Weekly Love List

Not a picture from the future

How is your week going?  I am glad that it's Wednesday.  I leave for a conference in Washington tomorrow night so only one more day of work for me.  Tonight I am making Cheddar Chicken for dinner with a spinach salad and a vegetable, maybe broccoli.  I need a quickish dinner because I am supposed to go running and I need to pack not only for my DC trip but for my friend Jeremy's birthday party which I am leaving for immediately upon my return Saturday.  So here is what I'm loving this week: 

1.  Cake made with cake mix and diet soda.  Ok, normally I am TOTALLY anti-cake mix.  I think it's lazy and not very good and just not worth it because it is super easy to mix up a cake from scratch.  BUT, for Snack Club Monday, Cher made a lemon cake with Diet Sprite or something and lemon zest and it was seriously delicious.  Moist and light and fluffy and just super good.  Then for Snack Club yesterday because they had a Bach special I made cupcakes with this red velvet cake mix I had left over from making this (ah-mah-zing BTW) and Diet Coke.  I made frosting out of a little light cream cheese I had on hand and Cool Whip.  These were really good too!  Here is a recipe but you can basically do any combo of 2 parts cake mix to one part soda.  You could use non-diet soda but why would you?
2.  Zumba and kickboxing.  I really love Zumba and kickboxing.  It makes me feel like I am in Step Up.  I am not that great but I have gotten way better since I started going and it's very rewarding.  And it's such a good workout.  
3.  The cafeteria where I work.  The food here is really quite good.  Today I tried tandoori chicken piadina, a really good stir fry and this amazing cream of mushroom pesto soup.  And somehow they always have really good fresh fruit even in Wisconsin in the dead of winter.  Today I had watermelon.  Mara said the turkey and greens salad with kiwi and strawberry was good but I didn't try it.  The greens looked good but I don't like kiwi much.  And I had my usual soft serve fro yo for dessert this time with a chocolate cookie crumbled on top.  Do you like that idea Alexa?  
4.  The dentist.  No joke I really love the dentist.  You may be amazed to learn I have never had a cavity or filling (neither has Morgan, perfect teeth woot woot).  I attribute this to my mother getting my teeth sealed as a child, diligent twice-daily brushing with a Sonicare, daily flossing, and visiting the dentist every six months.  Today Dr. Kim said, "your teeth are so clean they actually sparkle."  Aww, so sweet!  
5.  I-pad.  In preparation for my trip I downloaded the last episode from season one of Girls, an ep of Downton Abbey, and the rest of season one of Homeland.  There's something about watching Homeland in DC that I particularly enjoy.  The I-pad is just sooo nice for travel.  I-pad + Bose noise cancelling head phones + blanket makes even traveling coach almost pleasant.  
What are you loving right now?  Any tips for my trip?  Can't wait to see my old friend Nina while I'm there!