Color Run Charlotte 5K!

So let me tell you one thing first. I don't really like running. In general, I find it boring. Sometimes if I've had a long, stressful day, I just want to run it out, so I might go run a little. And if I have a good playlist going, then it's not so bad, or if I have someone to go with. But in general, I prefer to stick to yoga and kickboxing for my exercise. 

But with that being said, you give me something fun in a run, and I am ALL for it. So when my best friend Megan suggested we do the Color Run 5K, I quickly agreed. Luckily we kept up with the registration dates because two days after it opened, it had sold out! 

The premise behind the Color Run is at every kilometer they would throw color on you so you'd be covered in the end! It made it way easier to run it because every time you saw the color stations, you would have motivation to run to it. 

Unfortunately in the week before the run, Megan got sick so she wasn't able to come with me :(. But one of my other best friends, Amy, who lives in Charlotte and we were planning to stay with, stepped in to her spot to run with me!

There were tons and tons of people there!! It was so packed! But we needed to stretch beforehand...

We had to get the classic "pre-color" shot with our nice clean shirts and headbands!

We were pumped up and ready to go! It was clear skies, but about 40 degrees and windy. We wanted to RUN just so we could get warm!

Since there were so many people, they divided up in sections as you went so you'd be able to run and there would be enough space so everyone wouldn't hit the color stations at the same time. Luckily, we ended up in the very front of our little wave! We were running around the outside of the Charlotte Motor Speedway!

The way the color stations worked were the volunteers were on the side either using their hands or squeeze bottles to get it on you. You had to run kind of slow to make sure you got covered. There was blue, pink, yellow, orange, and then the major color bomb at the end (which I'll explain in a minute). Some people really wanted to make sure they were covered in color and started rolling on the ground in the extra powder. 

Lots of people dressed up for the run too. Many people were in tutus, or other crazy getups. There was even a guy in a tutu. It was great. There were also a lot of families running it, and even a lady who broke her foot having her friend push her in her wheelchair. She was NOT going to miss this.

Amy and I ended up running about 2 miles of the race, which is way impressive for me considering I haven't had time to do any type of training. We mostly walked the hills, but we made sure to run through all the color stations and across the finish line! There was no way to know our time since we didn't have stop watches with us, but this was more about the fun anyways!

We got COVERED in color!! It was great! Amy got some all in her hair, and it soaked through our clothes too. But it was a total blast!

After the run they did this "Color Festival" where there was a DJ playing some music and everyone was dancing around, just having fun. And preparing for the COLOR BOMB!

 The Color Bomb was probably the BEST part of the day. After counting down to 10, we took our extra color packets we got and everyone threw them in the air and danced around! It felt like a mid-day rave almost.

All in all, it was a GREAT way to do a 5K, and I am totally planning on doing the Color Run again! I was in such a good mood the rest of the day, and I'm still on a color high!

Urban Dare Raleigh

About a month ago, when one of my best friends, Kia, asked me about doing this Groupon for an Urban Dare Race with her, I figured, sure! Plus, she and I kind of love the Real World/Road Rules Challenge, so this might as well be our own final challenge! Seemed like it could be fun, and probably wouldn't be all that crazy. I thought it would just be contained to the general downtown area.

I. Was. Wrong.

Luckily today turned out to be gorgeous weather. We started out at Tir Na Nog, where they checked us in, gave us our shirts, and we met a few other competitors (there were about 400 people that participated...way more than I was expecting!).

A little after twelve, they gathered us together, reminded us of the rules (which basically were you could only walk or take the bus, no cars or bikes) and then told us to GO! We ran to the acorn in Moore Square, grabbed our clue sheet....and instantly started going W.T.F.

Looking at the sheet, we for real had zero idea about where to even begin (I'll give you the clues in the order we did them as I'm going through the pictures for you...and you'll see why we were concerned). Luckily we already knew that one of the clues was to go to the Capitol building to take a picture, and figured out the answer to No. 7 and decided that was a good place to head and figure out our game plan.

But first, on our way to the Capitol, we decided it would be a good time to get Clue No. 12

Clue No. 12: Take a picture of one teammate on bended knee proposing marriage to a non-race participant.

