction and there he was.  Of course he was fine since he had been done for over an hour.  He apparently sent me this cute text when he got done, that I didn't see until after.         

 We sat there for about 10 minutes before I attempted to walk again.  It was rough and my legs were super tired.  I stretched them a little and we headed to get our stuff and back on the shuttle.  I was in such a good mood on the way home!!!! 

We both said that we had a good experience for our first 1/2 marathon.  I'd definitely do it again, but I have NO interest in doing the full.  Holy cow.  I know when I hit the split up point, I was thinking there is no way I could go do 13 more miles.  Those people are nuts. :o)

We ended the night with some celebratory beers at the Flying Saucer.  Sorry, not the best picture, but had to document it all.

All in all, I was proud of what I had done.  I wish I could have ran the whole time, but I'm not beating myself up about it.  I honestly didn't have enough time to train the last month and knew I wasn't in quite the shape that I needed to be in. 

My official time that was posted today was 2:33:53.  D's was 1:43:50 - what a B.A.  I'm so proud of us!!!  Here is my unofficial stats from my nike running ap.

Here is my pace - I love that I'm at 7.20 minute miles at my good section and 31.11 minute miles at my worst!

Love B

For the Hubby

My hubby loves wings.  Seriously, he could probably eat them every day and in high quantities.  So, while wasting time on foodgawker, I came upon this recipe for buffalo chicken grilled cheese.  I showed D the pictures and he was practically drooling on my phone.

via

I always get groceries on Monday {got to take advantage of 'moo mondays' at Central Market} and when I asked him what he wanted for lunch this week he immediately requested this sandwich.

The best part was it really is a simple recipe and with a few sides, your meal is complete!  I'd say this one is a keeper.

Here is to pleasing the hubby! Love B

Flip Happy

Crepes that is!  We took my cousin, Jason, here this weekend.  I'd never actually gone either, but had heard amazing things.  D and I decided to split a dessert.  REALLY, not sure what we were thinking!!! :o)  We went with the Lemon Curd with fresh blueberry sauce = delish!  Yet another fav of Austin.

Best part was when Jason said that crepes essentially was the French making burritos.  Hilarious.
Love B

Halloween and Running

I really do love the holidays.  Maybe it's because I am a planner by heart, but I love having a reason to celebrate.  I also try to celebrate each one fully and not look/touch/buy anything for say Thanksgiving until Halloween is over.  This is especially true for Christmas.  Which, by the way, is not an easy task when Christmas items are up in store even before Halloween is over.  



This October was crazy, to say the least.  Not only because it's the busiest wedding month of the fall, but also because of birthdays.   I decided about half way through the month that we would have a joint birthday/Halloween-pumpkin carving party after we got back from San Francisco.  So the Evite went out, and I really didn't think much about it until oh, the day of.  My mom and I did however create a few cute little Halloween inspired decor for the house. 

We used the left over scraps to make a cute little decor for the front door and fireplace.

When the party came around, my brother really helped get all the food together.  I had meetings that day, so I really couldn't get much done.  My always amazing hubby cleaned the house, and I really just showed up for the party.  I took a few pictures, but not nearly enough.  Having a nice camera on my phone is helping, but I still don't take nearly as many pictures as I did with my point and shoot. 

We did a half attempt at dressing the pups up, because really they are much cuter than making a costume for myself.  Steel was the sheriff...

Apollo was the bandit and Bella threw on her pumpkin outfit.

We had a pumpkin carving contest, and some of my girlfriends that didn't carve awarded each pumpkin a different title. 

Sorry, again, I missed half of the pumpkins, but this is what I did get. 

Happiest Scary Thing

Most Creative

Most Detailed

Sharpest Teeth

Best Free Hand

Most Intricate 

and the winner was Best in Show! 

What crazy costumes did you see this year?  

Also, one week from today we will be running our half marathon.  I am not going to lie, I'm a little nervous for the race.  I honestly haven't been running as much as I know I should be.  I also haven't been drinking as much water as I need to.  Hopefully this week I'll be able to prep a little more.  13.1 miles, see you in a week! 

Love B