Never quit

I came to the realization the other day, while I was running, that the best running days are behind me. It's only going to get colder from here and with the cold comes tight muscles, runny noses, and lungs that refuse to operate on cold air. These upcoming runs are going to be mostly "training runs." I probably won't actually enjoy my runs again until Spring. Then I might look for some more competitive races. I don't see the fun in busting it through the uncomfortable, frigid cold for a disappointing time. I'm still in the mood to do another race, but I think I'm gonna be looking for something more about the fun and less about the competition.

That doesn't mean I won't being trying to run my best every morning. In fact I've had a few pretty good ones lately! My last 2 miler was sub 19 and my 3 miler this morning was sub 30. My most recent pr was about 27:30, which I am super stoked about! Imagine what that would have been like on a race day! I don't know how long it will take me but, I'm hoping this progress will help me meet one of my goals: to be one of the top thousand to finish the AJC Peachtree Road Race. I think I'll have to run a 7 minute mile, at least, but if that's what it takes... that's what I'll do!

20:03 and disappointing pastina

Let's start with the run, the reason I write these posts anyway. I know I just wrote yesterday that I've been lucky with the weather not being too hot or too cold. Well, I spoke too soon. It was around 50 degrees this morning, unbeknownst to me when I picked out my running clothes. I noticed all the other people out walking and running had their long sleeves and hats and pants and stuff. Then there's me. I'm running past with my short sleeves and shorts... and goosebumps. Yes, I am the only person I know that still ends up with goosebumps and cold hands after a run. My ears were really the worst part for me; they were sold cold they hurt. I literally held my hands to my ears for five minutes after my run until they were normal temperature again. Now, watch, I'll wear ear muffs tomorrow and it'll be 65 degree again!

The run itself felt great! Much better with a full night's rest. My legs didn't feel as tight, for whatever reason, and my feet didn't hurt me as much. I felt like I was bounding up the hills and didn't need to slow down on the down hills just to catch my breath. I was actually really excited about it and couldn't wait to see my time. I was a little disappointed to see that, after the way I felt, my run was only 5 seconds faster than my last 2 mile run. Which is basically no difference at all. It was kinda like in football when your team does their best and "finishes the drill" (a little reference to my bulldogs) but the other team is just a little better; you know when it goes down to the last seconds and there's nothing else you could've done (maybe I'm the only one that feels that way...). Anyway, try as you may a loss is still a loss, no matter how well the team played. That's how I feel about my run. I felt great and I thought I ran my best but, at the end of the day, I couldn't break 20. But, there's always tomorrow.

Now I'll talk about the second aspect of my goal - the food! Last night's dinner was more than a little disappointing. I'm guessing that I did something wrong but Giada's pastina soup didn't turn out at all like I expected. It smelled delicious while it was simmering but then, I added the pastina, which absorbed all of the broth as it cooked, and I was left with watery pastina with carrots and peas. I know I must have down something wrong because Giada's stuff is normally so good.

You can see from the picture, although it's not the greatest, there's just no liquid there. It looks like rice with peas and carrots, which is kinda what it ended up like. Whomp whomp... Tonight I've got collards and spicy pumpkin so, let's see how that goes! Here's too Fall foods and cooler runs!

Barely Fall

The weather has been pretty sunny and warm lately. You'd have no idea that it's mid-October if you didn't look at a calendar. Luckily it's been pretty mild in the mornings. I haven't seen too much heat or too much chill. That being said, more times than not, I'm cold. I'll be the person running with ear muffs when it's sub 60 degrees. The cold wind blowing past the ears makes my head and ears too cold its painful. Sometimes I end up with a head cold because of it.

This week has been even more mild, so no need for ear muffs! However, I still end up tired and that makes it more difficult too. I was particularly tired this morning because I didn't get that much sleep last night. I'm gonna go "dream journal" for a moment and record the happenings of last night.

I woke up, still half asleep, thinking I heard the roar of a crowd coming from the TV down stairs and puppy paw steps on the hard wood. Since I was half asleep, I thought it was still the football game on downstairs and my puppy walking downstairs to tell them to come to bed, she does that sometimes. Then, I woke up completely and realized the game was way over and there wasn't actually a crowd like roar coming from anywhere. I also didn't hear the puppy paw steps anymore so I thought I was just dreaming it all up.

As I laid there, trying to go back to bed, I heard scratching on my door. It sounded like my doggy but, unlike her it was one scratch and then silence. She normally whimpers when the door doesn't magic open for her. So, then my mind started racing. It went places minds normally go during the month of Halloween (or anytime really) when it's dark and you hear something abnormal. And of course I couldn't open the door and go figure it out - that's how the characters always meet their doom! No, I was staying in my room. I wasn't about to go to bed, however, I was too scared. So I knelt down on the floor and looked under the door. I saw my puppy's paws and then her nose sniffing the floor by my door. I opened the door and my doggy was so excited to see me - even more excited than when I come back from being out all day or for a couple of days. I appreciated it but still didn't understand why she came to my room in the middle of the night.

