Maybe it’s a girl thing, but when I find a picture of myself that I really like, I hang on to it. And this was a sneaky surprise favorite, courtesy of Ashley. She told me about a Web site run by a woman who encourages everyone — regardless of career, job status, etc. — to “look cute” every day. Since I was feeling pretty dang cute at the blogger meetup, I struck a pose:

How cute are those shoes?

After the meetup and a quick hair change, I took my cute self down to a very special fashion show — with guest judges Jesse LeNoir and Ben Chmura, from this season’s “Project Runway!” My friend Jackie and I wasted no time hunting them down and taking a picture, and we also got to meet Jesse’s lovely fiancee.

It was so interesting talking to them, because in the real world, Fashion Week is over, the winner has been named and these guys have (sort of) moved on with life. But in reality TV time, Jesse had just been kicked off (travesty — I mean Emilio got away with sending a near-naked model down the runway!) and Ben is still in the hunt. We tried to get them to dish, and while they were incredibly nice guys, they would only confess a few minor secrets.

We ALSO met another, err, celebrity (?) who helped guest judge. I couldn’t say BYE BYE BYE to the chance at a picture!

I asked Jackie how much she’d pay me to bust out the dance in front of him. I truly could have since I am one of the few who bought and used this:

Don’t even hate on Darrin or his dance moves. And am I embarrassed? Nope. I also admit to a love for Cardioke, Carmen Electra’s StripTease and more.

Anywho, the fashion show was OK. The company was great. The celebrity-sighting was stupendous. All in all, a great night.

Any “Biggest Loser” or “Project Runway” fans? Who do you want to win in both/either?

          

No related posts.

…You hang out with fellow food bloggers at an organic, fresh pizza place and talk about (what else?) food, running and photos:

…You don’t even think about ordering anything new because the last time you were at the restaurant, your pizza was so good you licked your plate clean:

And two of the sweetest bloggers in the group bring goody bags of vegan yummies to share!

…You schedule into your day at stop at the mecca — Whole Foods — and fill your cart with things most people can’t pronounce:

and actually squeal out loud at Crate & Barrel when you find spoons you KNOW will look adorable when taking pictures of your oatmeal because you’ve seen it before:

…When your husband loves his non-vegan, non-healthy, covered-in-bacon birthday cake so much he makes it himself to share with his buddies:

…When you find the treats you’ve been searching for for months and buy out the supply, then call your friends to ask them to track down some more:

…When you actually hesitate before making a cup of tea because these winter blends are like GOLD and you can’t get more until next fall:

…When you are secretly thrilled when your husband is away for dinner so you can make yourself something exotic from the stash you picked up at Whole Foods!

How do you know YOU are a food blogger?

P.S. Good luck to all the runners at tomorrow’s Walt Disney Princess half marathon!

          

Related posts:

1. His ‘n’ Hers Dream Days
2. Homemade Tortillas, Free Food and Fantasy (Football)
3. Going Vegan — Are You In?

So when I tell you to make this now…make.this.now.

As Kel said better than me, POM + Fish (I used tilapia) = Happy! The reduced pomegranate-mint sauce was delicious, but I have to say, I think it would be even better over ice cream. It got sweet and sticky and ohhhhh so good.

Also so good? My recipe for Chocolate Popcorn Brittle, kicked up with the addition of some Naturally Nutty Vanilla Cinnamon Sunflower butter. I’d show you a picture, but I didn’t wait to dig in!

It’s been a very busy, very stressful week…nothing too bad, just lots of busy work! So you KNOW this made my day:

My sweet husband texted me, saying my boys missed their mama!

This also cracked me up — this morning, I tweeted:

And got this video in return, from @NoMoreBacon:

I cracked up — one of those gut-busting, feel sick afterwards laughs. How funny is that?

And a less funny, but still important video…I implore you to follow this link for a clip from Jessica Simpson’s new show. Now, yes, I am a Jessica fan girl (confession: I even bought her clip-in hair extensions) BUT, I think her message is one that’s so important when it comes to media, women and body image. Men too!

