Biking and Baking

Who hasn't seen the 2013 Houston Rodeo lineup? At first, I was very disappointed with the realization that Brad Paisley won't be at the rodeo for the first time in like, ever, but I quickly got over it when I realized how great the lineup is over my spring break. Jake Owen, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton, George Strait? Sign me up! My best friend and I have been going to the rodeo since we were in sixth grade, so this will make our tenth year, and the year when both of us will be 21. I'd say that's pretty special. We haven't decided who we are going to see yet, but we can't really go wrong with any of them. I can't wait!

Gayle and I at Brad Paisley 2012

After perusing the rodeo lineup and doing some lounging, I hit the MAC for my new go-to exercise: stationary biking. It's not my everyday workout of choice, but at least I can do it without too much pain, and I can read at the same time. It's a win-win. Today's bike adventure took me up Mt. Kilimanjaro for 30 minutes, followed by a five-minute cool-down. My toe is hurting a bit more than it did yesterday so I wasn't pushing myself quite as hard as I would have liked, but I'm already breaking the "doctor's" orders by exercising at all. Oops. I just can't sit still!

After my bike ride, I set out to do an upper body workout. I based it off of this workout by PBFingers, but I changed it up as well. I only rested 30 seconds between each exercise, which at the beginning you don't need, but toward the end, those 30 seconds fly by. I completed three rounds of the circuit.

I think it was a great arm workout, and on that last superset, I had to lower the weight used on my rows down to 8 pound dumbbells. I'd say that's a sign of a good workout, wouldn't you?

Lunch

I made a quick trip to the grocery store to get a few ingredients for a few new Pinterest recipes, so by the time I hobbled in and out of there, I was ready for some lunch. I had plans to meet a friend at La Madeleine the other night, and I guess because we didn't end up going, I had their grilled chicken salad on mine. I am typically not someone who orders salads from restaurants, but La Madeleine's wild fielde salad with grilled chicken and balsamic vinaigrette is my very favorite salad.

I snacked on some sea salt and pepper cashews as well as some grapes while setting out to complete the next item on my list: baking. I had a box of brownie mix left over from my baking business, and I wanted to do something with that other than jut regular old brownies. My family much prefers cookies to brownies, so I decided to whip up these brownie mix cookies. They were extremely easy to make, and they actually smell like brownies.

I also had a bag of Hershey's Kisses to get rid of, so I also whipped up some peanut butter blossoms - the cookies that have proven themselves to be a favorite in my family. These were a little bigger than I usually make them, but this dough was a little bit more moist than it usually is, making it hard to shape it into little balls. I don't think I will hear too many complaints about that, though.

I also have a new recipe in the oven as we speak. I can't take credit for it, I saw it on Pinterest, but it looks promising and I am hoping it turns out like it looks in the pictures. Not that my Pinterest creations ever look anything like the original, but it's worth a shot, right? I'll be back with the results of those later! For now, I have a few errands to run!