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So Weight Watchers. Hmmm. Well, I'm "watching my weight" go up if that's what you're wondering. I did lose 4.6lbs week one. Then gained 1.4 back. Then lost 1.4. Then gained 1 back. What is with this freaking pound and why does it love me so much? I have to stop being so charming. And don't think I don't know that the 2 people reading this blog right now aren't smiling. What's with us women saying we want to succeed in weight loss but secretly hate anyone that actually does it. I stay fat to keep friends. Period. I fear being skinny will make me a lonely person so I've decided against it.

Besides all of the TV I've been watching I've also been quite literary lately. I've read 3 whole books in the last month. What! Yup. The first one made me think. The other two just made me laugh. First, I read Slave Hunter by Aaron Cohen. GET THIS BOOK! It's all about the author's quest to rescue girls from sexual slavery around the world.

...interject...Van Morrison just started singing Dancing In the Moonlight on A Walk to Remember so I have to pause to get up and dance around my room by myself...

okay I'm back...Freeing women and children from the bondage of sexual slavery has always been a huge passion of mine. I just don't know what to do with that passion quite yet. But I'm thinking...

The other two books are written by my new favorite author, Jen Lancaster. Bitter is the New Black and Such a Pretty Fat are mostly true stories about her own life...going from being a top corporate executive wearing only designer clothes to an out of work blogger shopping the sale racks at Wal-Mart. Oh, and did I mention she got fat in the process. If you can skip over her potty mouth language, I think you'll find the books highly entertaining. I read each one in a 24 hour period, which shows that I am a studious person with a real passion for reading...or just that I have way too much free time on my hands and the cable went out.

I bought a Happy Halloween t-shirt at Target the other day. It's sparkly so I'm pretty much wearing it everyday until I can track down a bedazzler to sparkle up my other clothing. Does anyone know of an 80's garage sale in the area? Aside from the bedazzler I also am in desperate need of a caboodle. How am I supposed to organize all of my makeup without the slide-able compartments of a caboodle? I dare say it's not possible.

Today I went to Kohl's with Mommy and kid you not I actually saw an acid-washed above the knee ruffled skirt on the clearance rack. Really? Is this where we're going with fashion? Hmm.

Is anyone else wondering why the word "meant" has an "a" in it? I feel like it's unnecessary and confusing. The word "went" has no "a" in it and it rhymes with "meant." Darn this crazy English language.

Rachel]]> General http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=66 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:40:04 -0400 http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=64 Day 1: Weight Watchers

So I'm assuming that no one will read this blog entry since I haven't written in 4 months...but maybe there's one devoted fan left out there.

So here's my new thing...I'm fat as hail. According to Weight Watchers it's true. I'm not just making it up. Of course the nice lady behind the counter didn't say that to me today when I went in for my first meeting, but I know what she was thinking..."you should have been in here for some help 40lbs ago!" Agreed. So my journey to a skinnier version of me starts today. I was down this same road 8 years ago when I first joined Weight Watchers. Then, after a 40lb weight loss (which I have since gained back...plus 2 extra bonus pounds) I told myself, "I don't need this anymore. I'm skinny. I know what to do...how to eat healthy...exercise...yada yada yada." I was WRONG! Let's face it, in my delusional world of "I don't look that bad, I'll just buy more stretch waist clothing" I need a structured plan. Like for example when I eat ice-cream I put two big scoops in a really big bowl so it doesn't look like I'm eating a lot, then add a few scoops of peanut butter, and then top the whole thing off with about a cup of chocolate syrup. According to my WW book that little "snack" is like 30 points. More than my total allotment for the day. And I wonder why I'm fat! HELLO. Can we say fat free frozen yogurt with strawberries for Rachel?

I will do my best to keep you updated on my progress. I might even post some pictures if I look skinny enough. And let's be honest with ourselves, the main reason I'm back to blogging is because I just saw the movie Julie & Julia with my mom and that chick made a whole bunch of money blogging about food. I hope to hail I can make even more money blogging about a lack of food. PLEASE somebody forward my blog to an agent so I can get a multi-million dollar book deal and reality show set up which can in turn pay for my monthly membership at the liposuction clinic.

Oh, and I'd like to give a big shout out to my friend Kari who took the time to clean up my blog so all of the 75,000 comments from spam sites disappeared. Looks so much prettier now!

Soon to be skinny,
Rachel]]> General http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=64 Sat, 22 Aug 2009 13:25:24 -0400 http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=61
Back to the future...so last week was my 27th birthday. I am old as hail! On my actual birthday my roommates and one of my best friend's out here had a little pizza/movie party for me...and Alisa actually decorated my cake. So sweet! We watched "She's All That." Can you believe that these girls have never seen it!!! WHAT! What were they doing in 1999? It's a classic Freddy Prince Jr. (hottie!) "My Fair Lady" tale that includes an all-star cast highlighted by that funny seriel killer from Scream (a classic) who plays a reject from The Real World tv show. Daddy, do you remember when we used to watch The Real World when I'd get home from school? That's before it was so trashy. Everyone was just mildly drunk, sort of sleeping with each other and had real jobs. TV was cleaner back then. Well, as you can imagine, all 5 of us were cuddled on our couch practically in tears when Freddie Prince and that cute little brunette were dancing by her pool at the end of the movie. I can't think of a better combination that a room fool of estrogen and a chick flick. How can that not have a good ending?

So that was Wednesday. On Friday night my roommates hosted a big PINK PARTY for me here at the house...complete with wall-to-wall pink decorations (including our front porch), pink (spiked) punch, pink champange, pink cake (homemade by Alisa) and a big pink card (poster size) that everyone signed. And guess what everyone wore? Blue! KIDDING. Gottcha. Yes, of course they wore pink. My friend Becky even wore sparkles. I love sparkles. She looked like a mermaid. It was wonderful. Oh, and so funny...there was a tray of pink easter peeps. Some of these crazy califorians have never tasted a peep. Once the punch got flowing it turned into a "peep party"...you'll see what I mean by the pictures.

