Getting Ripped in Under 20 Minutes

@goodlikemegan bringing our DIY jeans to NYC!

Promise to share all our summer tricks for bicep building and gorgeous glutes soon (because June, July, and August almost got the best of us), but today is all about Fabulous Fall Fashion.  This is exactly why it’s ok to hoard even the most uncool and questionable wardrobe pieces.  Fashion trends always recycle and good for those of us who just couldn’t bring our middle school self to give up the cropped jean jacket. (Check out Glamour ’14 www.glamour.com  with @KatieHolmes212 and the 2014 Denim Awards for more jean trends.)

Runner Girl has spent the past few months charting the +Lucky Brand blue waters of DIY ripped jeans.  Fitness has always trumped fashion in my world but I have to admit this has been a blast from the past!  So resurrect that pair of jeans you’ve been holding onto for the last zillion and a half years and let’s bring those babies back to life.

These are for my girl +Katerina Perez www.lovekaterinaaa.blogspot.com.  (Hope this makes up for the ice challenge I didn’t accept!)

1.  Measure out where you want the rips in the jeans.  Better to try on first and mark with a blue pen. 4-5 rips are good, but if you want to get super funky you can rip them all the way down.2. Grab a retractable blade (boxcutter knife) and a magazine.  If you want to remove some of the color, get the bleach, 5-10 rubber bands (tie dye effect), and a bucket (or a cute little aqua trashcan like mine).3. Fold the magazine in half so that the cuts only permeate one layer of jean.  Place the magazine inside the jeans at the area you will be cutting and begin making several 2-3 inch slits.  I also like the rips in the pockets (front and back).  For even more of a distressed look, a sharp razor can be used to distress the tops and  bottoms of the pockets.

4.  For tie dye jeans, bundle the jeans up in several areas with rubber bands, just like when tie dying a shirt (we’ll be fully tween by the end of this blog). There’s no rhyme or reason to where the bands are positioned.

5.  Place the jeans in the bucket and cover over with diluted bleach...approximately a cup of bleach to however much water is needed to cover bundled jeans.6.  Let the jeans soak for 4-6 hours.  Check the color.  When color perfection is achieved, ring those baby blues out, and wash all by their lonesome.  Washing them several times and then drying will exaggerate the rips before wearing.

My little man has been ridiculous rad this summer in these DIY!

Fab it up this week, runner girl style!  Next adventure...we’re having a patch party...stay tuned!  

www.marieclaire.com

Send pics of your DIY jean success to runnergirlandthejogblog@gmail.com!

Sugar Sugar

At The Movies! Cake and Cupcake Creations

In my other life, I am a bakery critic, Buddy Valastro's assistant, traveling from cupcake stand to cake shop, indulging in the best sweets on earth and never ever gaining a pound. Well heaven made it’s way to my heart, when I discovered Sweets by Sonia.

I first met this Cuban beauty (and her sugary delights), 3 years ago.  She had facebooked me letting me know she loved to bake.  I thought sure...chocolate chip cookies and rice krispy treats.  Was I in for a sweet surprise.

That year, she taught my son in Pre-K and I was both of her teens Science teacher.  And I can still remember the first time I tried the Miami Queen of Baking’s desserts.  It was love at first bite.  Death by Oreo cake.  And a few cookie dough cupcakes and brookies (half cookie, half brownie) later and my hips don’t lie.

So let me tell you a little story about this Latin Lebanese baker girl.  After that year she decided to leave the traditional work force and give her entire life to what she had been dreaming about...having her own business.  She has been baking and slowly growing her business into what Miami favorited as Sweets by Sonia for over 22 years.  From the time she was a young girl, Sonia was inspired by her own mother in the kitchen.  Sweets loved mixing things up into pure and simple yumminess.  People adored her desserts from the very start and she realized that sugary creations were the key to much happiness in those around her.

As a single mom, she became even more compelled to continue to grow her business into a legacy that her children will be proud of.  And it hasn’t always been easy.  Many days, this baker girl begins at 5am and is still finishing up creations until 11pm.  As Sweets by Sonia has become a Miami legend, she has faced challenges (like actually charging people for her delectable desserts), distancing herself from friendships as she focuses on growing her bakery, and since her children are her biggest priority, scheduling orders around their sports activities, school events, and busy teen schedules.

Her personal favs are what this top notch Miami confectionist likes to refer to as the “trinity” (because they are perfect together)...1) Guava bites - guava cake filled with extra guava, topped with cream cheese icing and then more guava at the top (obviously Miami’s chosen dessert) 2) Lemoncitos - tiny little lemon cakes(like a mini cupcake), coated in lemon glaze, with just the precise amount of lemon (also available in vanilla, rum, and strawberry)  Sweets dares you to think you can have just one! 3) S’mores -   soft homemade graham crust, chocolate, toasted marshmallows and a surprise filling (no, she won’t reveal her secrets...promise I’ve tried) presented in bite-sized squares. 

On this dessert diva's wish list is a bigger kitchen, a storefront, and a Christmas catalog.  Dreaming hasn’t stopped this girl one bit.  Earlier on she struggled with self-belief, confidence, and doubt, but Philippians 4:13 is her mantra, “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.”

Booking Sweets by Sonia for your next event might look like vanilla coconut cupcakes filled with ariquepe and mounds of toasted coconut icing or the moistest lemon, strawberry, and oreo cake pops South Florida offers or her famous rum cake, drenched in rum. This Miami Confection Queen is the Van Gogh of Baking and Sweets by Sonia is out to prove that just a spoonful of her sugar sugar will be the sweetest ending your celebration could possibly have.

Check it out at http://www.sweetsbysonia.net

Yours Truly, the Sugar Queen, and Besties

My Son's Birthday Cupcakes (each of these LEGO guys is made completely
out of chocolate and edible, even the LEGO piece they are standing on)
My baby was class pet after bring these to school!

My Son's 6th Birthday: Lego Explosion Party

Sweet 16 Under the Sea Party! The macaroons look like
oyster shells complete with edible pearl! All the shells are eatable too!