Can you say Brilliant!

Whoever thought this up was a sheer genius. For all you edge lovers out there...I've got the perfect solution. For my birthday Ben tracked down the ultimate gift....I think it will be basically impossible to top. He bought me the Baker's Edge "Edge Brownie Pan." Listen to these descriptions and testimonials:

"A baker’s dream: deliciously chewy edges for every piece!"

"If you love the crunchy, caramelized, toasty edges of a brownie, this pan is for you. No more gooey centers—every serving has two edges, thanks to the patented interior sidewalls on this pan."

"This pan’s unique design improves baking performance by allowing heat to circulate evenly—no more undercooked middles and burned edges. You’ll bake exceptional brownies, bar cookies and breads—even lasagna will be perfectly cooked. Made of heavy gauge cast aluminum with a nonstick finish. Includes a custom spatula for serving. Use with boxed mixes or recipes that call for a 9"x13" or 9"x9" pan."

I'm telling you...if you don't own one, go buy one from Amazon immediately!

Even though the brownie pan definitely won the award for best birthday present ever...the pink blue tooth definitely came in close second place. It matches my phone PERFECTLY!

Rock Stars at Heart

For the ward talent show last week, Ben decided we should form a band! Luckily I was fortunate enough to be invited to be in the band. I'm glad I made the cut too, cause we rocked the house! I have to say that this whole experience unleashed the inner rock star in me, and it turned out to be really fun. Our band consisted of Ben on guitar and vocals for one number, our friend and EQP Greg on drums, one of the YM (Daniel) on bass, Rick, a fellow med student on vocals....and me on piano. We played two numbers; "How to Save a Life" by the Fray, and "Eight Days a Week" by the Beatles. I recognize that neither of these tunes are particularly "rock" in nature, but my only concern was what the band was going to wear, and how we were going to look the part of rock stars. I'm pretty sure I win the award for "best dressed band member", no one else seemed nearly as concerned about dressing up!

We had a great time, and rumor has it there's talk of having us play again sometime in the future...!!

Triathlon Training

Ben and I officially started training for our triathlon this week, and it's basically kicking our trash! (well, I'll speak for myself, it's kicking MY trash) I've never done any type of triathlon before, so it's all a little new for me. I'm not too worried about the biking or the running, but the swimming is killing me. I frequently feel like I'm drowning, or hyperventilating, or something else really scary! It's not that I don't know how to swim, it's just that I have NO endurance for it.

Anyway....I bought Ben his birthday present today, even though his birthday isn't till June. I decided I would get him a bike, since I love biking, and we needed to start training for the triathlon anyway. The weather has been so beautiful lately that we really just wanted to get out and ride. Ben did tons of research and found a sweet deal on a mountain bike and we went and picked it up today. We went out for our first ride, and it was so fun. As it turns out, I don't think Ben and I have ever biked together. I biked tons on my mission, and then back and forth a lot to school when I got home, but since Ben didn't have a bike of his own, we never went out together.

We had a great time riding, and I'm sure there will be many more rides to come. The view of the lake with the sunset in the background was seriously spectacular.

We finished off the night with a quick stop off at McDonalds! Nothing like ending a good work out with a cheese burger right? (how gross are we!) We actually had a good excuse; one of the YW that actually just got baptized works there on Saturday nights from 4pm-2am. Can you believe that. She is so diligent, she never even misses church! Anyway, is was fun to see her, and as socially unacceptable as it is, I have to admit I do love McDonalds!

Outlet Shopping

I'm hoping someone reading this post knows who this is a picture of.....(Project Runway anyone?) Our weekend in Manchester/Bennington was a definite success. The outlets are some of the best I've ever been to. The highlights involved spending way too much time and money at Banana Republic (Ben was pretty patient. I think we were there for at least two hours. At one point one of the ladies working there asked me if my cute husband was asleep in the dressing room!), purchasing some killer shoes at BCBG, finding a sweet Burberry Golf argyle sweater for Ben, and then the obvious steal of the day, the Michael Kors winter coat that was originally $350 that I snagged for $78. It's hard to beat that kind of a deal.

We spent the majority of the day shopping, with the agreement that we would spend the evening watching the final four basketball games. Seeing as how I love basketball, and I love shopping, it was kind of a win-win situation for me! We stayed at a surprisingly nice Hampton Inn with the biggest, softest bed EVER! The drive from Burlington to Bennington was really quite beautiful. We had some serious car problems with our Explorer on the way to Manchester, but luckily we found a mechanic that was open, who was able to fix our problems. (when I got the tires rotated a week before, they hadn't tightened the lug nuts tight enough, and the wheels were basically on the verge of coming off. It was kind of unnerving to say the least.) Overall, I would highly recommend to anyone making the trip down to Manchester to visit the outlets. Manchester is such a cute town with lots of great restaurants, and enough good shopping to sufficiently break your bank account!