Happy Birthday Luther

Sunday was Luther's Birthday. It does not look at day over ------. Well as part of my gift I made vega carrot cake cupcakes and vegan ice cream. I thought I would share my prep. I actually enjoy cooking and always aim to be vegan. One thing I thought about as I was making this is ohhhhhhhhh the sugar but let's not think about that now, here is my pictorial of the prep.

The Carrot Cake Recipe came from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick - Goudreau.  It is a great cookbook and she just released two other books that I will definitely be buying soon since I already have her Vegan Table which is awesome as well.  One thing I defnitely notice when I look at this picture is the whiteness ( no grain) so the next time I make this I will be making it wtih half wheat flour to add a little heartiness to it along with raw sugar instead of the white.  Everyone really enjoyed them and would not have even  guessed it was vegan which is a compliment among my animal eating family and friends!

I really like the colors in the above pictures it is just awesome. I cut down on my prep time by buying shoestring carrots already cut for me.

Mad three dozen cupcakes for the party! All of them were able to travel nicely in this cupcake carrier that I got from Williams Sonoma.  If you aare a cupcake party making chef or a mom with kids and always tasked with making cupcakes this will be very handy for you.  I have used it twice and it is very handy and ensures the icing is untouched and can easily place the trays in the fridge if needed. 

I am not overly fun of icing hence the cupcakes are not engulged in it. It is a nice accent so you can actually taste the cupcake and the icing at the same time.  I oh so hate when the icing is as tall as the cupcake.  I end up cutting the icing off the top and trashing it and leaving thin layer of icing. 

Friday Night Dinner _ Butter and Jam Bar

For Friday Night Dinner this week I decided to have a butter and jam bar.  I  set out 4 different butters - almond, cashew, creamy peanut and crunchy peanut butter and four jams - mango, blackberry, blood orange and my favorite strawberry, Crofter's jam was on sale this week at Whole Foods which was a plus they are so good and they us fair trade products, which means a lot to me.  Topping included bananas, raisins and dates.  Also had the panini press available to grill the butter and jam sandwich if you choose.  It was fun and we were all able to experience an old time favorite with a twist.  On the way to and from San Francisco I bought the kid's meal on Delta which included a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I had not had one in so long I thought it was the best thing since whole grain bread.  Hence my idea was born - have a butter and jam bar!!!

Trip to San Francisco

I have spent the last few days in San Francisco. I think it was a great trip to get away and have a break from work, pottery barn and Morehouse.  I get to just come back to work and pottery barn, if I choose and I get to start focusing completely on my triathlon and renewing my hobby of sewing this summer.  I am really looking forward to getting back  into that.  I took a few pictures but not as many  pictures as I had hoped.  Here are a few

 Over Colorado

 Over Arizonia

 Over something cool, do you  know what that could be?

 the amazing hills

 Me in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

 it is  massive and amazing!!

in Chinatown,  I got to ride the bus through on Sunday which must have been the shopping day it had thousands of people out and then I got to walk through it later in the week which was a little less hectic

 Me again at the Golden Gate it was very windy the average temperature the entire time I was there was 60.

 Little bite of the history of the bridge, it is .8 miles across

 Took this in Japantown.  I had never seen street signs in another language other than English in the United States.  Japantown was very different then Chinatown

Driving across the Golden Gate bridge.  Did I mention how massive it is?

This is me on the Presidio compound.  The guy that created Star Wars, George Lucas bought this old Army Base and has turned it into a movie production stuff of sorts.  Here I am in front of Yoda from Star Wars.

Graduation

Well yesterday Morehouse School of Medicine had their twenty seventh commencement exercises and I thus received my Master of Public Health in Epidemiology.  I am thankful that phase of my life is over and I am looking forward to the next.  I would give a review of the school like I do most other things however I thought I would do something that would be more helpful and that is provide tips on choosing the right school for your particular needs especially if you are over 25 years old or worked for a while before returning to school.  I will title those post Making the Right Choice.  Stay Tuned!!!

Wordless Post Dinner

Atlanta Case # 111280703

Well my Mother's Day did not go as planned

The plan was:

6:45 - walk Patches
7:00 - go on 14 mile bike ride (while listening to a few of my  NPR Podcasts from the week)
9:00 - wash car
10:00 - clean baseboard of living room and mop floor
11:00 - take nap
2:00 pm go see Jumping the Broom at Atlantic Station and pick up Mother's Day card for mom
6:00 pm take mom to dinner for Mother's Day

What actually happened

6:45 - walk Patches
7:00 - go on 8 mile bike ride
8:00 - bike ride interrupted by getting hit by a car on Martin Luther King in front of Texaco and Westview Cemetery
8:01 - laying on the ground in complete shock somebody just hit me on my bike next to a cemetery, Father save me am I going to die, save me a very surreal moment
8:10  People are crowding around me and Good Samaritan name Jackie help to call my mom and gets her and keeps her posted as events unfolded, attempt to call Donnie and Shecky to come to my aid since she is out of town finally get Shecky.
8:15 - Atlanta Police, Fire and Grady EMS arrive on the scene
8:20 - EMS trying to calm me down as I am crying and  hyperventilating and try to convince me to go to the Emergency I respectfully decline
9:15 - Shecky arrives, police, EMS and the lady that hit me leave
9:45 - arrive home really shaken feel like my insides are going to burst, take a shower I look horrible
9:50 - my brother arrives to take me Kaiser urgent care, Keondra and Nicole come over to check on me as well.  ( I had to do something to my hair it took a little longer than expected my hair was a HOT MESS after the morning activities and did not want to show up looking in such a state)
10:40 - head to Kaiser at Glenlake
11:10 - arrive at Kaisier, the doctor calls to make sure I am still coming he is worried about me
11:12 - bird flies into the building I actually catch it and release it back outside that was kind of a surreal moment #2 of the day
11:15 - had a very thorough exam kudos to the doctor for a job well done
11:30 - had Catheter done that was a first, no blood in my urine kidneys are ok, the doctor was concerned based on how the car hit me and how I fell and where I was having pain
11:45 - had X-rays done, preliminary look no broken bones just bruising
1:00 pm arrive back at home
1:30 - My dad arrives to check on me
2:00 - take a nap or at least try to I cannot find a comfortable position to lay down
3:30 - my mom and Luther arrive straight from Florida we know they were speeding
4:30 - go with them to Whole Food for a late lunch
5:30 - spend a little time with Darin
6:30 - try to get some rest, still cannot find a good position to lay down in
9:00 - talk to my dutifully lawyer Donnie

Review of Nordictrack 1900 Elite Pro

Well I have been able to run at least 3 days a week thanks to this little machine.  It is  a great treadmilll .  It is sturdy treadmilll not like the ones that move when you  run or walk on them.  The reason I got this one particularly was because it was sturdy and the added feature is that it has a browser on it and a touch screen.  However that's the feature I cannot even use that much or at least not functionally.  Because as you know when you are running your hands begin to sweat and the touch screen sensor cannot feel your touch or you keep having to push the same button 5-6 times which is frustrating and gets me off my stride.  So I end up quiting messing with it and just listen to my ipod.  It does have the iphod attachment which is standard on any good treadmill.  I was also thinking that I would watch streaming video thru the browser not so great considering I cannot adust the screen and the only way to seen the screen well is to turn off the lights not so good if you are not comfortable riding on the treadmilll in the dark. 

My Month In Review

The thing of notice on my month in review is the fact that I have been consistenly working out for my upcoming triatholon on June 5th. How exciting! Because I realize now that I uploaded the picture you cannot read it but everything in pick in my work out times~!!!