Runner with a Knitting Problem

New Blog!

2010-01-29T06:01:00.000-08:00

Check out my new blog! It's really not new but I just never posted it here before. I think i might have to say goodbye to this one, at least for a little white. Not much running or knitting going on right now. :o(

Blog Neglecting

2009-11-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-23T04:42:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-08T11:14:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-10T10:02:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-07-21T06:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-15T13:39:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-07-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-07-02T11:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-25T05:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-08T06:50:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-06-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-27T08:10:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-19T04:42:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

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

Cleveland Half

2009-05-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday is the Cleveland Marathon, woo hoo!! I will be running the Half and I'm really excited for the new course. For the most part they just reversed the course but I think it's going to make a big difference and again will be nice and flat. I'm also excited for my two friends that are running the Full, they've trained a lot and I'm looking forward to see how they do. Good Luck Girls!!

Also, I will be changing the medal picture above on Monday. Three medals will be added. So the questions is should i continue to add medals (currently they are organized from first race to the latest race)? Should I take the 5K, 10K, 15K, 10 miler medals down and only have half marathons and full marathons on the rack?? Should I organize them by color or distance?? or keep ones that I've done more then once together?? So many possibilities, so little time!
The curtain rod that I'm using still can expand so i could keep it the way it is for a lot longer but is it too much??

Anyway, wish me luck on Sunday (last half marathon until September)! and Akron Marathon training starts on the 25th.

Asymmetrical Cardi

2009-05-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

Picked up the new Vogue Knitting on Friday and am totally in love with this cardi!! I know what you're thinking, but YES would totally wear a shirt with it. Anyway already started it and so far have one sleeve and one circular part for one side. Really hope i can pull this one off cause it's so dang different and asymmetrical. Mine will be teal, pictures to come.

Back to Knitting

2009-05-06T10:08:00.001-07:00

Here it is the baby sweater I've been working on it's from a Debbie Bliss book "Special Knits". It's an Ohio University sweater as both of the parents of the baby that this is going to went there. Overall, pretty quick knit except for the sewing part which took a little longer. But I'm happy with the end result. This is the best model I could find to show the finished item.

Also, made this quick hat for a good friend. Hope she likes it!The wedding shawl that I've been working on for the past month has been ripped out. Yep the entire thing, almost cried while doing it but I wasn't happy with it. Now I have to start over. Yuck!

Indy Mini Marathon Race Report

2009-05-04T10:12:00.001-07:00

What a great day for a race! 46 degrees at the start, perfect running weather.
The Indy Mini Marathon has just become my favorite half (out of 18) of all time right behind Kentucky Derby Half. Also my time was my 2nd best 1:58:09 (9:02 pace).
It was just the perfect race from start to finish, I loved it!

First and foremost the Marriott (thank you Amy!) that we (my friend Kristi and I) were staying at was in the perfect location. It was between the expo and starting line, literately between the two. Once we parked at the hotel we never had to drive again until it was time to go home after the race.

View from the hotel window.

So at 7:30 the race started with 35,000 participants. We were in corral G and it still took 13 minutes to actually reach the start (the corrals went all the way up to Z). Then we were off!! For the first 3 miles or so i was totally preoccupied looking up at the balloon race (what a great idea), made the time go by pretty fast and it was just neat. I was feeling good trying to maintain my pace and not worrying too much about the fact that i was running in a brand new pair of shoes that i purchased at the expo the previous day, i like living on the edge. Oh did I mention that i loved this race??

By another few miles i was ready for the track, and there it was. I never felt such a rush as when i got to run down the shoot the cars come out of onto the race track, it was a fantastic feeling. Not to mention running on the track itself ,which was 2.5 miles long, was invigorating (the nice smooth asphalt made the miles fly by fast). After the track, it was back on the road to downtown Indianapolis. I absolutely loved this race, and felt good and healthy to the finish. It's weird running this big of a race there is never a moment when you're not surrounded by other runners for the entire 13.1 miles, pretty cool! I ended up with my 2nd best finish of all time, with a per mile breakdown of - 9:20, 8:42, 8:53, 8:44, 9:06, 9:01, 9:08, 8:52, 9:14, 9:13, 8:52, 9:09, 9:01, my slowest mile was the first one. The race was so consistent for me, I'm amazed! This never happens, usually the first few miles are so much faster then the last 3.

