Not enjoying Summer Class...

So far, besides working out with Mike and the crew at Sweat Therapy, my Summer has been bogged down by a class I can't stand. I am talking about the infamous Business Communication class that is required for me to graduate, and die a slow death apparently. If someone,(an advisor) had told me this was the equivalent to a Kindergarten English class, and was best taken Junior year, I might not be as miserable now while we go over 'How to Write your Resume' and all the proper parts of speech.

 Along those same lines, I learned this stuff in grade school (not the resume part, obviously) and don't remember what adverbs, and complex/compound, sentences are now. I made it through just fine, and don't see the reason, if I haven't had some form of brain damage, bless anyone who has, to reiterate what I would rather leave in the past.

Sorry for the rant, but I haven't even gotten to the best part, that makes me do a double take every time I come to class. MY ACTUAL CLASS. I have never been surrounded by more uninterested, non common sensical, annoying people in all of the classes I have ever taken. My cat, Monkey could complete more difficult tasks; you think I'm kidding, I'm not. At least Monkey managed to clean himself everyday; wish I could say the same for my classmates. I had a kid in the my today bring a bottle of chocolate milk to class. However, I'm assuming that's what this was; it was inside a Jim Beam bottle after all. Classy stuff.

My favorite so far has been our in-class speaking assignment, though. The task was to pretend you were being interviewed by a company you would like to work for and make a good impression. We randomly chose a question, had it read to us, and had to speak for 30 SECONDS to answer the question. I emphasized seconds because I feel this is a super simple task to complete and when the class heard about it, (because obviously non of them read their emails the night before to tell them it was coming) you could have sworn the teacher said an hour presentation on the Neo Classical era...

I wish I could get a copy of that tape and post it because you could have sworn these kids got out of jail yesterday, and hadn't conversed with a real person in years. One guy got the question, "Tell us about a struggle you experienced in the workplace, and how you handled yourself." I kid you not, he answered,
"Well, I used to work at um, Starbucks on campus and um, my boss was kinda a a a dick, so I ignored him and um, he didn't bother me. He eventually left and I um, stayed, so I guess that's how I handled it."

People clapped....yes, people actually clapped for this, and many more just like this. I was looking around each time someone finished, to see if I was the only one astonished by everyone's performance; apparently, I was. I don't consider myself to be a world scholar, or have the skills of top public speakers but compared to these people, I was Martin Luther King Jr.

This was at the beginning of the semester and I still have a few more weeks to go. Soon, we have to present something to the class that we love, and try to "sell" it by speaking about how wonderful the product is. I plan to do the TRX, since that is something I can easily bring into class and demonstrate. I apologize for sounding like a Debbie Downer today, but I just can't believe all these kids have gotten through four years of college already. Hopefully, for them and me both, this class will start to fly by and I'll be in Dallas before you know it!

Noly and Dave's Wedding & My 1st Wedding Cake!!!

I last left you, knowing about my insurmountable soreness Mike and I were going through, on our 7 hour car ride, to South Florida at 2 in the morning. Thankfully we made it safe, sound, and with all of the wedding cake intact. After we unloaded the car, and stowed the cake safely in Mike's mom's kitchen, 

we passed our faster than I've ever fallen asleep before. 

The next day we woke and made the executive decision to let our sore bodies have a day off from working out, and get started on the long process of icing the multiple layers of cake. We headed out to first wash all those dang Love Bugs off my car (thanks UF for creating the bugs that are only good at dying upon a wind gust and eating the paint off of really nice cars...) and then went to get the finishing supplies needed to make the buttercream for the cake.

Nothing special to show on this day, due to the fact that we only did the crumb coats and outside layers on the cakes and decided to decorate the following day. We finished the day with a nice meal and got some shut eye so Mike and I could head out to the beach the next morning for a Beach workout!

The next morning we got up, made our protein shakes, and laced up our shoes to go run some miles on the beach. It was a beautiful morning out, with blazing rays of sun shining down on us as we completed 6 miles divided between the sidewalk beside the beach, and the actual sand. Running on the soft sand is some of the hardest leg work you can do, however, it feels great on your knees and takes off so much pressure. We did a couple plyometric sets and headed home for some lunch. After eating an apple with a sandwich, it was time for the decorating to begin.

Bottom tier, simple and elegant...

Then the middle tier...

To honor FSU with the Garnet and Gold ribbon...

and for the grand finale, the top tier...

This took a while to pipe, so I saved it for the smallest layer. Also because I knew this is what the bride and groom would keep :)

After this, we headed to the Palm Beach Gardens Mall. I needed some fresh air from decorating all day long, Mike wanted to get a professional shave done at 'The Art of Shaving' (awesome store and great products for men) and I had heard they had a Lululemon store and had to check it out!!!