Welcome to My Pink Party

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Friends

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Leiry (pronouched Lady...she's Spanish) and Christina Q

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Just Me

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Me and My Roommates (Alisa in front; Mary in back on left; Me, center; Susan, back right)

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My Grandma Kiss (as my friends call it). Me and May

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Peep Sandwich

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Peeps Out for a Stroll

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Praying For the Meal (I have an obcession with holding hands when I pray)

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Me and Laura. One of my very best friends. And she's Romanian. Bonus!

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May and Me and My new Apron...made by May herself

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Flowers From Mommy & Daddy

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PINK Party Gangsta Style

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Me and Mermaid Becky

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Cupcakes

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Make a Wish

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I love pink parties! :-) While we were taking the pictures on the porch, a lady jogging said, "Oh, a little girl's birthday party." LOL. Little did she know it was for a 27 year old princess. Once a princess...always a princess! At least that's what my Daddy says.

Moving right along to school. Can you believe that I am in the last 3 weeks of my kitchen classes. After that I have 4 weeks of boring classroom stuff and then I'm back to PA for my internship. What an amazing ride this has been! Right now I'm in chocolate's class (more fattening than it sounds...trust me I know...and so do my hips). Here are a few pictures of some chocolate boxes I've made.

Little Rose Box

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Marbled Heart Box

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Pink & Brown Box

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Okay, that's all for now. I have to go get dressed for our girl's movie night. Oh wait, I'm already in my pajamas. Perfect.

]]> General http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=61 Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:12:07 -0400 http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=59
STIR-UP PANTS ARE BACK! WHAT!

Here's the evidence...which I took on a covert operation on the N-train. While pretending to be writing a text, I was in fact collecting evidence of this fashion disaster for what I'm sure will be an upcoming episode of What NOT to Wear. I mean seriously, are we really that desperate that we need to bring back the stir-up pant? Is the wind really so strong that it's causing our pants to uncontrolably fly up off of our legs, so that we feel the need to tie down our pants with little loops under our ankles? Nothing good can come of this! If spandex biker shorts with neon stripes down the sides come back, I'm committing suicide. Don't say you haven't been warned.

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Onto more uplifting fashion news...also a blast from the fashion past, but this time planned for good reasons...

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Now I know what you're thinking..."I thought she went out to CA for culinary school. I didn't know she became a hooker? So weird." Before you get all in a tizzy, I confess that I am not a hooker, but rather an enthusiastic 80's birthday party attender. And I was told there would be prizes...but there was not. Oh well, who needs prizes when you have the opportunity to purposely dress like this. If only I would have had my big New Kid's On The Block button the outfit would have been perfect! I even got my quiet roommate Susan to dress like an 80's groupie with me but she refused to be on camera. And when I came at her with the blue eye shadow and AquaNet she ran the other way. :-) Seriously, the party was awesome. When we first got there we pulled up to this warehouse on the outskirts of the city. I was sure it was some kind of plan to murder us. And how bad would that look if the cops showed up and found my dead body in this outfit! Can we say "next episode of Law & Order: SVU." Turns out we didn't die. Instead I spent a good hour making everyone else up before the birthday girl arrived. Rule of thumb: Never leave home without your hot pink lipstick, blue eye shadow, AquaNet and comb. Such items are essential for the successful outcome of an 80's rave. By the time I got through with those girls, we looked like the theme song to 21 Jump Street. So hot! I love big hair!

Oh, by the way, I decided to stop wasting my time trying to come up with whitty transitional sentences (sorry Mommy) and just jump from one topic to the next, so try to keep up. Transitional sentences are just too much stressure! (that's a fancy word for stress + pressure that my good friend Scott Skeabeck made up. Snaps for Scott).

Last week was spring break. Who does that? Oh that's right, college students do...and I'm a college student. I have to tell you, this is definitely the way to go 1/4 of the way through your life. Stop working; it's over rated anyway; go to school and get a spring break. I certainly enjoyed mine. Two of my friends from PA (Rachel #2 and Cherith) came out to visit me. Let me just say that I've lived in San Francisco for 7 months and I saw more in the 4 days they were here than I've seen since I've lived here. I'm not really the "get off the couch and do stuff" type, but Rachel is. She kept us moving and I'm pretty sure she was carrying a whip with her. Scary as hail! She even made us climb to the top (okay we cheated and took the elevator) of this super tall (like 20 stories) tower to get a good view of the city. I can do that from a postcard. But, we did spot the famous Lombard Street and headed there afterwards. While we were driving down it I spoted a lemonade stand and jumped out of the car. Let me tell you what, if I lived on that street (and it's only about 20 ft long) I'd be selling everything from t-shirts to framed photos to dramamine (for all the twists and turns). Do you know how many tourists drive down that street everyday! It's like a gold mine. In fact, I'd just put a little chain across the top and a sign that said, "Toll Plaza: $10 per car". These tourists are so dumb they wouldn't know the difference. And if the city tried to stop me I'd give them a 15% cut. Everyone has a price. Mine just happens to be $10 per car. :-) Welcome to San Francisco.

So after skipping around the city we headed out to Sonoma for a two day tour of wine country. Rachel's friends, Katie and Jason, also joined us. Poor Jason, 4 girls and 1 boy. It felt like a movie. The weather was amazing, the vineyards spectacular and the wine potent. Lets just say that it's apparently not a good idea to taste 7 wines on an empty stomach at 11:00am. I was drunk as hail! Okay, probably just a little tipsy, but I like the word drunk for the drama. I love drama. :-) Thank God I wasn't driving. On my way out the door I almost fell into a fountain. I skipped the next tasting and went right to Whole Foods to buy everything on their shelves. I definitely ate like 3 lunches that day.

