Ready, Set, Cook!

Today was an exciting culinary AND pageant day for me. That's right, I managed to find a way to combine 2 of my favorite interests, and let me tell you- it was great! I volunteered at the "Ready, Set, Cook" competition in Lincoln City, OR and represented my title of Mrs. Portland. It was an afternoon of yummy food, awesome cooking and friendly conversation. Just how I like to spend my time.

"Ready, Set, Cook" is a fundraising event that benefits the N. Lincoln Hospital Foundation Samaritan Early Learning Center Fund. Samaritan Early Learning Center currently provides day care for 53 children ages 6 weeks to 8 years and is the only state registered child care center in Lincoln City. With plans to expand in the near future the center will eventual accommodate 100 children.

The event featured 2 rounds of cooking competition- The first round set Chef Neuman from Portland's OBA and Chef Sean McCart from The Bay House in Lincoln City against each other in a 30 min heat to create a dish using salmon and shrimp. The second round found Chef Justin Wills and a guest chef from Maui making dishes with Morels and lamb. Each chef received a sous chef who won their position through an auction. They were then judged by 3 guests who also won their positions through an auction. All the proceeds went to the Learning Center. At the end of the day, we managed to raise over $3000 in auction bids alone! Talk about supporting the community. :D

To my surprise, I was introduced on stage and given time to talk about the pageant and my platform. What an opportunity! I got to brag about our outstanding pageant family, then get the word out about Sallie's Faith Foundation. I felt honored to be allowed that time and hope I did both organizations proud. Another great moment was when I met Chef Neuman. I love OBA's atmosphere and food, but I am always ready to sing the praises of their happy hour. You better believe I got a picture with him! That one's going in the scrapbook.

All in all, an outstanding day! Once again, being a part of the Mrs Oregon family has given me an opportunity to reach out into the community and meet some wonderful people while pursuing a passion. If you haven't considered joining us, you might want to.

Training Sessions: Day 1

Oh my! That's about all I can muster at this point. I had my first day of training with Zach and Marie at Saturn Styles Studios last night, and as I feared... I can barely move today. I don't remember the last time my muscles have been this fatigued! I knew I was pretty weak, but today I KNOW. This realization makes me a little sad, because I remember the days I use to hit the gym everyday and really loved working out. Where have those days gone?

Before I had Ryker, I use to pride myself in my level of physical fitness. I was no body builder, but I was a distance runner, ate really well and enjoyed light weight lifting. Enter the little baby in my tummy- and exit all physical activity. I used  my pregnancy as an excuse to pretty much drop all my workouts and eat things I had long banished from my diet- Fast food, fried food, super high calorie food. I am fortunate that my pregnancy weight dropped off, but with it went my muscle. I keep telling myself I will dedicate more time to taking care of myself, but I can always find something else that needs attending too. Well, the excuses ended yesterday.

Zach and Marie are not only physical trainers of the body, but they are wonderful coaches of self confidence. They take the time to go over your personal, fitness and professional goals, look at your eating habits and talk to you about how your life is run. They take all of this into consideration when designing a workout program for you. Then, if that personal attention isn't enough, they are your one-on-one cheerleaders the whole time. Yes, they are making you sweat and groan in pain, but they tell you how awesome you are while they do it. They remind you what you are trying to accomplish, and assure you that you are VERY capable of reaching your goal. It is exciting to have that kind of support behind you.

I have specific physical goals I'm trying to reach for the Mrs Oregon pageant in Nov, and I am assured they are completely reachable, but I have a feeling I'm going to walk away with more then a sexy stomach. I'm going to have self confidence, satisfaction of achieving goals, and best of all- 2 wonderful friends. The gifts I'm receiving from joining the Mrs Oregon family just keep on coming!

1 year and going strong

Two exciting events came together this past weekend that warrented a celebration slightly more epic then dinner at Outback. I finished my classroom portion of culinary school and Lenny and I had our 1 year anniversary! That's right, we survived the first year of marriage, which I've always been warned is the toughest year- however I don't really seem to remember it being difficult at all. That is a good sign, right?

We chose a long weekend in Seattle as a way to celebrate both occasions- We had our first kiss on top of the Space Needle way back when, and Seattle has some awesome food places for us to try. Seemed like a natural fit for us. So, bags packed and tears drying on our cheeks as we dropped Ryker off at Gramma and Grandpa's for his first long weekend away from us, we hit I5 like 2 teenagers on our first date. Giddy, excited and carefree. It felt great. We spent 3 days in the Emerald City and ate so much food. Luckily, we chose to walk everywhere (well, the $5 hourly parking fee really made that decision for us), so I think we negated all the calories, but I will cherish every single one of them.

If you have the opportunity to eat in Seattle, I suggest you try Serious Pie- a pizza place by Tom Douglas. As a Beard Award winner and all around amazing chef, this guy knows how to make a pizza. Andaluca gave me my first experience with ground duck- and it's an experience I won't soon forget! I could name all the places we went, but I want to let you discover the culinary treasures on your own. What a wonderful way for us to commemerate our love for each other & our love for food.

While we thoroughly enjoyed our time together sans child & still had many more places we wanted to try, we were happy to return home to our little tornado of distruction. It's fun to spend adult time together, but at the end of the day we are a family unit, and when a piece is missing... things just aren't quite right. Thank you, Seattle, for the beautiful weather, the outstanding food and the romantic memories. Oh, and if Chef Douglas would like to open up a Serious Pie here in Portland, I'd be willing to help him out.

And that's a wrap...

