I know this is not the usual way of writing a Thank You note, but be assured that there will be another one coming your way the old fashioned way.

I am not sure how to Thank You properly really, so bear with me while I stumble through.  I was first introduced to your website by Bakerella and her glorious cake pops.  I don’t make them right now because they go straight to my hips and if you see my Workout Wednesday posts, I am trying desperately to get rid of my extra baggage. When I first clicked over to your site from Bakerella I was immediately drawn in.  Your love of cooking, photography, decorating and renos is everything I love and more.  Oh yes, and you are a Mom and live on Ranch.  If Hubby had had his way years ago we would be living on a Farm and I would be sneezing my way through life.

I found it very interesting that you gave away prizes all the time.  At first I was very shy to enter, because I had just started stopping by and was getting to know you.  I didn’t feel that was fair to others who had been visiting your site for two and a half years.  But, when I realized that you had some 15,000 – 20, 000 people entering your contests, I started popping my name in here and there, but never in a millions years did I ever expect to see my name in the list of Winners.  Or Wieners as you like to call them sometimes.

Well, a few weeks ago, I entered your Kitchen-Aid Mixer contest because I wanted you to make Croques Monsieur for your guests who were meeting Smitten Kitchen.  Well you didn’t chose to make the Croques but, I did win a Mixer!  I know, how crazy is that? It took a little while to get here, but it arrived on Saturday morning by way of a very good looking delivery man.

You were expecting a photo of him weren’t you?  Didn’t think of that.

I chose Blue Willow, because my kitchen is blue and blue in my decor makes me happy.  I feel closer to the beach when I live in a blue world.

Fresh out of the box, look at that baby shine!

This is the Artisan Model, it is beautiful.  A large bowl (5 quart) with handle and spill guard with a pouring spout.  Just think of all I can make.

I planned and had the ingredients for Chocolate Chip Cookies.  A favourite in my house, I figured Saturday morning was a good day for cookies.

And in action…

And the end result after all that mixing, more because it was new.

A boat load of cookies.

That were gone by Sunday morning.

I did give some away, but the rest were consumed by the four of us here chez BeachMama.  And today, I went for a run.  A long hard run.

Thank you so much for inspiring so many people, sharing your stories and recipes and photo tips. And for constantly being so generous towards your readers.  I never thought in a million years that I would ever win something, but I am truly grateful and I love it!

Thank you with all my heart,

BeachMama

Workout Wednesday is here again.  And not without adventure.  As J was lovingly helping me with my photos for this week, I caught my necklace on the tripod.  The necklace broke and my teardrop charm fell off into the grass.  A whole afternoon and part of the early evening later, I found it.  The worst part is that I was probably standing on it when I was looking for it in the spot that it fell.

Then my youngest Sister dropped by for an impromptu pedi/mani night before heading back down to Charlotte to watch her friends band play for a few nights. I have enjoyed her here in Ottawa since Christmas, but I fear her time here is limited.  She keeps taking off to Charlotte and will most likely head back permanently soon.

On to my workouts.  This week saw me walking a lot.  I did three 3km power walks in addition to many runs back and forth to the school (I did more than my usual ten with School Council and Fundraising Committee meetings).  I managed three strength training sessions and a few extra five minute ab crunchers (I am really trying here).

A great way to work out the muscles that get missed from just doing crunches is the Side Plank.  The Side Plank is hard, but so worth it.  It works all of your abdominals (actualy your transverse abdominus – which are the inner layer of ab muscles that keep everything tight and make you look slimmer – this is what I really need to work), strengthening your core, which is so important to posture.

Sit on your side and raise up onto your feet and one arm, with the other arm extended overhead.  Hold your abdominals tight and don’t forget to breathe.  As you can tell from my photo (again, by J) it is difficult to hold this pose for photos.

Reach down and slightly under your torso with your upper hand, hold for 2 seconds and raise it back up.  Do 12 -15 repetitions switch sides and repeat.

It is easier to perform this with running shoes on, but I was being lazy to run in and get them, thus making the dog think we were going for a walk.

**disclaimer: I am in no way a Doctor or Physical Trainer. I am going to share with you my thoughts and ideas about how to get into shape again. I strongly advise consulting a medical professional prior to starting any workout routine as well as a professional trainer. I am in no way responsible for any injury you may sustain from trying any of my suggestions.