My friend, who just had baby Grace less than 2 months ago, did fantastic also and finished in 2:16. Which by the way was faster than my first half marathon and i think even faster than her first half. We will be running the Akron Marathon together again this year, she's going to kick my butt.

Do I dare say that I want to do this race again?? I think I do.

Baby Cocoon!

2009-04-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

I knit this baby cocoon thing (a photography prop for a friend) as a test and put baby Grace in it. Well it's more of a new born size not 6 week old baby size but i think it's still kind of cute. Back to the drawing board, will try another one in a different color and a lot bigger, have to hurry before Gracie grows more.

Stuff

2009-04-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

So I've been working on my shawl, 400 + stitches on the ruffle part and 9 rows into it i realized that I've been doing it wrong. what!!! so i think i have to rip it out, that's probably like 4 hours of my time gone down the drain, I'm so disappointed and frustrated that i might have to put it away for a little while.
I did start another project a baby sweater. Actually all the pieces are knitted, all I have to do is sew it together which is quite difficult. Hope to have it done soon so i can post some pictures.
And I'm getting ready to leave for the Indy Mini Marathon on Friday. I'm really excited although i still hurt after my 10 mile run on Saturday which was really hard. Not to mention I had this brilliant idea to try out some new shoes. What?? on a 10 mile run, very bad idea, toward the end i had to totally loosen the laces on the right one just so i could continue running not to mention it was 80 degrees out (which is great except it was 40 a couple days prior) and the body just can't take that kind of difference. But I made it and will go for a couple short runs this week and head to Indianapolis on Friday, run on Saturday and drive home. Should be fun plus my friend is coming with me and we always have a good time on these running trips.

Run 4 Home Half Marathon

2009-04-20T09:26:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was the Run 4 Home Half Marathon in New Philadelphia, OH. The race started at 1 pm and for me that was entirely too late. I was really hoping to do good at this race, I've trained a lot better than for Disney and my time was 1 minute 44 seconds slower than Disney (2:04:44). It's still a good time but I wanted better, so after the race i didn't even go to the award ceremony because there was no chance that I placed. Low and behold this morning when I checked the results I came in second in my age group. I'm so mad, I want my trophy!

As for the race itself. The course was pretty but there were a few big hills that really slowed me down. The entry was only $30 and for that I got a nice long sleeve dryfit shirt, a nice medal and a pretty nice after the race spread (subway sandwiches, pizza, brownies, cookies, chocolate milk etc). The race was well organized and finish was in a stadium which was nice. Oh, and Miss Ohio handed out the medals at the finish line.

I can come up with many excuses why I didn't do that great i.e. started off too fast, didn't eat enough before hand, and I'm pretty sure that my shoes are done but really it doesn't matter, second place in my age group does make everything better.
Next race is May 1st in Indianapolis, wish me luck!

Smigus-Dyngus

2009-04-14T04:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the day after Easter is Smigus-Dyngus Day in Poland. It's a tradition that dates back to the 15th century and basically is about dousing other people with water. The main targets are young unmarried girls, a boy would sneak into the bedroom of the girl he fancied and awaken her by drenching her with water. Most recently, the tradition has changed and it's common for girls to attack boys. But random passers-byes are also targets. It's actually somewhat dangerous to be outside on that day cause you never know when a bucket of water can be dumped on you. I remember this from when i was little (i moved to the United States when I was 12), we would never wear nice clothes on that day and I would get a glass of water and dump it on my grandmother. I also remember my uncle's sister who was very pretty and probably in her 20's wore this really nice suede jacket, got attached by the water bucket and her coat got ruined.

Anyway, I was reminded of this tradition yesterday and shared it with Vince. So when i got home after my run, he dumped a bottle of water on my head, which was actually pretty funny and since i was wearing running clothes i really didn't care and couldn't stop laughing. He did get my knitting bag wet, which i wasn't too happy about but it was still funny. So he has decided that this is his favorite new holiday and we will keep this tradition going.

Here's a video of what i'm talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5v9VbTV2Po

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T04:52:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone had a nice Easter!

We colored Eggs and put Peeps in the microwave which is just hilarious.

