Red Faced Runners

Hello again!  So Soon?  Well, I have something very special to share with you all and I know that you are not going to want to miss out on all the fun!

I've signed up with Red Faced Runners.

It is a group of ladies that are taking on a challenge to run 5k. Simple right?  There is even a link on their blog post to a training plan to run 5k.

These are women from all walks of life and all over who want to improve their lifestyle, become more healthy and look awesome doing it!  What better way to achieve that than wonder woman socks?  I already checked and they run about $10-$15.  I'm totally getting a pair!

Now, I've been running for awhile.  You can read a bit about my running life from a few of my previous posts...3 miles where are you?, Overwhelmed, & Free For All Friday.  So it's not something new to me but I will say that it has been a challenge to be consistent and to up my mileage when I'm running into things like shin splints, crazy schedules, laziness and just plain ol' unmotivatedness (I'm sure that's a word).  Did you think I was actually running into things?  Who runs into shin splints or laziness silly?  Anywho, I need to find "my rhythm"...and I think that this group will help me with that in a huge way.  You have a greater chance of accomplishing something when you have a goal in mind...a vision..."my people perish for lack of vision",  right?  I certainly don't plan on perishing anytime soon!  Bring on the vision!

So, to put it in a nutshell and I quote, "We challenge you to move your bodies and join in on our journey by running your way towards a 5k race in your hometown on the weekend of September 8th." from the Red Faced Runners blog.

I challenge you too!  Dust the cake flour off your tennies, trade in your apron for a some comfy running clothes (and don't forget a good sports bra, you don't want your girls getting out of hand...and in your face) and take to the pathways, streets or treadmill!  We are women!  We deserve to be healthy!  We can do it!  GooooOOOOO TEAM! :-)

Head on over to their blog and register, like their fb page and let me know how you're doing!  I'll post some 5k runs in my area soon if you live close and need one to run.  

As always, be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love!

So glad you're back!!

Well, hello there stranger!!  I was getting worried that I hadn't seen you around in a while...sheesh it's been what...9 months!

What have you been up to all this time?  Wait.  What?  I'm the one whose been gone??  (nervous laugh)   So you've noticed, huh?  Well, shoot!  I was hoping I could sneak that one passed you.

Let's look on the bright side...at least you noticed I was gone!  That' makes me feel so special and loved, knowing that you've been sitting around, anxiously twiddling your thumbs, waiting for my next incredible life changing post!  Okay, so maybe that's stretching it a bit but it makes me feel better than having to face the fact that I was being a lazy blogger.  Goodness!  Confessions are just spewing out my mouth right and left!  I better be careful or I just might spill the beans about other things like telling my hubby that the boys ate the last of his beloved Nutella on a slice of warm, preservative-free toast from Trader Joe's.  psst.  It was me.  hehehe.


OKAY!  Enough of this silliness.  Let's get down to business.  To be completely honest, I have been busy.  There's too much from 9 months to fill you in on so I'll just jump straight to most recent stuff which includes some pretty awesome cakes if I may say so myself!  I'll need to keep this relatively short since my parents will stopping by in a few. note: if you're following Natalia's Cake Creations on FB then you'll have seen these already.

First up is a Tiffany bag cake that I created for a Bat Mitzvah.  My first cake of this design for my first party of this kind.  I think it turned out pretty nice!  The letters are hand painted...I was pretty pleased with myself!

Next we have a birthday cake for a friend's daughter and an anniversary cake for my church.   They are both iced in Swiss meringue buttercream with hand cut fondant decorations.  I was very pleased with both of these.

This next one is what I created for my son's kinder class graduation.  I thought it turned out so cute with the owl on it and I loved seeing the reaction on some of the parents' faces when they realized that I had made it!  Talk about a proud mama!

The last cake I will leave you with is a baby shower cake I designed for one of my dear friends.  They are a family of musicians and have the biggest hearts.  I used a template from here to create the basic shape of the shoes but had to enlarge it to the size I needed.  I loved the way this one turned out and so did the couple.

Okay, so that's all for now.  I need to go sweep up the spilled fruit loops and throw away the banana peels that I'm sure are laying around in the tv room.  My youngest LOVES bananas and will eat 2-3 at a time leaving a trail of peels along the way...my little monkey.

I hope that you are as glad as I am about coming back to my blog and finding I'm still alive.  I know I'm glad I'm still alive!  I'll be sure to keep you regularly updated and share more exciting things that have happened and will be happening.

As always...be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love! (that means comments)

Painting with a Twist

Hola mis amigos!  Quiero te hablar de mi noche al "Painting with a Twist"!  Just kidding I'm not going to type my post in spanish...at least not yet!  I'll give you (and me) some time to brush up on your Espanol.

I would like to share some pictures I took while I was out with a dear friend of mine, Christine, at Painting with a Twist.

It was supposed to be a group of ladies from my church but several were not able to make it so Chris and I enjoyed the evening out ourselves and now we get to gloat about how much fun we had and the awesome paintings we came away with. Ha!  That'll teach you not to miss out on fun things like this next time!  I'm just teasing.  I am very sorry that the others were not able to join us and I hope we can do this again sometime because it was a very enjoyable evening.

What is Painting with a Twist?  It's a studio that offers "Sessions" where you pay for a seat and they provide the paint, canvas, apron, brushes and step by step instructions from a real professional artist to help you paint the picture of the evening!  There are tons of pictures to choose from and they have a calendar up on their website that allows you to see what they are painting on certain days.  It's a great concept!  And they offer private parties where you can choose which painting you'd like the party to do!  They allow you to bring beverages and appetizers of your choice to help "lighten" the mood.  Christine had her coffee and brought crispy date bonbons!  Yummy!  I had a pumpkin spice latte and brought my pumpkin chocolate chip muffins!!  Woohoo!

Here is a quick glimpse of our evening!

Little Miss Arteest all ready to paint a masterpiece!

Our piece for the evening was Midnight Cherry Blossoms.

First the moon!  That's mine to the left of hers.

Then, the "midnight" sky.

This is mine.  Chris was still working on her sky.

Uh oh, there must have been a booboo because Chris asked the instructor for help.  ;-)  They are very good with helping you if you get stuck or can't quite figure out how to get the look you want.  I think his OCD kicked in because he spent a few long minutes working on this.  Christine was being so patient and studying his strokes.

There we go!  Good job Christine!  Ahem!

Good job Natalia!  Hehe.

Here's mine with the branches and blossoms.  I made my branches a bit too horizontal so it looks sideways but I promise this is how it's supposed to go!

I think Christine's OCD kicked in too when she got to the blossoms.  We stayed an extra 30 minutes after just so she could finish.  She was super serious about her flowers.  Love ya' Christine!

This is the studio.  It's a fun atmosphere.  Everyone talks and laughs while we're painting.

AND......

DONE!!

This was the entire class that evening.

Here's Christine and me with our masterpieces!  Thank you so much Chris for sharing this evening with me!  I had a great time!  Love you lady! 

Oh!  And thanks a whole bunches for getting my car unlocked even after you had dropped me off at home!  You and your ninja friend were a life saver! ;-)

So if you're looking for something different to do for a couples or ladies' night out this is definitely worth it!  'Til next time...

As always, be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love!