OK, gotta end it on a positive note.

How’s about this — my other favorite video?

What do you do when you need a laugh?

          

Related posts:

1. Chocolate Popcorn Brittle aka Popped Heaven
2. Puppies and Popcorn: Sweet!
3. Green Monster Mess

I don’t have a lot of fears — off the top of my head, I can only name:

• Birds
• Flying (more like a fear of turbulence)
• Losing loved ones (duh)
• People that look like animals

Shudder.

But back to my point — I don’t like birds. Especially small, screeching, sharp-clawed birds. I don’t like them near me and I CERTAINLY don’t like them on me. (Sidenote: is it just me or does the woman in the background of this photo look astonishingly similar to CatWoman above?)

But I found myself feeling brave when the man at Gatorland’s aviary asked me if I wanted to feed the birds. After Lucas stopped laughing, he grabbed the video camera and started shooting. Even I admit…it’s an instant classic.

I didn’t realize until I watched the video that I was repeating some mantra most of the time and closing my eyes for at least half of the experience. It was a lot of fun, and even though one pooped on my hat (must have been a Yankees fan), I was thrilled to have done it.

Gatorland is definitely a tourist trap, but it was a lot of fun:

And although it’s not that close to our house, it is close to the store where I get my wedding rings inspected. It turns out, they’re due for a dip, so I kissed them goodbye and am now ring-free for a couple of weeks! Sniff.

I was craving french fries for dinner, so we decided to go all college-like and made hot dogs and french fries. Except these hot dogs were organic and grass-fed:

And served with caramelized onions and crusty multi-grain bread.

And also unlike college, dessert was not a six-pack of beer — instead, I whipped up some Almond-Maple-Coconut Macaroons to satisfy our sweet tooth while watching Syracuse basketball WHOOP those dang Villanova Wildcats.

Exciting updates:

• I won the Simply Savor MaraNatha Nut Butter giveaway! I am super excited to get my goodies and start making some new yummies.
• I also won copies of Happy Herbivore’s e-cookbooks, which I’m currently poring through for meal ideas for the week.
• Next weekend, on March 6th at noon, I’m hanging out with lots of healthy bloggers at Orlando’s Pizza Fusion. Some of them are running Walt Disney World’s half marathon, and if you’d like to come hang out, email Lindsey from Sound Eats (Lindsey AT soundeats DOT com). You don’t have to be a blogger, and we’d LOVE to see you!
• Speaking of meetups, Lucas just co-hosted his first Tweetup, and it was a big success! It featured beer, beer lovers and some other cool stuff, so you can learn more here.

          

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1. Home Alone
2. Chocolate Popcorn Brittle aka Popped Heaven

Speaking of Lucas, if you want to hang out with both of us AND drink free beer — check out this Beer Tweetup tonight (Thursday) at the Celebration Town Tavern in Celebration, Florida. I’m @kwidrick and he’s @nighthops.

Also speaking of Lucas — for his birthday, I bought him a new pocket video camera and I came home from work to find this video playing on the TV…so cute to see what they do all day!

The bacon cake was a big hit, but I prefer a more subtle, refined OH WHO AM I KIDDING I love chocolate!

So for a sweet treat this week, I made what I can only call Popped Heaven:

That’s chocolate popcorn brittle with a side of riesling. Want some of your own?

Chocolate Popcorn Brittle (adapted from Mark Bittman’s “How To Cook Everything Vegetarian”)

• 2T neutral oil
• 1/2C popcorn kernels
• 1/4C sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
• 1/8C cocoa powder (I used raw with maca)
• 1/3C water

1. Heat the oil in a deep, wide pot. I use a pasta pat or a big stockpot for this.
2. Place three popcorn kernels in the pot and cover.
3. Once the three kernels pop (should take about 4-5 minutes) put the rest of the kernels in, shake to coat in oil, and return the cover.
4. While you’re waiting for the kernels to pop, mix the sugar and the cocoa powder.
   1. I prefer to run this mix through a food processor so it’s super-fine, but this is optional.
5. Place the sugar and cocoa mix in a small pot and add 1/3C water. Stir to combine then put on low heat.
6. Let sugar and cocoa combine — don’t stir! — until it caramelizes and turns a nice dark, silky color.
7. When the kernels finish popping, place into a heatproof bowl. Pour the caramelized sugar-cocoa mix over the popcorn and toss gently to cover.
8. Pour the popcorn into a greased baking or cake pan and gently press down with your fingers, packing the popcorn together.
9. Let cool for at least 5 minutes then EAT!