The blue one on the end is my favorite.

Baci inspecting the finished product, he approved.

Also we spent some fun time at the park.

My two favorite guys!

Baci trying out some acrobatics!

and Vince's adorable nephews all dressed up for Easter!

As for knitting, since I finished the Forecast sweater, the next thing that I'm working on is a shawl (ravelry link) for my wedding in September. You will have to wait until September to see pictures if in fact it turns out. It's quite tedious work because the mohair yarn that I'm using is really thin and hard to work with so I'm taking a little break from it.

So in the mean time (this past weekend), I made this chocolate bunny for Vince's nephews(pictured above):
and some baby booties:
And lastly about running, my training has been going pretty good, I've ran between 8.5 to 10 the last 4 Saturdays and will be running a half marathon this Sunday. Actually in the next six weekends I'm running 3 half marathons (is that too much?, i don't think so). I'm really looking forward to it. Especially since one of them is in Indianapolis (and we get to run on the race track) and I've never been there before. The great thing about the run this Sunday is that it starts at 1 pm, I've never ran a half marathon that late in the day, will be interesting for sure. Wish me luck!

Forecast Done

2009-03-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

It's finished!! Yee Pee!! Actually I can't believe that i finished it. Overall I'm happy with the end result, especially since it was my first top down sweater. It could be a little bigger and a little longer but it's cool and i love the color. After all that work I'm not taking it off until it gets a lot warmer out.

Blanket in Action!

2009-03-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

OMG!!!! If that is not the cutest thing you've ever seen, i don't know what is?? Grace Elizabeth born 3-7-09, 6 lb. 15 ounces sporting the blankie that Aunt Margaret made her. Love this!!!!

2009 Race Schedule

2009-03-26T05:15:00.000-07:00

My tentative Race Schedule for 2009.

Races I'm signed up for already:
4-19 - Run 4 Home Half Marathon - New Philadelphia, OH
5-2 - Indy Mini Half Marathon - Indianapolis, IN
5-17 - Cleveland Half Marathon - Cleveland, OH
9-26 - Akron Marathon - Akron, OH

Races I'm thinking about signing up for:
6-24 - Seattle Marathon - Seattle, WA
9-13 - Buckeye Half Marathon - Akron, OH
10-18 - Detroit Marathon - Detroit, MI
11-29 - Space Coast Marathon - Cocoa Beach, FL

I know it's pretty ambitious but time will tell and at the end of the year we'll see how many of these I'll actually complete. Also, this would give me 3 more states to add to my 50 by 50 list for a total of 14. So I would have 15 years to get the rest ;)

Sun

2009-03-23T13:32:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning I was driving to meet my friends for a 10 mile run at 7:30 in the morning and this is what the sky looked like. Since I don't go anywhere without my camera I got this great shot.

That afternoon this is the sunset I saw.

Life is too short you never know if you will see the next sunrise or sunset so I captured both that day. It was so pretty!

Disney Princess Half Marathon

2009-03-16T12:58:00.000-07:00

7,000 Princesses woke up at 4 a.m. on Sunday March 8th to run the Inaugural Princess Half Marathon at Disney. Tiaras and all!!
What a great time it was with absolutely perfect weather!!
I do have to admit that Disney is not my favorite race simply because a lot of time is spend on the highways connecting the parks and very little time in the actual parks. The highways are boring and there are no spectators on them and the on and off ramps are slanted which just kills. But somehow I keep on forgetting about this because this was my 4th race at Disney. At about mile 9 I had a brief moment where I didn't think i was going to be able to finish but it didn't last long and I pushed through to the end.
For this race especially, most women were dressed in princesses costumes. Not me, I only managed to deal with a tiara pinned to my hat. But it's great looking at all the costumes, people put in a lot of time and effort in their outfits and it shows.
So my time was 2:03:00 which breaks down to 9:24 pace. There were 1047 women in my age group and I finished 125th (12%). It's definitely not my best time for a half marathon but it's my best statistically.
My good friend Khim ran her first race ever and did awesome. She has definitely caught the running bug and has been planing her future races. Now I have to convince her to run a full marathon.

at 5 am, I love this pictures the camera caught some of the car lights

hanging with the characters after the race!

with our well deserved tiara medals!