I took her back to my parents room, worried maybe one of them was hurt, but they said it must have been the thunder. What thunder?! I'm assuming that was the roaring crowd I "heard coming from the TV." Anyway, all is well that ends well. Needless to say, I couldn't go back to bed very quickly and didn't sleep well afterwards.

That made it tough to get up this morning. I did, eventually, of course. But, between being tired from last night and tight I didn't enjoy my run as much today. I felt particularly tight behind my knee... which is strange. It definitely made it difficult to punch it up the hills. I ended up with a pretty good time despite all that - 29:08. I really expected something closer to 30, or over 30 minutes. So I am pretty pumped about it!

Knocking off time

Wow! I haven't been keeping up with my times! I've been timing myself pretty regularly and I have every intention of writing my reflections on the run when I get back. And then something happens, I get busy, something else comes up and pretty soon, it's getting to be dinner time and writing about my run slips my mind completely.

The good news is - I've been getting faster! Since I haven't kept my promise to myself and wrote my times down consistently, I'm not sure exactly sure how my progression looks. I do know that I've gotten my 3 mile runs from 30 minutes, on average, down to 28/ 29 minutes. My 2 miles are still around 20 minutes, kinda lingering at 20:08 - :05, which really doesn't make sense to me. I really feel like my shorter runs should be faster because I'm not running the same distance. And, as I'm running, I have less ground to cover and have to psych myself up less to conquer anything I have left to run. But, somehow, everyday, I end with ten minute miles on my 2 mile days. The only thing I can think of is that I slack on the shorter runs just because they're shorter. I'd hate it if that were true but, it seems like a pretty good explanation.

Since Halloween is around the corner, I've been thinking about some black and orange goodies! So far I've made Chocolate Donut Holes and I have plans for a chocolate carrot cake (it looks tastier than it sounds, and hopefully it's pretty yummy!) I think I've been having a little too much sugar lately.. I'm seeing a couple of spots occasionally. I'm too stubborn to give up sugar entirely so I'm gonna try to space out my intake a little...

Chocolate Donut Holes

When I saw the cover of the Halloween issue of Food Network Magazine this year, I knew it was gonna be good - it had a cake on the cover! The cake, which is on the docket for later this week, is part of an orange  and black themed section full of halloweeny sweet goodness. The first thing I decided to make were the donut holes.

I really hate frying things. Not really because of the fat and calories but because of the mess and the waste. Every time I fry things I end up with oil splattered everywhere! Also, in order to fry things, you have to use an insane amount oil. Then, when you're done, you have to through the oil away. That's a half to whole bottle of oil gone in one shot! Maybe because I don't have much practice with frying things, the stuff I make only turns out everyone once and a while. That also tends to make me stray away from frying foods. I don't know what came over me but I decided to take on those donuts, and I'm glad I did.

I won't go into all the details of how they're made but, I will say I was a little worried as I was making them. It seemed way too sticky and I thought there was no way I would be able to roll it out, or whatever it said. Instead, I took a melon baller to make balls about an inch in diameter (which I think is what the instructions call for). I loved how well that worked! Everything was uniform, I made way less dishes and my hands where far less of a mess. However, once I fried them they puffed up quite a bit. And, as I cooked them, the started to burn faster. I don't have a candy thermometer so, maybe the oil got too hot. But, I also noticed the oil getter really, really dark, which I think was because of the chocolate. I don't know if it's a thing but, maybe they started to burn faster because of the darkness of the oil.

My other cooking note-to-self would be to make more of the glaze. I was able to make it through half of the donut holes before I ran out of chocolate and had to make more. Immediately after I glazed them, I sprinkled them with black and orange nonpareils.

They were just as delicious as I expected (even if they didn't really end up looking like the picture...). Slightly crunchy from being fried, chocolaty, smooth glaze, and chocolaty, fluffy inside with a hint of orange zest. They're a nice little seasonal pick me up after my runs in the morning ;) and I will definitely be making this again next year for Halloween!

Welcome Fall!

Fall has officially arrived! I'm excited and a little sad. There were quite a few things I wanted to do with my summer that never happened. Maybe next year...

Before I spring into my plans for this fall. I should recap my runs lately... in a nut shell because, well, I haven't written in a while and tend to forget my times quickly.

I've run pretty well lately. My runs haven't been spectacular but I think, on the whole, they've been about 10 to 15 seconds better than when I started keeping track after the Peachtree. A couple of days ago, I even ran my first 10k since the Peachtree! I've had a lot on my mind lately and I needed a moment to my self, to think and relax. That's why I started running in college anyway; school got stressful and I needed to find a way release that stress. I lived right near the gym so that made running more accessible. I was never really good at running then, but now that's I've learned, running has become more important to me.