On Monday night we stayed at this adorable and slightly scary "tree house" cottage in the middle of the woods. I was pretty sure we were going to get murdered but I'm a tropper, I stuck it out. You know now that I think of it, I always think I'm going to get murdered. Must be all that Law & Order I watch. I really need to switch to cartoons. On Tuesday morning, I woke up to the most amazing aroma of bacon frying. Or was it bacon? Maybe it was the seriel killer cooking up Rachel? Oh, what the hail! I took my chances. A girl's gotta eat! Turns out it was bacon.

After our hardy breakfast (I learned my lesson from the day before) we jumped back in our cars and headed out to more vineyards. Tuesday was the best day because it's the day when we found pink champange. Ahh...I love pink! Of course I bought two bottles. My birthday is coming up and nothing says 27 like a glass of pink champange!

Somewhere along the way I must have been either really drunk or completely delusional because I found myself hiking up a hill with trees and bugs and dirt and stuff. In a dress no less! This was all Rachel's doing. Have I failed to mention that I don't hike...or touch dirt...or go outside? Because I thought I was pretty clear on those points. I do have to say that the Redwoods were beautiful, but again, I was sure that a seriel killer must be lurking out in those woods somewhere. I mean seriously, don't you people watch the news (or Law & Order)??? Seriel killers always hide out in the woods. They just assume that anyone dumb enough to leave their houses and cable tv deserves to die. I can't say I don't agree. Just putting that out there.

Well, since I'm writing this blog I guess you've figured out that we made it out alive. Although Cherith did get some blisters on her feet so my theory that the woods are dangerous for humans is still true. Take notes.

Once our adventure in SF came to an end we all jumpec on a plane early Wednesday morning and headed back to PA...even me. I surprised my parents. Of course my biggest worry when I showed up to their house was the possibility that they would have heart attacks. Their health is not that good. Their diets consist of sugar, cake frosting and blood pressure medication. Not exactly the kind of people you want to catch off guard. But they do have lots of money which my brother and I stand to inherit, so I thought I'd roll the dice. Best case senario, they live. Wrost case senerio, they live on breathing machines at CC Hospital while my brother and I retire to the Caymans. It's really a win-win. :-) In case you're wondering, there were no heart attacks to be had and my brother and I are still poor...BUT we had a lovely visit together...ate cheesesteaks...ate cake...watched 15 hours straight of Law & Order...ate ice-cream...caught up on The Real Housewives of NYC...and slept in. It was pure bliss! And on Friday night we took a break from the couch so that I could babysit my two favorite girls...Annie and her new sister Jack. We passed 2 milestones during this visit: 1. I met Jack for the first time. 2. Annie made her very own cake with no help from me. She didn't even use a recipe and it turned out beautifully. I felt so proud. Here are the pictures.

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Okay so more BIG NEWS! I'm moving back to PA! Crazy huh? I got an internship at The Master's Baker (www.themastersbaker.com) in West Chester so I'll be doing wedding cakes this summer. How cool is that! I'm so excited about it. And, this means that I'm moving home for good. I've loved every minute of being in San Francisco but at heart I'm a home body. I miss my family and friends...and I'm not going to lie...my car. One thing I won't miss is public transportation. If I don't step on another train for the next 10 years I'll be happy. Don't get me wrong, it's been a blessing to me but there's nothing like being able to manage your own time, with your own car. Can't wait to have my baby back!

So my last day of class is June 12th and I fly home on June 13th. My internship starts on June 16th. I can't wait to see all of your beautiful faces again!

I started a new class this week but before I forget, here are a few pictures from the end of my last class...


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Ooo. I'm so excited! I WON 3RD PLACE in this year's ING March Madness NCAA Basketball Tournament. Two years ago I won 2nd. Last year I came in dead last. So next year I expect to take it all. My initial investment was $0. It should have been $5 but I co-erced my old co-worker Rob into paying that for me. I'm very charming. I ended up winning $23.50. That might sound low but it is a 400+% return on my investment. I'm basically like a Hedgefund. I let other people use their money to invest for me...I keep all the earnings...and they had the privilege of working with me. And who says hedgefunds don't work!

Last, but certainly not least...my super dooper handsome godson Titus. How cute is this picture! Oh my gosh it's so cute I could die!

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I know...I know...he should be a baby model. I keep telling his mother this but she hasn't done anything about it. How am I supposed to afford lyposuction if Titus doesn't start making some money off that smile? Skinny doesn't come cheap these days! Geez.

That's all for now.]]> General http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=59 Tue, 7 Apr 2009 21:42:48 -0400 http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=55
First things first...my precious little Annie Shaw became a big sister on February 23, 2009. The newest addition to the Shaw family is Jacquelyn Leighton Shaw, who will be called 'Jack' after Alyce's dad. Here's a picture of the little cutie pie and future baker in training. Don't you just want to kiss her face off! Or maybe that's just me. :-)

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Second most important thing going on...The Bachelor. WHAT IS WRONG WITH JASON! I'm going to need therapy for years to get over what he did to Melissa. I mean seriously. How could he propose to her only to dump her on national television 6 weeks later. And for Molly, the annoying valley girl from LA. Men are dumb as hail! Especially this one. But then again I should have known that when he sent Jillian home. Despite her annoying Canadian accent, she was my favorite to win. I mean can you dress any cuter than her? I think not. Thank God the show is redeeming itself by bringing her back as The Bachelorette. I should be a good person and protest this nonsense altogether, but lets face it, that's just not gonna happen. I think the show should give us a real twist and have Jason come back on The Bachelorette as one of the contestants once he and Molly break up. 3rd time's a charm?