Last weekend

2009-03-04T07:44:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was pretty busy. I ran my 10 miles on Saturday (17 degree weather) yuck! It was a nice run but come on already it's time for Spring.

Then we went to the Home and Garden show and saw Ed Begley Jr. (from "Living with Ed"), what a great speaker he is. He talked mainly about being green, sustainable energy, and his show. Very interesting stuff.
Then my friend Fiovi (God love her!) signed me up for a card exchange (and she will never do this to me again). I had to make 11 birthday cards, I was pretty mad the entire time but somehow managed to get it done. Now I'm suppose to get 11 cards back (some of you might be getting them from me for your birthdays).

these are my 11

The best part of the weekend was when i came down the stairs and saw this going on. I guess I'm not the only one that loves the electric blankie. How cute are my fur kids?? Love them!

So nothing much got done but we sure had fun. Now I'm off to Florida tomorrow (yeepee 80 degree weather), will be taking my Forecast sweater on the plane with me so hopefully i'll finish it and have photos soon. The Disney Princess Half Marathon is on Sunday, can't wait to add the new medal to my wall. Wish me luck!

Crazy

2009-02-24T13:44:00.000-08:00

So I ended up doing 9 miles at 7:30 am on Saturday morning in 7 degree temperature (icicles formed on my eyelashes like glider mascara). Can I just say how crazy that was, I couldn't feel my fingers for about the first 30 minutes. When i was done the temperature was only at 18 degrees, which is still way too cold to even be outside. I'm glad i did it but there is no way i would be out there if it wasn't for that half marathon coming up. Of course I wasn't alone in this craziness, there were 4 of us (2 doing 15, 1 doing 12, and me with my 9). I'm praying for warm weather!

Back on track

2009-02-18T05:59:00.000-08:00

Finally i feel like I'm back with my running. I did 7 last weekend, 6 last night, hopefully another 4-5 on Thursday and I have 8 planned for this weekend. Then next weekend i will do 10, and the half marathon is the following weekend (March 8th). I think I'm going to be ready! I didn't think it was possible but it's definitely happening and it's makes me so excited and happy. So I'm hoping that we don't get any more snow. I think I'm delusional since it's only February, but a girl can dream right?

V-day Weekend

2009-02-16T09:46:00.000-08:00

After way too many revisions the hat that matches those booties in the previous post got finished and mailed on Friday. Now i have to wait to see if the recipient of these gifts approves, I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Sadly i didn't have a baby close by to model the finished product so this is the best i could do:

Now that the hat is finished I can go back to working on the forecast sweater. This is how much i have so far. It's going pretty slow but it will end up being a really thick warm sweater, i only hope that i can finish it before it gets warm out. The picture doesn't give the color justice though it's more of a deep sea shade.

Lastly, Valentine's Day was great! At 7:30 am I got an awesome 7 mile run in (thanks to Elaine and Krissy), it was the farthest I ran since October. I felt pretty good even though it was a rolling hill route. Later I made another attempt on making something from my favorite website. And unfortunately it didn't turn out (not even worth being photographed), but we ate it anyway. Sometimes i want to give up and admit that I'm not a baker but NO i will keep trying. This is what i have in mind for this coming weekend (of course i pick the most complicated recipes i can find). Also, I got a nice card and gift card to Joann Fabric (so i can buy more yarn ;0). Saturday night ended at Outback for a nice steak dinner with a sweet potato and a Pineapple Chipotle Margarita (Yum-O).

Ladybug Booties

2009-02-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

This weekend instead of getting a bunch of stuff done at my house or even working on my Forecast sweater I decided to try some baby booties. My first pair turned out pretty good but it took forever and I had to rip them out about 5-6 times.

I had to borrow my friend's baby (Rowan) for the photo shoot the booties just weren't right without feet in them. Now I'm working on a matching hat, I already ripped that out twice so if i don't get a hang of this ladybug stuff quick it might end here. But I do love the ladybug, it's so pretty and happy! I even have a collection of ladybug stuff that I'm probably too old for but can't part with (at least not yet).

Charity

2009-02-06T05:29:00.000-08:00

My friend Jenn has been fundraising and ran the Miami Half Marathon for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. Please check out her website and donate (if you can) to this great cause. She's almost reached her goal but needs a little more help. Thank you!

http://www.active.com/donate/MI09neohio/Burtz

Random

2009-02-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

Please vote for my dog Baci as pet of the month on this great website. He's way cuter then the picture that's on there. Additionally the products on this website are made in the USA so please support them, if you have pets.

Also, I'm totally obsessed with this website. It's a Polish website of mainly baked stuff (I love sweets), the pictures are phenomenal. So far i only made one thing, the lemon sweet bread, it was delicious and looks pretty close to the original. I can't wait to try more recipes.

And I ran 4 miles on Sunday since the temperature went up to almost 40 degrees and the sun was even out, it was wonderful. I felt really good too! Of course it was too much for me since I haven't been running so I've been pretty sore and my shins don't feel too good. It's ok, I have to get past this cause that Disney Half is fast approaching (March 8th).

New Hats!

2009-01-30T05:18:00.001-08:00

Baci hat! I ran out of black yarn so decided for finish the top with off white yarn and i kind of like it. I knitted the dog part separate on size 1 needles and sewed it on top after the hat was done. It's a little crazy but makes me really happy!

And here is Baci himself sporting Vince's new hat (it's flipped out).

Snow go away!

2009-01-28T04:01:00.000-08:00

We got more snow! No, no more snow, I can't take it! Pretty much the entire month of January (actually since November) we've had snow on the ground, it's ridiculous.
My running has been totally non existent other then last Friday when i got to run 2 "whole" miles cause the temperature got up to 40. The sidewalks were still snow covered and i had to drive to a friend's neighborhood to run on the streets since there's no traffic there. I have no idea how i will be ready for that dang half marathon in March. Yikes!!
So since i can't run i have to knit more, i completed two more hats (one for Vince, one for his Brother-in-Law), one is in progress, and will be starting this next. Wish me luck!

I took this picture last week. How cool that someone spent the time to build this snowman. The sign on it says to stop back, which i will have to do to see how much bigger it gets. It's already ginormous. BTW, the buttons are bricks!
My dog Baci loves the snow and can't wait to go outside to roll around in it (what i like to call making "snow angels"). He's so funny!
But my cat Coopie, wants nothing to do with it and does this:

Baby Blanket!

2009-01-26T06:09:00.000-08:00

My good friend is having a baby girl in March and since I found out that she was pregnant i was planning on making her a blanket. Of course I procrastinated and kept on thinking i had so much time until a shower invitation showed up in the mail. One week before the shower I started and had hopes of finishing it but it didn't quite happen. So it was pretty embarrassing when i showed up at the shower with a 3/4 finished blanket, only the G embroidered, still on the circular needles and had to take it back to finish. I finished couple days later and gave it to her. I think she liked. Thank you to Marie from my knitting group for suggesting the dog paw print, my friend and her husband own three large dogs (2 golden retrievers and a husky) so they are huge dog people and it's very appropriate. I can't wait to meet Grace!

Mamma to be with blankie in the baby's room. So cute!!

SnB

2009-01-23T09:00:00.001-08:00

Wednesday was 5 year anniversary of my Stitch n' Bitch group. I have only been a member since August of 2008 but i do really enjoy it. It's a great group of women and i have learned so much from them. They are all very talented and make really extraordinary things. Thanks guys!

Knitting Recap

2009-01-12T06:30:00.000-08:00

Things, mainly hats, that i made in the past month:
First is this little Debbie Bliss beret which didn't turn out as loose and droopy as the pattern but i still like it and it's really warm.

On the flight back from Florida i was busy making this hat for Vince. This guy next to me kept on looking over at me like i was crazy but by the end of the flight he said that he was impressed with my knitting and surprised that people still do that. Anywho i think it turned out too cute and is perfect for shoveling snow. Apparently those are his colors.
For Christmas my aunt from poland sent me this lovely yarn and last week when i was home sick I decided to make the Falicity hat with it. I added a flower from this pattern to make it a little more fancy. Pretty happy with the result.

Lastly are my two new cases one for my ipod touch and the other for my camera.

Holiday Recap

2009-01-06T08:50:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've updated the blog so here it goes:

Vince and I went to Florida to spend Christmas with my parents. The weather was perfect around 85 the entire time we were there. Vince got to experience a Polish holiday for the first time, i guess we drink Vodka with breakfast on X-mas morning (somehow i never knew this). Vince was a good sport and somehow downed 2 shots of Belvedere at 9 am. As for me "no thank you" i might be Polish but i definitely can't drink like they do. I guess I should explain what we have for breakfast on Christmas morning which is a lot of cured meats like sausage and ham with breads, horseradish and this special vegetable salad. I don't want anyone to think that we're drinking Vodka with a regular breakfast food like eggs and bacon which would be pretty gross.

After breakfast we headed off to St. Pete Beach. It was absolutely beautiful, the only mistake we made was that we didn't bring our bathing suits cause it was so hot and people were actually swimming. Still there's nothing better then spending Christmas day on the beach. We had the best time walking and collecting shells. As we were walking on the beach a man asked if we wanted him to take a picture of both of us and of course i said yes. As we were talking we found out that he grew up in Akron and lived about a mile from where we live. Pretty freaky, he could have been from anywhere in the world and he was from good old Akron.

Vince was only in Florida for a couple days and after he left on Friday morning I got to go running. It was the first time since I ran the Nike Half Marathon in San Francisco in October. I ran 3 miles in about 82 degree weather, it was great i felt really good, the entire time I though I would have to walk but somehow talked myself into running the entire 3 miles without stopping. It was so great that I ran the same route the next morning. Of course since I've been back in Ohio I haven't ran once and I'm actually sick and can barely breath through my nose. I have to get my butt in gear cause my next half marathon is exactly 2 months away (Princess Half in Disney). Not very much time to get ready!

The last thing i got to do while in Florida was to go to a 70th Birthday party for my friend Khim's mom (who by the way looks fantastic). It was at an authentic Chinese restaurant in Tampa and the food was fabulous, the fried red snapper was my favorite. And the Chinese birthday cake was to die for, very light and fluffy with fruit and every light whip cream like frosting. Yum-O!

One more thing, here's a picture of my cousin's baby Nikola in another outfit that i got her.
She's so adorable, I love it!! Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks.

Birthday Party

2008-12-17T07:40:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-12-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-02T08:41:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-19T07:07:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-12T11:29:00.002-08:00

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

2008-11-05T12:12:00.001-08:00

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

2008-10-27T09:33:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-10-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-14T12:39:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-07T05:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-22T07:24:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-08T09:43:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-09-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-06T15:18:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-09-01T05:31:00.000-07:00

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

New Baby

2008-08-18T09:41:00.001-07:00

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

34th Birthday

2008-08-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

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!

Florida

2008-07-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

I spent the last few days in Florida with my parents. My mom and I worked on creating a knitting needle and crochet storage pouch/case. This is the prototype we ended up with:

Questions, comments, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Also, i went to dinner and Molly's with my friend Khim.

Molly's bartenders, my friend Chuck is on the left.

Robert and Rebecca's two sweetest kids (Meigan & Micah)!

and my parents before i left to come home!

3 Miler

2008-07-22T05:32:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited, last night i ran 3 miles at Sand Run (which is pretty hilly) in 24:38. My splits were 8:08, 8:10 & 8:20. It was the fastest that i have ever ran. I looked crazy breathing really hard and sweating profusely but i didn't care cause i was on a mission. Plus i wanted to get home as fast as possible cause Vince made dinner and it looked delicious. We picked our first zucchini, squash, Hungarian peppers from the garden which he sauteed, spaghetti, plus he made breaded zucchini flowers (they're so good)! So i enjoyed my awesome dinner with some Blue Moon to celebrate my sweet run. Off to Florida I go tomorrow!

Tag sales

2008-07-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Of course i hit some tag sales this weekend and here are my finds:

Butterfly pin/slide designed by Rebecca Collins for Neiman Marcus. $20

Basket with dirty liner, $2

Basket with new liner I made with fabric from Jo-ann's $2 ($4 total)
I love it!

Saturday Run

2008-07-21T05:11:00.000-07:00

Friday Dinner

2008-07-19T05:17:00.000-07:00

Went to dinner with Scott and Stacey at Papa Joe's. We all ended up getting steak, it was delicious!! And of course White French Dressing, it doesn't get better than that, i ordered extra on the side to dip my steak and potatoes into. Yummy!!