There was a councilman and a couple other people walking with this guy, and they started asking us what we were doing. Luckily he was a good sport about me proposing to him. And then he gave me and Kia these coins with military symbols on them. I can't remember what all they mean now, but it was pretty sweet!

Clue No. 2: Take a picture of yourselves with a "marker" for a site used by US Coastal and Geodetic survey to measure precise longitude and latitude of Raleigh.

With the Capitol down, we headed to clue 7.

Clue No. 7: A song written in 1960 by John. D. Loudermilk and later recorded by Jefferson Airplane and David Lee Roth. Take a team photo at a sporting eating establishment that bears the name of this song.

Tobacco Road! Here was where we mapped out our game plan, using our phones to figure out the answers to all questions, and make sure we had their right locations. This ended up being our route. Prepare for the insanity:

 YUP! This thing took us ALL OVER RALEIGH. Ridiculousness was about to ensue.

Clue No. 1: This park is the 14th oldest amusement park in the world and is the first public park in NC. Take a team picture with a father-son statue of 2 characters from a famous 1960 TV show.

Yes. We walked all the way to Pullen Park. It was crazy, but luckily we still had plenty of energy.

Clue No. This man was the first person, in a solo descent, to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench (deepest part of the world's oceans). He is also the favorite film director of today's race director. Locate a race official at the southern end of a park that bears his name for your dare.

Cameron Park! We did get a little confused as to where this was, but eventually found it. 

So part of this race was taking pictures at spots, and the other half was going to spots, doing some silly task, and having the reps "stamp your passport." For this stop, on our passport was the work "Celebratory", so we had to run around to these little flags to find the numbers for each letter and add them up to get our stamp. 

Clue No. Find a sculpture by Harry McDaniel that depicts an abstract cardinal and locate a race official for your dare.

This stop was in Fletcher Park! The "dare" was to do a three-legged race. Once we got the "inside outside inside outside" down, we did a pretty good job. 

At this point, we were about halfway done and needed a pit stop and some water. Luckily on the way to the next clue was my office. Where there was water and a bathroom. Thank goodness. 

Clue No. 3: Find the current residing location of the birthplace of this nation's 17th leader. Take a team picture of yourselves with this historic house.

Andrew Johnson's house in Mordecai Park! I had never actually been to this part of Raleigh before, so it was kind of cool to see!

Clue No. 9: Find the resting place of Berrian Kinnard Upshaw who was the first husband of Margaret Mitchell and rumored to be her inspiration for the character Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind. Take a team picture with the vehicular gate on the street that also bears the same name of this resting place.

 

Historic Oakwood Cemetery! I also haven't been to this part of Raleigh before, but walking through Oakwood makes me really want to go there more just because I looooove all those houses back there. Love. 

Clue No. 4: Listed as a designated Raleigh Historic Landmark, this house, designed by Adolphus G. Bauer, was built in 1898 but later moved in 1979 to make way for the state's new Government Mall. Take a team picture in front of this house.

Capehart House! This is on Blount Street, and the Ethics Commission's office is located here as well. At this point, we knew we were in the home stretch!!

Clue No. 6: This museum is the oldest established museum in NOrth Carolina and is the most visited attraction in NC. Take a photo of yourselves with the country "Madagascar"

The Natural Science Museum! 

Clue No. 11: This man was drafted 1st overall in the 2002 NHL Entry draft. Find a square that bears his name and locate a race official for your dare.

Nash Square! And the dare for this one? THE WORST ONE after walking so much. We had to jump rope together five consecutive times. Every time my feet landed on the ground, I felt them going "I hate you I hate you." But it was on to the last stop!!

Clue No. 10: Find a crimson-like 15 foot sculpture by Robert Coon made of Aluminum. Locate a race official for your dare. 

This statue was in City Plaza! Unfortunately by the time we got there, since they got started a little late, the people had left, so we didn't have a dare to complete. So we took a picture with the statue instead. 

And then we headed back to Tir Na Nog to check in!!!

