MS Walk: The Finish Line!!!!

After all of the Walkers finished, we headed as a group to Capitol. In order to keep everyone together on the way to the finish line, we walked SUPER slowly. Which I totally understood given that some of the people walking were using walkers or crutches. But if you have ever walked 31 miles at a fairly high speed and then tried to dramatically slow down, it is tough. I think my muscles started cramping!!!

The Finish Line was awesome!!! We walked as one. The front of the pack (in the red shirts) was Walkers with MS. And the coolest part was that you never even knew any of them had MS before they put the red shirts on. So powerful!

Can you spot me? It’s like "Where’s Rebecca?"

A huge thanks to Mel, Mike, and Deanna for coming out to cheer me on and make me awesome signs. We also received medals as we crossed the line. Which was totally unexpected but I love it. I may start wearing it on a daily basis.

And to everyone who supported my fundraising efforts, you all "walked" with me as I put all of you on the back of my t-shirt on the final day.

I really do not know how to thank you but I just wanted to include each of you in the experience.

It was, by far, one of the coolest things I have ever done. To be able to say that I walked 32 miles in two days, wow. Well, first of all, it makes me want to say, "Take that, high school gym teacher who made my life miserable."

And second, it makes me so proud that I was able to contribute to cause that has affected my family and so many other families and, in a small way, "help" my sisters.

Note: The aftermath of the Walk has not been too bad. My calves are about the only sore part. A heeling pedicure at Elizabeth Arden helped too. I heard several veteran Walkers say that losing two or three toenails as part of the walk is "normal." Um, gross? I still have all of my toenails.

MS Walk: Day 2, the morning

The route officially opened at 8:15 and we set off. The knowledge that when we finished this chunk of the Walk we would be done(!!!!) had us walking fast. We were easily in the first 50 walkers and stayed there for most of the day. Sunday was super duper humid. But we plowed through the Ballston, Clarendon, Courthouse neighborhoods of Arlington.

The morning rest stop was super cool…in fact, ice cool. They served icees!!!!

And I was most pumped by the fact that they had candy corn too!!! Nothing says 10 a.m. in the morning in the middle of a huge walk like a candy corn snack!

We then wound our way through the Rosslyn area and onto Teddy Roosevelt Island before we finally saw the Lincoln Memorial and Washington monument and knew that the end was near!!!

The Walk had a "pre-finish" at the Washington Monument where everyone would well, pre-finish, and eat lunch before we all headed to the Capitol as one huge group. The last arrow of the walk!!!

As the Monument neared, it was sooo much easier to add a little spring to our step.

And when we crossed the "pre-finish line" to the cheers of all of the volunteers, it was soooo exciting.

We did it!!!

My Walking Buddy Valerie and I at the Pre-Finish.

MS Walk: Day 1, the overnight

The Middle School was HUGE! I would estimate its size as the size of my entire hometown. The gym alone was about the size of seven high school gyms smooshed together. HUGE! We plopped our sleeping gear down and settled in for what was billed as one huge slumber party.

First up was a nice hot shower. AH. Next, was a massage by the staff of a local sports massage office. In a moment when my Pilates work finally paid off, as the masseuse told me that my flexibility had my muscles loose in a way that muscle normally aren’t after walking 20 miles. YAY, Pilates!!!!! But seriously, my calves were killing me!!!

Next, I gave my feet a little love. Thanks to my Mom’s Walk Care Package, I was loaded with foot pampering products.

Thanks, Mom! You rock!!!

And my feet squealed with delight when I put on my snuggly UGG boots.


The program for the evening was super laid back. Dinner and a Candlelight Ceremony that was simply awesome. People with MS and those who affected by it in other ways shared stories that were so inspirational and funny!!!! I laughed as much as I cried.

Soon enough, it was bed time. So sleeping in an open space with 450 people is….interesting? I would venture that fifty percent of the people snored and the lights in the gym didn’t turn completely off. So I woke up nearly every hour on the hour. Luckily, I had packed my eye mask that I wear when I fly and want to sleep. At one point during the night, I woke up and forgot I had the mask and momentarily thought I had gone blind and almost had a panic attack.

