Blog Neglecting

So it's been crazy busy for me and I've had no time to update this blog, all i do anymore is edit pictures. But I absolutely love it!!

Last weekend, we had a craft show here in Akron (Crafty Mart), organized by the very talented Juniper. So much fun (i was the official photographer), a lot of my friends took part and showed off their amazing crafts. One friend, Jenn from Landen Road Design makes these awesome ceramic buttons/pendents etc. When i saw this (girl monster pendent) i just couldn't resist - It's adorable!

Today I'm off to the sunshine state for the St. Pete Women's Half Marathon on Sunday. Not ready for it at all, it's going to be really ugly. My longest run was last weekend (7 miles), and my IT band started to hurt. Oh well, it'll be fun no matter what, i'll be running with my friend BBF Khim, yay!!

Yesterday i found this really cool pattern for a cardi/shawl/shrug kind of thing and about 100 different ways to wear it. I have some yarn in my carry on and will attempt to give it a shot on the plane this afternoon. Wish me luck!

Busy, Busy

The wedding is over but things have not slowed down. I had a few semi-official photography sessions and I'm starting to get phone calls from prospective new clients. So exciting!!

I did finally knit something (a baby cocoon) for my newborn session and a baby hat that havn't photographed yet.

Really like how it turned out:
My aunt from Poland gave me the yarn and it was perfect for the project, have more of it and will be making another one for my friend Nong.

My next session will be a lady and her black lab, I can't wait. Sounds like a blast, hope Baci isn't get jealous thought ;o)

In running news, I'm signed up for the St. Pete Nike Womens Half Marathon on Nov. 22. Totally scared, only started running this week since my injury. It's been 8 weeks and honestly my foot still feels a little weird, I'm just hoping it'll go away and I can at least run most of the half marathon, I'm ok with not doing well i just want my medal. I only have 4 medals this year all for half marathons ;((, totally pathetic. I got 8 last year and 10 in 2007. Maybe 2009 will be my comeback year in running. ;o)

More Wedding Stuff

To check out our wedding slide show go here.

And if anyone wants to purchase any pictures they are available here.

This is my last wedding post - back to knitting, hopefully running soon, and randomness.

Wedding Recap

Well now that everything has come down and we are married i'd like to go back and reminisce about the wedding. Where to start?

It was a perfect day in Akron Ohio on September 18th, 2009 for an outdoor wedding with an outdoor reception. The favors for the women were pashminas (in either black, ivory or yellow), small Purell bottles with our names on them, and we also made a donation in the names of Vince's Step-Father and my Grandmother (who both passed away from cancer).

Our theme throughout the wedding was polka dots and yellow gerber daisies, and i have a knack for going all out with a theme. So basically i ran it into the ground, but that's how i like it. The centerpieces each only cost me about $10 - the base was a polka vinyl record with two vintage cameras (from my collection and my friend Pam's) on each, 3 votives, a vase with 3 gerbers and an elephant card holder (for good luck) for the table number (simple but elegant). I know it sounds crazy but trust me it worked. All the printed materials from invitations to menu cards, table numbers, seating chart and purell bottle labels had pictures of yellow gerbers that i photographed earlier this year. I designed all the printed materials myself using indesign, illustrator and photoshop and i was pretty happy with the results. I also designed the wedding cake, which was the best ever. Our local store "West Point Market" sells this cake that they call "Diva Cake", basically it's chocolate cake drenched with liqour with chocolate mousse and white chocolate mousse filling, it's to die for. It was a huge hit!

Additionally somehow i thought that i was going to be able to do everything by myself but as the days neared i realized that there was no way that would be possible. My dear friend Pam and her daughter Arica offered to help me and i'm sure that the day wouldn't have been as much of a sucsess if it wasn't for them. What angels! Pam even came out during her lunch hour on the day of the wedding to tie ribbons around the chairs for the ceremony then came back an hour later to set up all the centerpieces and was back at 6 changed and ready for the wedding and reception. I'm so lucky to have a friend like that!!