Overall it took us about 4 hours and we walked TEN miles. It was absurd. We were so dead tired by the end of it. Some people were running a lot, which I thought was straight up cray. And I'm sure people did a better route than we did, but overall, I think our strategy worked out decent enough. We didn't win, but we completed and weren't last, so in my book, that's a dang good personal win.

While I don't know if I could talk myself into doing something like this again, I did really love getting to see parts of Raleigh that I hadn't seen before. The weather was just so great that it made it worth it spending that long out running around town. Plus it reminded me why I love the downtown community. We went past so many residents who helped us find some of the spots, it just kind of warmed my heart. Also, every time we passed by people in the Urban Dare shirts we all kind of smiled, said hello, and occasionally talked about what we had done so far. It was a nice "we're all in this together!" feel to it.

And now that it's done, my legs will hopefully stop hating me!

Halloween Baking: Apple Cider Poundcake

When I was little, I loved going trick-or-treating with my friends at Halloween. I remember one year in preschool I went as a Hershey Bar (and an adorable one at that, duh), and then as I got older I just watched scary movies and passed candy out to the neighborhood kids. Once I was in college, I didn't really do anything until they started the Haunted Hillsborough Hike my senior year. That year I was a magic 8 ball. It was an interactive costume and everything! And then another year I was Wilma Flintstone, which was probably one of my better costumes...until this year.

Now, when it comes to Halloween costumes, my best ideas have always been classic 90s characters (shocker, I know), but I've never really been able to/got around to following through with them. But when one of my best friends, Katie, and her husband decided to have a Halloween party, I knew I needed to finally make one of them happen (I won't reveal the other two because I'm saving those for future years).

BAM!

If you don't know who I am, then shame on you, because pretty much everyone figured it out without me telling them! It was awesome! I was super proud of it. The trench coat I got specifically because I wanted to wear it again, and the hat I bought from Target and spray painted it red (it was originally purple). Of course, the only fail was multiple people telling me they found me! I'm not a very good Carmen Sandiego in that regards, I guess. There were plenty of other fantastic costumes: the 10th Doctor, the TARDIS, a heavy metal rocker, Abe Lincoln Vampire Hunter, Richard Simmons, Batman, Rosie the Riveter, and plenty more. Overall it was a fun night!

But, on to the baking, which is why you read this thing, right? You mean you don't enjoy my silly random stories? Whatevs, I'll be telling them anyways :) 

So because the party was on Halloween, which was Wednesday this year, I wanted to bake, but bake something that was fairly simple because of my busy week. And since it's fall fall and everything fall (you know how much I love fall), an Apple Cider Pound cake seemed like the perfect choice. And let me tell you, this was one serious pound cake. 

After mixing together three cups flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp baking powder, I added in the spices: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp ground cloves.

Now, it's Halloween time, and I swear I did not dump my spices in this way on purpose. It just kind of happened. I looked down into the bowl, and just started giggling to myself.

Baking ghost! Aaaaah!

After that fun little hilarity, I mixed three cups sugar with three (yes, three) softened sticks of butter (1.5 cups).

Once that was nice and fluffy, I added in SIX eggs. So. many. eggs. One at a time, mixing well after each one. Then it was time to prep the apple cider!! One of the brilliant things about this recipe was that I didn't have to go to the store and buy a single special ingredient. Why? Because I can make apple cider with my Keurig!!

It was also kind of hilarious putting my measuring cup under the Keurig while it brewed since I needed one cup (and I had to make sure it was the right amount!)

I mixed in 1 tsp vanilla into the cider, and then alternately poured the flour mixture and the apple cider into the sugar/butter/egg mixture until it was all combined. Then poured it into my greased bundt pan.

I baked the cake at 325 for probably about 85 minutes...I started out at 70, but because the batter was so thick, I kept adding on time to make sure it was fully done. 

And the end result?

VERY DELICIOUS. The texture was perfect. You could just break off a piece cleanly (well, after you cut off a piece, you could break off a piece of that piece), you don't even really need a fork and plate because it held together so well. And it wasn't dried out at all, and just the right amount of spices. I'm definitely a big fan of this one, and will for sure make it again.

I LOVE FALL BAKING!!!