After a fitful night of sleep, six-thirty a.m. rolled around and I officially woke up and got some coffee in my system and some breakfast. I was really hoping for oatmeal but they were serving French toast, eggs, and sausage. Which are three foods that I really didn’t want to eat before walking twelve miles. So I settled for a peanut butter sandwich, some grapes, and banana. I was ready to go!!!!

MS Walk: Day 1, afternoon

Ready to start walking again and finish up the day, we busted out the rain gear. I also changed shoes during the lunch break to the other pair of shoes that I trained in. This pair is some sort of mutant shoe as I have been wearing them all summer and they still look brand-new. They are like stain-resistant or something. Surely, walking in a rainstorm would dirty them up.

As we headed out, the volunteers informed us that some of the route signs had fallen down in the rain. (Later in the evening, I heard several conspiracy theories that the signs had been stolen or no one had ever put them up in the first place.) Luckily, this portion of the route involved many of the shopping streets in Georgetown which I know like the back of my hand so I guided us through this section with ease. And even stopped to give directions to tourists along the way. I did hear later in the night that some Walkers got lost in Georgetown. EEK!

Once we made it through G-town, the rain had stopped, the sun was peering out through the clouds, and we crossed over the Key Bridge and headed into Arlington, Virginia. The route took us onto the Custis Trail. Where we kind of lost steam. So we started playing those Alphabet games that usually kill time during long road trips. We played the Geography Game and then we played the Alphabet Sign Game. The Alphabet Sign Game became our go-to game when we started to get bored.

It was also along the Custis Trail that I got over my intense fear of Porto-potties. Adopting the mantra "Don’t Look, Don’t Touch, Don’t Smell," I conquered my fear.

The Trail was also home to the most elaborate Rest Stop. Possibly ever. It was a pirates theme.

The volunteers were decked out in pirate gear. Kids dressed as pirates greeted all of the Walkers with "Pirate’s Booty" which was gold chocolate gold coins. Very fun. This rest stop actually won the Rest Stop contest.

Off the Trail, we wound our way through several Arlington neighborhoods. The route was quite hilly. Any excitement over getting to walk downhill was quickly squashed when we saw the uphill portion looming before us. Veterans of the Walk told us that it was, by far, the hilly-est route ever.

We were making excellent time and easily among the first 100 walkers out of the 450 total walking. Not that it was a race or anything, but we were just competitive enough to want to be in front more than in the back. But as the end drew near, the final miles seemed to take forever. But eventually, we saw the Thomas Jefferson Middle School (the site of our overnight) in the distance. Never has a Drug Free School Zone sign been so exciting.

Note the little arrow in the pictures. These are the arrows that guided us along the path.

Around 4 p.m., about seven and a half hours after we started, we made our way into the school, ending a day that had us walking 20 miles. YAY!!!

Note: my sneakers were still bright, brand new white. I think they really are stain-resistant.

MS Walk: Day 1, the morning

I woke up Saturday morning super excited and pumped for the walk!!! But also completely nervous as I thought, "Oh my God, I am walking 20 miles today." It was hard to even fathom walking that far. Also, it was thunderstorming when I woke up. EEK!

Day one of the Capital Challenge Walk for MS started at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School where we all gathered to drop off luggage, receive the route, stretch, and generally get pumped up for the Walk! I was so excited when I glanced over the route and realized that many of my training walks had covered the same ground as the actual Walk. The mile breakdown of the walk was just under 20 miles on Saturday and just under 12 miles on Sunday.

The thunderstorm had passed by this time but it was generally gloomy, misty, and uber-humid. I was ready to walk!!!

The pre-Walk scene outside the school:


I also glanced around the gym and realized that almost everyone was walking in a team as was obvious by the pods of matching t-shirts scattered about the gym. I am completely comfortable walking by myself but I was a little worried that I might get a little bored after a while. Luckily, I found a walking buddy, Valerie, who was also walking by herself in honor of her dad and sister who both have MS. We both ended up being fast walkers so it worked out well. Also, her husband is in the Marine Corp Band which I found so fascinating and spent at least two miles interrogating her on what exactly the Band members do all day. Answer: rehearse and work out.

