It's been a while....

I have a TON to update...

First and most exciting (for me)...drumroll....I got into Campbell Law!!  It is closer to my house and although it is more expensive, I LOVE everything about Campbell from their amazing facility and location in the heart of Downtown Raleigh, to their stellar Trial Ad program...I already bought a sweet hat to commemorate Admitted Students day...I'm a total nerd...I know...

 

As I blogged about in an earlier post, I have been baking up a storm.  In March, I baked several dozen cupcakes (butterfinger, dirt cake, cookies and cream, [homemade]funfetti, and cinnamon toast crunch), a two tier (huge) lemon cake all covered in fondant, a 9 inch (white cake with caramel buttercream) cake cover in fondant, and a 6inch funfetti cake with buttercream and fondant details.  All of this baking was for some adorable boys and their 1st birthday parties.  Here are some pictures!  The construction themed party was my nephew's on the first weekend in March and my sis-in-law did an amazing job putting together every detail of the party.  I was SO pleased that she asked me to help!

The football cake was for my husband's coworker's baby.  She emailed me and gave me my biggest baking challenge to date...a two tiered wedding style birthday cake all in fondant with a football theme!  I had NEVER made or worked with fondant before she asked and I said I'd give it a try.  Her baby's birthday was the second weekend in March, along with my good friend Katie's baby.  

 
I knew I was doing a cake and 3 dozen cupcakes and an owl smash cake for Katie's little one's party but I took on the challenge anyway.  I started to experiment with fondant well before March rolled around so I was ready and didn't get (too) overwhelmed when it came time to put it all together.

Here are some of the blogs I used from Pinterest to help me with all issues Fondant:
marshmallow fondant recipe
coloring fondant to a deep hue (used the candy melts method)
tips for covering a cake in fondant

 

Now, something I haven't posted about in a long time, fitness/dieting...SO hubby and I bought a juicer around Christmas when all of the small appliances went on sale.  We got a TRU brand from walmart and it has been great so far.  We only used it a few times until I felt so gross from eating non stop and too much of everything about 2 weeks ago.  I asked hubby if we could juice for dinner and re-watch the documentary Fat Sick and Nearly Dead (the doc that inspired our juicer purchase from the beginning).  We did and ever since I have been juicing for 2 meals every day except Monday (we have bible study and pot luck dinner...cant really pass that up lol)  I do a fruit juice in the morning with whatever suits my tastes for the day adding spinach and sometimes carrot for extra nutrients without extra sugars/calories.  For dinner, I do an all veggie juice.  If you're interested, I'll whip up a blog post with some juice recipes and links to some helpful info (*disclaimer* I'm not a doctor or diet expert so seek the advice of your physician before following any of my advice ;) )

In the same "health" vein, I got a wild hair on Monday (April Fools day, coincidentally) and decided it would be a good idea for hubby and I to sign up for a half marathon....YEP 13.1 miles....of running....which I hate....epic....I hate running (like I just said) but I WANT to like it.  I feel like SO many people I know are getting healthy and in shape and becoming awesome runners, I want to be like them, so I signed up for a fairly near impossible task...running 10 and a half miles longer than I ever have in my whole life.  But I am proud to say that I started training TODAY and the race isn't until April 2014...It sounds far away but believe me folks, I absolutely need a whole year, make no mistake.

At any rate, it sounds like a fun race and it has been really popular all over the country and its new to Raleigh.  It is a Rock N Roll marathon where they have local bands playing along the course...I think that could be really fun.