If you know me in real life you know three things about me – I adore sweets, I love running AND I am a sucker for a good cause.  And HOLY HANNA PEOPLE someone has combined these three things together to create… THE CUPCAKE RUN.

Oh. My. Gosh.

Cakes for Cause will be holding its first ever 5K, dubbed “The Cupcake Run” to benefit youth who  have aged out of the foster care system.  The run/walk (Because they expect walkers and kids too!) will take place on Sunday, April 11^th at 8:30am in Frederick, MD.

The Cupcake Run course will begin in the back lot of the YMCA and will travel through the north end of downtown Frederick.  (Flat course!) Of course there will be awards, t-shirts and all that good stuff but the real fun is the fact that all participants will given a cupcake for their efforts!  Hello?  Sign me up!

Registration  is $15.00 prior to March 31^st and $20 after.  You can register here on Active.com. I really, really want to  to come out and support this race.  Don’t make me beg folks.

And let me fill you in on Cakes for Cause: Elin Ross runs it. She is a fabulous woman, a social visionary and a friend. Cakes for Cause operates the social enterprise, Moxie Bakery & Cafe in downtown Frederick.  Moxie serves as a teaching classroom for youth who have aged out of the foster care system,  are living in public housing, or who are involved with juvenile services.  Open to the public, the Cakes for Cause program serves as an important link for youth as they enter adulthood by enabling them to develop real skills and support within the community.

DON’T FORGET: I’m hosting a Blogher2010 cash sponsorship giveaway from SEED!  Find out more here!

Today I reconnected with a friend that I hadn’t spoken with in awhile.  It was so nice to laugh with her and reminisce and talk.  Truly, she is an amazing lady.

Talking with my pal made me realize that I was desperately missing something in my life. Something essential. Something that has left a void in me.

I desperately miss my running.

You see, this pal was with me when I ran my first marathon.  We trained for months together and became very, very close friends.

Our conversation made me realize what I was missing at this point in my life.  I am missing the breeze in my hair. The steady sound of feet on the pavement. I am missing the daydreams.  The goal setting. I even miss the speed work. (Which is weird because nobody misses speed work.)

When I run I feel like a warrior.  I feel strong.  Running makes me feel like I am more than just a mother. More than just a suburban housewife. More than just a business woman.  When I run I feel like, well, like nothing short of  a badass.

It is a passion that most can’t understand or relate to.  I know.  But it makes me feel ALIVE. And I had forgotten that passion.  At least, I thought I did.

Chatting on the phone today with my pal brought it all back to me and put a fire in my belly.  So I laced up my shoes, threw in my headphones and rocked out on the treadmill.  The experience was exhilarating and totally reminded me of a quote I once saw:

“The longer I run, the smaller my problems become…”

Everyone has passions.  Though not the same in size or scope, our passions are what make us come alive.  They are gifts given to us that make us unique and special.  Have you reconnected with your passions lately?

So this is what my front yard looks like right now. (8:30am)  And it is still snowing and snowing and snowing.  I’ll do the follow up Vlog to this tomorrow as promised.

So we are literally STUCK HERE. Nowhere to go. Luckily, we still have power at this point.  I have heard some of my Twitter pals up the road are dealing with outages already.

That would be awful.  (And what if the Internet connection went out?  GAH! THE HORROR!)

So I am going to use this opportunity to tackle two projects – my blog redesign (yippie!) and to write the copy for my new businesses website.  (Which I fully plan to share with you once it is up!)

And can I just say that I have the coolest neighbors in the world?  We are hoping to have a snow party later on today.  We’re hoping to build ourselves an ice bar in the cul-de-sac.  How awesome is that?

This is the scene in my basement right now.  Yes.

Christmas threw up all over my floor.

I have to tend to it ASAP.  I’ll blog with you more later!

Tags: Christmas decorating, Christmas mess

Ahh, the Christmas elves have arrived and right on schedule my friends.

In my house we have a tradition that has been passed down from my childhood.  You see, we believe that on Thanksgiving Santa Claus sends his elves all over the world to monitor boys and girls in the last couple of weeks before Christmas.

Kind of like “Secret Service” agents or holiday spies, if  you will.  They make their arrival known by leaving a present on Thanksgiving.  It doesn’t matter where you are… they FIND YOU.  And from there on out, you are being monitored very, very closely.

Every child in the world who is a believer get’s their own special elf – ours are named Jingle and Jangle.  We know this because often they will leave little notes to let my children know how they are doing.

Sometimes you can almost see them, if you are quick enough.  Why last year we almost caught both of them in the boy’s room… they left the window open and a trailer of magic dust behind. WE WERE SO CLOSE!

So even though we have nary a decoration put into place or a light hung, we have already ushered in the holiday season – ELF STYLE!

Don’t you just love holiday magic?

I can’t believe it is Thanksgiving already.  I’ve barely had enough time to breathe in the past few months let alone prepare for the upcoming holiday onslaught.

Wait a minute.  Who am I kidding?

I prepare for nothing. I buy some flowers and some wine and head on over to someone else’s house.  I’ve been getting away with it for years.  We usually take turns visiting my parents in Maryland and my husband’s family in New Jersey.  That, in a nutshell, is our tradition.

Dinner is usually prepared my mom (yay, stuffing!) or my sister-in-law (yay, cocktails!). I keep busy by messing around in the kitchen and pretending to be helpful while sipping on vino.  It works for me, okay?

I do nothing and yet somehow I am fed. 

The fact that I don’t possess the talent needed to cook ginormous holiday meals has occasionally backfired, though.

Like that time that I didn’t want to make my mother-in-law cook a huge dinner just to accommodate us and we ended up spending Thanksgiving in a DINER.  In New Jersey. With two children under the age of five. FOR OVER TWO AND A HALF HOURS.

Yeah, it was THAT bad.

I no longer leave big meals to chance.  Not that I have learned how to cook a bird, just that I bring enough alcohol to make the hostess very, very happy.

So who wants some company next year?

Do you ever hide from your family?

Stupid question.  Well, OF COURSE you do.

Are there every any time when you just need a moment to yourself?  Or you just can’t deal with the situation?  Or perhaps JUST CAN’T MENTALLY TAKE IT ANYMORE?

I thought so.

What do you do about it?  I personally have tried the they’ll-never-find-me-in-the-bathroom trick and the I’m-changing-I’ll-be-right-down trick.

Neither work for me. Nobody cares.

I have no dignity.

So I don’t hide anymore.  Instead I sometimes DON’T COME HOME. Which of course is a also form of hiding…only more effective than the hanging out on the potty or pretending to be  in various states of undress.

Case in point… last night I had to run out and make a presentation for work.  I left the kids in the care of my wonderful husband for the night. He had to handle the soccer game, their homework and bedtime.  Now, I happened to get out of the presentation a little bit earlier than expected and called home with the intent of informing the family.  Immediately upon picking up the line, hubby told me that  Tiny Ninja  had a science quiz the next morning and that studying was NOT GOING WELL. 

AT ALL.

At which point my car ACCIDENTALLY veered itself away from the house and towards the grocery store.

Ahem. Yes. I went to the grocery store to avoid the family.  I just wasn’t ready to deal with a science quiz.  Truthfully, science is torture for me.  So I hid at the grocery store.

I know… SAD.  And yet, victorious at the same time.