Check out our new website at cakeboxcookies.com. Also, we’re featured in Clever Magazine this month - you can see the article online here and if you want to actually read it, check out the pdf here. The cakebox article is on page 20.
Here’s to Christmas cheer!
We both know this isn’t working. I just don’t have the time to devote to a relationship like this right now. Surely you’ve seen the writing on the wall. I’m sorry. Really, it’s me, not you.
So yeah, things have suddenly become incredibly busy and stressful around here. Starting your own business is not for the faint of heart, or those who like to sleep. Just when I think I’m ready to launch, I’m given one more hoop to jump through. This week I start a 20 hour sanitation class which I get to pay $290 for! Isn’t that exciting? I do however, finally have all of my licenses and health inspections and am basically ready to start production in the commercial kitchen. Meanwhile, I’ve been busy developing a cookie bouquet line. Here’s a photo of the baby bouquet. Isn’t it cute?
I’m doing a sweetheart bouquet of roses next. I’m also working on my holiday line and coming up with marketing strategies and materials. And, I spend a fair amount of time pacing and trying not to hyperventilate. You think I’m kidding. Did I mention that the kids are on break and I’m doing this from home? Do you have any idea how many times a day three kids want to eat? Or just want my attention in general?
So that, dear readers is why I’ve been absent lately. I suppose if you’re willing to settle for less of me, we can try to work something out. We won’t be lovers like we were before. Not even good friends really. How about fond acquaintances?
Doctor co-pay: $20
Gas: $80
Happy Meal: $4
Cheap sunglasses because you left the house before dawn and forgot yours: $5
Sugar Free Red Bull so you won’t fall sleep at the wheel: $4
Driving for eight hours to see your doctor in another State for 5 minutes: priceless.
Yes, that’s how I spent my day today. What made this trip especially memorable was that it was essentially the same drive I did last week for the marathon, only this time, I did it alone.
Oh what fun.
A real one, like when I was a kid. At Zach’s party last night, the parents went all out turning their garage into a haunted house/maze, complete with hidden bowls of spaghetti (guts) and peppers (ears), strobe lights, monsters, smoke, music. It was totally cool. Just the night before I was talking to somebody about how nobody did that kind of thing anymore.
He had a good time, and ate too much candy. A perfect party.
Another party this afternoon - that’s 4 days in a row if you’re keeping track. I don’t know if I can do it anymore! I’m tired. This one will have a bounce house and pony rides, so it will be hard to talk the kids out of.
I’ll keep you posted …
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BARBARA!!! Hope you’re having a good one. 
Next door at Craig and Suzette’s - their annual Halloween party. This year’s theme was rock ‘n roll. I totally did NOT have time to get a costume together so dressed normal and when asked who I was, said “Britney Spears, I’m not wearing panties”.
My Halloween cookies have been a hit all over town, which is great because I’ve been working my ass off this week.
I’m tipsy, so should stop typing, but I couldn’t pass out without telling you about this great new website I found. It’s called The Sneeze and has been up for some major blog awards this year. Whatever you do, don’t miss the Steve, don’t eat it section. Totally hilarious.
The party tomorrow night is only for children, so you should be safe from my drunken night-time ramblings.
Good night friends.
K
japanese maple
This week has been quite busy. I basically haven’t sat down since our drive home from San Francisco on Monday and I certainly haven’t unpacked yet. Lots of cookies to bake, lots of rest to catch up on and lots of parties to attend, starting with the final team party last night. It was fun, kids were welcome so not only did we score a free meal, but we didn’t have to pay a babysitter. Plus, there were other children there, so the kids may have had even more fun than we did. I was sitting in the back and couldn’t hear Ski’s (head coach) talk but I think we were honored in some way for coming in last in our group. Well, we got a water bottle tossed to us. I mean, everybody got a water bottle tossed to them, but not everybody can claim coming in last, am I right? It was nice to see everybody again, even though I couldn’t recognize most of them with a shower, makeup and regular clothes on.
This week has been a little bit like coming home from a honeymoon after spending the previous year planning a big wedding. In other words, it’s a bit of a let down. When something has taken up so much real estate in your brain and life for so long, it’s more than a little strange when it’s, well, gone. So, I’ll be looking into what to do next. I think I’d like to run a 1/2 marathon. Not so much of a time commitment and running is definitely a challenge for me.
Here’s the Big, BIG news of the week. Olivia got STRAIGHT A’s and made the Honor Roll. I am so proud of her. Can you believe that? I never got straight A’s. She’s got me, her Dad and Jeremy to pony up $10 bucks each and is open to matching gifts from the grandparents. Basically, she’s shaking us all down, but she really does deserve the recognition. Straight A’s is quite an accomplishment for sure.
Have a great weekend everybody. I’m looking forward to Halloween being over so I can work on holiday recipes and cookies. Look for me to share Thanksgiving and Christmas recipes here in the coming weeks. I want to make cookies other than sugar!
Kelli
p.s. photo of the Tiffany finisher’s necklace
Okay, okay - sorry I didn’t post after the race yesterday. I’ll give you all the gory details now.
We started at 5:30 in complete darkness, all 1000 walkers (although I’m sure there were some REALLY fast walkers who got a regular start time). Right off the bat there were people lining the streets cheering us on, live music and aid stations. In fact, I became separated from Jeremy at the first aid station, at mile TWO. I was waiting for him to come out of the bathroom and when he didn’t see me (remember, very dark outside), he assumed I went ahead. Long story short and lots of tears later (mine), we reunited at mile 5. I did NOT want to walk all 26.2 miles without him and he didn’t want to without me either, so we were really happy to find each other again.
There were lots and lots of hills, which really slow me down, but all in all, the course was absolutely beautiful. I didn’t bring my camera but I’ve found some photos online that were taken on the course yesterday.
