New Blog!

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(

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)

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)

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!

Smigus-Dyngus

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!

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!

Sun

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!

Last weekend

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!

Charity

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

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).