Birthday Party

Vince's Mom had a Birthday on Sunday and we had a party for her. We had a really nice time eating, drinking and laughing.

here she is with her 3 children

and the grandchildren, aren't they sweet?and the cake was delish!

Sweet Xmas Baby!

This is my cousin's baby girl Nikola in her new X-mas outfit that Aunt Margaret got her. The shoes are the best but not really visible in this shot. I just love this picture!


I have a story to go with this baby, my cousin actually has another child a 6 year old boy. When my cousin had him my grandmother wrote some boy and girl names on a piece of paper. Since then my grandmother passed away and this past summer my cousin had her second child and named her Nikola. A few weeks ago my Aunt came across that piece of paper that was buried between some old cards and letters. Are you ready?? The name Nikola was circled in red. Weird huh, i guess my grandmother knew back then that my cousin would have a girl and that would be her name. Needless to say everyone was pretty freaked out by this discovery.

Bag Swap!

My Knitting Group (Stitch n Bitch) had a bag swap on Saturday night. It was a cold and snowy night but that didn't stop us from having a great time. It was great, all the bags were fabulous.

This is the bag i made.

This is the bag i got.

I love my bag, I've been caring it since the swap, it's perfect! And it had all sorts of goodies in it, chocolates, cookie mix, soap, and xmas stirs, super cool.

The bag i made also came with extras, fingerless gloves and hat, which i designed to match the purse. It's hard to see in the picture but they look much cuter in real life.

Shalom Hat

I've been working on this hat to go with my Shalom Cardigan. It took a couple tries but here it is and i'm very happy with it. It fits perfectly!

Shalom

Completed my version of the Shalom Cardigan. I love it! The original version didn't have sleeves and only one button, mine has 4 buttons and long sleeves with the pattern of the yoke repeated in the sleeve. I'm very please with how this turned out! It was a fast knit.

Walk

Since i haven't been able to run i decided to go for a nice brisk 3 mile walk on Monday. Well I'm actually sore, like really sore today. I just don't understand how you can be trained for a marathon take a couple weeks off, run a hilly half marathon and three weeks later get sore from a 3 mile walk. Is it age?? who knows but i don't like it.

No running

So I'm bummed and i haven't been adding new posts! I went to the doctor and the pain I've been having in my leg is actually a stress fracture and not a strained calf muscle (my own diagnosis). No running for 4-6 weeks. I hate it!! I guess if i was going to get injured this is the best time, i don't have any races scheduled and it's winter. The thing that scares me is when I'm actually able to run again it's going to be like starting over from the beginning.


Anyway, in the mean time i have to focus on more knitting. So i finished the second glove and started another sweater.


As for the arm warmers I decided to use them as leg warmers:

I think they're cute but i look like any minute I'll might be river dancing or flash dancing. Leg warmers are back and we might as well embrace the idea plus they are so warm and cozy. I love the 80's!

Sweater

This is my version of the Longoria's something pattern. I really like it! I added the sleeves for the winter but now looking back they need to be attached or have buttons to clip on or off. This way they slide down and are more annoying then anything else. The best way to wear this is with a long sleeve shirt underneath or short sleeve when it's nice out.

Without Sleeves

With Sleeves

Pictures!

San Francisco was absolutely beautiful. Check out the Pics! I had a great time! The race itself was the most scenic one i've done to date. My time ended up being 2:09, which for not running for 3 weeks and considering the hilly course was pretty good. I felt good throughout the race, my leg didn't start bothering me until the last two miles. Nike puts on a very organized race and the Tiffany necklace is definitely worth it. I was very happy with my performance and would love to do this one every year if it wasn't so expensive to go to San Francisco. I will definitely try to go back at some point.
Napa was amazing! The wine and the views were spectacular.

San Francisco

This Friday I'm off to San Francisco for the Women's Nike Half Marathon. I'm so excited to go back to California I just can't wait. My left calf muscle still hurts and i haven't been running at all since the Akron Marathon but I think I'll be ok. I'm just going out there for a nice easy run with no pressure for time and to get my Tiffany Necklace. For those that don't know in San Francisco instead of a regular medal at the finish there are firemen dress in tuxedos handing out blue boxes which contain especially designed necklaces by Tiffany & Co. And this is why I wanted to do this race.

Joining me in SF will be my good friend from high school and some of her friends, it's going to be quite interesting I'm sure. But the best part is that we're going to the wine country on Monday and we'll be visiting the Rubicon Estate (Frances Ford Coppola). Awesome!!

New Glove

I knitted this new glove, so far i only have one. I can't get this pattern to work right going the other direction for the right hand. I'm almost at the point of giving up so i might have to knit the other glove the same way and the pattern will go in the same direction on both hands. Will that look bad? Oh well, i still love this pattern!