Sooo....

Back on track.... the 10k felt GREAT! My time was about 58 minutes. That's not my target Peachtree time, to be sure, but for not running that distance in a while and having little sleep the night before, I was pretty proud! Plus, race time always ends up being about two or three minutes faster than practice times so, with a practice time of 58 and some seconds I'd say I could run the Peachtree in 55 (and some seconds). Which is already better than my time this past year! Yay!!

In the mean time, I'm looking for another 5k race to do - fun and holiday-themed. Or fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving themed. Themed races are always more fun, in my opinion. I'm thinking a longer distance might be good for Thanksgiving - earn all the food I'm gonna eat! lol

Speaking of food - this month has been all about the cookie bars and grilled cheese. It's like summertime when you end up sick of all the hamburgers and hotdogs (maybe that's just me). I can't wait for the weather to get a little cooler so I can make soups and comfort foods! Yum! And with the holidays around the corner I know I'll be making plenty of black and orange goodies for halloween and plenty of pumpkin spice filled goodies for Thanksgiving and lots and LOTS of cookies for Christmas. If that's not motivation to incorporate longer runs, I don't know what is! 

Rebuilding

Two days ago, was garbage day. Why does that matter? Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't. But, on garbage day, everyone places their trash cans on the sidewalk. Rewind to last winter. I was running on the sidewalk with my doggy and tripped on an uneven piece of sidewalk, probably because I tend to shuffle my feet when I'm running tired. I scrapped up my chin pretty bad - I think it was broken and there's a piece floating around randomly because there's a weird dent and bump that I don't remember being there. After that incident, I told myself I would never run on the sidewalk again!

As most promises to ourselves go, a couple of months later, it was forgotten. I hopped on the sidewalk here and there to avoid a car and, pretty soon, was on the sidewalk pretty permanently. I reasoned to myself that it was safer for me and cars to be safely out of the road.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago, I was running on the sidewalk, as is now usual, and dodging trash cans as I went. It had gone pretty good for me for the two and a quarter miles. Then, as if to remind me of that promise to myself, my foot slipped into the crevasse between the sidewalk and the grass. I was trying to avoid one on those trash cans. It hurt so badly, I couldn't put any pressure on it to stand. I stopped my watch right after I fell, I was hoping it would just be a momentary pause and then I'd be back on my way. But when I realized I couldn't stand on it, I was devastated. It was actually a pretty good run at that point - the weather was great, I didn't feel tired, I was light on my feet and I was poised for a 9 minute mile, or better!!

When I got back to the house, I iced and elevated my ankle. There really wasn't any swelling or bruising. It still hurt when I'd stand on it for too long or bend it inwards. I decided, even though it hurt my psyche to not run the next day. I had been doing great with my runs, I really hated that this injury might cause me to loose time. But, one of my worst fears is doing something in my youth to hurt me in the future (I know it's silly...). Well, yesterday wasn't so bad, so I decided to run today.

Just to be safe, I wore an ace bandage while I ran. The bandage actually belonged to my sister when she was in high school. She has a much smaller foot than I so I guess I should have figured that using her brace would cause me to loose feeling in my foot. Well, I figured I could handle numb toes if it meant protecting my ankle. That's pretty much exactly what happened - my foot felt heavy and sore around the edges of the brace and it made it difficult to bend my foot. That, in turn, made me use different muscles while I ran, which hurt so, so bad.

All in all, I was glad that I went out and tried a little run and that I wrapped up my ankle. I actually had a pretty good time, given everything. Just over 30 minutes! I wasn't displeased that's for sure. :)

Hopefully that's a good sign for the rest of the day and for the runs later this week! Here's hoping!

30 seconds down!

Great news - my run was 30 seconds off the my last 3.1! I really don't know what could have caused that difference since I didn't really notice myself running faster or feeling lighter on my feet or anything. I'm not complaining, for sure! But, I do wish I knew what made me faster - I really don't think it was sheer luck or spunk. I'm not really that lucky of a person.

Anyway, on a less positive note - I still haven't run 6 miles since the Peachtree... The weather is starting to get better so maybe that will give me the motivation to get out there and enjoy the run. It's really hard to enjoy running when there's so much blaring sun and pounding heat. But when the weather is better it might be easier. Although with this foot pain, who knows. Speaking of which, it is really bothersome! I can't even walk sometimes with the pain I feel. There's a little tight ball under my heel that just won't work loose. I assume that's it's a muscle cramp but, I'm not a doctor so.... who knows what's going on there...

