we felt like we could fly.

a little song for your monday listening pleasure.

warning - irresistible cinnamon rolls below

i have had a life long love affair with cinnamon rolls.  i mean, who could really resist?! they're warm, gooey, delish and make the entire house smell like cinnamon-spice goodness.  i have probably baked somewhere in the neighborhood of 308457 rolls while testing 34273 recipes (that's 9 rolls on average per roll.  check the math!) every time i come across a particularly excellent recipe i make a mental note to jot it down on a recipe card or flag the web page.  i somehow become so distracted while consuming those golden twisted rolls of deliciousness that i always (and i mean ALWAYS) forget. welll folks, not this time! this recipe from epicurious produced some pretty phenomenal cinnamon rolls.

prior to baking

post baking

i'm not particularly fond of extras on my cinnamon rolls (this recipe has a cream cheese icing and some add dried fruits/nuts to either the filling or the top).  i am, however, a huge fan of vanilla extract and add it to just about everything - including the dough for these rolls.  one of the best pieces of advice i have ever received (thanks mom!) regarding cinnamon rolls, is not to roll them too tightly when you are forming them.  this leaves little to no room for the rolls to expand, forcing the center of the spiral to explode from the top of the rolls.  i mean, sure, this isn't aesthetically pleasing... but more importantly it dries out the center of the spiral (which let's be honest, is the best part).

delicious roll, french press & rediscovering an old friend. 

nike women's half marathon

well now, what do we have here?  a NWM 1/2 in DC? yes, please! 

the Nike Women's Marathon started in 2004 and is held annually during the fall in san francisco, ca (a half marathon option is also offered). the race is one of the largest philanthropic races to date, with proceeds benefitting the Leukemia and Lymphona Society.  with such great response to the race over the last 18 years on the west coast (disclaimer: i can only assume.... i really haven't looked into an official reason for adding the DC 1/2 as that would just take too.much.effort... ya hear?), NWM has added an additional half marathon to take place in washington, dc in the spring of 2013. and this morning, registration opened for the random drawing to enter the race. sure, $160 is a little steep for a half marathon race entry fee, but the proceeds go to an incredible cause.  i'll know between december 10 - 14th if my entry was drawn at random. looks like i better start training! 

southern hospitality

ahhhh, richmond. capital of the south. land of southern hospitality.  and, according to my free cup with post-race beer, home of america's friendliest marathon.

a liar, i am not.  merica's friendliest marathon, ladies and gents.. 

this past weekend many displaced marathoners form the cancelled nyc marathon made their way down 95 S in order to put their hard work and training to use in rva.  apparently sports backers forgot their own motto and said runners had to pony up high-dollar, last minute race entry prices. now, i'm not saying it should have been free to come down and run.  nor do i claim to have any idea how NYRR is planning to compensate the runners, if at all.  i can't help but wonder: would it really have hurt to offer a discounted entry fee? apparently it would have and sports backers capitalized on the misfortune of hurricane sandy.  how's that for southern hospitality? 

okay, so the good ol' folks at sports backers didn't get the - hey we just got rocked by a hurricane and can't run this immensely important race we've been training our assess off for - memo, but a few other companies did. the fresh market, superstar pizza & carytown cupcakes graciously provided a pre-race, carb loading dinner  (organized and hosted by the lovely katherine - which you can read more about here) for the NYC marathoners.  what's that you say? oooohhhhhh, christine you only ran the 8k. yes, i'm well aware of that. remember - baby steps. 

dear friends + me with one squinty eye. awesome.

baby steps.  i will conquer a marathon in 2013. but for now it's nice to rediscover my stride & share post-race libations with my dear friends.