It’s the End of the World As We Know It!

If you’re reading this, that means we’ve all made it so far! Woo hoo!

No seriously, hate to be a weirdo, but I am staying in doors as much as possible today. Not because I am afraid of being eaten alive by a zombie, or knocked out by a giant ball of fire, but because there are too many loose cannons out there. So just be careful today, okay? Oh, and I do hate those end of the world movies… I won’t watch them, they give me the creeps!

Next up, where the heck have I been? Let me apologize. I have been very under the weather, and this is the first time I have been able to reach the computer. I’ve felt extremely guilty for not being able to blog, but I always say be smart about your body! I definitely needed my rest. I’m still not 100% better, but able to function now

I’m pretty much going to pick up where I left off and then tie up some loose ends. This will be a longer post because I have lots to say!

Remember me talking about the great kitchen catastrophe I had? Well it was a little baking surprise for my mom and dad (G-Mama and Pop Pop). Phoebe was right by my side as we baked until 2 am that night. G-Mama has been talking nonstop about French Macarons (those beautiful EXPENSIVE delicious French cookies). So me being the over achiever that I am, set a goal to make them! I can’t be a normal person and make chocolate chip or sugar cookies. No, I have to make the hardest darn cookie on the planet to bake…

We also made Pop Pop Chrusciki’s. These are a Polish tradition that my dad loves. G-Mama made them all the time when I was a kid. They are pretty much like a funnel cake, but in a bow tie type shape. Powdered sugary goodness

I kind of took on too much in one night. I made the chrusciki batter and then started with the macarons right away.

I never thought the Macarons were going to happen. Things went horribly wrong. I had to start all over after I made the whole thing of batter from scratch. EVEN MADE MY OWN ALMOND FLOUR! (yeah, huge over achiever…). This is what happened…

I cleaned up, wiped away my tears, and started piping…

but things were still looking messy…

I then went on to the buttercream filling once I started baking, and decided to cheer myself up with some pretty colors

They actually turned out OKAY. Definitely nowhere near perfect. It was my first time, I probably overcooked the cookies too much, wasn’t sure, but played with a couple batches. They definitely were filled with a lot of homemade goodness and LOTS OF LOVE!

They tasted really good too. I did try a little

Meanwhile, Pop Pop’s Chrusciki’s turned out much better! I did get up super early the next morning to fry these babies, so they were fresh for him when I delivered!

I boxed everything up and off we went!

G-Mama was so surprised and so proud! And Pop Pop just devoured his too! I was happy I did it

After some family time, I went to the gym and kicked major butt!

I did a lot of hard core interval work (my current obsession)

Along with jumps, I did jump squats, high knees, and little fast jumping toe taps on the step. Those were pretty killer and my calves were BURNING. I ended up doing 25 minutes of this stuff. I also had an audience!

Pushups on the step are a great way to change things up too! I was doing tricep pushups, with my elbows in close to my body. Super hard to do, but such a great workout.

I also did my regular bicep/tricep workout. It was 3 days ago, so I can’t exactly remember specifics. Included curls, tricep pulldowns/overhead extensions, uppercut punches with kettlebells, and reverse bicep rows.

I was feeling pretty strong when I left!

The next morning was when my illness hit me. I felt awful, Phoebe was a good girl and just sat on my lap because she knew mommy wasn’t feeling good

When I had enough strength, we decided to travel to G-Mama and Pop-Pops

Boy was I spoiled!

I stayed the night, and in the morning Pop Pop hand delivered coffee! Geez I’m loved

What did Phoebe do all this time? Well she bugged the heck outta poor Shelbs, and then did some of this…

I’m finally back home and starting to feel a little bit better. I really hope I wake up completely better. I’m really missing the gym, but I know my body needs rest

Hopefully, the blog will be back to normal soon, but Christmas is literally around the corner and you know how that goes!

XOXO With a Cherry On Top,

-Minnie

P.S. Okay… secretly, yes I’m a little worried about the world ending. You can laugh, it’s okay! I actually have a recurring nightmare AT LEAST twice a week, where the world ends, I’m stuck in Ocean City, and I can’t get home to my family. Luckily, I’m not in Ocean City, so that has to be a good sign, right?