On another positive note, my cooking hasn't slowed down any! I've got a pesto focaccia panini for lunch today and I'm super excited!

A little better

I had a temporary breakthrough for a couple of days last week. I ran with someone in order to help push them and ended up pushing myself as well. They are actually a TON faster than I. The course I run has tons of cul-de-sacs and such so you end up retracing your steps a bunch. Whenever the other runner would run past me, I'd speed up to simulate a competitive runner. Even though sprinting was thoroughly exhausting, I ended up getting a couple of great runs out of it. My two-mile ended up sub-18 and my three-mile run was sub-28. Those two days were great.... and then there was a long day at a football game and the next AM I was too tired to really push it and all I could manage was a 30 minute 3.1.

I think the presence of another person was what helped me muster the energy to sprint. On race days I know I am able to run faster and I always figured that was because of the atmosphere. I think the same must go for practice runs; when I am being watched or have someone to watch in the distance, I think I tend to forget about being tired or in any pain and just concentrate on keeping up with the person ahead of me, thereby running with better form and effectiveness.

That being said, I typically don't run with anyone so the only thing I am looking to catch up to is the clock. Not as fun/easy. Also, I noticed my foot pain seems to decrease when I shift the way I run. I don't know which is right or wrong, for all I know, it's all wrong. What I'm trying to do is concentrate on running up hill on my toes and downhill, and on the flat surfaces, on my heels. Previously, I had been thumping flatly on my feet because I was tired and felt like it was easier. I should have figured, if it's easier, it's probably a bad idea. My foot has been hurting pretty badly so, I really needed to try something new and fix it. So far, so good. I'm hoping it helps fix things!

Nothing new to report

It's been a while since I posted and I feel like I've failed myself, again. I think I have some pretty good excuses though. Most of them revolve around being out of town. A couple of weeks ago, I went up to Wisconsin to cheer on a friend competing in the USA National Championships.

While I was there, I ran almost everyday but, I don't actually know how far I ran. My foot was killing me so I just ran as far as I could without the piercing pain in my arch forcing me to walk. I think it might have been hurting worse there because of all the walking, site-seeing I was doing.

Anyway, after that, my runs have continued to be lack-luster - I've been doing around 10 minute miles for weeks with no improvement in time or feeling in my foot. I also haven't kept up my plan to complete 6 miles every two weeks. While it might be better to wait until my foot feels better before implementing longer distances, I'm afraid if I don't start soon, I'll be back in the same position from last year - training too hard in too short of a time and ending up disappointed. Hopefully, I can start getting more serious as the weather gets cooler.

After the weekend

I expected this morning's run to be better since I spent the end of last week south of the city, where it's SUPER hot. I figured running in the heat would be good training and could make me faster. My run this morning was 20:05. That's a little faster than my last 2 miles but it wasn't as fast as I expected, especially given how well I felt. Starting off at my house, there's a hill within the first 20 steps that goes for about 1/10 of a mile. Usually, about half way up, I get really tired and half to slow down and catch my breath. Today my legs felt strong and I had no problem powering it up the hill. That was kind of a mood booster for the rest of the run, since I was able to start off on a strong note. I figured, because I felt so great, I would have a strong, fast run on the books.

That's why I was so surprised, and a little disappointed to see 20:05 on my watch when I finished. I know it's not much different, but I would have greatly preferred 19:59. It's like how a $2.99 price sticker is a lot more enticing than a $3.00. They are essentially the same thing, but that two in the front makes the brain feel better about buying it. And any positive mental boost is always appreciated.

Speaking of which, I saw this blog post this morning from Disney: 12 Disney Movies That Should Inspire Your Twenties.

Seeing as I am in my twenties, Disney is always a good choice, and inspiration is always welcome, I gave it a click. I know it's a simple thing, but they took 12 Disney movies, as the title suggests, and applied the message of that film to life lessons for twenty-somethings. I absolutely loved it! I loved it so much I bookmarked it. I love it so much, I might print it out and tape it to my wall... or something. Go ahead, give it a read, and Have a Magical Day!

7.28 - 7.29

Yesterday was 2 miles, my favorite days because they're shorter and quicker and, therefore, less pressure. Unfortunately, I ran 20:29... Not bad, but over 10 minutes per mile...

Today was a little better. I struggled hard core even though the temp was a lot better and the sun hadn't really come up that much. As I was coming down the hill, I looked at my watch (which I never do until I finish - like it might jinx me or something). I was at 29:15 and finishing up the .1 of the 3.1. So... I sprinted the rest of the way to make it under 30. Luckily, I finished 29:50 - cutting it kinda close! The only reason I wasn't really proud of it was that, had I not looked at my watch it would have been over 30 minutes, for sure.

As for food over the past two days, I definitely ate TOO much sugar on Monday. I had a throbbing sugar headache from these beauties!