The Walk officially started at 8:30. The first part of the route took us through Bethesda, Maryland and then onto the Capital Crescent Trail. Here we encountered our first rest stop. Rest stops are a huge deal on the Walk. There is actually a contest for the best rest stop and the volunteers get into WAY into. And oh my goodness, the food and snacks…. Banana, Clif bars, Luna Bars, and water, water, water.

As we trekked along the Cap Crescent, we came across some dear spectators…

Once we got off of the Capital Crescent, we wound our way through Northwest D.C. and through the Palisades neighborhood on our way to Georgetown. Just over three hours after we started, we reached the 10 mile mark….also known as LUNCH BREAK!!!!

I really do not like pasta, but never has baked ziti looked so good. YUM!

As we were finishing up lunch, it started pouring and everyone scrambled under the lunch tent. Which I found semi-funny since most of us were pretty sweat-soaked already. Really, the rain felt good.

50K and Blister-free!!!

I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finished the 50K MS Capital Challenge Walk this afternoon and it was awesome!!!! I promise a blogful of the details tomorrow. But for now, I am going to sit on the couch. And it may be a while before I get up again.

Ready, ready, ready, ready...ready to walk

After months of training, the Capital Challenge MS 50K Walk is here!!!! And just in time for the Walk, a Nor'easter has descended on the east coast. So instead of the ridiculously hot, humid, and sunny conditions that I have been training in all summer, a welcome coolness (and some rain) has taken over the city.

With the support of so many friends, colleagues, and family, I have raised $1,779.00 for the National MS Society. I am truly grateful for every one's support and words of encouragement. This weekend, I will be walking not only for my sisters but also for everyone who helped me in my preparation for this Walk. I really do not know how to thank all of you enough. :)

I checked in for the Walk this evening and I am now known as Walker 249 (out of 450 walkers).


We set off at 8:30 tomorrow morning!!! WOOHOO!!!

If you happen to be in the D.C. area on Sunday, please come down to the finish line between 1:30 and 2:00 p.m. at the Upper Senate Park (near the United State Capitol). Come and cheer on my fellow walkers and me!!!!

Until Sunday....have a fabulous weekend!!!

(Oh, and on a completely unrelated note. If you are a fan of Banana Republic....the store is celebrating its 30th anniversary, so you receive 30 percent off your entire purchase this weekend...no coupons needed.)

Thursday's Cupcake: Caramel Apple

One of my favorite parts of autumn is heading to the pumpkin patch. Well, this was one of my favorite things before I moved to D.C. A few years ago, my friends Erin and Sean and I headed to the pumpkin patch nearest D.C. We left a perfect sunny, warm but crisp autumn day in the city and headed out to the suburbs. Where it was about 20 degrees colder and an Arctic blast of wind froze our skin. Apparently there are different weather patterns once you leave the city. It was so cold that I cannot honestly even remember if we stayed long enough to actually buy pumpkins. Instead we headed to the warm confines of Chik-fila and Baskin Robbins for lunch (okay, honestly it was one of the most fun afternoons ever. Chik-fila waffle fries have that effect). But this confirmed my belief that nothing good ever happens in the suburbs. So I rarely venture outside the Beltway. And I now purchase my pumpkins at the local farmer's market.

But during previous pre-D.C. pumpkin patch trips, there were always caramel apples to be enjoyed. Yum! The delicious crunch of a crisp apple coated in creamy, sweet caramel. Heaven on Popsicle stick. :)

Thus, there really no debating my autumn cupcake choice. I saw this recipe and that was that. It is an apple spice cupcake with a cream cheese filling and topped with a layer of ooey, gooey caramel. This was also my first time making caramel from scratch. I have, for whatever reason, been hesitant to make caramel. But it really was not hard at all.

And the cupcakes turned out sooo nicely! YUM!



And this concludes Cupcake Week 2008!!!! I am already planning for next year!!!!

