Never thought I would get tired of cake

So, a couple weeks ago we decided to go with Slice Cake Designs for our wedding cake. Meeting Chris was a huge relief -- she was so personable and ready to take on anything. Plus, the cakes were delightful.

We're trying to decide between key lime with a cream cheese frosting filling or an orange essence cake with strawberry mousse and sliced strawberries. Both were so tasty and very spring brunch appropriate. I didn't want anything heavy and rich. The citrus flavors were perfect and I am super excited.

We are doing a modified version of this cake, which I blogged about in one of my first entries here.

Cake surgery:

1. Chopping that top layer in half.
2. Injecting some white into the stripes to brighten it up.
3. Using a more springy green, as opposed to these wintry shades.
4. No flowers.

My mom and I had some pretty god awful experiences at the first few cake places we went to. Fleur de Lis was afraid to use fondant. Classic Cakes was a tad full of itself and quoted us $10/slice. Tammie Coe was good but the flavors were just kind of boring.

Chris from Slice came to my house, brought us two cakes (while other places charged us for tasting), was fabulous to work with and open to my ideas. Plus, she was excited! She was definitely the baker version of our florist, Jeanne from White Poppy. I'm really excited to work with them both.

And the real reason I opened up the blog browser (believe it or not, I had intended to write a super quick entry)...

Chris mentioned that she can do favors too -- cookies, cupcakes, truffles, candies, whatever. My mom and I loved the idea. In fact, my mom came up with the idea of a bike-shaped cookie glazed with a fun color on top. I love it! We are planning on doing some sort of cute and easy packaging. I just came across this post at Once Wed. I love the little tags with the favors. Such a great idea. I think I may steal it.

Photograph by Kyle Hale

Fitness Thursfriday

All day, every day, I am surrounded by fitness. I write about health and wellness, fitness, sports medicine and nutrition. My coworkers are all former professional or collegiate athletes. My friends are cyclists. My family is too athletic for their own good. So, where do I fit in?

I've always been somewhat active. I grew up playing soccer and had practice basically every after school and tournaments on the weekend. In early high school, I ran track and cross country. I was definitely way more in shape then compared to now ha.

As time progresses, I've discovered I really want to get serious about cycling. I love it, I love my friends and I love bikes. It's been a great outlet for Josiah and I in terms of combining something active with our social lives. My favorite thing in the world is our Thursday night Ladies' Ride, where I meet up with Erica, Adriane and all of my other girls (and sometimes guys!). It's been wonderful to have fun doing something I both love and is good for me!

For awhile now, I've wanted to make some sort of fitness post setting out some goals for myself. And now I have more of a concrete reason.

I just set up and engagement photo shoot with Morgan Bellinger of Move Photography for November 29. (I'm planning a special post in the future about how pumped I am to work with my friend Morgan!) So now I have a date that I need to look good for. (If only my hair would grow six inches by then...)

I've always been one to want to lose weight, get in shape, eat better, get fit, blah blah blah. I'm not good at doing any of those things. I'm trying though. Ever since I started my job (and have been surrounded by people obsessed with health, performance and counting calories), I've been doing a better job at maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I still love ice cream and candy, but I'm dealing with those infatuations a bit better now.

In the past I've struggled a lot with my weight and being unhappy about my appearance. I know this is normal to an extent with any woman. As I've grown up, I've consequently grown out of hating who I am and my appearance, though it occasionally comes back if I'm feeling especially down.

I'm excited to use this wedding as a time to improve myself, physically and mentally. I've come to the realization that setting vague goals like "I want to lose weight" aren't going to get me anywhere. If I had a lot of dedication and drive, they might haha. Instead, I'm really going to focus on my cycling and getting better at that. Right now I'm trying to reach 100 miles a week (I hit 120 a few weeks ago, but only got around 60 last week). I know if I make this a priority, I will become better, faster, leaner and overall healthier. I'll let an improved appearance become the result of my cycling goals. I'm tired of constantly trying to lose weight and feeling unsuccessful.

My goals:
- Ride 100 miles a week
- Do weight/resistance training 3 times a week
- Consume less than 1,200 calories a day


Every Friday I'm going to do a recap of the week and assess if I achieved my goals or not. I'll use Friday morning as my weekly weigh in to keep some consistency. I think I'll also cover some sort of fitness-related topic. Tomorrow I'll talk about food journaling (the only way I've ever lost weight).

As some of you know, I love a good challenge. After all, I haven't used spoons in five years after I made it my angry New Year's resolution. Making this a game for myself is probably the only way I can make some headway.

Now, it's time to make use of my lunch break and do some weights in my office's gym. Ciao!

P.S. - Sorry this post was incoherent and all over the place. It's hard for me to gather my thoughts on this subject!

Some bike-related photos:

An old photo of the Ladies' Ride, taken by Erica Lucci.


Bikes, bikes, bikes in my living room.


Hilarious picture of Chris, Erica, Josiah and I after a 55 mile this spring. My hair tie broke before the ride started!


Riding into the darkness on another ladies' ride, another one courtesy of Erica.