First

If you're reading this, you probably already know me (hi!), because I've been too chicken to tell more than four people I'm starting a blog. If you've arrived here through other channels, welcome. My name's Robyn. I live in Colorado at 10,000 feet elevation and enjoy wearing running shoes and high heels (not at the same time), baking under ridiculously low atmospheric pressure, and shopping at Anthropologie even though I'm at least ten years older than their target demographic.

I've been hemming and hawing about blogging for a long time (do I want to be a food blogger? or a fashion blogger? maybe a fitness/mommy blogger?) and finally settled on who cares just do it already it'll work itself out. Plus, Beth challenged me to post by next week, which was like a red bullfighter's flag to my deadline-driven personality. I want to learn more about blogging for my job (I work in communications), but mostly I just want my own little outlet for documenting recipes, discussing girly stuff like clothes and makeup and exercising (that's girly to me), and practicing taking photos using settings other than auto with the schmancy camera my mom gave me last year. I will probably write about a lot of other random (shallow) stuff as well. As I'm learning, I hope you'll forgive me if I link to the wrong thing or accidentally post white type on a white background or, you know, sound like an asshole from time to time. I do have persnickety (overparticular; fussy) tendencies, but I can be moody and impatient and prone to swearing too. I bet you can't wait for my next post.  

Do you like my last-minute Halloween costume up there on the right? I love that wig. It reminds me of one my drunken girlfriends and I tried on one night at a costume store called The Ritz in Boulder, except that one was brown and had short curly bangs in addition to the braids. We called it the pubic hair wig.

So ... I'm gonna start with something easy. How about a review of my new favorite kitchen gadget? I use my KitchenAid stand mixer all the time, and have discovered that you can't put the standard metal paddle attachment in the dishwasher or the finish will wear off, leaving this weird powdery gray coating that comes off not only on your hands but on your cookie dough. Ewww. They probably tell you that in the directions, but I didn't read them. I kept washing it, hoping the crud would disappear, but it didn't and I felt a little resentful every time I used it. So it was like a little gift when I stumbled upon an article featuring this plastic replacement paddle, the Beater Blade Pro:

See the little wing thingies on the edges? Those scrape the bowl for you as you're mixing, which means you don't have to constantly stop, raise the mixer head, and fiddle with a spoon or spatula as you add ingredients. I was skeptical, because the wing thingies didn't seem very ... sturdy, but I used it while making cookies this weekend and I've gotta say, it works reeeallly well. It fully scrapes not only the sides of the bowl but the bottom as well. As someone who bakes a lot, I greatly enjoy not having to do this myself (see above re: impatient). At $25 (on sale!) it's a little pricey for a kitchen gadget but this 'pro' version is said to be made of sturdier material than their standard version and is specifically designed for high-volume use. Plus, it's dishwasher safe. Cookies for everyone!

Thanks for reading my first post. That didn't hurt, like, at all.