Livin' the Dream in Lima

One night last week (the week that I didn't cook), we had dinner at Bob Evans. I'm not gonna lie, Bob Evans doesn't usually excite me. I'm sure that Bob's a great cook and all, but I'd rather go somewhere else.  But, they were having a fundraiser where a certain percentage of the proceeds went to the rescue mission here in the Bean Town - a great cause - so we decided to go. Plus, we had the opportunity to dine and catch up with some friends. It turned out to be a great night. It took me awhile to decide what to order, but I eventually settled on the Wildfire Chicken Salad. (Mostly so I could also get a side of banana nut bread... mmmm.) Seriously, one of the best salads I've ever  had. And at Bob Evans of all places. It was loaded with romaine lettuce, bbq grilled chicken, corn, tomatoes, cheese, and crunchy BBQ tortilla chips. (And TONS of them. Like chili cheese Fritos, but way better.) It came with a BBQ ranch dressing that was just perfect...

School is officially out for summer! We had our last teacher workday yesterday, so I was all sorts of excited to sleep in this morning. What time did I wake up? Oh, ya know just 5:41am. So I ended up lacing up the shoes and meeting the running group down in the park for 8 sets of hills. Perfect way to kick off summer! (Well, maybe not more perfect than our ice cream trip last night...) Anyway, this past weekend my BFF Talen and her boyfriend Tim came to the Bean Town for the first time and it was such a blast. I love  when friends come to visit, especially when we haven't seen each other in forever! Talen & Tim Saturday night we headed down to Cincinnati to catch a Reds' game. Fitting with the theme of the night, we stopped at Red  Robin for dinner. (Hehe... that's a stretch.) The game was a bit roasty-toasty, but once the sun dipped below the buildings, it was quite enjoyable. Plus, we won! Proof we were actually there. Sorry Mr. Unsuspecting Man in ...

What a whirlwind of a week! The last week of school is always busy... throw on top of that two big dessert/cupcake orders and you have one jam-packed schedule! But I love it. Yesterday I got out of school at 2pm, woot woot for summer break! Although I do  have to go back Tuesday for a few hours to check out and clean up my classroom. But what better way to kick off the summer than to bake 10 dozen cupcakes? Hehe...  I headed straight home and got to work in the kitchen. 10 dozen wedding cupcakes plus an 8-inch topper cake all done in less than 5 hours. I was pretty impressed... I was fully expecting to stay up super late to get it done. I realized last night as we dined on leftovers from my Business Man's bbq lunch that I hadn't cooked dinner  once  all week. Well, unless you count the Little Caesar's pizza fundraiser kit we had on Tuesday. I finally understand when people say they are too busy to cook! We are desperately in need of a grocery stock-up....

My Business Man and I had quite the relaxing weekend. Running, good eats, and QT with my best friend... what more could a girl ask for? Saturday night we got a lil' crazy and lit a fire in our fire pit. We didn't have any hot dogs, but threw together a fabulous snacky dinner. ( Love snacky dinners. What is it that makes appetizers so much fun?) We had some fabulous Spinach, Kale, & Greek yogurt dip from Trader Joe's, pita chips, cheddar cheese, nuts, and grapes.  [ Side note : The grapes looked so  good at the grocery store this weekend. Without thinking, I picked up a bag, threw it in the cart. Turns out, I must have picked the biggest bag because it was $8.13 worth of grapes! But so totally worth it. Heh.] We bought the stuff for s'mores, too, but the fire died out before we remembered to roast the marshmallows. Duh. So I ended up with a microwave s'mores. (With Reese's instead of Hershey's chocolate. Best idea ever.) We also played...

Remember when you were a student how the end of the school year was always spent running around like a crazy person trying to get projects finished, study for tests, and wrap up all the little loose ends? Wel, it's like that for teachers, too, except maybe worse... the month of May is over halfway done, and I don't know where it has gone! And they brought this precious one. Last weekend, my parents came out to visit. While my Business Man and dad worked on some house projects, my mom and I (naturally) headed down to Columbus for some shopping and girly time. It's always best to leave the mess at home. Plus, we were celebrating both  our birthdays and  Mother's Day, so it was definitely necessary. Trying to self-photo with the iPhone. Not so successful. The best part? We were both equipped with lots of gift cards and birthday money, so very little spending was done from our own pockets. Gotta love it. The other best part? These chocolates they were handi...

Just some things... and today is Thursday. Thus, Thursday Things! 1. My birthday present from my Business Man came in the mail this week. And I am so excited... they are so comfy. And now I want a pair in every color. 2. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week , if you haven't heard. Yesterday, my Seminar kids and I had a little fun decorating cupcakes for all the teachers in our school. I found this super cute printable cupcake wrapper , and then we frosted the cupcakes and covered them in red sanding sugar. A little piece of a pretzel rod and half a green candy coating disc, and we had 4 dozen miniature apples to give away! 3. Because of Teacher Appreciation Week , our principal bought us all lunch today from Lee's Chicken . Oh my... it had been almost 2 years since the last time I had eaten fried chicken. And it was bangin'. I was a little nervous to go running this afternoon because I usually have a pretty sensitive stomach, but I was juuuust fine. ( Note t...

Life since the marathon has been pretty uneventful. I've been taking it pretty easy, with some R & R. I did get in a few easy runs late last week, and I even ran 8 miles on Sunday, where I felt great. I'm amazed at how fast I am recovering from this marathon compared to the Flying Pig last year!  This past weekend, I turned 24... yikes! As I tell my students, I'm just getting so old. ;) My Business Man and I celebrated with a trip to Indian Lake for a hike and a picnic. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and 75*F, and I couldn't have asked for anything better. (Except maybe a brand-new kitchen with butcher block countertops, subway tile, and stainless steel appliances... a girl can dream, right?) But the picnic was lots of fun! We also went to my favorite ice cream shop that night for my favorite treat - an Oreo-cookie dough avalanche. Yum. Since the marathon, I've had a little extra time on my hands. Which means naturally I have spent more time in the kitch...

Ever since the marathon , I have been eating peanut butter like it's my job. I don't know what the deal is, but it is just so good! (Maybe my body is craving a combination of sweet/salty/fat/protein? Who knows?) Between my puppy chow wizard , peanut butter in my oatmeal, peanut butter crackers, and peanut butter buckeye ice cream in my freezer, you'd think that I would be on peanut butter overload. But yesterday I found myself in the kitchen whipping up some peanut butter cookies. And not just any  peanut butter cookies.  Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies. These cookies are a recipe from the 2008 Pillsbury bake-off. I made them once before, in 2008, right after they were announced the winner of the million dollar prize. And I haven't forgot about them since!  It's a chewy peanut butter cookie wrapped around a sweet gooey peanut butter surprise filling. Yum. The outside is rolled in a mixture of cinnamon-sugar and chopped peanuts for that extra crun...