One Kitchen, Many Hearts - Real Life Edition

Have you ever given your home address out to a bunch of random strangers you met on the internet so that they could send you stuff?
Probably not.
So then, you probably haven't said to those same random strangers, with whom you now speak every single day, "Hey, if you're ever in my neck of the woods, come stay with me!"
Well, I have, and I'm all the better for it.

Look at us - we don't look AT ALL like internet crazies.
Totes safe.

Sidebar -- I am a huge HUUUUUUUUGE fan of Alton Brown.  Husband and I have used many of his recipes and techniques over the years; in fact, Mr. Brown's corned beef recipe is the only one I will use.  We adored Good Eats and mourned its end.
As such, I read the announcement of the Edible Inevitable Tour with utter giddiness, and I was delighted that he made a pass through the East Valley.
Not being alone in my adoration, Beka immediately checked the tour schedule and, realizing that there would NOT be a stop in the Pacific Northwest, made plans to come down and go to the show with me.
Timing being what it was, her trip overlapped with her being assigned my name for our One Kitchen, Many Hearts gift swap.  So basically, this trip was Meant to Be.
Before I get back on track: y'all. If Alton Brown is coming to your town, GO TO THE SHOW.  It was hilarious and fun and oh my gosh pray that someone in the front row is late.

A little teaser - you need to go to the show to see what happens.

Anyway.

On to the goods, as it were.
Most importantly, I am the new proud momma of an actually rectangular 9 x 13" pan for marshmallowing.  Previously, I had been making my mallows in my Pyrex pan, which is awesome.  But if you have a Pyrex pan, you know that the edges are rounded.  No big deal for casserole dishes, etc., but when you want to make something that is a "perfect" cube, those rounded edges make for some waste.
OK, so I used those "butt" pieces to take selfies with marshmallow mustaches and to "quality control" the hell out of every batch.  BUT STILL.  This new pan, which can also double (I guess...sigh...if I have to....) as a roasting pan will add at least five or six more mallows to every batch.
So far, they've been used to make two new fabulous mallows flavors.  I don't have a picture of those mallows, though, because, um, well.... I ate them.

This is the last of the expresso-honey mallows we made...
they are my favorite flavor to date, and incredible in coffee.

If that weren't enough (it seriously would have been - I am already planning like ten more flavors), Beka took me shopping.  I remember back in the day BC (Before Child) when I'd watch What Not to Wear and swear that I'd never become "that mom" - you know the one: the mom who puts herself last and then forgets how to shop and what looks good on her.
Guess what I turned into.
(Spoiler alert: "that mom" - I turned into "that mom")
When I attempt to shop for items for myself that are not running gear, I usually end up feeling guilty about buying something when I work from home and can basically wear yoga pants if I want to, getting frustrated when I don't find anything that works (I have a standing rule that I will not purchase anything unless I love it), giving up on fashion altogether, and using the money to buy something for Her Royal Highness, who, because she insists on growing constantly, is always in need of some item or other.  When shopping with Beka, I was not allowed to 1) have hangups about buying something for myself, 2) have limited time (yes, I still feel guilty about spending time in a store when I could be home with HRH), or 3) give up easily.
Shockingly, it's easier to follow the rules when someone holds you accountable for them.
Beka has a fantastic sense of style and an eye for what will work on a person.  We had planned to have a shopping day already, but the big surprise was that she bought this houndstooth dress while we were out.
And I ADORE IT:

She also tutored me in such remedial courses as Why We Buy Nude Shoes 102 and How to Overcome Your Fear of Jewelry 130.  Thankfully, I didn't need to go back to Handbags Are Your Friend 080 and nabbed the above teal number without too much assistance, although goading may have been involved.
All in all, I bought two dresses, two shirts, two pairs of shoes, a jacket, a handbag, sunglasses, a necklace, and a bracelet.  I love them all.  I got nothing for HRH.  I felt no guilt.  It was glorious.

Honestly, though, the Most Wonderful Gift that Beka brought me, which can't be packaged up, was her company.  It's been a bit of a stressful fall at work, and the respite from Groundhog Day, the Sequel, and the hilarity that ensued over the long weekend, was exactly what I needed.

Of course, after Beka's plane landed, I immediately took her to one of my favorite local breweries, San Tan Brewing Company, where we snapped a terribly blurry but hilarious selfie.

I swear it was just one beer.
OK.  Maybe Two.

 We drank plenty of wine.

We mustache you for another glass of wine.
Please don't shave it for later.

We also had plenty of beer.

We bought the same shirt on purpose.

I look like A DORK.

We made and/or ate OMGSOMUCHFOOD.

Southern-style seafood risotto, collards, and blackened (sort of) shrimp

Brunch: Bloody Mary and soft fried eggs over risotto cakes
with asparagus and duck fat potatoes

Smoked pork burger at Angel's Trumpet Ale House

It was seriously The Best Weekend.

Now, not everyone got to hang for a full weekend for a gift exchange, but I can't wait for you to see what I sent to Kisrten (second spoiler alert - marshmallows from my new pan were involved).
Make sure to check out the goods in this Free For All Stuff Whatever You Can Into the Box theme.  After all, the holidays are coming, and you never know when or where inspiration will strike.
Beka/Kvetchin' Kitchen
Jeanne/Inside NanaBread's Head
Kat/Tenaciously Yours,
Kirsten/Comfortably Domestic
Mads/La Petite Pancake
Megan/Wanna Be a Country Cleaver
Then get out there and see if you can't ship off a Package of Surprise Fun to someone to see how your day can be made by making someone else's.