A 1/2 C of popcorn makes a TON of finished popped product, so if you want to cut the recipe in half you may.

Random photo on my camera that I had to share — I found these on clearance and almost bought them! I am a Syracuse grad, you know. Go Orange!

And finally, I wanted to pass on a video to Jamie Oliver’s TED talk on childhood obesity. It really struck a chord with me, and it’s a really well presented argument. Check it out here and sign his petition here!

          

Related posts:

1. Recipes & Viral Videos: It’s Peanut Butter Popcorn Time!
2. Puppies and Popcorn: Sweet!
3. Coo Coo for Coconuts!

But first, an NKOTB throwback video for my baby on his 30th birthday:

Don’t even hate on my for the NKOTB love (which, BTW, I have professed before). I still think Joey looks slammin’.

Ever since we went to Portland and Seattle a few years ago, Lucas has been reminiscing about the Maple Bacon donut he had at Voodoo Doughnut:

So, when I brainstormed ideas for a unique birthday cake (he’s not really a buttercream frosting kind of guy), I turned to Google, which presented me with this gem: Bacon Gets Its Just Desserts.

I knew it could be a winner, and I was right.

I know, I know. I don’t eat a lot of meat, and the sight of this much bacon is a little off-putting for me, too. But you know what? The salty bacon with the sweet maple icing was incredible — and since this was more like a coffee cake than a cake cake, each bite was a mouthful of pecan-y, apple-y, bacon-y goodness.

But first, we had to eat a balanced meal, hand-picked by the birthday boy and right out of “Gordon Ramsay’s Healthy Appetite” cookbook. Burgers, beers and cucumber raita.

Good, but we’re a little biased because of the incredible meal we shared with friends over the weekend. I rocked the Bumpit and got my Snooki on.

We had an adorable eating partner.

And open minds — so when we saw these meats listed as taco fillings at the Mexican hole-in-the-wall restaurant our friends took us to, we said “one of each, please!”

So good — I even tried the head and the chicharonnes, although they were not my favorites. The food was super fresh and when we added grilled onions, cilantro relish and hot sauce…YUM!

And in case I haven’t scared all of you off with the meat-tastic post, I’ll leave you with this gem. Lucas loves to share his homebrew, but he asks his friends to return the bottles so he may reuse them. We got this package on our doorstep over the weekend — a lovely joke from one of his pals.

My 30th birthday is next month, and we’ll be celebrating it with a trip to Baltimore and Fitbloggin‘! Will you be there?

          

Related posts:

1. Chocolate Popcorn Brittle aka Popped Heaven
2. 2009: A Year in Review
3. A Meat-Filled Weekend

If it didn’t have a sign telling me that this ugly thing was a “water coconut,” I never would have believed it. This is, after all, the same store that would post something like this:

Grammar. You failz it.

Anyway, the Internet confirmed that this was, in fact, a coconut. Now — how to open it? YouTube was a big help, but my honey of a house husband had his own ideas:

Like anything in life, we (he) had to work hard; cracking the hard outer shelf and gently pulling aside some unattractive but supportive layers:

And when we did, we gloried in the goodness:

We poured the lovely coconut water into a bowl and then scraped the white yumminess out with a spoon:

Victorious.

I’m still plotting what to do with the fresh coconut, but I had a taste for it and after a run to Whole Foods, I gave into the craving. Meet Coconut-Almond Macaroons a la Joggers Life.