They're not any special flavor or anything, I had made some cookies for Christmas in July last Saturday and had WAY too much icing left over. Since we used neon pink and green I thought it would be perfect for watermelons! They're a little messy looking and super duper sweet but, I was able to use all the left over icing and they're still darling looking. I'd consider them a win ;) 

Happy hump day!

New Direction

So... I've been meaning to start this for almost a month. My performance on the Peachtree Road Race this year was lack-luster. I mean... I guess it was alright, but it was slower than last year and I was devastated for the rest of the afternoon. Therefore, I am changing the focus of this blog to a diary of my progression, throughout the coming year, leading up to my next chance at a Peachtree Road Race PR.

To recap this month, quickly, it's been less than stellar. I've been running pretty steady 10 minute miles, which would be fine and dandy had I not been running sub-9 about two years ago. Sure the heat could play a factor, but it was hot two years ago too. I've had a couple of good days where I broke 28 minutes for a 5k (that'd be what? a 9 minute mile - I'll take it). But that hasn't been consistent.

Today wasn't one of those days. It was roughly 80* when I started. I ran 30:24.

I don't really know much about running, as far as diet, training patterns, how the body works, I just run and hope I have a good time. That might have something to do with why I don't have great results but, unless someone is going to pay me to run, I can't afford all of that. It also might be how stubborn I am, but I have an addiction to sugary food and olive oil and bread and pasta and cheesecake (omg cheesecake!!). I just can't give up any of that without losing my mind. And in my opinion, running just wouldn't be fun anymore if I couldn't cool off after a long run with a homemade ice cream sandwich (I swear I've eaten two a day...I'd include a pic, but they're not the sexiest things I've ever made. This was the recipe though : http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/chocolate-covered-mint-ice-cream-sandwiches.html).

 This is my mission:

• Run alternating 2 or 3 miles a day
• Run 6 miles every other week
• Continue to cook yummy meals that are delicious and nutritious ;) 
• Beat my Peachtree time from two years ago (hopefully by a long shot!!)

Here's to life, goals, and Mondays!

"Iced Coffee" Cupcakes and portfolio "building"

Tuesday was cupcake day. I had chosen an iced coffee cupcake to go with an ice coffee frappe. It sounds fancy, right? Welp, remember how I said I needed to find the recipe box? Since I didn't have recipe on me, I hadn't gone shopping for the ingredients. So, I had basically nothing to make these fancy sounding little cakes. Sadness ensued.

Luckily, I pulled it together and decided to wing it! I smashed the recipe for the iced coffee cupcakes and Hershey's chocolate cake together. And it worked!!

Here's what I did:

STEP 1- Preheat oven to 350F. Line (about 20) muffin cups.

STEP2- Beat 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 3 eggs, 1 (4 ounce) package of instant chocolate pudding and pie filling mix, 1/2 cup vegetable oil and 1 tsp vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer for 30 seconds. Make sure it's at low speed so all the flour doesn't create a snow storm in your kitchen!

STEP 3- Speed it up to medium speed for a bit until it's all blended.

STEP 4- Spoon into muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.

STEP 5- Bake 20 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

STEP 6- Place a scoop of coffee flavored ice cream (I didn't have any so, Caramel Turtle Cheesecake it was!) on top while it's still warm. Drizzle on magic shell topping (Again, I didn't have any so I used regular chocolate sauce) and toasted pecans.

STEP 7- Devour the chocolaty goodness.

In other, non-food related, news, I am still currently career-less. I got some advice yesterday from my neighbor about building an online portfolio in order to boost my credibility. Easier said than done! First, I had to find a website. Then, I had to figure out said website. I tend to think of myself as tech-savvy but, Portfoliobox, the site I ended up choosing, just boggled my mind! It literally took my all of yesterday and a bit of today to figure it out. I guess it didn't help that my work wasn't already readily accessible...

After hours of frustration, I am only sort-of proud of the result. It's something and something is better than nothing. But I don't think that the little bit of something that is online right now accurately represents the caliber and type of work that I am capable of doing. I just uploaded everything I had done from school that could be quickly formated as an image file. That leaves it looking a bit empty.

However, it doesn't look really fancy and professional! While I am not confident that my portfolio as it is will make quite the difference in my job search as I would have hoped, I hope it doesn't turn away potential employers. Maybe I'll try to mock up some more random stuff to fill it out more... I'd rather it be published work though...

Here's the link: brianafetrow.portfoliobox.me. Tell me what you think!

Weekend Recap

What a weekend! The beginning felt so rushed and hectic!

Friday
I worked Friday evening. After that I had to hop on the highway, heading around the city to the south side, to my boyfriend's house. It was around 11:30 by time I got to his house. The next day was the Butterfly Dreams 5K. While it normally wouldn't be bad to head to his house late after work, with a race the next day I knew I'd be exhausted and my feet would hurt from standing on the concrete for hours.