Workout Wednesday - That Stinks!

When we lived in Michigan, my brother-in-law's hockey bag was The Grossest Thing Ever.

It was big.
It was bulky.
It was Stank Butt Nasty.

Every athlete knows that smell.  That post-workout, "The Grim Reaper would probably hand over his scythe if he got a whiff of me" smell that probably even offends the dog.  The dog who eats from the trash with no qualms.
Of course, like, oh, probably most women, I didn't think that it applied to me.  That smell was Eau de Men's Locker Room.  While I'm not a huge proponent of the "we don't sweat; we glow" argument, I was convinced that, by virtue of estrogen and ovaries, I was immune and happily griped about my brother-in-law, his buddies, and their collective stench after their games.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Have you ever run when it's 90°, at 4:30 in the morning - before the sun comes up - right after a ginormous monsoon cranked up the humidity to Ludicrous Speed?  Because if you have, you know where this discussion is going.
You probably actually would know that regardless.  I have a pretty awful poker face. P-p-p-poker face
(yeah, I went there).

Anyway, back to where I tell you about how totally and utterly repugnant I smell when Zooey and I get back from our runs.
Like to the point that HRH, in her preschool innocence and lack of filter phase of life, will merrily scream at the top of her lungs, "Mommy!  You stink!" and then not want to give me a hug for fear that she'll start attracting flies.

The good news is that I can shower and smell pretty rather fast.  I'm not a shower lingerer, so once the business of Getting Clean and Unstanky is over, I'm out and done, fresh as a daisy.
The bad news is that getting that same funk out of my running clothes isn't as easy.
There are a few reasons for that:

• My clothes don't take a shower every day (like I do), so usually it's a few to several days before they see the light of the laundry room.
• Zooey enjoys sleeping on them sometimes every single night (fun fact: most scent hounds have a bit of a "musk") because I keep the running clothes separate from my "civvies" - no cross contamination here.
• I refuse to use a special "athlete's" detergent filled with chemicals I'm trying to avoid in other areas of my life.

That's right; we're back to me being all crunchy and trying to go off the grid.

But I'm holding fast to this; between The Husband and myself, we create exactly one laundry load (of six) each week that is dedicated to athletic gear.  Investing in a special detergent, which is probably just a different label and a little extra "fragrance," isn't worth my money or my health, or, quite honestly, the health of our beautiful planet.
So my challenge was to find a way that used a more natural approach but at the same time did manage to leave me with a pile of clean and neutral-smelling (no nasty perfumes here!) workout clothes when all was said and done.

Well, it took me some time, but I think I've got it.  And the process was easy, inexpensive, and you probably have everything already.  Except the natural laundry detergent that is just a step away from me making it myself, which I want to try at some point in the near future.
If you don't have a more natural detergent or, for some weird reason, don't make your own, you can use your regular detergent.  But try to make sure that you use one that doesn't utilize fragrances to perfume and cover odors (I'm well aware that I sound like a freakin' Febreeze commercial - the irony, right?) instead of actually getting rid of them and the gunky stuff that is causing that Sasquatch stink.

And, for the sake of All Stuff that is Fun, can you please imagine me giving you these directions in some sort of Donna Reed or Harriet Nelson get-up, apron and all?

1. Turn your clothes inside out; button any buttons, snap any snaps, and tie any ties (this is actually a process that I learned from The Queen of Clean for all laundry).
2. If clothes are, on a scale from one to atrocious, scoring at least a vile, soak them in a solution of water and white vinegar (you want to be able to smell the vinegar, but you don't want your neighbors to be able to).
3. Once soaking is complete (by complete, I mean "when you remember that you were soaking clothes"), or if you opted not to soak them, place clothes in your washing machine.
4. Add detergent as usual.
5. In the place of liquid bleach, add (more) white vinegar.
6. Set the water temperature to warm (not hot!), and use a longer wash cycle (this will make sure that the water rinses cleaner - no detergent, no vinegar).
7. Air dry all the clothes (even socks and undies!), preferably outside, in the sun.

This strategy even worked on one of my Sparky the Sun Devil technical shirts, which would just not shake that smell for a good long time.
I'm hoping that whenever the Arizona temperatures decide to cool off in about three or four months from now, I can at least get back to the house before I nauseate myself.  But I'm definitely going to work on perfecting this.  Hey - it even worked on Zooey's collar, a haven to Hound Musk everywhere!
Go ahead - try this and let me know how it goes.  I can guarantee that you won't turn crunchy by trying.  Unless you decide you want to.

How do YOU get the stink out?

Some Motivation on Monday - The Size 6 Jeans

I currently have one pair of size 6 jeans:

Right now, they don't fit.  I mean, they DO fit in that they zip up and button, but they DON'T fit in that the end result is that which causes fear and horror among women across the country: The Muffin Top.

Which of course is completely unacceptable.

I'm running another half marathon in November.  By that date, these jeans are going to fit proper.