Wednesday's Cupcake: Chocolate Covered Strawberry

Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around the annual strawberry picking day that my mom and I would do every summer. We would wake up early and make the short drive to the berry patch in Crivitz and then spend the morning picking berries galore. After we were done, we would go out for brunch and then head home to clean the berries. Well, my mom would clean. I would assume the role of quality control analyst. Which meant, I *had* to eat 5 berries per every pound picked. YUM! Best job ever.

So when I seeking inspiration for picking my summer cupcake flavor, I naturally gravitated toward strawberry. And I used real strawberries to make them. I hate fake fruit flavorings. They are so gross I mean, honestly, have you ever had a slice of watermelon that tasted like watermelon gum?

But then I was perplexed by which frosting to top the strawberry cupcake off with. Lemon seemed like an obvious choice. But I wanted to pair that with the lavender cupcake for Tuesday. And I did NOT want to repeat flavors. So then, I was struck with a Valentine’s Day in July idea of Chocolate Covered Strawberries. Wa-la! So I whipped up a basic chocolate frosting.

Enjoy!!!

Tuesday's Cupcake: Lavender Lemon

Peanut Butter, Ketchup, and Lavender. What do they have in common?

Three foods that I enjoy eating but absolutely, positively cannot stand the smell of. Which I think is weird because I think (but am not positive) that smell and taste are highly correlated.

While I have never ever liked the smell of lavender, I never knew that I enjoyed the taste of lavender until recently. I was browsing through the shelves at Papyrus and came across the New Tree Tranquility Milk Chocolate and Lavender bar. I remember I was a little stressed that day and was willing to seek tranquility from anywhere, including a two-inch square chocolate bar. And I liked it. And since then, I have been looking for the perfect opportunity to bake with lavender.

It took a trip to Sur La Table (aka, Heaven decorated with copper pans) to find the culinary lavender needed to create the lavender cupcake which is the most exotic flavor of the week. Most of the recipes that I found online paired a lavender cupcake with a chocolate frosting. But I was just not feeling the combo. And then lemon buttercream struck me as a perfect flavor companion. I sprinkled a few lavender pieces on top for the finishing touch.


It's an interesting combo. I hope you like it!

Monday's Cupcake: Peppermint Patricia

Why Peppermint Patricia and not Peppermint Patty, you may ask?

Well, my name is Rebecca. However, I spent the years 7-22 of my life being called Becky. I think it started because there were four Rebeccas in my class of 74 and it was just too much for the teachers. I know the switch happened in the first grade but I do not remember the specifics. When I finally reached a point my life where it was feasible for me to make the switch back Rebecca, I SOOOO did it. It just took me until graduate school to be able to do it. So if by chance you knew me during years 7-22 and you call me Becky and I do not answer. I am not ignoring you; I am just not used to it.

So all that is my way of saying I try to call people by their full names until told otherwise. I mean what if Peppermint Patty has really wanted to be called Patricia all these years?!?! If so, I totally feel her pain. Cupcake Week, it's like therapy...without a copay.

Peppermint Patricia is the first cupcake of Cupcake Week.




The "cake" portion is a chocolate cupcake with a white chocolate mint filling and the frosting is a basic white buttercream with a hint of mint flavoring. And the sprinkles are peppermint flavored as well.

I taste-tested these and they are yummy!!!!

With apologies to Cookie Monster, C is really for Cupcake

One of the blogs that I read regularly, Cupcakes Take the Cake, has declared September 21-27 "Cupcake Week."

Well, I read that and immediately began brainstorming. This was not surprising given that I took a leadership course at work last week and found out that I am a "spirited" communicator. Which means that given one idea, my mind is immediately brainstorming new ideas off of that idea. LOL, this was not shocking to me...you should see me when I go into Paper Source, my head almost explodes with ideas.

Anyway, I do not know if Cupcake Week is a National thing or just something that this blog made up. I think National Cupcake day is in October or December or something. I find conflicting reports when I Google it. I think I may just make my own Cupcake Day up at some point.

Nonetheless, we are SOOOO celebrating it.

