Holiday baking extravaganza

Gingerbread houses, sugar cookies, divinity, harvest loaf, no-bake cookies...it all unfolded this eve. Pics for proof. I am toasted, in a mini sugar coma and ready for bedzo. Thank god none of these followed me home and will remain at the Madster's house until Christmas eve dinner at Gma and Gpa's:).

Off to the creperie...again.

Ok, I (we) are officially in love with this place. Again, coffee in pint glasses, gluten free crepes, great ambiance, heavenly flavors...oh yeah, and a full bar, just in case in the future we're feelin' a high ball at 10am. After a beautiful run in the Garden of the Gods, this was a great way to start a wonderful Sunday.

PS- I just got my new Canon 50mm lens and I am in love. Can't wait to test it out more! One of Santa's helpers also gave me two filters for the lens...thank you thank you:). Examples to come.

This one is my fav! Nice posing Danster.

Christmas light run...

After a few discussions about it, we decided it would be so fun to do a late night Christmas light run this week. We met at the store and headed down Wood Ave, on some back streets, on Carmillo (where the lights stream over the street), and all the way back downtown Tejon. We had such a great time...everything was so lit up, and the temperature was in the high 30's! A few pics from the eve...the light was really bad, and I was just carrying my point and shoot...but you'll get the jist.

blessings...

What a busy, yet joyful last few days! I've basically been going non-stop since Weds eve. It started with the CRC holiday party on Thursday night, which was such a great time. So awesome seeing all of our customers/friends in one place! However, like everyone knows, when you are hosting a party, you often leave feeling like you had about a hundred two second conversations.

For those of you reading this who are not from Colorado, last week we were hit with a major snow storm, followed by a long-time (few days at least) freeze. Typical here is a huge dump followed by a quick melt within hours. So, three+ days in the negatives, 0 degree range was definitely foreign to everyone. Made for some chilling runs..but beautiful photo ops.



Today was our Sunday run/brunch/gift exchange! We started with a run from Jill's house and enjoyed the heat wave weather-wise...and ended the run singing jingle bells (with the help of Jane's real bells) trotting down the street. Everyone drew a name (thanks to an awesome site called Elfster.com) and brought something different to eat. So much good food- nice work everyone! See the tasty mimosas pictured above:).

My lovely photography poster child...Dani looks good in all my photos:).

Madster loves her apron...so perfect!

J for our dear friend Jessica...beautiful.

Kol Kol getting lost in her neck/face warmer!

Jane and Maddy practicing their curtsies!

Syd all bundled up for the run...so cute.

Preparation for the group shot...


A random man walking down the street made this group shot possible!

My first Christmas presents under the tree! Thanks so much Staci...I love them all! I got an oven mitt, frame, wooden stir spoon, two kitchen flippers (I know that's not the correct name, but I think it's cute), and finally two baking dishes!

I am so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life...to love me, laugh with me, accept me for who I am. Love you all more than you could ever know. Thanks for sharing this special day with me.

buuurrr...

Maybe I should find a treadmill for next time?? Little slippery. Oh well...it was beautiful!

flurries, trees and adventure...

After 'First Saturday' and work, I ran up to Costco with Jess, met Staci and Kinkos to get my passport photo (as Staci held my jacket and wallet, and I sat against a white backdrop- I felt like I was in grade school again:)), and then headed out to Black Forest with the girls to celebrate Jessica's birthday! We were dying in the car as we all sang (out of tune, and with incorrect lyrics) Christmas music. It was such a fun time, and Alyssa's house was amazing!

Sunday morning, we ventured out in the beautiful snow for a run in Bear Creek Park. It was so absolutely beautiful! However, the slippery hills didn't help my glute situation. After, we headed to Starbucks for some warm bliss:).

The day had only begun at this point. Headed home to shower and clean up for the next outing... up to the mountains to cut down our Christmas trees!

We pulled off deep into Rampart Range Road up in Woodland Park and the day couldn't have been more perfect. Snow falling, not too cold, really feeling like we were in the mountains. Once we started venturing out into the woods, we realized everything was leading downhill...not a good idea when everyone would be carrying a tree back uphill back to the car. Slipping and sliding, yelling eachothers' names, trying to stay on the buddy system, running up to claim our trees...many laughs were shared.

This was the first tree-cutting down experience for us all and everyone agreed that it was absolutely more fun then visiting a tree lot, and we'd definitely be doing this again. Today I have to get one more strand of white lights, along with some bulbs and then she'll be finished. I am already loving the wonderful smell...and with the surrounding snow outside my window, it is finally feeling like Christmas!

ow glute...

The combo of a grueling speed workout (thanks to coldness, yet again) Friday pm and a Saturday morning run, made for an unhappy, nagging left glute. Boo. Hopefully tomorrow it will behave itself for the girl's long Sunday run. I have a feeling another visit to the creperie will be in order:). After a run, work, a trip to Costco, taking care of the passport photo at Kinkos, a bit of couch time...soon, it's off to Jessica's Bday party!

Full Moon Run

With the outlook of a high of 17 degrees yesterday, I woke up ready to enjoy some Hot Yoga before the day got extremely cold, and the run with the Full Mooners was even colder! Rita's Hot class was awesome, and I love how in that type of yoga, you can see improvements in your postures so quickly.

Thanks to Slave (John) for letting me leave work early to attend the (probably coldest I've ever attended) Full Moon Run. I was quite bundled with a solid four heavy layers on top, my warmest tights, and my super cute new Sugoi hat to cover the dome. The usual Full Moon runners were there, plus my friends; Christy, Jess, Chelsea, Brooks and James. The first five minutes were a little rough on the nose and lips as the rest of the bod wasn't really warmed up yet. But after that, it was so enjoyable, so beautiful out! We did a nice little loop in the Garden of the Gods, and even though we couldn't see the full moon, it was there because everything was glowing. Definitely a memorable run:).

After the run, we headed off to Amanda's Fonda to celebrate my great friend, Jessica's birthday (Happy Birthday dear!). Laughs were shared as we attempted to start her 40 firsts lists. You can guess that ideas for this list turned to inappropriates-ville pretty quickly:). I enjoyed some tasty, warm tortilla soup. Speaking of food...I've been meaning to post about the post- NUT (Nutrition program through Core Power Yoga) life I've begun. I have absolutely made many changes to my diet since taking the program. Since I am blood type A, and meats (aside from Chicken and turkey) aren't in the positive energy column... I have cut them out almost completely and I can feel a major change. Every time I eat meat now, my stomach is instantly in knots. Another change I've made is the now staple in my daily meals- tofu and soy. I am still working on making tofu in different ways, but so far so good...I am loving it. I even cooked some tempah with my spaghetti sauce and spaghetti squash! Soy milk, edemame, soy kefir, almond milk...are also all now on my favorite list. I have refrained from entering caffeine back into my routine and have instead been enjoying decaf Christmas Blend from Starbucks- yummo! I honestly don't feel like I need the caffeine anymore...so why bring it back ehh? Now I do have one confession...

Yes, I caved and bought some; my absolute favorite indulgence this time of year...wait, no, all year round. Pumpkin creamer is so so good. But, I don't use as much as I used to...and, I mix just a tablespoon of it, with some Soy vanilla creamer. Totally hits the spot.

Well, that's all for now...better get ready for work and leave early since we had a dusting of snow last night and I'm sure, based on the extremely low temps, that it is frozen solid.

Madster

My amazing cousin Maddy is doing a blog for her adventures in running...hilarious...check it out here.