Saturday
We woke up around 5:30 (i think- my boyfriend just came and got me and I just hopped in the car, I really wasn't coherent until 7). I had looked up the race before and my fears were confirmed once we got there. People who had run the course before were talking about how hilly it was and how the last mile was killer. Great. I don't know about everyone else but, I get all jittery before the race starts and then I feel like there's so much adrenaline pulsing through my body, my legs feel tired and tingly before I even hit mile one. And then the hills came... and they were awful. I thought it would take forever to hit the halfway turn-around point! But the turn-around point was the best turn-around cone, ever! There was a little orange traffic cone AND two girls with a PONY!!! It was definitely good motivation! For a little while, at least. Then the hill came, that last mile that everyone was talking about. I felt like I was walking, it was awful! You don't know how happy I was to round the corner and see the final hill. Yes, that does sound a little bit like a typo but after that hill was a tenth of a mile downhill to the finish line. My boyfriend was waiting for me a little before the 3 mile marker. He gave me a pep-talk as he jogged with me to the finish. After all those hills and how slow I felt I was going imagine how shocked I was to see 25 minutes on the clock above the finish line! That's the best I've ever run, EVER! I sprinted under the finish line at 25:38. woot woot!

With that fantastic time, I managed to come in first in my age group.

And my boyfriend won the whole thing! He's amazing.

After the race ended we headed home for a quick nap and tailgate preparation! The Dawgs played Clemson Saturday and we wanted to ring in the football season with a proper party. It was just family but we made a whole mass of food!

There was a cheese ball,
Chesapeake snack mix,
Paula Deen's All-American burgers (made in slider size),
veggies and dip,
chips and salsa,
and Paula Deen's Lemon Bars.
(We like Paula Deen, can you tell?)

It was all really good but the sliders stole the evening. My boyfriend and I were the only ones who stayed awake to see the disappointing loss...I still have high hopes for the rest of the season though. GO DAWGS!

Sunday
The day of rest. All we did this day was run some errands, swim, and relax.

Monday
Labor Day. I had to work. I left his house at noon and worked till 5:30 on a national holiday. Boo. When I got home I checked my email and I still haven't heard anything from any potential employers. So now it's back to stressing about finding a full time job... wish me luck!

Thank you note and Tuesday Things

Hello again, 

I meant to post about this thank you card last week when I went on my crafting rampage. haha But then I got busy. More about that stuff later. 

Anyways, since I was in a crafty mood, I decided to design my own thank you note for graduation gifts I've received. I thought it would show off my talent and be more personal.

After drafting a few choices, I settled on this one:

I love this script font, the open space it sort of captures with the swirls in the "t" and the "y", and the fact that it looks handwritten (read: personal) without being too messy. I not sure of the actual paper type because it was something I found laying around but, it was textured and slightly heavy/thick. The ink didn't stick to it too well and I was afraid it would rub off in the mail. So I sprayed it with some workable fixatif that I've had since art school. It actually gave the card a nice finished shine to it, which was an added bonus!



Now to the list of things that have been going on:

• I started back at work yesterday. It's just my part-time I've had since high school but, it's better than nothing and the people make it worth while. 
• I saw the last of the Hangover series this Friday. It actually wasn't bad. I liked it better than the second one because it had a different story line. There were definitely some gross parts in it but, it's The Hangover.
• My boyfriend came to see me this weekend. We made a chicken philly cheesesteak pizza, it was fabulous!! I miss him so much during the week, it's great to spend time with him on the weekends. 
• I have a 5k this Saturday that I'm nervous about. Looking at the previous year's times, it looks like a slow course... in other words, it's gonna have some hills. yuck. In preparation, I ran my last practice 5k today (26:22. yes!). I'll run 2 miles with my puppy tomorrow and Friday and a 10k Thursday. Hopefully, that'll get my legs ready but not feeling too tired. We shall see...
• I have too much stuff! I just realized that I have three boxes of stuff from my apartment still sitting in my parents basement! I'm never gonna get it all organized until I move out. Which probably means I shouldn't buy more stuff... sad day.
• I still don't have a job and I had started feeling pretty crumby about myself until I went to church on Saturday. The readings for this week seemed like they were talking specifically to me and I knew I should keep my head up and keep working towards my dreams. In particular this part of HEB 12:5-7, 11-13, "So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed." and this part of the gospel, "Strive to enter through the narrow gate,for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
  but will not be strong enough...And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” stood out and resonated the most with me. I've repeated these parts to myself in my head over the past few days when I feel weak and hopeless and I've been happier. 
• It's sunny and almost feels like summer around here now. Now, that's it's about to be fall...
• Is it Christmas yet??