Every day this week (well, Monday through Thursday which is my workweek), I will be featuring a cupcake creation on the blog. I spent a lot of time coming up with creative cake and frosting flavor combinations. I was faced with an infinite number of combinations so I decided to make cupcakes inspired by each of the seasons (I am SUCH an artist, LOL). Only one of the cupcakes was taken verbatim from another recipe. The other combos are Rebecca originals, using other people's recipes, of course. I'm not that good...yet. They are not the "normal" flavors as I decided to have fun it.

I had so much fun coming up with these! And I hope they are somewhat tasty. I will have to get my colleagues feedback on that though.

A week of cupcakes. Seriously, does life get any better?!!?!?

How will YOU be celebrating Cupcake Week?!?!?

Walking the imaginary red carpet

Ryan Seacrest: Why, Rebecca, you are looking fairly fabulous this evening. Who are you wearing?

Me: The t-shirt is Vintage Fruit of the Loom. It's part of the 2007 "Erin's Bachelorette Party in Vegas" collection. And the black yoga pants are from Lucy.

Ryan: And the shoes.

Me: Oh, these? These are flip flops by UGG. Part of their summer collection.

Okay, so maybe I have been watching a little too much Emmy coverage. (I debated for about 2.7 seconds between watching the Emmys and watching the Packer game. Ha, yeah, that was a tough debate. I am pretty much a disgrace to the state of Wisconsin.)

My Emmy viewing is capping off a rather relaxing weekend for me....well, as relaxing as my weekends ever are.

With the MS Walk just one week away (EEK!), I knew that I needed to get one final, major training walk in. But I also had errands to run in about four different directions. So I decided to take the long way walking each my errands, and turned my errand-running into a four-petaled flower shaped, 13-mile training walk. I know that I have been sharing pictures of my walks with you but my errands are rather boring, you will just have to visualize me going into Trader Joes, Whole Foods, the post office, the Container Store, CVS, and Barnes & Noble. Exciting stuff, huh?

Saturday night I noticed that my baking pantry has grown somewhat depleted so I headed to the grocery store to stock up--you'll find out soon why this restock was necessary. I even drove to the "big" grocery store (this is a big deal in my world.) I picked up a decaf Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks and headed into the rather empty grocery store--I guess most people have more exciting plans on a Saturday night. It was the first time in a long time that I was in a grocery store that wasn't busy and I wasn't in a hurry. So it ended up being a rather relaxing event--it really doesn't take much to keep me entertained. :)

And I should say that I kept the weekend fairly low-key because I battling a sinus cold. I get it every year around this time and I was hoping against hope that it would not coincide with the big Walk. So I am tackling it with the dynamic duo of Sudafed and my Neti Pot. I do not drink the Kool-Aid on most natural health remedies but I could not live with my Neti Pot.

So that was my weekend!!!! And I am gearing up for a very busy week! Hope you all had a nice weekend.

I thought I saw a suspicious hippopotamus!!!!

I know that I just posted a wacky news story the other day...but this one is too good to resist. Also, it's local. And I support both local farmers and local wacky news stories.

Let me preface this story by saying that closures and delays due to suspicious packages are kind of a way of life D.C. It's not that they happen every day. But they do happen often enough that I have learned to roll with it. Basic chain of events: someone reports a suspicious package; police close road/train/building; police send in robot or whatever to get the package; life resumes albeit on a slight delay. Rarely do I even bother to read in the news what exactly happened. Complacency on my part? Probably. But I am okay with it.

However, this news story and picture on DCist totally caught my eye....and totally made my day. Because today, an entire Metro station and a street were closed because of, um, a suspicious polar bear!!!!!!!!!!


Yes! How fantastic is that? (And yes, I realize the real dangers that this bear could have brought with it...but c'mon....)

You can read the full news story here. And possible theories on its origins here.

The first sign of autumn

It's like the first robin in springtime. The first snowflake of winter. The first markdown of the summer clearance sale season.

It's the first Honey Crisp Apple of my autumn!



Warm sweaters and snuggly Ugg boots cannot be far off. The aroma of pumpkin and cinnamon will soon fill the air. Williams Sonoma will have samples of their Pumpkin Spice Bread out for customers to try--okay, this may be my favorite part of autumn. Granted, autumn is certainly not here yet. In fact, D.C. is facing record high temps in the mid 90s!!!! today. Insanity! I was out on a walk this morning shortly after sunrise and it was already brutal outside. ICK!