Scary

Today i had a doctors appointment in the morning. When i came in and sat down in my chair i felt something on my leg. I rolled my chair back and this thing was tied to it!
(it's about 3 feet wide)

It scared the crap out of me and i screamed bloody murder, my heart was pounding and i broke out in a massive sweat. Of course everyone thought it was hilarious. Last thing you want to see is a nasty furry thing under your desk. So it's on, i have to get them back! All bets are off!

I PR'd!

So I PR'd, I'm so happy, my time was 4:11:49 with pace of 9:37, 14 minute improvement from last year and 7 minutes from my last PR (Philly). Akron is the Best Marathon ever!! The hills were tough but I felt really good and it was a beautiful day. I've trained on the course every weekend through the summer but never ran the "hills" after already running 16 miles. I was able to maintain a 9:10 pace for the first sixteen and then dropped to 10:20 for the last ten.
Vince and his mom came out to cheer me on and she made a sign, see below. For those of you that don't know, that's a Polish flag with my name accross the white stripe. What a perfect surprise?? I loved it!

at mile 15.5
at mile 18.5

This guy at mile 18.5 juggling while running the entire marathon. Crazy!

Marathon is almost here!

So the marathon is less than a week away, Saturday the 27th. I'm totally freaking out! My long run this past weekend was 11.5 miles and i did fairly well except that my left leg has been bothering me. So I've decided to take it easy and not run at all this week. I'm not sure if that's the smartest thing to do but at this point i don't think it's going to matter much if i get another 10 miles in. I'm so scared of this race for some reason, i want to do well, and i know that the second half always gets me. Last year i ran the first half at 2:03 and the second at 2:22 that's a huge difference i want to be closed to the same time for both halfs. So rest and hydration is what I'm planning for this week and a little knitting thrown in to de-stress. Wish me luck cause I will need it!

Knitting News!

I just knitted a pair of fingerless gloves and a matching cowl that I love.
I can't wait to wear these with my pale yellow vintage coat!

Also, my aunt in Poland sent me this teal top that she knitted. I think it's fabulous!

Buckeye Half Marathon!

Yesterday was the Buckeye Half Marathon, 2 loop course. I PR'd!!! 1:56:04 that's 8:52 pace. Totally stoked, i've ran 19 half marathons in the past 3 years and only one was under two hours and that was Cleveland 2 years ago. I can barely walk today but it was totally worth it. Now only 3 weeks left till the Akron Marathon, i'm so scared.

Lordy Lordy Look who's 40!

We celebrated Jolene's Birthday at the Perennial Vineyards in Navarre

(super cute place, I highly recommend).
Lots fun and Wine Dog Red Rocked!!

Wine Gift Bags

I've been working on these wine bags for my store on etsy which has not opened yet but when it does these are going on it. Comments?

Back to running!

So the past 3 weeks i had great long runs! Especially this past Sunday, 19 miles, 10:22 pace mostly alone except for about 4 miles when my friend Kristi joined me. It was hot, it was tough, but i did it.
1724 calories burned, can't beat that with a stick!!



Afterward off to the air show in Cleveland (3 hours in the sun) and i was totally fine. This is how i can tell the training is definitely paying off, normally i can't function for the rest of the day but Sunday i felt great (maybe it was the Slim Fast i had right after i ran, or the hot dog and pepsi at the show). Regardless i felt good and i even got some serious sun! Leave it to me to get a tan at the end of the summer.

Love the Blue Angels!!

Lots of fun watching the air show on an awesome August Day!

Lordy Lordy Look who's 30!

My friend Fiovi turned 30 on the 29th and i wanted her to start her thirties in some super hot shoes so what better than 4" Red Patent Leather Guess heels. (nothing!)
Jolene got her an apron and necklace to complete the outfit.

The party is not complete until Guitar Hero is played!

Hottest married couple in North Hill also attended the festivities.

Knitting!

So i've been doing a little knitting lately. Here are a couple completed projects:

New Baby

My cousin in Poland had a baby girl 8-9-08. Her name is Nikola and she is just too cute!!!

34th Birthday

Last Thursday was my B-day! I got three cakes, yee pee!!!

Pretty cool!

Had four fabulous dinners (two pictured)!

Knitted & chilled out with my dog!
Pretty nice birthday except for the pucking part that i'm not going to write about!

Circus

This weekend we went to see Zoppe Italian Circus at the Medieval Faire in Geneava. Vince will be submitting his account of the events (pretty funny, if you ask me) so stay tunned.

If you ever see this Circus coming to a town near you, I highly recommend it!

Here's a clip from the show!

Picture of Nino

Me with Giovanni Zoppe (Nino)
I love this Circus!