Moving on. Lent is 13 days underway and moving along glowingly. It was Sister Sheila and Rachel Skrabak who first turned me onto Lent and it has certainly been a blessing ever since. Year 1 (2007) I gave up all sugar and flour for 46 days. Yes, that's right...Lent is technically 46 days if you don't skip Sundays or stop at Palm Sunday like some people do. Now deep down I do Lent for the right reasons...to focus on the sacrifices that Christ made for me leading up to His death and resurrection (Go Jesus!) and to re-focus my perspective on the things that really matter in life. On a more surface level I can't say that I mind the usual weight loss either. Does that make me a bad person? Not sure, but it sure as hail makes me a skinny one for a few weeks. Snaps for skinny! That first year I was sure I'd lose like 40lbs. I mean seriously, if you know me you know how much sugar and flour I consume on a daily basis. I'm practically buying 50lb bags of sugar at Cosco and eating it with a spoon. And a normal serving size of ice-cream is 1/2 gallon per person, isn't it? Well all I know is that a bunch of annoying weight loss experts always say that if you just cut out that one soda or that one dessert everyday you'll lose 15lbs a year. Liars! All of them are liars! I didn't lose 1 feakin' pound and I cut out sugar and flour for 46 days. Now I probably filled the void in my heart with an excess amount of cheese, but that doesn't count. Cheese is protein and according to Dr. Atkin's it evaporates in your body, taking fat cells with it. I think what really happened was that my body totally FREAKED OUT when it discovered that it wasn't going to get it's daily carb allotment and thus decided to stage a protest within my body by gathering all of my fat cells and holding them hostage until I relented. They won.

The next year I changed my game plan and drank only liquids during Lent. Protein shakes, milk shakes, blended up burgers (kidding...well...sort of...), hot chocolate, coffee...etc. At one point I even bought a can of chocolate frosting and swished it around it my mouth until I could swallow it without chewing. One thing I don't lack is creativity. That year I lost 18lbs. Of course I ended Lent with that stupid dieter statement, "Now that my stomach shrunk I'll never eat like a pig again. I'm just too healthy now." WRONG. I think I gained all that weight back and more in a month...but hey, at least for a few weeks I could feel a hip bone. That's all I need in life. :-)

This year I am 13 days into it and have lost 10lbs. My plan is simple. I only drink fresh fruit and vegetable juices...nothing else. Okay this week I did put a little hemp protein powder in a few of my juices because my friend convinced me that I needed protein. It tastes awful. Like swallowing powdered grass. Yummy. I also gave up wine (pretty much the only alcohol I drink), secular music and tv. On Friday afternoon I sort of had a little breakdown and watched some tv on my laptop. It was bliss. I prayed about it first and decided that Jesus wouldn't hate me for having a moment of weakness. Besides, Jack Bauer is trying to save the president on 24 and I just can't miss that. Some crazy psycho from a made up country called Sengala broke into the white house (which surprisingly is not all that hard to do) and took the president hostage. He slapped her across the face and said, "you don't tell me what to do." Ooooo....he hit a woman...in front of Jack Bauer. I hate to be the one to break it to this dude, but things are not going to work out well for him. Just an FYI.

Next topic. On Saturday I attended my first ever Japanese Girl's Day celebration. Where has this been all my life? It's a day devoted entirely to girls...and all things pink. Again, I blame my parents for not exposing me to the Japanese culture at an earlier age...as well as for not allowing me to convert to Catholicism to have a first holy communion party, nor to Judaism to have a Bat Mitzvah and rake in all that cash. Gosh! Anyway, I don't think there's cash involved in Japanese Girl's Day so I'm going to let this one slide. At the party there was this huge spread of pink food (which I only looked at and smelled of course) alongside a big display of Japanese dolls, all of which are set in a certain order to reflect the emperor's court. About 50 people attended and most of the little girls had cute little pink dresses on. It was like pink heaven. Mark your calendars for March 3, 2010. Japanese Girl's Day party at Rachel's house. Bring cash. :-)

What else? Oh, about a month ago I got some info from my chef at school about a guy who wanted to have a student come to his house to do a cake demo, so of course I called. This was on a Thursday. The demo was supposed to be that Saturday. I basically spent all day Friday doing prep work (baking off lots of cake layers) and preparing a lesson plan. On Saturday Mike (the guy) picked me up and took me to his place in the Marina where I met Brian and Pearl, my two wonderful students. We had the best time! I was there for 7 hours. And of course we all became instant friends! At the end of the session each of them had finished a very mini wedding cake. Here are the photos...

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Aren't my little pupils adorable! Pearl is this hysterical southern lady from New Orleans. She moved to San Francisco after she lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. Brian is super sweet. They both work together and have found a similar bond in food. After Easter I'm going to meet them in the East Bay (over the Bay Bridge) for a big homecooked southern meal...dessert compliments of me. :-) Maybe I'll make pecan pie. Ooo la la.

This coming Saturday I'm helping my friend Daren put on a French dinner party. Black tie affair for 16. I can't wait! He spent two weeks in Paris last fall doing photography so he wants to have this party to show off some of his best pictures. I'm making the creme brulee and the baguettes. Parlez vous fancais!

As for school...here is what I've been up to in plated desserts over the last 3 weeks. Enjoy.

