Last Weekend!

What a crazy weekend but i guess that's how they will all be until after the wedding and the marathon in September.
On Friday I ate some really good food, first at Vegiterranean (a vegetarian restaurant owned by Chrissie Hynde) for lunch and then at D'Agnese's Italian Restaurant for dinner. I would just like to say that Shrimp D'Agnese is fantastic!!
On Saturday I got a 14 miler in, perfect day for it no sun and only in the mid 60's. And that night went to see V's brothers band play at Borders (nice relaxing jazz) he's the drummer.

On Sunday I decided to redo the bathroom but had to watch the Tour first so had a late start. So far I have only cleaned and primed but am hoping to finish this weekend. So many more things to do before the wedding, I'm exhausted.

Almost forgot, I got to visit with my friend Pam and her sweet doggie Roxy. I think she's sticking her tongue out at me, funny!

Florida Trip

Went to Florida 2 weekends ago to visit my mom and do some wedding type shopping. Well I got a lot done but I swear I felt like I was on tour. From the time I step foot off the plane it was a race with no water stops. In the end I got a lot accomplished I actually found a dress. Yes, I got a dress and it's not any of the ones i posted but I think it's perfect. My mom and I walked into this little bridal store with only a few dresses in each size. There was only one there that i considered trying on and it fit (well it's a little tight) and I love it. So we got it! Will show pictures of it after the wedding don't want to spoil it for V.

As for running I did get a nice 11 miler in on Friday thankfully the sun didn't come out but it sure was hot. I started at 6:45 and was done before 9 (running time about 1:52). Running in Florida is so different, you sweat from the time you get out of your car. When I run in Lakeland I always go to Lake Hollingsworth (pictured below), it's a little less then 3 miles around but the scenery is really pretty and it's right by Florida Southern College. The only bad thing is that cars drive around the lake so you're constantly breathing in fumes. oh well ;0)


The other great lake in Lakeland is Lake Morton, it's probably less then 1 mile around but it is the home to many different species of birds. They are so pretty!!

While in Florida I also had a quick photo shoot with some doggies and my friend Khim.



Once i got home from this exhausting trip it took me two days just to catch up on my sleep but all is well now.

Ha!

This is a funny picture one guy at work took, trying out my camera. It's me at my desk with Baci's new picture on the screen, Polish flag with my name across it, shoe calendar and my Gatorade (all my favorite things). Funny!

New Toy!

Got a new camera yesterday!! Woo Hoo it's a Canon Rebel T1i and it's fantastic. I don't even know how to use it yet but this is one of the first photos I took with it. I have the most handsome dog ever!! Click on his face and you will see a close up.

Stuff

Dress No. 1 got the most votes, but I'm still not convinced. Maybe I should take the dress i have to a seamstress and see if anything can be done to make it work. I'll keep you posted of the progress but a part of me wants to order one of those dresses even just to see how close to the picture it would end up. They can all be made in 3 weeks for $150-200, not a bad deal even if they don't end up exactly like the picture.

In other news, I participated in a Secret Pal on this Polish website. What great fun, my package came on friday from a girl in Lodz, Poland and these were the contents:

Two skeins of beautiful blue colored yarn, 2 of my favorite chocolates, other candies (yum!), wonderful rasberry tea, knitting magazine and little lady bug clothes pins. So cute!!

The package I sent went to a really nice girl in Gdansk, Poland and I think she was happy with what i got her:

Also the wedding shawl and V's wedding socks are completed. Satisfied with both and glad they are finished!

Next on the horizon is this little beauty:

As for running, I'm planning on a 12 miler on saturday. Marathon training is in full swing!

Vote for your favorite!

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Ok, now vote for your favorite dress on the right. I have a wedding dress but have decided that it doesn't look like i want it to look so here are some choices. Don't look at the color any dress would be in off white. So, what do you think?

Diet

This week I started a "diet". I use that word loosly cause I don't think depriving yourself of what you like is a good thing but nevertheless I decided to mainly cut out sugar, eat less processed food and more fruit, vegetables, and protein. So far this week I've done great no sugar in my coffee or tea, no pepsi and no sweets. This morning one of the guys decided to bring in donuts, ok i can do this no problem, even though he brought my favorite (he knows i love these) "boston cream" donuts. But I got my bitter coffee and went on my way, then the other lady that i work with brought birthday cake for one of our bosses. Ok this is just too much, I caved and had a piece. Good thing I'm running 12 miles tomorrow.

how can you say no to this? at least it had fruit on it ;0)

A little about running

So my poor blog has been all about knitting (btw, socks and shawl are almost finished), so here's a little about running:
Official training has started for the Akron Marathon (Sept 26th) 100 days away. What??
So last weekends long run was 10 miles and this Sunday it'll be 12 and on from there. This time I will be doing 1-16 miler, 1-18 miler, 2-20 milers and 1-22 miler, which is a lot more than any other marathon training. I think last year when i trained for Akron my longest run was 19 (I also think i got injured on that run), hopefully that won't happen this year. The other problem is that I will be getting married the weekend before which is also making me wonder about my training but I guess time will determine what happens. All I know is that no matter what I will run the Akron Marathon, finish, get my medal and go home happy. I would love to beat my time from last year which was a PR at 4 hours 11 minutes, but Akron is a tough course and I won't get my hopes up.

V's socks

One week, one sock completed (first one ever)! Now if i can only make the other one. My thoughts: knitting socks is way too labor intensive for something so small that is mostly covered up by pants!! But it is interesting to see how it works. I do enjoy figuring out how things come together, but that's no surprise after the last sweater. I started these on 4 double pointed needles but thought i would poke my eyes out and switched to two circulars (much easier).

On Saturday night, now one is finished!

New Sweater Finished!

Well it's done! I can't believe that it's done! but it is and I love the color!
First 0f all this was quite a difficult and interesting pattern and the mere fact that I finished it, sewed it together, and weaved in ALL the ends is an absolute miracle. Secondly, it turned out a little smaller because i don't know how to read gauge, and I'm not exactly flat chested like the model in the pattern, (which for some reason i didn't even think about). So I had to add two extra rows of the crochet border for it to even come close to fitting and only 2 buttons instead of the 4. But you live and learn right?? So it's done and at times does look like I'm "busting out of it" (Vince's Comment) but I'm happy. Now onto finishing the wedding shawl and some socks for V.

Memorial Weekend

Had a great time on my knitting weekend!! Went for a great 5 mile run on the nicest golf course (Peek'n Peak) that was quite hilly, but fantastic with awesome views. Knitted at the pool and ate some fabulous food. Even got a tan, Yay!

Love this view!!

On the knitting front, made great progress on the wedding shawl and the asymmetrical (muti-shape) top is almost completed. If I didn't continue to screw it up it would have been done by now, but it's a learning experience.

Wedding shawl at the pool

The Girls!

No PR

So this morning my friend email me that her time for Cleveland has been changed, quickly I looked up my results and mine was changed too. Damn it!!! No PR 1:56:41. I had 1:56:43 on my watch but figured I didn't stop it as soon as I crossed the finish. I'm disappointed but it is only 1 minute right? One minute = no PR ;(