I have definitely not done enough (or any!) blogging in the past week and I hate when I do that.  I fall into a slump and even though I think about it, I just don’t do it.  I find it happens in multiple areas of my life and it’s a personal flaw I’m working on.

So some updates:

Over the weekend, I went back to New York and surprised the Shen Dance Team by being at their end-of-the-year banquet.  I even did a solo for them; they really loved it and it was a wonderful night.  The team even gave me another set of their black and silver performance poms which I’ll keep with the green and silver ones I already have.  Hopefully I’ll be heading back there to run their camp in August.

I haven’t done much cooking since I was away but last night, my mom requested my Bouef Bourginion.  It was delicious, even though I couldn’t eat the potatoes because of Lent (although I may have slipped a few by accident!)  I also made a crustless banana cream pie, which only my boyfriend had a piece of because we kinda forgot about it.  Oh well, there’s always tonight.

Couch to 5K-wise: I completed Week 4, Day 1 yesterday.  I thought I was going to die; no seriously, just crash right there on the treadmill.  For you runners out there, I’m know running 5 full minutes is absolutely nothing.  Well, I’m not quite a runner yet and those 2 5-minute intervals were pretty tough.  But I did them.  I had to reduce my speed for the second one because, in reality, I’m training for distance, not speed at this point.  The important thing is that I’m doing it and when May 14th rolls around, I hope to be at the starting line of Marblehead’s Beach to Beach 5K donning a sports fanny pack and my very own number.

In regards to grad school, I already mentioned that I was accepted into BU’s Broadcasting program.  I found out a week later that Emerson also accepted me.  Dilemma…because, honestly, I wasn’t really banking on getting into either school (my GRE scores were a little less than adequate in my opinion), now I have 2 of the best journalism programs in the country to choose from.  Well, it didn’t take long for me to make my decision.  BU was always in the back of my mind; call it a gut feeling.  My dad and grandmother both went there, its a big name school (aka BIG MONEY) and I dream of the day I have a beautiful Master’s Degree with the BU emblem on it… :sigh:

Finally, I will be doing some spring cleaning around the blog to give Chocolate & Wine a facelift.  Bear with me.. it could get ugly.

Happy Wednesday!

Oh.. and just in case you wanted that pie recipe…

Crustless Banana Cream Pie
Recipe from Hungry Girl

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup Splenda
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups cold light vanilla soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 tablespoons Brummel & Brown margarine spread
2.5 medium bananas, sliced into thin disks
Cool Whip Free

Combine sugar, cornstarch, Splenda and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Whisking constantly, slowy add the milk and bring mixture to a boil.  Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes or until the mixture thickens and resembles a custard.  Remove from heat and stir in the margarine and vanilla.  Let cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice bananas and lay about half of the banana slices in a single layer to cover the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan.  Pour half of the custard over the bananas in an even layer.  Repeat layering the rest of the bananas on top of the custard and spread the remaining custard on top.  Let sit out for 10 minutes and then place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

When ready to serve, spread Cool Whip Free over the top of the pie.  Garnish with extra banana slices and cocoa powder if desired.