Bread Pudding finished with Sauce Anglaise, Caramel Sauce, Whipped Cream
and a Tuile Spoon (pronouced "Tweel")

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Homemade Brownie and Ice Cream finished with Pistachios, Caramel Paste,
Chocolate Tuile and a Chocolate Cigarette

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Cheesecake with Grahram Cracker Crust finished with Sauce Anglaise, Raspberry Coulis,
Fruit and a Tuile Butterfly

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Creme Caramel flooded with Caramel Sauce, Fruit and finished with a Tuile Spiral

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Dark Chocolate Mousse coated with Chocolate Ganache finished with Toasted Pistachios, Chocolate Sauce, Sauce Anglaise, Whipped Cream and a Tuile Garnish

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Flourless Chocolate Cake ("Chocolate Decadence") Coated in Chocolate Ganache,
Striped with Milk and White Chocolate

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Mini Chocolate Decadence

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Sliced Chocolate Decadence finished with a Pool of Sauce Anglaise, a Rosette of Whipped Cream
and a Chocolate Cigarette

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Ribbon Sponge filled with Raspberry Fruit Mousse finished with Chocolate Tuile Garnishes
and Whipped Cream

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Trio of Bavarois topped with a Molded Chocolate Spiral, plated on a Chocolate Filagree Design

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One last thing. If you're not watching The Flight of the Concords on HBO you're really missing out on something great. All I have to say is, "Murray...present. Bret...present. Jermaine...present."

That's all for now.

Love,
Rachel




]]> General http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=55 Mon, 9 Mar 2009 22:59:25 -0400 http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=54
Not too much is going on around San Francisco. Just chillin' and livin' life. This past weekend was a 4-day weekend for me so that was awesome. We had Monday off for MLK Jr. Day and Tuesday was teacher in service. Yet again, another good reason to quit your jobs and become students again. They don't give in-service days at the office.

Let's see...last Wednesday my friend Michelle Hoover Manthey came to visit. (I like to include the maiden names of all of my married friends as a reminder of where they came from. Heritage is important. Of course by the time they have great-great grandchildren the poor kids will have like 12 last names; god forbid there are any divorces along the way. What a mess that would be!). She came out here to visit her friend Katie who lives nearby, and to introduce the two of us. How weird is it that Katie and I have the same last name! Maybe we're sisters. Mommy & Daddy please post a comment on this blog to clarify this for me. If she is my long lost sister I don't want her cutting into my inheritance. It's bad enough that I wasn't a trust fund baby. I'm certainly not splitting what's left with some other chick, even if she is nice. It was so fun having them over. I made a huge Italian dinner, incorporating some of the fresh baguettes I had made in class that day as garlic bread and homemade croutons. I love bread.

On Thursday night we hosted small group at our house. It used to be Wednesday but we switched it back to Thursday, which is great for me since it gives me another day to do my homework...since I have such a busy schedule and all...what with all the napping, tv, long walks and partying. :-) I do go to school sometimes too. Gosh.

On Friday I saw Grand Torino with my man Clint Eastwood. WARNING: Mommy & Daddy DO NOT see this movie! You'll think less of me. The language was horrendous but it fit his character well. And because I love Clint I'm gonna let it slide. I think I said a few Hail Mary's afterwards. Are Baptists allowed to do that? Hmm...not sure.

(are you bored yet???)

On Saturday I hung out with my friend Laura. We ate at this great Mexican place and then while I was in a food coma she coerced me into taking a walk in the park. Never agree to anything after a big meal. Not only was there walking involved, but there were steps too. WHAT! I don't do steps. In fact I'm saving to install an elevator in our house right now. My roommate Mary came along with us since she knows GoldenGate Park better than we do. It's like Central Park, but a little smaller. It's sad that I only live two blocks away and have only been there twice. I have been to Starbucks several times so that counts. After the walk we threw together an impromtu sleepover...Mary, Susan and me...and two of our friends from small group. Bubble tea drinks, bad movies and chocolates were involved so how could I refuse? I only watched 10 minutes of the first movie before I conked out. It's called "War, Inc" with Jon Cusack. Don't waste your money. It was stupid...at least the 10 minutes of it that I saw. Four words...Waste-of-money-honey.

On Sunday I was a super-Christian, attending all 3 services at church. Well...sort of. I helped in the 2-4 year olds class at the 9am service, had a one-on-one meeting with Pastor Marty at 10:30 and then attended the 12:00. Rachel Skrabak eat your heart out. I just got 3 crowns in heaven. Cha-ching! After the last service 15 of us went to this awesome cafe for lunch. It's called Axis Cafe and it's owned by a few Christian couples (Kari...it has the same vibe as Burlap & Bean). Very cool place! Out back there's this huge patio with a big fireplace, couches, tables...it's awesome. And they have bison burgers. Sign me up. Of course 4 people ordered the bison burger after they heard me order it but then the waitress came out and said they only had one left. I had to give up one of my crowns in heaven and say, "Hail no! I'm not giving up my burger. I want beef!" Is that what Jesus would do? Probably not, but I don't want to assume His actions...and I want to excuse mine. It was darn good! Or as they would say here in Northern California, "It was hella good." G-H-E-T-T-O.

I think we got home at 4 o'clock ish. Just in time for me to settle in and watch the last 12 episodes of The OC Season 3. That lasted until about 4am on Monday. Can we say addiction? After that marathon I decided to get a jump start on lent and give up all tv (EXCEPT FOR THE BACHELOR) until further notice. Can we say, "TA" (TV Anonymous). Help me.

On Monday all of my roommates were home so we slept in late and then had a big breakfast together. That went on until about 1pm. We're a very motivated bunch. I think I did 4 loads of laundry though so that's something. That night Alisa and I went to church for a "Managing Your Money" class. It's being held the next 7 Mondays. I loved it. The people at my table were hysterical. At first I thought the one couple was part of some kind of cult so I was watching them to make sure they didn't try to suck me in. They were just too pretty and perky to not be in a cult. And the wife's teeth were too straight. I can't trust a person like that. At the end of the night I concluded that they might be okay, but I'll still keep my eye on them. If they ask me to join their carpet cleaning business or try to get me to grow my own food I'll run like hail!