That's all for now folks! If I kind my box of cupcake recipes I might be making more cupcakes today! First I have to find the recipe box.. it should be in one of those boxes from my apartment in my parents' basement... 

Etching Projects

Yesterday I went to Goodwill and bought some glassware with which to get crafty. Today, I continued my crafting journey into the world of glass etching. It's a dangerous and scary place, let me tell you! Anything that warns you to use plastic gloves to protect your hands is ridiculous! But, I guess if you think about it, the etching cream is permanently changing the surface of glass, so I suppose it has to be pretty powerful (just image what it would do to your skin-ouch!)

I found out the hard way that cutting out my own stencil with a box cutter was going to be pert near impossible. So decided to try something new today- painting on the etching cream by hand. Risky, I know. Luckily, I have a pretty steady hand and eye for detail. It probably also helps that this wasn't my first time at the painting rodeo, I was an art major (briefly), after all.

My first project was the tall rectangular vase-looking-thing. (You see, the one on the far right. That one). This one was going to be pretty simple. Just an initial.

Unfortunately, my first go with this didn't work too well... I left the cream on all night; not that it makes a difference, I just wanted to be sure it was visible. Somehow the edges still turned out all wrinkly and raw looking. I was kind of disappointed- this letter "G" was so much easier to make than that milk bottle, I thought it'd be a shoe in for success. But, I guess that's the way it goes, nothing worth having is ever easy (that was deep.). So I repainted it and left it for another couple of hours to see if it would kind of fill itself out.

Below is the final product, if you can see it. Not too bad... It honestly looks better in the pictures than it does in real life but, it's ten times better than that milk bottle!

So I placed a pretty candle in it, filled in with rocks from the back yard (yay, free things!) and called it complete. I must say, it looks awfully professional in these pictures!

But! The best is yet to come! Of all the glass projects that I planned during my Goodwill hunting trip (see what I did there?), this next one was my favorite. I had designed a logo for my boyfriends farm last week and printed a black and white copy of it yesterday. Unfortunately, it was pretty intricate, so I  got discouraged when I realized the box-cutter thing wasn't going to work. After the "G" project, though, I had a pretty brilliant idea, if I do say so myself! I taped the logo to the inside of the glass and traced the type with a paint brush! Oh, my goodness! It made eyes go cooky looking at for so long as I painted but looked so promising!

Again, I left it on for longer than it probably needed but there was no way I was redoing it if it didn't show up the first time! Luckily, it looks fabulous! This is my favorite of all the glass projects I've done. The etching is still fairly light and I taped it on slightly croocked but, other than that- I could probably pass this off as professionally made! Go me! I have one more of these little vases to do, to make them a set, but, I want to give my eyes a break. Haha

DIY Milk Bottle

I supposed I couldn't really call myself a crafty person if I've never completed a craft in my life. But, I admire crafty things! I have a whole board on Pinterest for "When I'm feeling crafty". I've felt crafty quite a few times but, as of yesterday, I still hadn't made a single thing on that board (isn't that the way Pinterest works though? haha)

However, since I've had nothing but spare time with my lack of career, I decided I deserved some time to do something fun to help me relax. Things that take away my stress: running, cooking, concentrating really hard on something other than what's making me stressed. Well, I already have have a blueberry buttermilk bundt cake sitting in the kitchen so baking is kind of out of the question. I had already run 3.1 miles yesterday and, although I could run some more, I still wouldn't feel accomplished afterwards. At least baking would produce a final product I could be proud of (and eat!). It was another rainy day in Georgia yesterday so, I thought, well, what the heck, let's craft something!

So I went to my handy dandy Pinterest board and narrowed it down to decorative pumpkins (to put me in the mood for Fall) or monogramed glass ornaments (eh, who needs Fall. Let's skip straight to Christmas!) In the end I chose glass etching because I am an unemployed graduate don't really have a whole lot of money to spend and I'd rather buy pumpkins and glass ornaments when they go on sale. Regularly, etching cream would be expensive but, it's 80% off at the Michael's near me currently.

So I got some cheap glassware from Goodwill, paint and etching cream from Michael's and Con-Tact paper from Home Depot.

Here are the glasses I bought:

I have plans for etching the small vases and the tall rectangular one later. For now, I wanted to start with a cute vintage milk bottle.

Step 1: Spray paint! Honesty time. This was my first time spray painting. It was so much fun!!! I was kinda sad when it was all done and there was nothing left to paint... The paint I used was Krylon colormaster in Ivory.