We had 68 guests, 100% attendance. With my aunt coming all the way from Poland, my parents and friends from Florida, my fantastic photographer/friend with her family from Atlanta and Vince's family from California, and Arizona (we're a popular bunch). I guess a lot of people were waiting a long time for this event. Vince and i have been together for almost 10 years.

As far as i see it the evening was a total success, but i must say that it was pretty much a blurr (an out of body experience for me), but i loved every minute of it.

We had fantastic speeches too. Delivered by Vince's brother Nick, my friend Fiovi, and Vince's friend Guy. WOW - i don't even have words for how great they were. I think they were competing for the best speech and in the end i think it was a 3 way tie.

And if you have 15 minutes to waste here's the video of the ceremony, notice i'm nervous and cracking up and Vince is all business.

It was just perfect!! will have more pics soon!

Wedding

The wedding was last weekend and here are the pictures that my very good friend from high school took. Nong is fantastic and extremely talented i'm so honored that she agreed to photograph the wedding. I'm a very lucky girl with amazing friends! She lives in Atlanta so if anyone needs a photographer give her a ring, you won't be disappointed.

Air Show 09

So I haven't been blogging lately, simply too much has been going on to go back and write about. But in a nut shell: the wedding is days away, i had a shower and a bachelorette party, i have a stress fracture in my foot and it doesn't look like I'll be running the Akron Marathon (at best I'll be walking the half), I'm also starting a photography business and photographed my first wedding in August and lastly i have not had my knitting needles in my hands in months. ;o)

Moving on . . . On Sunday we went to the Air Show in Cleveland as we did last year but this time the pictures came out soooo much better due to my super sweet new camera. Unfortunately I don't have a zoom lens so all were taken with a 50 mm lens and cropped a lot ;).
The Thunderbirds were great but i missed the Blue Angels. I hear they'll be back next year thought, yay!

I love my reflection in those big a$$ aviator sun glasses.

Funny Find!

As every weekend, V and I go to tag and estate sales. This weekend I found the funniest find ever!! Before and after salt and pepper shakers. Check them out:
I couldn't stop laughing when i saw these, for $2 I had to have them. Just in case it's not obvious before is on one side and after on the back. love it!

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 ;(

Cleveland Half - Race Report

Well Cleveland went retro this year!! Very cool, all the marketing had retro/vintage logos and the medal instead of being the typical blue and red had orange, bright green and yellow in it. It's adding a lot of pizazz to my medal wall for sure. Super Cool not to mention the famous spinning guitar! I can't believe i've done this race 4 times now!
That being said I thought it was awesome especially since i PR'd (yep 1:55) absolutely thrilled!!! (and on 4 hours of sleep cause i can't put that stupid asymmetrical cardigan down and was knitting till midnight and had to watch some SNL with Will Ferrell before i finally fell asleep at 12:30). That breaks down to an average pace of 8:50, with mile 10 and 13 at 8:35 which makes me super happy. Now if i could just do that for a full marathon!
As for the race itself, the weather was absolutely perfect 50s with clear skies, sun and some wind. Started downtown ran toward rock and roll hall of fame and then around the browns stadium then headed over the bridge toward west side of downtown and into lakewood then back to downtown on the highway by the lake. There were parts of the race (at least the half) that didn't even feel like you were in Cleveland but some much cooler place by the water :0). Reversing the route did make it a little more hilly instead of pretty much flat but i didn't mind. Good Race Cleveland, be back next year!


It was so nice that I hung around after to see all my friends finish! My throat is killing me today from cheering everyone on. It was really exciting watching the marathon finish, I was in awe of some of the finishers, amazing!

with Jolene at the start

with Karrie after half

Jolene and Karrie at the finish

Elaine (red shorts, black shirt) sprinting to the finish!

with Krissy after the full marathon