I did make a few changes, substituting oat flour for the almond meal and halving the recipe. That was a mistake, since I’ve already eaten quite a few. I also made a second type of macaroon, from Everyday Raw.

They’re both amazing (and raw, since I stuck ‘em in the dehydrator — what do you think, Patti?) Ahhhhhh macaroon.

So y’all know I love my job, right? This week, I got to meet a man who blows me away with his bravery, his kindness and his SLAMMIN’ body! Would you believe this guy is about to turn 70?

Sandy Scott broke his neck during a horrific cycling time trial — he might have died, and probably should have stopped competing. But he didn’t, and he’s looking to set MORE records for his age group at several national events! I had an amazing day, field producing a video with him, and that will be posted on our site soon.

I’ll leave you with a picture of Travers — aka “Best Cat.” He loves wearing my medal from the OUC Half Marathon and Lucas gave him the nickname.

Who inspires you? Leave me a comment!

          

Related posts:

1. Chocolate Popcorn Brittle aka Popped Heaven
2. Technology is a Grinch
3. That’s Falawesome! (and a Disney marathon video)

make it easy to wait…because I have friends with babies who need spoiling! That’s miss Elizabeth Ava, less than a day old. Fast forward two years and she’s an amazing little PERSON — who walks, talks and visits us at work!

What a great Valentine:

And a perfect gift during a week that looked like this:

Luckily, it ended with some less weighty reading material — which I found in the car with my sexy chauffeur!

For those who don’t know my story, I am married to Lucas. Lucas is a registered, LEED-certified architect who decided he didn’t like where his career was headed. So, he took a HUGE leap of faith and quit his job to focus more time on his true love — brewing, drinking and writing about beer.

As part of a project with Celebration Town Tavern — a very cool Boston-themed seafood restaurant and bar — Lucas is helping review the beers that are included in the Tavern’s 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall Club.

Since he’ll have to review them all eventually, I got to help pick his beers last night — the random number selection ended in Mickey’s, a malt liquor that came with a puzzle in the cap!

I still don’t know what the answer is. (Sorry for the photos — I took many of these with my iPhone for easier tweeting!) And, since I was driving, I decided to pound a few hot drinks of my own:

Woke up this morning to do another P90X workout, although someone wanted us to quit early:

We pushed through, then decided to follow the animals’ leads:

And snuggle up with blankets, quinoa and oatmeal and frothy lattes:

Now we’re on the couch, watching the Olympics and reading. Love lazy weekends!

Do you have kids? When do you plan on having them? How many? Have you picked out names?

          

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1. Traveling to Tijuana (Flats)
2. 2009: A Year in Review
3. A Meat-Filled Weekend

Well, put your Big Boi aside (THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID — I had to do it, and you’ll see why in a few moments), because in this case, the post title refers to the Social Fresh social media conference that I was lucky enough to dish out a lot of money for attend.

Yeah, I iPhoned it up. Sorry for the less-than-stellar pictures that follow. And this backwards Photobooth shot, which proves that I must have been excited, since I snapped this at 7:30am. In Tampa. I live in Orlando. 2 hours away. And I drove in.

Social Fresh, or #sofresh, as I live Tweeted, was a day-long event in which big brains got together to talk about social networking, blogging, new media and more. It really was a blast, and I’m hoping maybe I’ll get to speak at one of these some day (hear me, @jakrose?)

I hung out with some very cool people, did a lot of talking, a lot of listening, and a lot of networking, courtesy of THESE:

You may remember them from previous conferences, including the Healthy Living Summit. They’re sort of my good luck charm, and they paid off because after I tweeted this picture, people recognized me — or my feet — all day!

