When A Croissant Meets A Muffin

What happens when a croissant meets and falls in love with a muffin? They get baked in San Francisco by Mr. Holmes Bakehouse and have some absolute DELISH babies called cruffins. This is essentially a spinoff from the cronut that was all the craze last year (if you didn't already know: croissant x donut). I have still yet to try the original cronut from Dominique Ansel Bakery in New York (yet), but I'm very content with having cruffins within driving distance.

Behold...

This, my friends, is the CRUFFIN. My first bite of this Cookies & Cream cruffin already had me head over heels. With every bite, I kept thinking and literally saying out loud, "THIS IS SO GOOD!"

Let's start with the pastry itself - soft, flaky, covered in sugar. They are baked perfectly and won't harden over time, as I've experienced with other cronuts. The part that makes it the BEST is the custard. My oh my, I can probably eat the custard all day long - creamy, not overly sweet, true to the flavors described.

The moment I realized how much I really love Mr. Holmes's custard (really, this is like a relationship!) is when I tried the caramel popcorn flavor. I know I'm in the minority here when I say this: I'm not a big fan of caramel (including salted caramel). I'm not completely against it where I avoid it at all costs, but I wouldn't want big glop of caramel on anything. With that said, I'll admit I was a tad worried when I saw this flavor. Plus, caramel popcorn as a custard? What?

Um, yeah. Mind. Blown. Again, "THIS IS SO GOOD!" There wasn't so much caramel flavor where non-caramel fans would hate it, and there wasn't too little caramel where fans would hate it (I'd assume!) - it was just a happy medium. As you bite into the custard, there's a good hint of popcorn taste, and of course, it is topped off with actual caramel popcorn. Yum!

The most recent flavor I tried was banana chocolate. I love all things banana, with the exception of artificial banana flavors. (You know those Bananarama candies? Who in the world taste tested them and thought, "Exactly how banana tastes like! Let's do it!") 

My thoughts on Mr. Holmes' banana chocolate? "THIS IS SO..." ...Yeah, I'm sure you get the picture. I do have to say I was a little thrown off because the flavor update said it was going to be banana cream, which I would've LOVED to try, but banana chocolate did not disappoint!

I also want to share that Mr. Holmes puts in the just the right amount of custard in each cruffin. With a pastry this size (I can't wrap my whole hand around it), it would've been rather disappointing if was just a small squirt of this heavenly custard inside. On the other hand, it isn't too overloaded with custard. (Although, would that really be a bad thing...? Just saying.)

If you're in the Bay Area and are now convinced that you HAVE to try a cruffin from Mr. Holmes (because you totally should!), here my tips after three trips there:

• FLAVORS: Mr. Holmes posts flavor updates every Sunday on Instagram. There are different flavors daily Monday-Friday and the same flavor on Saturday and Sunday. They also list their rotating doughnut flavors, using the same custard recipe, but are different from current cruffin flavors.
• TIME: Cruffins are available to purchase at 9am, but you should arrive early because there is a limited amount and people stand in line for them. According to Yelp reviews, 8:30am seems like the latest time you should get there on weekends. I get there at approximately 8-8:15am because, personally, my thought process has been, if I'm already this committed to getting up early and driving there, I am NOT walking away empty-handed. You may not have to be there as early on the weekdays, but don't take my word for it!
• PARKING: Because it is early in the day, it usually isn't too hard to find street parking nearby. Be sure to pay the meters in advanced, as meters must be fed starting at 9am, which is when the cruffins start. Meter maids DO drive around, so don't risk getting a ticket!
• LINES: There are two lines. Facing the store, the line on the left is the cruffin line and the line on the right is regular bakery line. Go to the left. If you're going with a friend, one of you can hop out of the cruffin line to check out the bakery items.
• STICKERS: About 5-10 minutes prior to the cruffins being available, they start distributing Mr. Holmes stickers to each person in line. It is one sticker per person, so if someone from your party isn't in line during distribution, they're out of luck. However, they give a 5-minute warning before distribution begins so there aren't any surprises. Each sticker allows you to purchase up to TWO cruffins. And you get to keep the sticker.
• PRICE: Each cruffin is $4.50. By default, they will put it in a paper bag. In order to get a Mr. Holmes box, you either pay an extra $1.50 or have a total of six items. Unless you have a party of three and are putting them all in one box, that means you'd have to purchase regular bakery items. Their bakery items are just as good, so you might as well go for it!
• JUST EAT IT: Cruffins are best eaten the day of. You have to refrigerate it overnight because it is custard, which means you'd have to warm it up the next day, and it's just not as good. 

BONUS TIP: For a very San Francisco visit, there's a Philz Coffee location within about half a mile. Sip on that mint mojito coffee while you eat that cruffin, and you'll be golden.

EXTRA BONUS TIP: LA - they're coming for you!

Run #3: The Most Colorful of Them All

Run #3 is in the books, and it was the most colorful of them all. It was, the Color Run, after all.

The Color Run isn't your typical run. You get hit with color powder, and you're not timed at all. It is advertised as the #Happiest5K. I concur.

