Monday, October 24, 2011

Wiener Dogs and Cupcakes!

Saturday was not only a fun day (how can you go wrong when you're surrounded by wiener dogs?!?), but also a day of food firsts for me - and yes, I recognize how unfathomable that might seem...someone who once tipped the scales at 256 pounds had yet to experience certain foods?  But it was true...and I'll get to that in a second.  First up, though, is the wiener dog races!
Run, little doggies, RUN!

That was the regular length track.  Then it was time for the short track, for the Seniors and the Special Olympians.  Ten feet, and it was a challenge for some of these dogs, but they all ran their hearts out!
 Seniors:  Aaaand they're off...
 ...aaaaand they're finished!
Special Olympics - there were two dogs in "wheelchairs" - dachshunds are notorious for having back problems and sometimes, unfortunately, they end up partially paralyzed.  One dog had been like this for seven years, the other for five.  Gotta admire their owner's devotion in the extra care.

This is Lala Two (yes, there is a Lala One at home, LOL):
Her mama said Lala Two didn't really see what the fuss was about racing, but she tried.  Mostly she wanted a nap!

Then I spied him.  Stalked him.  Finally made my move and luckily, his nice owners let me get my puppy fix.  This is Oscar, the little cute puppy with the big paws:
 
He is three months old and a DOLL.  Almost as fun to hold as a real baby!  Big soft ears, sweet puppy tummy, aforementioned giant paws...just so cute!!!
 
Awwwww!  Oscar was a sweetheart.  His family is lucky to have such a mellow dog.

Having owned a dachshund for about 15 years, this was a real treat.  And luckily, Paco can't read so he'll never know I cheated on him. Not tempted to get another dog because A) it would break Paco's heart (he thinks he's king and there is no room in his world for minions); and B) pets sure tie you down.  But dangit if they aren't cute!

Now, onto the food fun.  Before going to Wienerfest, we went to the kick-off for the Armadillo Dash, where we signed Jeff up for the half, and I resisted peer pressure (my running club peeps are crazy!) and only signed up for the 5K (I love running but am not deluded enough to think I could get ready for a half marathon with only three months of preparation AND coming back from surgery).  Anyway, there were the two food trucks on site.  Back in the day, we used to call them "roach coaches" but apparently food trucks have gone gourmet.  One, Chef Tai's Mobile Bistro, recently won the Food Network's "America's Favorite Food Truck" contest (and $10,000!), so naturally we had to try it.  Jeff and I split a Kobe burger and truffle fries and they were quite good!  It was a fun experience, although we ended up sitting in the car to eat because it's not like there are tables and chairs in a parking lot.  Still, our first time with the food truck fad was a success.

Little did I know that I would hit up another food truck just a couple hours later!  (side note:  our town only has three food trucks so we did pretty good to see them all in one day)  At Wienerfest, Cake Junkie was there...and that could only mean one thing - CUPCAKES!  Ever since the cupcake fad basically swept the country, I have not had one.  Just not a lot of opportunity in our area, and you know me - I pick frozen yogurt over just about everything.  Still, I was not going to pass this up!  I got in line and tried to decide which flavor to get (chocolate? pumpkin spice?? pink champagne???) and when I got closer, I saw that they actually pipe the icing on after you order your cupcake!  I quizzed the guy on the icing flavors, and ended up choosing the pumpkin spice since it came with cream cheese icing.
Me quizzing the guy - hey, for my first gourmet cupcake, I wanted it to be perfect!
Jeff said I looked like a little kid at the truck window...sure, if a little kid has crow's feet, lol!
Frosting our cupcake!
Finally - I'm going to find out what all the fuss has been about!

We split the cupcake, which was difficult without a fork, as it was huge and hard to get a bite with both cake and icing...but you know I managed!  It was tasty.  We liked it, and might, if we see the truck around town, stop for one.  But I don't think I'd get these over frozen yogurt very often - what can I say, I love frozen yogurt too much!

We had a fun day, but later on my ankle was pretty swollen...lesson learned, I'm still in recovery mode.  It was worth it, though!

26 comments:

  1. Yes! Weiner dogs are amazing, as are food trucks and cupcakes. I WISH I could have gone to this. My boyfriend's sister has a mini-weiner and he does the absolute cutest thing. I would have been on cute overload.

    AND

    WOOO HOOOOOO for signing up for a 5k! That wouldn't have happened before surgery. Your life is changing yet again. Go Shelley!

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  2. sorry youre still in the mode of recovery but GLAD it was worth it.
    uh
    and that *purple* skirt youre ROCKING?
    I love that too.

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  3. SO adorable and funny! Looks like you had a great time, and made a new friend with that puppy!

    I rarely eat cupcakes, and I don't think I've had any from the 8 million cupcake stores in Chicago, but I can never, ever resist red velvet.

    Love your sporty outfit! I knew you would rock those skirts.

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  4. I love the pic of you waiting for your cupcake, Jeff is right :)

    I love Weiner dogs, I grew up with 2, the first was poisened when I was about 5 years old and the one we got after that was 14 when she died. First we had a black one, later a brown one, just like the pup you are holding.

    Looks to me you had a great day!

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  5. Signing up fof 5k while still recovering from surgery..>Wow..my hero...Congrats girl!!

    I've never eaten off a roach coach, and can't believe the fad of them now. I've watched them on GMA and Food Network and don't understand the fad, unless poeple just like fast food coming to them vs them going to it.

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  6. OMG, Oscar is too cute!! And I just don't get the cupcake craze - my sisters office gets food in all the time from vendors, and there is a cupcake place in Chicago called More - um, $50 a dozen!

    Happy Monday Shelley! Love the purple skirt too. :D

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  7. I hope you're back to icing and elevating :) Injuries are so frustrating like that - you wanna get out and do things and are rewarded with achy swelling. Blah.

    Yum. Cupcakes are a fun treat, but they're not my go-to either.

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  8. I can turn down regular fries, but truffle fries are one of my weaknesses.

    You do look like a little kid in front of the cupcake truck! I'm a cupcake lover myself and even then, I have to be in the mood.

    As far as I'm ccncerned, a borrowed doggy is the best doggy. Oscar was an adorable borrow.

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  9. Well you didn't say anything about your ankle hurting, so I am going to assume that it didn't. So, success there!! That makes me happy.

    You are looking good, my Friend! I love the skirt with boot look. You did kind of look like a kid at that Cupcake Truck :)

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  10. Yes you do look like a little kid at the window. Adorable. Cupcakes don't tempt me but pie is hard to resist.

    The dog races look like a lot of fun. :)

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  11. Oh ohoh. Thank you for my dachshund fix! I clicked on the pics and looked at them full screen! Lala--I LOVE that name. Must remember for the next dog! She looks just like Sophie, don't you think?

    Sophie says to Paco: "amen, brother, it is indeed hard to live with minions."

    The trouble with cupcakes is that you have to choose one flavor. You wait so long to get one, and then have to narrow it down to one.

    I'm very happy that you signed up for the 5K. And hope your ankle is recovered from its outing yesterday.

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  12. Awww.. a puppy! I've wanted a dog for so long it's driving me crazy. Sigh!

    I love frozen yogurt too, I really really do. If I could choose between any treat in the world, I'd probably pick that!

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  13. What a fun October weekend! Now go elevate that ankle! ;-)

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  14. Looks like you had a wonderful day, puppies and cup cakes and all!!!

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  15. I wonder if Oscar's middle name is Mayer. :)

    I think the cupcake window is high enough! Sheesh! That's why Jeff was 'kidding' you.. I was thinkin I was going to ask you "what, no fork?" re the photo of you with cupcake..and then you mentioned it. haha
    Oh & errign above mentioned you being "back to icing & elevating.. and um, I was still salivating over the cupcake, all the icing talk/choices..I read it as cupcake ICING. haha.

    Did Paco sniff you down when you got home?

    Chrissy

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  16. The photo of you and the puppy was adorable.
    The cupcake looked pretty yummee. Here in NYC you can't turn right or left without banging your nose on a cupcake place.
    I enjoyed my second browse through your site very much - I shall return.

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  17. Awww...what a fun day. But shh, mums the word. You don't want Paco knowing where you were! (though I'm sure there was MUCH sniffing when you got home!)
    Glad it was worth the ankle pain. And awww...I want that puppy. AWW. Have a great Monday Shelley.

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  18. Awww....cute puppy :) And I agree that it is amazing that these owners take on the extra effort for a special needs dog. I thought our dog, who also believes that she is the queen of ALL dogginess, would never get along with another dog. When we first introduced her to our new dog CeCe she was not a happy camper. She even went after her and lunged. About two hours later after making her understand what is and isnt acceptable (eating another dog is not okay) she began to tolerate her. It got better every day. The vet said it would take two weeks for our dog to accept her as part of the family and he was so right. Its been like 3 weeks now and they are the best of friends...and....my very overweight dog as lost 4 lbs from all the playing! Who knew?

    Anyway, enough about that. So yes..wasnt the random presence of lizards and snakes and such the oddest thing? Yet cool right? Your comments are always so appreciated because they somehow always seem to normalize whatever it is that is going on. I had no idea my body wouldnt have been ready for a 5k a week later. I thought I was fine. My legs totally disagreed.

    Put your foot up and let that thing heal so you can get back out there running! I am so happy you signed up for a 5k. I bet you are super excited!

    Jennifer
    www.wecanlosethepounds.blogspot.com

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  19. I'll take that cuppicake! :D

    I am really a cat person at heart, but I loves me some puppies!

    Nice to get out an about, it seems. Glad the ankle is letting you do that!

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  20. Love food trucks!! So glad you got to experience it. :)

    I saw that the Armadillo Dash was having their kickoff. And yay for signing up for your first post surgery race! This is exciting! :)

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  21. My parents have a weiner dog and they love her! Great pets!

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  22. I'm just sure there's some research out there proving that cupcakes have amazing healing powers.
    And if there isn't, you might want to investigate. Purely in the interests of science, of course.
    Well, almost purely.

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  23. It's so good to see you out there enjoying life! Anything involving doggies gets my vote too :)

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  24. Such great pictures. I love wiener dogs. And - whew - better to have your day than one entitles Wiener cups and dog cakes.

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  25. Yup...a food truck is one of my dreams...just need to work out how to cook something that'll both sell and that I won't eat too much of!

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