And since I kept them on for hours, I should have taken advantage of this offer in the lobby:

But sadly, I did not. I did enjoy a boxed lunch (sorry, social media types — I am a food blogger, so this is pretty much a requisite):

AND had a celebrity run-in! I was sitting in a panel discussion when Jaden from Steamy Kitchen sat next to me! Like a fangirl, I grabbed my phone and pretty much terrified her into this picture:

Before a more professional shot, taken by a guy (obvi, because no girl would let me have a big piece of hair hanging in my face!):

The conference was a lot of fun, in part because of a running dare I had going with some of the speakers and other attendees. I thought I had won the dare when I was the first person to use “That’s What She Said” during a question. But Chris, the social media guru for General Motors, was a panelist, and used this cheat sheet to ensure he would win:

OK. time to get serious for a brief moment. I learned a lot at #sofresh that is valuable in my work at Growing Bolder, and as a healthy living blogger:

• You get what you give. (Wow, Outkast and New Radicals in one post? What is it, 1999?) Work hard every day, be honest, be accountable and be a cool person? People will respond. Look at social media like a “job” and you’ll fail.
• Content is king — or, in my case, princess. Create, create, create. Get others to create for you. Defend your brand (and YOU are your brand) aggressively, and build rabid fans who will do the same.
• Know what people are saying about you. Analytics, alerts, comments and more — get them, do what you can to respond, and fix what you can.
• If you think you have a good idea, go with it. The worst thing that happens is it sucks and you stop doing it. Then you can tell others why it sucked and they will look at you as a genius.

And something I didn’t learn, per se, but I saw in action — step out of your comfort zone. I met so many great people — the type I wanted to share turkey sandwiches and oranges with. The kind I want to be like. The kind I want to emulate. The kind I want to tell others that I am cool. I wouldn’t have met them if I hadn’t approached, shaken hands, tweeted and more.

Did we meet at Social Fresh? Let me know in the comments! And be sure to follow me and friend me on Facebook.

          

Related posts:

1. Social Media Misstep (or how I screwed myself with one click)

Let’s back up, so I can catch you up on the last few days. On Friday night, Lucas and I hit up a local bar known for its craft beers. A beer blogger’s gotta see what people are drinking, right?

It was a special release party for Brooklyn Brewery, which I normally love. But after a few sips of Luke’s beer:

I decided I was more interested in playing a few games:

And talking to a bunch of friends that showed up. It was a blast! We even managed to record a quick video, using my iPhone:

On Saturday, I worked up an appetite cleaning the inside of my stove. We had an, ahem, incident with some overflowing custard, and no amount of elbow grease was getting it clean. Then we found a natural cleaner recipe online — just a mix of baking soda, vinegar and dish soap and VOILA:

Just like the day we bought the stove! Ahh, happiness…

I celebrated with a POM martini, made with pomegranate-mango juice, Absolut Boston and triple sec, in a martini glass that I rimmed with organic cane sugar and lime juice. More happiness…

Gotta support Pom, since it’s a sponsor of Fitbloggin‘, and I’m going in March! Will you be there?

I’ve also had a weekend of awesome food. Saturday night, I made curried tilapia, broiled until crispy and served over the most amazing spinach and tomato paella:

And tonight, for the superbowl, I made (unpictured) chipotle beef and carmelized onion tacos, from Rick Bayless’ Everyday Mexican. Awesome!

It’s very possible that I’m the last to know this, but did you know that you can pop popcorn right on your stovetop, using kernels and a little bit of butter or oil?

It’s so much cheaper and easier (duh) than buying the microwave popcorn, and better for you. I’ve been topping mine with coconut-lime salt:

And eating by the faceful:

Off to watch the rest of the Superbowl. The commercials have been very disappointing — hello, sexist much? — but the Puppy Bowl made my night.

LOOK WHAT ONE OF THE DOGS WAS NAMED! Tater Tot!

Tater Tot the Puppy Bowl star

OK, off to get in PJs. I am going to a big social media conference in the morning, and I will be tweeting while I’m there. So be sure to follow me!

P.S. I updated my Google Reader with all the Fitbloggin’ bloggers — if you want to add it to your own reader, click here!

          

Related posts:

1. Chocolate Popcorn Brittle aka Popped Heaven
2. Recipes & Viral Videos: It’s Peanut Butter Popcorn Time!
3. All Things Must Come to a (Sweet) End