Summer Cram Session.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiii! (She says in her best Kelly Bensimon impression...) Oh, how I've missed you!  These past few days have been a little chaotic and I am looking forward to catching up on everyone's lives today!


So yeah.  The chaos.  It's been one of those "It's the end of summer and I return to school in a week, so let's cram everything in at once" kind of weeks.  This cram session included:


* A workshop with my students.  I don't like to go into details when it comes to my job, but let's just say that this workshop was fantastic and I am so blessed to have the job I do.


* Dinner with friends - at a Colombian steakhouse.  This was slightly problematic, as I have stayed true to my new vegetarian "lifestyle" for one week.  Luckily, there was an awesome veggie paella on the menu!  As for the diet, I am continuing my research and trying to learn more about the sustainable / organic movement.  It's truly fascinating.  What I need to focus on is making sure that I am getting all of the essential nutrients, because lately, I've just been so dang HUNGRY!  What can I say?  I'm a work in progress!

* A blogger meet-up!  The lovely Christy of "25 Before 25" was in town this weekend, exploring the baseball stadium circuit.  Due to the hectic weekend, our window to meet was small, so I met her out at a super fun establishment with dueling pianos!  Christy is quite the social butterfly with such a positive demeanor, and while we had to yell over the music, it was so great to meet her!

After Christy left, my friend Kevin and I brainstormed the best dueling piano song requests.  What do you think?  :)

*  Another cupcake adventure.  Before you roll your eyes, I kinda sorta LOVE baking and being all domestic.  Just find me an apron and call me June Cleaver.  Seriously, I need to keep track of all of these recipes.  This weekend's challenge?  Graham cracker cupcakes with marshmallow filling and a chocolate cream-cheese frosting.  My husband and I modified some of the recipes, but you can use the following as a basis if you're interested!  We used this recipe for the graham cracker batter.  We then mixed together a jar of Fluff, sugar and egg whites for the marshmallow filling.  And then, we topped it off with this chocolate cream cheese frosting recipe.  The frosting was a little rich, but MAN, were they good!

(Photo taken by my hubby)

* A 30th birthday party.  My friends and I are getting to the age where now little people have joined our circle of friends, and this party was no exception.  We had a blast watching the little ones run around, play on the swingset, and, well...try to make-out?  How adorable is this???

I just love his expression!

She's a sassy little diva, isn't she???

* Speaking of kids, a 1st birthday party.  Complete with more cupcakes - HOLLA!

* A night under the stars with my family and The Temptations at the Ravinia Festival on Chicago's North Shore.  This place is truly fantastic!  You can bring chairs, tables, food, drinks, etc and sit and chat with loved ones under the stars.


* On a random side note, I was suckered into joining a fantasy football league.  I told my husband that I only want players who date reality TV stars (like Hank Baskett, husband of Kendra Wilkinson) or players who are nice.  Umm.  Someone please save me.

Enough about me - how are YOU???