The bottle said it only took ten minutes to dry but, I needed more time to cut out my stencil so it ended up drying for hours. I made my design myself and printed it on copy paper. Then I cut a piece of contact paper, laid it over the design and traced it as best as I could. I messed up once and had to do it again. Honestly, I didn't think this through very well. My design was way too small and intricate to be cut by hand, especially with a box cutter on crummy cardboard. To say this is an amateur project is an understatement. It was almost comical to watch me try and cut those delicate lines.

In the end, I settled for an imperfect stencil because I knew there was only so much I could do. I painstakingly placed it on the "milk bottle"  and painted over it with Martha Stewart glass paint (vanilla bean). The bottle said to let it air cure for 21 days. 21 DAYS!!! So I left it dry over night before I pealed the stencil off.

From far away, it doesn't look too bad! (I hadn't put the lettering on yet).

Up close, however, is a different story... This thing looks like an old woman with a shaky hand painted it while she was sneezing!

The final product, words and all. Not too bad but, not fantastic either...

My mom and I looked up some machines that would make the delicate cuts for me, using my own design and boy, are they expensive!! Overall, I'm glad I finished something and I don't completely hate it. The design looks fantastic, if I do say so myself, and the idea was inspired! In the end, it did what it was supposed to- I concentrated hard on something other than my stress and produced something I can be proud of. I'm also encouraged to keep practicing and making cool projects! I'll post about the actual etching later!

Call me crazy

You know how normal people are obsessed with things like Johnny Depp or photography or something? Well, I'm obsessed with fonts (and cupcakes). I could literally spend hours determining the perfect font for a simple powerpoint. Sure, I want it too look good and I want good grades but, what I really care about is the texture the font brings to the overall look of the slides; does it create movement, does it flow, does it's character jive with the subject matter. You know, all really important things. I swear, if someone wanted to appoint me designated font-picker for anything ever, and pay me, I'd be happy.

My love of fonts and desire to put them together and make something beautiful out of them can be overwhelming. You know how I just ran the Peachtree, on the 4th of July? Well, I entered their t-shirt design contest. Of course, I didn't win- I spelled the name of the race wrong! But, I guess besides that, my design wasn't clean enough. So, I've decided to take another shot at it; this time, I'm gonna make it immaculate! I was so excited about playing with fonts again to possible make a winning design, I literally started last night. That's probably way to early.... But I told you, I'm obsessed!

Well, it didn't last long. My design looks a whole lot better as a sketch than a full blown piece. I'm still not done with it but, I sent it to my boyfriend as I was working, you know to get his opinion and praise for my brilliance, and he kinda brought me down. He said my design was too intricate, it wouldn't be chosen. He was right, of course. My favorite design style is Victorian so I used that as my inspiration and wound up with way too many swirls and ornaments for a t-shirt. So now it's back to square one and I'm bummed. I don't really know what I want it to look like now... good thing I have a year!

So this is it...

Yesterday was my last first day, EVER. With the completion of this class, I'll earn my masters degree and move back into my parents' house. Hmm, I feel like that's an oxymoron..

I'm ready to get out there! I wanna go work for somebody and show 'em what I've got! I literally feel like my brain is busting with all the knowledge Grady has shoveled me for the past three years! Yes, I'm completely scared to fall flat on my face and embarrass myself but, at the same time, I've worked so hard for that moment and that opportunity, it's driving me crazy to be jobless one month from graduation.

On a positive note- I recently ran my first 10k! It was the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, Georgia. My boyfriend's family has been running the race since before he was born. So have thousands of other runners because this race is the world's largest 10k with 60,000 runners. Can we just take a moment to contemplate that number? 60,000. Runners. I lucked out to be placed in B group, meaning I was the second group to start, after the wheelchair, seeded and sub-seeded runners.

After the Boston Massacre Marathon, I was terrified at what might happen along the route or at then end, inside Piedmont Park. This is probably because I'm such a hypochondriac. I was also afraid the mass number of runners would run me right over. I was in B group, remember? That means super fast. I do not run super fast. I wouldn't even say I run, I just jog. Slowly. Especially up hills. PLUS, we were late getting to the start line so I didn't get a chance to stretch before we took off, zig zagging around hoards of people to make it into our groups before time started. My legs were cramping, it was drizzling a little, and I barely got to kiss my boyfriend goodbye before he darted off to the sub-seeded group. (His one of those really fast people).

Before we started, under the American flag, the announcer recognized those who help(ed) keep us free and safe. Then he counted down and I held my breath. I started five minutes after group A and I remember looking at the start clock, watching it tick closer to 5:00 and wishing it would just stop or get there faster, enough with all this waiting business! And then they waved a flag (which I couldn't see over all the people) and off we went.

The whole thing was kind of a blur because I was so nervous. It's strange, I felt a little like a celebrity having people lining the streets, cheering and staring and applauding me. I tried to stay along the right side because that's where the slow people like to hang out. Unfortunately, businesses like to hang out free things to people along the left side of the street. