Chicago! Cupcake Style

(Written on the plane ride home)

I love Chicago.

Hello my darling. (Chicago is in there somewhere, promise.)

I’ve been there 3 times now and each visit I love it a bit more. Perhaps it’s not Chicago specifically that I love, but just big cities in general. I loved living in Paris.

Aww, we were so young!

Just walking around Paris was fun for me, watching everything that was happening, all the people going about their everyday lives. It was enchanting. I get a bit of that in Chicago. Sitting on the L (I always want to call it the metro, thanks Paris), it’s fun to imagine where all the people are coming from or going to.

There’s also the fact that Chicago boys are better dressed that Portland boys. A nice pair of not ripped and dirty jeans and a button down shirt is a good look. Take note Portland hipster boys; you’re not very cute. Just sayin’.

Anywho, I was in Chicago for my brother’s fiancé’s bachelorette party. No, I did not spend the weekend getting shitfaced. We had a sleep over on Friday night, brunch Saturday morning at a restaurant called Brunch, and then hit the spa. I can’t think of a better way to do a bachelorette party.

We also went on a cupcake tour since Amber’s friend Angie has a cupcake catering business and wanted to check out how Chicago does cupcakes. We put about 7 places on our list.

First up was Phoebe’s Cupcakes.

The menu

We got a banana swirl and a bacon maple.

Sadly, they were not very good. We all ended up spitting out the frosting on the banana swirl, it was just gross. The cake part of the cupcake was ok, but nothing to write home about.  The bacon was the best part of the bacon maple, that’s not saying much, it’s hard to get bacon wrong.

The best thing about Phoebe’s was that there was a very cute store next door that was having a sale. I went into the store thinking I would just look around since I’m not in need of anything in particular, but walked out with a coat that I couldn’t live without.

Next up on the list was Molly’s.

Cute sign

Besides being super cute, Molly’s cupcakes were delicious and amazing. We got the peach cobbler and a peanut butter chocolate concoction.

So wonderful. If you’re ever in Chicago, make sure to swing by Molly’s.

At this point we were starting to feel pretty full of sugar. We decided to take a look at the third place on our list, Swirlz to see if anything looked enticing and then continue onto our fourth destination, Sweet Mandy B’s. Nothing looked too exciting at Swirlz’s and after trying one of the samples we decided to move on. Yep, we were those people who walked in and then walked out. Oops.

Sweet Mandy B’s looked pretty cute from the outside but once we got inside we weren’t tempted by and of the cupcakes. Not they looked bad, but we just couldn’t bring ourselves to want to eat another full cupcake. So we ended up leaving and heading home thinking we hit the places still left on our list another day. Sadly it didn’t work out with any of the other places. Who doesn’t open on a Sunday?! I guess Angie and I will just have to come back to Chicago so we can finish the tour.

What did I learn from my first cupcake tour? That it’s a fabulous idea on paper, but in reality, it’s not that great. It’s way too much sugar, and this is coming from a person with a sweet tooth the size of Illinois. I’m thinking next time I’d get one cupcake from each place to go and then have people over so that I can try each cupcake but not feel like I have to eat all of them. But it was definitely a fun experience.

Oh, you want to know if I did some running in addition to eating my weight in sugar? Why yes I did! I did my 7-mile long run on Friday since I knew I wouldn’t have time on Sunday (I got into Chicago Thursday evening). I took off from my brother’s place and headed east towards Lake Michigan to the Lake Shore path.

The temperature wasn’t too bad, nothing colder than what we’ve had in Portland this winter but it’s definitely a different type of cold. It’s a cold that has sharp, dry teeth it likes to bite with. But it wasn’t too bad. I even found some elusive snow, elusive since Chicago has had a bit of a shortage this year.

This morning I got a 3 miler in that took me west from Max’s place through the campuses of Rush University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Both are schools I’ve considered applying to if Max and Amber stay in Chicago after Amber is done with law school so it was nice to get a glimpse of them.

Now I’m sadly on my way home and trying to cheer myself up by drinking ginger ale while listening to Mayer Hawthorne’s Henny and Gingerale. It’s the little things in life, people.

‘Well ok, feeling fine

Out of mind, out of sight’

Confessions

* I may be 26, but when I wear boots, especially ones with heels, I feel like a 6 year old playing dress up.

* I went to the grocery store last night for the first time in forever. I purchased a bag of Clementines, cream cheese, and a bottle of melatonin. I consider it a successful shopping trip.

* I’ve really settled into this bachelor life style. When my roommate isn’t home my general feeling towards pants is that they are optional. Sorry/you’re welcome, neighbors.

* A few years ago I bought a pair of cowboy boots as part of a Halloween costume. They then sat in my closet for a long time but lately I’ve been wearing them, a lot. They have rhinestones on them, they make me feel pretty.

* I can, and recently have, eaten a whole bag of Goldfish in one sitting.

* If I don’t have a half marathon I’m training for, my running shoes will just sit in the corner of shame and collect dust. I’d really love to be one of those people who wake up at the crack of dawn every morning and go for a run just for the heck of it, but I’m learning to accept that I’m not that girl.