On Tuesday I did nothing. Well, I did watch the inauguration with Susan on CNN.com. Did anyone see Areatha's hat? Oh my gosh I almost died I loved it so much! It had a big bow on the front with lots of little diamonds. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I love bows!

Today I was very happy to get back to school. Let's face it, I'm a Blair. I don't do well off of my routine for very long. I'm either in a routine or I fall apart. There's no real middle ground. And the early wake up call was totally worth it because we made cinnamon rolls with thick icing in class today. Yummy! After our pasta dinner tonight we're having them for dessert. Move over Dr. Atkins.

That's all for now.

Toodle-o
]]> General http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=54 Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:22:31 -0400 http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=52
1. Develop an eating disorder
2. Take drugs
3. Start smoking
4. Have a limb amputated or donate an organ
5. Have my mouth wired shut
6. Become an alcoholic (only vodka...I hear that's fat-free)
7. Lyposuction
8. Gain even more weight so I can go on The Biggest Loser
9. Diet pills
10. Healthy eating and exercise

I think smoking will be my best option. Let's face it, most people quit smoking in the new year so that means cigarettes will be on sale. Purely from an economic standpoint smoking is the way to go. Of course lyposuction is faster but it's a little out of my student budget price range, and drugs are hard because I don't know any drug dealers and even if I did I'd probably end up with a narc who would send me to prison. On second thought, prison food stinks and they have free gym equipment so that might work. What a mess! So many options, so little motivation. For now, I am back at the gym...day 2. 700 calories on the eliptical baby! And then I go home and eat 700 calories in chocolate. My plan...eat up all the chocolate in the house so that it will no longer be a temptation. Then see how fast my weight drops off! Did anyone see the latest issue of Oprah magazine? I was reading it in the checkout line at Safeway. The cover showed skinny Oprah from a few years ago, next to fat Oprah (present day) with a headline that said something like, "How did this happen again?". I don't know about you but I love fat Oprah. Skinny is not a good look for her. She needs meat on her bones, otherwise she looks like an alien. Scary. If Oprah, who has a bizzillion dollars and access to the best trainers and cooks in the world, can't stay skinny, then I don't feel so bad that I can't either. I'll make a bet with you. If Oprah gets skinny this year, then so will I, but if she stays fat, I do too. :-) Have to go send a carepackage of twinkies and cupcakes to Oprah. See ya...

Kidding, well only a little. If I only had her home address.

So, I know it's been awhile since I've last updated you on my life. As you can tell from the discussion above, I've been very busy contemplating weight loss methods. I can't have anything interrupt me when I'm doing that.

I hope you all had an amazing holiday. I know I did. First of all, this whole being a student thing is awesome. Why haven't I been doing this my whole life? Oh that's right, my parents pressured me into being responisble and getting a job. Thanks a lot. That really screwed up the last 5 years. Being a student at the holidays is awesome. You get 2 weeks vacation and there's no homework or responsibilities of any kind to weigh you down. My word of encouragement to you: quit your jobs (the economy is going down the toilet anyway) and sign up for community college.

I was finished school on December 19th. Here's a picture of my last project. It's called croque en bouche (pronounced "coke-an-boosh") and is the traditional european wedding cake. The base is nugatine (similar to peanut brittle) and the rest is made out of layers of cream puffs covered in hot caramel. I don't ever recommend making this at home unless you seriously want to burn your fingers off. It's really hot!

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On Saturday morning, December 20th, my roommates and I had a roommate Christmas. It felt just like Christmas morning. We got up late, made a big breakfast together and then sat in our pj's opening stockings by the tree. We did take a few pictures but all of us voted to keep them offline. When you take a picture of 4 women with no make up on, it's bound to get vetoed. For our stockings we each drew a name and made a stocking for that one person. Two of my roommates are asian so this was the first stocking they had ever received...or made. It was so cute! They kept calling them socks.

On Sunday I flew home to Chester County to spend the rest of my vacation with my family and friends. First of all let me say that going forward I am only flying Southwest. Those flight attendants are hysterical! They were all wearing santa hats or reindeer headbands (and you all know how much I love tacky). As the flight was taking off one of them said, "This is a no smoking, no crying, no whining flight. If you are caught doing any of those things you will be escorted to the exit and will be featured in our upcoming safety film, 'Gone With The Wind: Blown Away'." How funny is that! And the best part...when we landed the flight attendant sang us a Christmas carol, thanked us for flying Southwest, and then said, "Now get off our plane." Nothing says Christmas like that. Southwest is my new best friend.

Daddy picked me up at the airport of course. When I walked out to meet him I could only think of one thing, "It's franking cold out here!" (Franking is like freaking, but funnier. I give Rachel Skrabak all the credit for making that one up. It's Daddy and my favorite word). What is with you Philly people and your cold weather? I don't like it.
Once we got home, my vacation unravelled as follows: sleep, eat, nap, meet up with friends for lunch/dinner, watch tv, nap, eat, eat more, nap again, meet up with more friends, hang out with the fam...and eat. I made the mistake of getting on the scale when I got home. I gained 7 FRANKING POUNDS while on this little 10-day vacation. WHAT! Who knew that Christmas cookies, eggnog, holiday punch, chocolates, cheesesteaks, french fries, milkshakes, candy, soda, leftovers and fudge had so many calories. They should print labels on this stuff to warn people. Hopefully if I work out for the next 3 months I can get back to my pre-vacation weight: Fat but not Biggest Loser fat. I don't want people talking.

Here are some pictures from my trip home. I know I have more but I need people to email them to me. Here's what I got so far...