This is #TeamFIYAH before the race. You know, wearing our clean, white T-shirts. We started the race right outside of AT&T Park, then continuing into the park around the warning track, and out again onto the Embarcadero. We lucked out incredibly with the weather. There was heavy rain overnight and into the early morning, but it was pretty clear when we were out there. The only downside was that it was really windy, but hey, I'll take wind over rain for this type of race!

Throughout the race, there are color zones, such as this, with volunteers ready to throw colored powder at you. The first one was blue, located right before Bay Bridge. I was excited because the blue was so bright and nice, but only got disappointed because I barely got hit! However, my friend went back when we turned around after the yellow zone, grabbed a handful of powder, and spread  (or smacked, really) it on us.

There were five zones total: blue, yellow, pink, orange, sparkle. Here we are right after the pink zone, to show you the madness behind us, and on us. Pink and orange were the craziest, but it really depends on how into it the volunteers are.

After the pink zone, we ran back into AT&T Park, up the ramps and around the concourse. Many stopped to take pictures, as they did in the warning track, but we just kept going, sensing that we are getting close to being done. (Plus, AT&T Park? Practically a home for us!)

And, so... for the aftermath...

White shirt? WHAT WHITE SHIRT? Pants? Shoes? Hair? FACE? Nothing was the same! Luckily, most of the colors came off our clothes. We're still working on our shoes though.

Tips for future Color Runners? Wear shoes you don't really care (but make sure they are comfortable -- whether you run, jog, walk, it IS 5k after all). Wear sunglasses. Run in a team, or with friends -- it only makes it that much HAPPIER.

This was the last run of the year for me. As I continue to seek the motivation to run, perhaps my goal next year is to do at least three runs total. We'll see!

Finding Motivation to Run

Confession: I'm not as active I'm supposed to be, or would like to be. Sometimes, it's hard to find the motivation to take time out of my life to run or go on long walks. But other times, I get into the idea of wanting to go hiking and doing something active.

After my first ever race (5k) last year at the Giant Race, I thought, "Maybe this is the start of something new!" Then, of course, life happened, which meant nothing has happened for a year. Until last week.

It all started when one of my best friends (who is quite a race medal collector herself), showed me the theme for the upcoming Let's Go 510 race. And um, well, clearly, this was motivation enough because I signed up immediately up for the 5k. We've actually talked about wishing how the Warriors would host/sponsor a race, and this was the closest we can get, for now anyway.

I found out about the race two weeks prior. The week of the race, I finally said to myself, "OK, I got to do something with myself before I just completely die on Sunday." That week, I ran/jogged/ran with Kingston for approximately a mile on Monday. On Wednesday, I jogged with Ellie (poor girl is unable to do a whole run with me) for about a mile. By Friday, I really had no choice but to do the whole 3ish miles. This took me approximately 42 minutes, including some walking and waiting for lights. I thought to myself, "Not bad. If I can do it within 45 minutes on Sunday, I'll be happy."

On Sunday, I dragged myself up and headed to Golden Gate Fields in Albany around 6am. It was dark, cold, and I was feeling a little nervous. I felt a little better after meeting up with my friend though. The race started a tad bit late -- a little after 7am -- as the organizers wanted to make sure it was a bit brighter. Then, boom. It was go time.

I started out steady, knowing that I can't rush the first half of the race. And of course, the first part of the race was a HILL. It wasn't a steep hill, but I was just thinking, "Oh gee, this is lovely." However, it was nice looking out, running right next to the Bay with the San Francisco skyline close by. Some people stopped to take pictures, but I was completely focused on running.

I ran/jogged the whole first mile*, up until it was where the 10k runners kept running and we were supposed to turn around, and also took a quick, much needed water break. After that, it was back up to that dang hill. As much as I wanted to keep running, I knew I had to take a break and walk up at least part of the hill.

Right when I was going downhill, and saw the finish line not too close by, I kind of just really ran. Then I saw the loop, and thought, "SO CLOSE. I can do this!" *Until I realize that the water break was at just the FIRST mile (or somewhere close to it). I still had to go around ANOTHER big loop. Admittedly, I felt kind of disappointed? down? ugh-ish? that I still had so much more to go, in my eyes at least. I tried to run/jog as much as I could here as well, but found myself walking some more because I was just getting tired.

Finally, I got to where I thought was the final stretch and was thinking that I couldn't stop then. As I always have done, even back in PE classes, I use every strength I have to sprint to the finish line. And screamed in my head, FINALLY.

As I was waiting for my friend to finish her 10k, I decided to check my time. To my HUGE surprise, I did it in 33 minutes. I quickly checked my Instagram to see my time for the Giants race. And? 33:54. I couldn't believe I beat my time by 54 seconds. I think my biggest shock came from the fact that I did a LOT more training for that race last year and ran/jogged the entire way, compared to my three-time training with time spent on walking this year.

It only makes me think that, if I actually become active, that someday, I could get 5k down to 30 minutes. This would mean eliminating the walking and less jogging (or just jogging faster). Could that be enough motivation? Maybe.

The next race I have coming up is the Color Run in two weeks. It will be a team race, so I'm not concerned about timing this time around. I see this more of having fun, bonding, and getting my teammates to be active. Nonetheless, it is another way to force me to be active!