Nonetheless, my first bite into the delicious Honey Crisp was pure autumnal heaven. A few years ago, I did an experiment to find my favorite apple. I tried every apple that was available over an entire autumn. The Pink Lady apple was the winner of that taste-test. However, last year I discovered the Honey Crisp and it assumed the throne.

Have a lovely Sunday!

I really think my Huffy Regata (with the teal seat) could have withstood the impact

I was checking the news headlines this morning...and I will confess, I find my news on the US Weekly and People Magazine websites. But then I was on an actual "real" news website and came across this story the pretty much left me speechless.

Teacher OK after crashing into bear on a bicycle

MISSOULA, Mont. — A middle school teacher suffered some bruising and a big scratch on his back after he struck a bear while riding his bicycle to school.

Jim Litz said he was traveling about 25 mph Monday morning when he came upon a rise and spotted a black bear about 10 feet in front of him. He didn't have time to stop and T-boned the bruin.

He tumbled over the handlebars, his helmet hit the bear's back and the two went cartwheeling down the road.

The bear rolled over Litz's head, cracking his helmet, and scratched his back before scampering up a hill above the road.

Litz's wife drove by shortly after the crash and took her husband to the hospital. He hoped to be able to return to teaching science at Target Range Middle School on Friday.

Seriously!!??!?! How crazy is that! And yay to Jim for wearing a helmet!!!! It seriously terrifies me when I see people on bikes without helmets (and do NOT even get me started on motorcyclists without helmets!)

When I think of cupcakes, I think of me, too.

One of my favorite "side effects" of writing this blog is that people will see/hear things and will "think" of me. I love getting emails or having people tell me "I saw this and thought you might like it." Blog warm fuzzies!!!! Love it.

I will say that, for whatever reason, ninety-nine percent of the time, the blog warm fuzzies are related to cupcakes. HA! I hadn't realized my love of cupcakes was that transparent. Could it be my detailed reviews of cupcakes on both coasts?

Could it be the little notebook that I carry in my purse?



Could it be my new "piggy" bank? My mom and I found it in the little gift shop in the Pine Tree "Mall" (I use the term Mall loosely here) in Marinette.


Could it be that the mere mention of the word cupcake makes my face light up like a Christmas tree?

Whatever the reason, I love that when people think of cupcakes, they think of me. :) So when a new cupcakery, Hello Cupcake, opened in Dupont Circle, I definitely heard about it. Actually, I started getting emails about it nearly two months before it opened

When Hello Cupcake first opened two weeks ago, D.C. was abuzz. City blogs were full of people complaining about long lines, cupcake shortages. It was quite the scandal. So I decided to let the novelty kind of wear off (aka, let the long line subside) before saying "Hello, Hello Cupcake.

So this past Friday, in the middle of a long training walk, I decided to stop in. Okay, despite having researched and read about this place a million times, I had no idea where it was. Not that that would have actually helped...I get lost in Dupont Circle even when I know where I am going. So I had to call someone and have them Google the address for me.

I rounded the corner onto Connecticut Ave and expected a long line in front of Hello Cupcake. But nope. There was a line inside but no crazy line down the sidewalk.

The interior of the store is super cute, an adorable mural of pink and chocolate brown flowers. :) Love it! The staff was courteous. While they had a huge list of flavors, not all of them were available.

The ultimate objective of my visit was to do a comparison between Georgetown Cupcake and Hello Cupcake. So to do a fair comparison, I ordered the Triple Coconut Cupcake, similar to the one I ordered at Georgetown Cupcake.

The packaging was a simple white paper bag with an adorable little Hello Cupcake sticker.

I did not walk very far before I sat down to eat my cupcake in the middle of Dupont Circle. However, I do not think the bag-style packaging would be conducive to carrying a cupcake very far and maintaining the prettiness of the cake.

First look at the cupcake...

My first bite revealed that the frosting is cream cheese based. Not my favorite kind of frosting.

The cake portion was tasty. I could not really taste a lot of coconut flavor though.