Me and my godson Titus Dustin Mayo

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My Small Group (Fondue Christmas Party)
Rachel S, Kari, Laurie, Me, Jordan, Michelle, Nancy, Katie, Cherith and Amy...plus 7 husbands, 4 babies and 1 toddler

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Titus, Eden (Jordan & Josh's little girl) and Me

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Me and Annie

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My Family at Longwood Gardens
(Me, my brother Aaron, my mom Nancy and my Dad, Mark)

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I think that's all the pictures I have from my trip home. If anyone has anymore please forward them to me so I can get them posted. Amy and Morgan, I think you have a few cute ones from our lunch date.

Oh, and pre-trip home, my San Francisco small group did dinner and ice-skating. Here are some pictures...

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Oh, during Christmas break I also found a new obcession in life: The O.C. I totally missed this show when it was on the air. Now I have it on DVD. It's like 90210 meets Dawson's Creek meets The Young and the Restless...but even more scandalous. I watched Season 1 and 1/2 of Season 2 at home, and then watched 6 more episodes on the flight back. One of the flight attendants saw me watching it and admitted to being a super fan. Thank God! Everytime something crazy would happen I would jump out of my seat and run to the back to discuss it with him. We're now bff's. Yet, again, another reason to fly Southwest.

That's all for now. Check back for diet and reality tv updates. Best shows this year:

The Bachelor
Fringe
Prison Break
24
Biggest Loser
Real Housewives of Orange County
The Office
And basically any trash that MTV is showing

If you're not watching these perhaps you should take a good look at your life and re-prioritize.

Also, cakes class is over. Breads class has begun. If there's anything I like more than cake it's bread. School is not good for my waistline.]]> General http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=52 Tue, 6 Jan 2009 22:21:11 -0400 http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=49
And I know there are A LOT of flowers on this cake. If I had a choice I would do a smaller cascade, but my chef required 3 dozen flowers per cake.

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null]]> General http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=49 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:54:39 -0400 http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=47
This weekend was fun. On Friday night I baked Christmas cookies and watched Forest Gump with my roommate Susan. "My name's Forest Gump. People call me Forest Gump." I love that line. On Saturday I dragged myself out of bed for a wine tasting in the city. I was definitely not feeling it but I committed to going so I went. I'm so glad I did. Unlike the Sonoma trip, this one was a much smaller venue...a start-up winery. The owner was there the whole time, mingling with the guests, telling us his story about how he got started in wine making. Today he has a nice set up in the back of a glass warehouse in the city where he bottles about 1,000 cases a year. He had 30 varieties for us to try. Luckily I stopped at #21. At 22 I'd have to sign up for AA meetings. :-) Aside from the wine he offered an excellant selection of fine cheeses. Three words...I love cheese. Lets put it this way...I paid $15 to get into this tasting...tasted 21 wines...ate at least a block of cheese...and several tortilla chips. All in all I think I got my money's worth.

After the tasting I took a much needed nap in preparation for a tree trimming party that night. Basically the cover charge for the party was a homemade ornament for the tree. I made a gingerbread girl wearing a pink apron. Her head fell off in transit so I had to delicately "place" her in the tree. Little did I know that we had to each get up and share about our ornament. Everyone before me made one as a tribute to the host, Russ, who has been throwing this party for the past 9 years. I was not informed of this tradition. So I got up and said, "So, I didn't know that we were supposed to make an ornament for Russ so I made one for myself. And it got decapitated. See." Upon which I proceeded to eat my head. And by the end of the night my whole body was gone. People kept coming up to me saying, "I just ate the arm off your ornament. It was good." Not gonna lie...it was a little weird. Here are a few pictures...I dressed up like a Christmas Tree...green dress...red sweater...red heels...clips with jingle bells in my hair...

Me and Kerstin

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Me and Becky

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Me Laughing At My Decapitated Ornament

null]]> General http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=47 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:32:17 -0400 http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=45
Well, since I've been gone awhile and I HAVE to get back to Facebook, I'll try to do a quick recap on some of the fun events that have been happening around here. First, Thanksgiving in the city was wonderful. I spent the day with 30+ other orphans at John Cheng's apartment (a guy from my church). At 8:30 our church did a Thanksgiving morning service (a first for me) and then we all headed over to John's. Basically from 11am Thursday to 2am Friday we gorged ourselves on food, wine, movies and naps. It was like heaven on earth. And the best part...the boys did most of the cooking. They waited on us hand and foot! It was so adorable. They all had aprons on and were looking up recipes on their iPhones. It took 4 guys, 3 pots and a visit to most of the neighbors to borrow sugar, to make one bowl of cranberry sauce. One of the guys would say, "John, do you have any sugar. This recipe says we need sugar," to which he would respond, "Do I look like the kind of guy that would have sugar?" Then another one would say, "John, where are the lids for these pots?", to which he would respond, "Do I look like the kind of guy that would have lids." This went on for a good hour before the cranberry sauce finally hit the table. Hysterical! Here's a picture of how the boys improvised for the lack of lids. When in doubt, use plates. Genius.

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Luckily they only had to assemble a few simple dishes. Everyone else brought the rest. Just an FYI...going forward I highly recommend doing Thanksgiving pot luck. We not only had all of the standard dishes, we also had sushi, Asian food, fried chicken, pasta salad, ice-cream and a bunch of other tasty treats. I love buffets! I contributed 2 pumpkin pies and 2 apple pies. I was able to kill two birds with one stone on the pie front, because while I spent 4 hours in the kitchen putting them together, I was able to watch 8 episodes of Arrested Development online. It was awesome.