Schedule

2008-07-16T07:41:00.000-07:00

So my running blog is more of a scrapbook then anything else, oh well. I did get about a 9 miler in on monday, yesterday i got a little weight training in at the Nat, today i have 5 on my schedule, hopefully another 5 tomorrow and 18 for saturday (14 of which will be on the akron marathon course). I'm excited it's going to be a hot day but nothing like running in the heat, my favorite. I think i like it cause i actually sweat. On cooler days i just don't sweat enough. Can't wait!

Baby Shower

2008-07-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the baby shower for Fiovi. It was a lot of fun!

Baby Blanket that I knitted!

I think she liked it!

Thing 2!

Hair Cut

2008-07-14T09:34:00.001-07:00

Fiovi and I went to get our hair done we both were in desperate need of a dye job to cover the greys. Thank you Beau Coiffure!

After salon with baby Rowan!

Rowen in his hat that's already too small!

Getting burped!

Long run

2008-07-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

Saturday was my 18 miler long run, it took about 3 hours and we were at a 9:52 minute per mile pace. 1600 calories burned!

Not bad but i think we've got to get faster if we want to run close to a 4 hour marathon. Next weekend we're only at 10 miles, yee pee! Also, i found out that one of my running friends (Kristi) is pregnant, she has two marathons (akron & chicago) scheduled in the fall but i think she's going to continue training and running both of them. It's pretty exciting, she's in great shape so it's not going to be a problem for her at all.

4th of July

2008-07-05T09:50:00.000-07:00

Can you say trouble??

On the 4th we went to V's sisters. It was really nice, the weather was perfect and the boys (V & D) had a blast.

Don't be fooled by the adorable and innocent smiles.

Corn Hole was also played!

and Fireworks!

Happy 4th of July!

Weekend Recap

2008-06-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

Friday = Italian Festival in Canton. This year they had Zoppe Italian Circus there, which has been around since 1842. It's 6 generations of Zoppe family performers with Nino the Clown as the main attraction. It was amazing, I loved it! In August they are coming back to a Medieval Fair, I hope I get to go back and see them.

Saturday = Ran 16 miles, went shopping, knitted, got drinks & dessert at Bricco (Yummy!) with "North Hill's hottest married couple" Guy & Jolene.
Sunday = Tag sales (got 2 awesome vintage coats, one for $1.50 and the other for $5). I'll have to post some pictures of the coats soon, they are too cute. Biked 22 miles. While biking we saw a deer, a snapping turtle, horses, bunnies and a rainbow, how cool is that? Oh and i ended up with a ginormous bruise cause i don't have any stopping capabilities.

Rainy Bike Ride

2008-06-23T04:31:00.001-07:00

My friend Nate and I went biking yesterday on the towpath. It poured on us and we felt so tough riding in the rain and getting really muddy. We were soaked! How fun!

BTW that's mud on my hat!

Baby

2008-06-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

My friends just had a baby!
Here are the first pictures of Rowan David Molis, born Friday the 20th of June, 3 pounds 8 ounces and 16 inches long.

So Cute!

Sweet Baby!

He'll be hanging out in this thing for a couple weeks.

Hatfield-McCoy Half Marathon

2008-06-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Well we did it. My friends and i went to West Virginia for the Hatfield-McCoy Marathon/Half Marathon. We did the half marathon and loved every minute of it. Cute town with friendly people. Not to mention we all placed in our age groups. I got 3rd in my age group at 2:04, and my friends each got first in their age groups. If you want to run in West Virginia this is the race to do. We're definitely coming back next year. $40 entry fee, free pasta dinner the night before the race, free pulled pork sandwiches after the race, medals, trophies, only a 5 hour drive, you can't beat it.

Start of Training

2008-06-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

Just started training for my second Akron Marathon. This weekend i'm off to West Virginia for the Hatfield-McCoy Half Marathon. It will be number 11 on my list of 50 + DC marathons or half marathons in the US by the time I'm 50. Only 40 to go.

Here are some pics from past 2008 races.

Cleveland Half

Ft. Collins Marathon

Derby Mini Marathon

Huntington Beach - Surf City Marathon