* Sometimes when I’m running I start to sing along to whatever music I’m listening to (lately it’s been all Mayer Hawthorne) and then it’s super awkward when I run by people and realize I’m singing out loud and sort of dancing while running.

Acting Your Age is Overrated

A few years ago I was at the doctor’s office and the doc asked my how old I was. My answer: 22…I mean 23… well, soon to be 24… I swear I am who I say I am… *awkward silence*. I’m used to being on the younger side of my friends and classmates, with a late November birthday it was totally normal for me to be younger than people that were in the class below me in high school. Funny enough, as time goes on, I find myself more often than not being towards the middle or older side of things, which sometimes throws me for a loop. I think that’s mostly because I don’t *feel* like I’m in my mid 20s. I feel more like I’m still 16 and am trying to figure out what I’m doing with my life, who I am, and how to act like a proper, responsible adult. Real adults probably don’t use their Macbook’s as dining room tables while eating half a PB&J sandwich that is made from the last edible piece of bread in the house and drinking on-the-verge-of-being-spoiled milk out of a paper cup because you haven’t gone real grocery shopping in over a month.

My $1,000 kitchen table that you can find at the Apple store

Real adults also probably don’t wear their bright orange running shirt (that was worn during a workout earlier in the day) to a nice restaurant on multiple occasions and throw a scarf over it to make it look like a normal shirt.

Or use their friends as lounge chairs in restaurants. Oops, Nike swish is visible, and I’m eating a lollipop, I promise I’m not 12 years old.

There are times when I feel much older than 26, most of those occur when I’m running and my hips start hurting. Or my knee starts hurting. Or a wake up the day after running and every joint creaks when I get out of bed. Or I’m sitting at my desk the day after a run and the tendinitis in my knee starts to hurt if my chair is at a certain angle.

I’m happy that my close group of friends seem to be also be in no rush to grow up, get married, and have kids. They’re also entertained with my shenanigans, such as when I daily throw a flirty smile at the bellman of a hotel near my work or audibly boo a restaurant when driving by it because an ex-boyfriend works there or get my white girl dance on to an endless loop of Mayer Hawthorne songs . These probably don’t fall under the ‘grown up’ category.

By now you’re probably wondering what on earth my point is. The average Team in Training participant is a 32 year old women who is college educated and makes $89,300 a year. While I am a woman who is working on that being college educated thing, I’m feeling a little behind. And holy crap, what jobs do TnT participants have that they average $89,000 a year?! I’ve been feeling some internal pressure to run fast since I’m younger, and while it gets my butt moving, it’s not the most mature way to get motivated.

Or maybe I’m having a quarter life crisis.

Or maybe I’m just over thinking it because I had that 1/2 pint of cider at that fundraising meeting this evening (I’m know, I’m a wild child).

Maybe I should just go to bed.

Catching Up

Sorry about the radio silence, full blame gets place on school and the fact that I have finals next week. Well, actually they’re both on Tuesday, one at 8:00am. Whoever made the schedule with 8:00am finals should be beaten over the head with my chemistry textbook.

Life had been moving at an unbelievably quick pace lately, now if only I could run that fast. We had our second TnT track work out. Again, no pictures, but this time only because I forgot to take some, not because it was pouring! In fact, besides a 2 minutes spurt of raindrops, most of the practice was dry! Afterwards, Jen and I joined our teammates at Suki’s Bar for happy hour. Suki’s is awesome, if our tab goes over $100, they donate almost everything over to LLS. Can’t think of a better reason to drink.

This Saturday we had our second long run as a group, for us half marathoners, we did a 3 mile loop starting at the Foot Traffic on NE Fremont. I had an ok run, not one to write home about. I’m looking forward to having a run (or soccer game) where I feel that I’m stronger and not exhausted, but I think that won’t happen until after finals. The best part of the morning was that the staff at Foot Traffic put on a shoe clinic for us.

Jen and me waiting fo our turns on the treadmill. Yes, I know my knee high socks over my running tights is such an awesome look.

They had you walk on the treadmill while taping it to see if you pronate or supinate.

I learned that ever so slightly pronate and after trying on a hand full of different shoes, decided that the Adidas pair was my favorite. When reading about running shoes, I hear a lot about Asics, Brooks, Saucony, and Minuzo but I always somehow find my way back to Adidas. I love Adidas, which I’m guessing comes from growing up playing soccer, but they are definitely my go to brand when it comes to athletic wear. Hopefully a shiny new pair of awesome shoes will be purchased soon.

On a non-running note, Mayer Hawthorne is my new obsession.

Source for the second photo

Jen, Nicole and I went to Kink’s Jingle Bell Jam where he opened for the Head and the Heart (who I love) and he and his band were awesome. Seriously, listen to this song, and tell me you couldn’t help but start dancing, it’s impossible.

I guess I should stop procrastinating now and get back to studying…belch…I mean, I love school…