On Friday I didn't think I would make it off my couch but my roommate Alisa and her friend Kerstin (pronounced "Shes-tin"...she's Swedish) talked me into going to brunch with them and then heading downtown to see the Christmas tree lighting in Union Square. Besides the 1.3 million people (okay I made that up but it sure felt like it!) there it was an enjoyable day. At brunch Kerstin, who is doing a religious fast from sweets leading up to Christmas, convinced us that Nutella (made with chocolate, sugar and hazelnut) is not in fact a sweet, but a bread spread. Interesting. If nothing else this gave us something to tease her about all day. It all started when the place we went to for brunch offered jars of Nutella at each table...as a condiment...like Ketchup or butter. I approve of this practice. Kerstin was spreading it thick on her toast while yelling at us..."It's a bread spread darn it!" :-) Too funny. After brunch we did make it to Union Square...unfortunately. Just imagine a 1 square mile radius, in the middle of a city, filled with tons of stores, on the busiest shopping day of the year. INSANITY! While Alisa and Kerstin waited for two hours in H&M to try on some sweaters I made my way down to Macy's where I knew they'd have a lounge. So there I was, spread out on one of Macy's leather couches, sipping free coffee, chatting it up with all of the husbands holding their wives' purses while the rest of the city went mad trying to save 15% on overpriced linens and shoes. I'd rather pay double the regular price than wait in those lines. The husbands agreed. We hit it off. After Alisa and Kerstin made it out of H&M we scouted out a spot for the tree lighting. It was a bit anti-climatic. We couldn't here any of the singing over these crazy fundamentalist Christians screaming next to us holding 10ft signs that said "You're all going to hell." It was festive. :-) As a Christian, people like that make my blood boil. I thought for a minute that Alisa was going to get into a fist fight with one of them. Christmas cheer was all around. Anyway, after about 20 minutes of getting our feet run over by people with strollers, the lights went on and we ran out of there to catch a movie. Ahh...3 hours of silence watching Hugh Jackman with his shirt off in "Australia." Pure Bliss.

On Saturday of that weekend I got up early and met up with 5 other people to go wine tasting in Sonoma. They were running a holiday special where you pay $30 and that gives you access to a bunch of different wineries, tastings, food and a commemorative wine glass. It was well worth the money. In 4 hours we went to 6 wineries, tasted about 50 different wines (luckily there are spit buckets so you don't have to swallow everything) sampled some of the best soups I've ever tasted and saw some beautiful fall foliage. Thank God our two drivers were sober because the rest of us were drunk as hail! (Just kidding Daddy). I was just a little tipsy. Apparently Port has a higher alcohol content than straight wine and these silly places all pair it with chocolate. Of course I go straight to the chocolate...and port. How was I supposed to know. Here are a few pictures from the trip...

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On Sunday of that weekend I volunteered for the first time in the 2-4 year old Sunday School classroom at church. It felt so good working with children again. I miss my little Annie like crazy! The kids were super cute. One boy threw up his snack all over himself. It was precious. After church Alisa and I, along with her boyfriend James and his friend Sebastian (both British) went to Half Moon Bay (45 minutes down the coast) to Santa's Tree Farm to cut down our Christmas tree. We annoyed the boys the whole ride down singing cheesy Christmas carols. They loved it. Once we got there and picked out a tree, the boys cut it down...of course we supervised. Here's a picture...

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It looks so pretty all decorated in our front room. When I get around to taking a picture of that, I'll post it. I'm so glad that Alisa insisted on cutting down a real tree. It feels like Christmas.

After that whirlwind weekend it was time for a much needed break. I started my cake decorating class on the Monday after Thanksgiving. I love it! My new chef, Chef Christof, is awesome. He's vietnamese by birth but was raised in France, which gives him a funny accent. So far we've learned how to drape a cake in marzipan (almond paste) and how to form pretty roses out of it. Here is a sampling of my work on my Princess cake last week...

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Today we made a fancy birthday cake complete with rolled fondant and a pink ribbon, a bow and a teddy bear made out of modeling chocolate. I'll take a picture tomorrow and upload it. It's so cute! Next week we make our first wedding cake so this was good practice working with fondant. I'm not sure how people eat that stuff. It's pure sugar. Don't get me wrong, I love sugar, but it's SUPER SUPER SWEET. But, it sure does look pretty.

What else??? Oh, on Saturday I went with a few guys from my small group to see Slum Dog Millionaire at the Sundance theater. I highly recommend seeing it. Basically it's a story about 3 young orphans in India trying to survive and stay together. Through a series of twists and turns they get separated. Finally, the one boy goes on the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" (the Indian version) because he knows that his long-lost love watches the show. You'll have to see it to find out the rest. What a heart-warming story!

When I got home from the movies I found a large carepackage from my girlfriends back home. And guess what, everything in it was PINK. :-) They know me too well. My roommate Susan took a few pictures of me holding my pink Christmas tree. They're on Facebook. Since we uploaded them on her computer I don't have the originals so they're too small to copy over from Facebook. I'll try to upload them soon. Meanwhile, check me out on Facebook to see the shots. So cute!

One last thing. Last Monday I joined a gym. What a crazy thing to do before the holidays. I just figure that a jumpstart to my New Year's Resolution to lose weight couldn't hurt. Besides, I need to burn off some of those Christmas cookies NOW before they hit my system. Maybe my metabolism will be so fast that they won't even have time to stick in my body. They'll just fly right out. Watch out for flying, partially digested cookies! Ooo...gross. I officially started working out on Tuesday. I did 4 days last week and went today. My goal is to do Mon-Fri for the next two weeks. PRAY FOR ME! My body naturally rejects exercise so this will be a challenge. I don't have any excuse though...the gym is right across the street from my school. Sometimes, I hate convenience.

Is anyone watching the following great shows on TV? Fringe, Prison Break, The Hills, 24 "Redemption", The Office or The Real Housewives of Orange County (Season 4). These are all viewable online, which is where I watch them since we don't have cable. I suggest you all get on board with these shows. They make my life complete. Sad, but true.

That's all for now.]]> General http://rachelblair.org/index.php?itemid=45 Mon, 8 Dec 2008 21:56:32 -0400