If you had asked me 8 hours ago if I thought I was going to make it through the end of this day, I would have slowly lowered my head and meekly shook it "no". The idea of accomplishing everything that I needed to accomplish today was enough to drive me to insomia this weekend. Visions of sugarplums NOTHING! Try nightmares of tarts, caramels, nougate, cookies, chocolate tortes... and this list goes on and on. Before I was a culinary student, baking a cake was quite the daily accomplishment, so it's easy to understand my nerves as I sketched out my plan to bake and finish my 27 piece buffet.

All the intimidating (yet incredibly scrumptious) images aside... I'M FINISHED! I have offically finished all grade work for my Baking and Pastry Program at OCI! I am in disbelief just typing that. Enrolling in culinary school has been such a lofty, dream-like goal in my life for a very long time. The fact that I have completed it is mind-blowing! I have to tell you, it is an amazing feeling to pursue one's personal goals and see them come to life. Now, as I am about to start an intership at Ten01 with their fabulous pastry chef, Jeff McCarthy, I am beside myself. I am getting the chance to experience something I use to daydream about. Am I a blessed little lady or what???

Now to enjoy a little R&R the next couple of days. Hey, pursuing your goals is exciting... but it's hard work too!

Greetings from Mrs. Portland 2011

Today was the first "Meet & Greet" for the contestants of the Mrs Oregon pageant & as the newly crowned Mrs. Portland, I was on pins and needles. Libby, our director, graciously held a workshop for us in her gorgeous home, allowing us all to meet each other in person and start creating those amazing bonds that come with participating in a pageant together.

I went, knowing only one of the contestants (thanks to the wonderful world of Facebook). My emotions were a mix of excitement and nervousness. This workshop marked the beginning of the pageant season for me, which is always fun and adventurous. However, not knowing the ladies I am about to embark on this journey with put me a little on the defense. I'm not sure what it is about my personality that makes me think like that, but anyhoo- there it is. As usual, I'm not sure what I was worried about. The ladies are fantastic! I don't know how Libby does it, but she seems to attract the most beautiful, caring and professional women you will ever meet. We range from stay-at-home moms to business owners, yet this pageant is bringing us all together on common ground. We are passionate about our families, our communities and about setting a positive, inspiring example for all married women.

Pop your head in from time to time to follow me as I begin the process of preparing myself for the pageant. The next several months will be filled with community service, new friendships and a lot of smiles. I simply can not wait!

Sallie's Faith Foundation

For anyone with a young child, this will probably touch your heart.

In December 2008, my 2 year old niece, Sallie Gilmer, was diagnosed with Leukemia. The roller coaster that her family has been on since then is unbelievable, from steroids, chemotherapy to one near death experience. To see such a small child have to deal with these severe health problems is really a heart wrenching experience. Luckily, Sallie is a true warrior. She prays, she battles and she refuses to let anything rob her of her spunky attitude. Now, at 3 years old, she continues to battle her ups and downs, but she is also a shining example of the positive attitude and beautiful smile children can have in the face of such adversity.

Together, her family and friends are creating "Sallie's Faith Foundation". We are working with Emmanuel Hospital in their development of their new Pediatric Oncology wing, hoping to implement some "well being" programs such as gas cards for families who have to travel to and from the hospital for treatment and during hospital stays. Along with the local work with Emmanuel, we are hoping to raise money for research grants aimed at finding advances in treatments for childhood cancers.

This foundation is just getting itself off the ground, but I am sure that only positive and exciting things are on the horizon. I am currently the secretary on the board for the foundation, as well as an artistic/image voice, and I am also hoping to contribute heavily in the planning, managing and the execution of our fundraisers.

Look for updates as we continue to fine tune our work and start to get ourselves out in the community!

I'm taking another shot at the crown...

Well, it's official- As of this evening, I've decided that I am going to take another shot at the Mrs. Oregon America crown. I can't tell you how giddy and absolutely frantic that makes me feel at this moment!

I had a sneaking suspision, after last year's pageant, that I would be making a 2nd appearance, but I have to say that what pushed me over the edge from 'tossing the idea around' to 'YES, I'm in and I can't wait to get my gown!' was a phone call I got on Monday. Though, thanks to my persnickity phone, I didn't get the message until Tueday. It was from Libby, the pageant's director. She called to make sure I knew that the discount for the previous year's contestants was closing in and that she didn't want me to miss out on the discount, should I want to enter. When I called her back, we talked about my decision to re-enter and what I should think about as far as preparing this year. She told me she was very happy that I was returning and I told her I was just as excited. And you know what... I genuinely believe her. That is what has cemented my decision to support her program. Not because I am a crown chaser that lives for the day that my name will be called and I will have that shiny, sparkly crown placed on my head, but because I feel good being involved with a person such as Libby. Her integrity is impeccible. When she talks to you, you can feel her sincerity and you know that she is being true to herself and to you. This is a lost quality in today's lifestyle, where everyone seems to be trying to sell you something to make themselves some money. Libby represents her program as a program that supports, lifts up and honors married women of Oregon, and her only objective in this pageant is to make sure every participant is able to walk away having gained something.

I only met Libby last year through participating in the 2010 pageant, but since then I have been invited to her home, I have met her family and I feel like she has honestly tried to make our friendship extend beyond the pageant world. She is interested in my son, my home life... she honestly cares about me as a person, not as a contestant. I challenge anyone who complains about the materialistic qualities of pageants to enter the Mrs. Oregon America pageant, and see for yourself just how fulfilling the experience can be. I can not speak for other pageant systems, but I know that as long as Libby is running Mrs Oregon America, this program will be a stand out from the rest.

Thank you so much, Libby!