Mike getting pampered, haha, he is so cute.

It was a nice way to try and calm my nerves about the looming 'stacking of the cakes' at the wedding, and I'm glad Mike and I got to spend some quality time together.

On the day of the wedding I was a nervous wreck. Mike and I loaded up the car, and basically froze ourselves, so the car would stay cold enough not melt any of the buttercream on the cake. The restaurant said we could start setting up at 4 o'clock on the dot and not a second earlier so we headed to Miami around 1:45. We thought we would have time to check into our hotel first, but traffic in Miami was so congested, we headed straight to the wedding venue. We arrived right on time and set up went well with only slight fix-ups needed, and best of all, my nightmares did not come true. I had been dreaming the entire week that once we put the cakes on top of each other, they would either topple to the ground or collapse inside each other. Luckily, this was not the case and I actually was starting to feel proud of what I saw...

TAAA DAAAAA!!!!

I was so elated, but had absolutely no time to fixate on the cake, because the ceremony was in 30 minutes and I was covered in buttercream iced clothes, and needed to change. Good thing all of our stuff was in the car parked outside because there was no time to go to the hotel and change, so we got out our stuff, and made a quick outfit switch in the bathrooms at the restaurant, and were able to witness two our of very dear friends get married without missing a beat.

Beautiful arch looking onto Miami

Ocean View

Then the wedding party started to walk down the aisle...

The groom Dave, in a dashing white tuxedo...

My beautiful friend Noly, who looked amazing in her dress. I could have sworn I saw some of the fraternity boys of Dave's choke back some tears.

I tried to video their vows but the file was too big and I had to upload it in two parts. The next video might be the first one so play that first if this one sounds like it isn't in sequential order.

It was a beautiful ceremony and an even better reception. The tables were decorated with a beachy theme and Mike and my table cards were on starfish!

And they spelled my name right! Thats the sign of a true friend. Everyone always spells it Hillary (with two 'l's )

Too cute! They also sat everyone at tables with memories they each had experienced with those particular people and had adorable signs made to explain them.

Since Mike and Dave are fraternity brothers, and that is where Noly and I met, it was fitting to be at the Phi Kappa Tau table. The night went off without a hitch and the cake went over really well, thank goodness. I, of course have my own critiques on how it tasted, but you learn a little every time you complete a new task, right? I was just so incredibly grateful that Noly let me contribute something so special to them, on a day that will be in their memories forever. I wish you both the best of luck, and I know your lives will be filled with great achievements and best of all, each other!

I also need to thank my amazing boyfriend, and personal assistant for this feat, Mike, for helping me, putting up with me, and at times, just explaining to me that my best is my best and I can't do it better :) He is truly the only one who could have kept me from having an aneurysm from this cake. 

Sore!

Words cannot describe how much my butt hurts at this moment. I currently am sitting with Mike on a five hour long car ride to Palm Beach for our friends wedding this weekend. You might be asking "wow, why are y'all driving so late? Are you nuts"

To answer this I would simply have to reply YES! The reason we got such a late start on the road was to go run three miles in kangoo boots at Sweat Therapy this afternoon. For those of you who don't know what kangoo jumps are, they are four pound boots with a spring on the bottom to propel you forward and make running just a little bit harder than it already is.It was such a killer workout two weeks ago, I decided Mike had to feel the same pain and enjoyment I had gone through.

I definitely accomplished what I set out to do, and in the process managed to make every muscle in my body hate me and seek vengeance during this car ride. However, the pain is totally worth it! I love taking classes with Mike, and everyone at Sweat Therapy is so nice and fun to be around. April took us on the run today and she is awesome! I love seeing her smiling face what we are all crying in pain!

Hey, if you don't feel like throwing up, it wasn't really a good workout. Now back to reading my new book "Lies Chelsea Handler Told Me..." I already almost peed my pants it has been so funny.

Resistance Training w Ali...enough said!

First off, let me start by saying, I sadly didn't make it to Zumba last night. My afternoon class (boo) lasted longer and was more annoying than expected, so Zumba was compromised. However, with the little bit of time I gained from not shaking my bootay to some bonita musica, I made delicious egg cups with the left over Mongolian beef and carmalized onions from Masa, Sunday night. They were very tasty and Mike and I had no problem devouring them.

Now, that we have signed up with Sweat Therapy, they have this nifty computer sign up system that allows you to view and choose the classes you want to take for the week and claim your spot in that particular class. Monday, I had chosen the Real Ryder spin class so Mike got to pick our poison for Tuesday.