Overall, the cupcake was a nice treat but I did not LOVE it. Obviously, I ate it all, minus a few crumbs. :)

So here's a head-to-head comparison of Georgetown Cupcake versus Hello Cupcake.

The contenders: Georgetown Cupcake's Coconut Cupcake versus Hello Cupcake's Triple Coconut Cupcake

Price: The Georgetown Cupcake are about 25 cents cheaper than Hello Cupcakes. (I think....)

Packaging: I did not love either but I definitely prefer the box to the bag. I do love the Hello Cupcake Sticker.

Frosting: Georgetown Cupcake...for sure! I did NOT like the cream cheesiness of the Hello Cupcake icing.

Cake: I loved the banana-y undertones of the Georgetown Cupcake. The Hello Cupcake cupcake tasted like plain yellow cake, not coconut as it was supposed to.

Other factors: Hello Cupcake is easily accessible via Metro (take the Krispy Kreme exit). I liked the cuteness (aka smallness) of the Georgetown Cupcake space but Hello Cupcake had better decor.

Winner: Georgetown Cupcake...by far. But I would be willing to do another comparison with a different flavor. :)

Taco Thursday!!!!

If I were to actually have a business card, my main job title would be “Mathematical Statistician.” But underneath that, it would say “Office Party Planner.” It’s what I do. Well, Erin and I used to be Co-Party Planners but then she abandoned me last year for grad school, so I have to wear the party planner tiara by myself.

I just have the philosophy that we spend soooo much time at work, we might as well have a good time doing it! So I aim to bring joy to the office, one baked good at a time. And the one event that I love celebrating more than any is my colleagues’ first work-aversaries! That is, the one-year celebration of his or her start date. Because let’s face it. That first year can be rough. Information overloads…fitting in with everyone…moments/hours pondering, “what on Earth am I doing here?” So when you make it through, you deserve a celebration!!!!

Last Thursday was Katie’s (of Running of the Brides fame) first work-aversary! A few weeks ago, she and I were discussing what kind of treat she wanted. Her top two choices were a princess cake and a pretty pink princess castle. I knew that I would need to practice these so we agreed to defer these options for her office bridal shower.

Instead, we agreed on a Fruit Taco Bar. And I had a blast coming up with ideas for this! I took premade taco shells, sprayed with an olive oil mist, sprinkled them cinnamon, and baked them for five minutes. Then I dipped them in milk chocolate (and added sprinkles to a few!).


Next came the toppings:

“Meat” – sliced strawberries and bananas

“Green Peppers” – sliced kiwi
“Olives” – sliced green grapes

“Lettuce” – coconut tinted green
“Sour Cream” – Whipped Cream

“Taco Sauce” – Chocolate caramel spread from World Market (I didn’t try this but the consensus was that it was divine)


And I think everyone loved it! They all had so much fun designing their tacos! Here are a few!!!



Happy First Work-aversary, Katie!!!

After work, I went to dinner at Taqueria Poblano with some of my colleagues and one of them ordered the biggest burrito I have ever seen!!!


This is actually a real burrito, NOT a dessert one. Hmm, though that does give me an idea....

Walking doesn't seem like exercise if it involves shopping

The Capital Challenge Walk for MS is just three weeks away!!! Thank you to everyone who has made a donation. I am truly touched by the support that I have received. I am just over halfway to my fundraising goal. If you would like to donate, you can do so here.

Last Friday brought my second major training walk. I realized that I needed to get something at the Paper Source store in Georgetown so I decided to turn it into a training walk. When I told my mom that I was going to do a training walk to Georgetown, she asked, "Are you going to shop along the way?" LOL, she knows me too well. :)

It was a pretty warm day so I slathered on the sunscreen. I ended up getting a lot more sun than I would ever like to so I am going to have to add a hat to my walking wardrobe next! Walking down Wisconsin Ave is one of my favorite walks. So much activity, so much to see. And I love when I come around this corner and the National Cathedral is just peeking out.



I had not eaten lunch yet and my stomach was kind of growling so I stopped at the Georgetown Whole Foods (my walks are also turning into tours of DC Whole Foods, ha!). I grabbed a salad from the salad bar and sat in the café area, eating and reading the new Rachael Ray magazine. And then I set off for more walking. Less than 15 minutes later, I was in the middle of Georgetown.

