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? 😉