"Resistance training with Ali sounds cool...." Final words to live by :) I will preface this class by saying I used to take numerous classes with Ali Campbell at another local gym and she is not just an instructor, but an inspiration to everyone who meets her. If caffeine could be a person, he would even beg Ali to tell him how she has the amount of energy she does. In saying this, I knew this class was gonna rock our worlds this Tuesday morning, and I was right. We arrived and from start to finish, just sweated our butts off. A mix of TRX training, squats, pushups, BOSU ball exercises, and more, all while holding weights, listening to some fun remixed music, and listening to Ali's motivational chants "LET'S GO LADIIIIEEESS...I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!!!" Mike appreciated this, since he was the only boy in the class. But to Ali's credit, she left him feeling sore the rest of the day, so he didn't mind in the least bit.

After getting in a great workout, Mike and I had a day full of baking cake to commence. First, and most importantly though, it was lunch time!

EGG TOSTADAS!!!

My new favorite thing to make are egg tostadas. All they are, are a toasted wrap, open faced, and then scrambled eggs with meat, veggies, and anything else you wanna throw in the mix. On the menu today was wilted spinach, chili flakes, carrots, turkey bacon, and then a thin layer of mozzarella right on the wrap. Dump the egg mix on the flat wrap and cut into fours then enjoy! Yummm!

Back to baking...I plan on getting all the cake baked off today and then freezing it for our trip down to South Florida tomorrow. Next thing I was looking foward to was our GLEE Real Ryder class at 8, I seriously  could not wait to go sweat my butt off AGAIN to the sounds of GLEE Prom! When we arrived, Cecily, a girl I took the TRX certification class with, just recently also got certified to teach the spin class so she was the instructor for tonight. She did a wonderful job and GLEE was awesome. 

Some people may think it is cheesy or corny, and it may be a little but who couldn't use a little more cheese in their life? I love cheese! Plus, I think it has a great message overall. They deal with real life issues some teenagers may be going through and if we maybe had, had this show a couple of years back some of those insecure kids might have had it a bit easier knowing other people were experiencing those same issues. I can't speak for anyone, else but I love knowing the fact that other kids my age enjoy show tunes as much as I do, just sayin...

I am now unable to get off our recliner in the living room and plan to make the bottle of IB Profen, and our Kashi pizza my new best friends...you know you're jealous. Can't wait for our Indo-row class in the morning!

The Start of Summer! Sweat Therapy Style...

I'm back baby, and ready for a new post! I realize this comes after a long hiatus away from the blog-a-spear, but believe me, I needed a break from my crazy, mixed up life in general. After a wonderful week spent with my mom in North Carolina filled with shopping, soup and sandwich eating, and some much needed therapeutic conversation about my future plans in Dallas, I was ready to return to Talla-nasty to finish my last two classes of my college career.

When I landed yesterday afternoon, Mike was there to greet me and we headed home to start planning out our busy week. Yes, even though summer has hit, our schedule remains just as busy. Finally, after many anticipated months, our friend's Noly and Dave's wedding has arrived. We are making one of the wedding cakes for the reception and needed to start getting the ingredients bought. We plan on making the cake here in Tallahassee and then frosting it down in Miami along with it's assembly. After making our list up, we headed off to Publix for some grocery shopping, both for the cake and our household.

Later that evening, I decided I was in the mood for some spicy Asian fare, so we headed to Masa, one of the best Asian restaurants in town. I had some wonderful spicy beef and Mike had an awesome Pad Tai dish which he proceeded to pump up the heat by adding a butt load of chili flakes to, it burned my tongue off! Then we headed home, relaxed to the sweet sounds of SNL, and passed out.

Recently, Mike and I bought a membership to a local boutique gym in Tallahassee, called Sweat Therapy.

It is where I took my TRX certification class and they offer some great classes that you can't find anywhere else. This morning we had signed up for a Real Ryder spinning class. However, unlike in a traditional spinning class, these bikes swivel back and forth, just like a real bike!

 The class was awesome and torched some major leftover food from Masa the night before! I plan on going back for a Zumba class tonight and can't wait. Gotta look good for the wedding this weekend! I also just love shaking it to some crazy Latin music while burning major calories, haha.

Now off to eat some lunch before I have to go to my second class of the day, Business Communications...yaaay (sarcastic). I'll keep y'all updated on the progress of the cake and how this week pans out. Mike and I are taking a Real Ryder class during GLEE tomorrow night! What could be better? You go and watch GLEE as you ride, and then during commercial breaks you get off the bike and do an interval of something else like abs! Too good to be true!