It was a beautiful day and the scenery second to none.
It took us 7 hours and 45 minutes to complete the course. Not exactly breaking any records, but I believe we came in before most of the disabled and injured in the pack. We did lose quite a bit of time with trying to find each other in the beginning, bathroom stops and of course, that oxygen bar I wanted to try. I had to put the smack down on some bitches who tried to cut in front of me in that line.
You know, we really had the marathon we wanted to have. We did it together, we took it all in, enjoyed ourselves and, most importantly, FINISHED! I was so delirious at the end that I didn’t even notice the (I’m told) cute men in tuxedos passing out the Tiffany finisher’s necklace. The last 8 miles were HARD. We had to go all around Lake Merced before coming to the final 5 mile stretch, which seemed to go on forever. I have to say though, the support along the course was amazing. Live bands, marching bands, bag pipe bands, cheer squads, loads of family and friends that cheer for all of us. It was inspiring. There were also many, many signs along the way with photos of people fighting Leukemia or in memory of those who were lost. I just kept telling myself that no matter how hard doing the marathon was, it was easier than radiation or chemotherapy, so if those people could find the courage to face cancer, I could find it in me to finish the race.
They told us to put our name on our shirt before the race and I learned why - people shout out directly to you when they can see your name. “Go Kelli” - “you can do it Kelli - “looking good Kelli.” That was fantastic! Here’s a photo of my race day shirt with bib.
Jeremy got some HUGE killer blisters on his feet, but other than that, we’re most just sore and tired. It was funny walking around the city last night - you could totally tell who did the marathon by how stiffly they were walking, especially up or down stairs - ouch! I can’t eat right after a long run like that, so we came back to our room, showered and rested, coming out at about 5 and starting with cocktails. By 5:30 I was drunk. All I’d had all day was a protein bar, GU and vodka! Later in the evening, we ended up having a nice steak dinner with some friends from our team.
This was the largest woman’s marathon in the world. Out of 23,000 runners, there were only 900 brave men registered and we loved them all! Team in Training was well represented here, but it was open to anybody. The Marathon sold out in two days back in April, it’s that popular. I do wish I had a camera on the course. The scenery was beautiful but there were also people dressed up in crazy outfits, strange wigs, grass skirts and kilts - mostly the men! It was fun.
The only thing left to say is, Just Did It!
Thanks again for all of your support, my dear family and friends. I love you!
Kelli
Alarm went off, stumbled out of bed wondering why the hell I signed up for this. Currently drinking coffee, eating protein bar and starting to feel excited again.
Last night we went to the world’s largest pasta party. It was incredibly inspiring, motivating and rewarding. We heard from cancer survivors, motivational speakers and honored teammates.
When we arrived, we were greated by hundreds of cheering people dressed up crazy in purple costumes, yelling, cheering and ringing cowbells.
After that, we went out for cocktails.
Just kidding.
Okay, I’m off. Wish me luck. I’ll be thinking of you all.
Kelli
I haven’t been to this city in years. It’s very exciting, all of this hustle and bustle of a big city. After we arrived and checked into our hotel last night, we walked over to Union Square, which is where the marathon expo tents are located. Inside, we got our race packets, which included our bibs and the chip to track our time tomorrow.
We’re staying at The Westin and this is the view from our room:
The weather couldn’t be more perfect. Sunny, no wind, low 70s.
This morning, we went back over to the expo and took advantage of the free massages they were giving out. It was packed with people, so we had to wait about 30 minutes for the 5 minutes massage, but it was worth it. They also had manicure and foot massage stations, but again, long lines. There are over 23,000 runners here for this marathon and get this, together we have raised over 18.5 million dollars for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! Here’s the HUGE billboard over the Nike Store.
Pretty cool, huh?
We found our names on the wall of names.
It’s all very exciting to be a part of something this HUGE. I am glad I’m doing early start though. Only 1000 people for early start so I’ll miss the incredible crush of people for the regular start. You can’t go faster than 15 minutes a mile to qualify for early start, that’s why everybody doesn’t do it. They even have a police pace car to make sure we don’t go faster.
If you’re interested in the course, you can take a virtual tour here. I’m really excited about seeing this much of the city. From the Nike site:
“The race will kick off in Downtown San Francisco at Union Square and head through the financial district past the famous TransAmerica building, along the San Francisco Bay past Fisherman’s Wharf, Aquatic Park, Ghirardelli Square, Fort Mason and Marina Green while exposing breathtaking views of Alcatraz and The Golden Gate Bridge. The course then travels through the Presidio and Sea Cliff district, out to the Great Highway, through Golden Gate Park and south along Lake Merced, finishing just north of the Great Highway along the Pacific Ocean.”
I’m going to get a little rest before we go out tonight to the kick off dinner.
Until next time…
We leave this morning for San Francisco. I’m definitely starting to get a little nervous about the marathon. I had trouble falling and staying asleep last night, and I’m sure that’s only going to get worse. I just found out we have a team meeting Saturday night at 8:30. I’d hoped to be sound asleep by then! I signed up for an early start at the marathon which means I have to be at the starting line at 5:30 A.M., which means I’ll want to be up by at least 4:00. Oh well, I guess I can sleep next week.
Oh, I can’t forget, a BIG thank you to Ron and Mary Weber, who just donated $100.00 to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! The donation link is still open, so if you want to donate, you can.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for supporting me in this. As I’m walking on Sunday, I’ll be thinking of you and you should be proud of your contributions to this wonderful organization.
I’m bringing my camera and computer with me, so watch for posts during the weekend. I’ll try to bring as much of the action to you as I can, and of course, some post-marathon observations and musings (if I’m still standing).
Bye everybody!
Kelli