So I HAD to make my requisite shopping stops at my Georgetown Big Three: Anthrolopologie, Barnes and Noble, and Paper Source. Heavenly.

At this point, I still had five miles of walking ahead me so I set off in the direction of Dupont Circle where I stopped at the newest cupcake shop in the city (more on that later!) and had a little cupcake picnic by the fountain in the middle of Dupont Circle.



And then I was ready to start heading up. Onward, up Connecticut Avenue. Where I had to stop and take a picture of one of my favorite views in the D.C. I love walking down Connecticut and then, bam, the Washington Monument pops up. So cool.



Okay, I wanted to get a better picture, but there was creepy cab driver on the corner and I really just wanted to get away.

The rest of the walk was hot and sweaty. The sight of my favorite restaurant, Open City, brightened up the walk a little.



But I persevered and made the 10 mile trek in under five hours (okay, that five hours included shopping, lunch, and a cupcake picnic). I was pretty sore after and a little sunburned (boooo!)

But I really love seeing the city this way!!!!!

I would walk 500 miles (or 8)

The Capital Challenge Walk for MS is just three weeks away!!! Thank you to everyone who has made a donation. I am truly touched by the support that I have received. I am just over halfway to my fundraising goal. If you would like to donate, you can do so here.

I have been busy training for the Walk. I have been walking 2 miles during my lunch hour and then doing a "big" walk on the weekends. And I thought I would take you all along with me on my walks with fun little anecdotes and some pictures. It is has been a fun way for me to see the city.

On a recent Saturday evening, I set off on an eight mile route that took me on a trapezoidal path. I first walked over to Connecticut Avenue. There are two universities in my neighborhood and it was "move-in" weekend so the sidewalks were filled with students and their awful popped polo shirt collars (please, God, please, can this style just die already?!!?). Many of them were heading into the various liquor stores. A number of the conversations that I overheard included the sentence "Dude, I am going to get TOTALLY wasted tonight." Ah, college.

I continued on a straight route to the National Zoo...


...where I walked a loop around the zoo while playing that fantastic Zoo game of "Dodge the Stroller, Avoid the Screaming Kid."

I am certain at this point that you are wondering, "Well what fabulous shoes is Rebecca sporting on these walks?" I have actually breaking in two pairs, both New Balance. So with further adieu, My Shoe at the Zoo!! (and a gratuitous panda picture for my colleagues).

These lovely shoes are the New Balance 757 (Much like the numbering system that cars like Mercedes employ, I also do not understand the whole shoe numbering thing. Just give it a name!!!) I had actually bought a different pair of shoes to train with but after about a month of wearing them, I realized that they were just not the shoe for me. They felt unstable. So I brought them back to the New Balance store in my neighborhood and with absolutely no questions asked, they fitted me for a new pair and did an even exchange. Customer Service….sometimes it DOES exist!

After the Zoo, I headed in the direction of home. Prior to leaving, I had plotted my route on Mapquest and decided on a route that would take my back on Wisconsin Ave. To get there required cutting over on Macomb Street. What Mapquest did NOT say is that Macomb St is one-mile straight uphill. I felt like I was back at UW-Eau Claire, climbing the Hill. Luckily, I still have a little of that Blugold (er, Éclair) hill climbing skill in me (and the calves of steel to prove it!) But, whew! What a workout!!!!

A cute mural behind the public library on Macomb.

I reached Wisconsin Ave and from there it was just a easy walk north. (With a stop at the Tenleytown Whole Foods. Which is not the one I work at. Therefore, I could not find anything. I think I walked a mile just backtracking trying to find what I needed. I hate that.)

You know in old movies, when they show exterior shots of scary mental asylum or something? Every time I walk/ride past this building on Wisconsin, it always reminds of that building. While not an asylum, it is the corporate offices of the financially disastrous Fannie Mae, so I cannot imagine that it is currently a happy-fun place to work.

The entire 8-mile (with a grocery store stop) took me about two hours and twenty minutes.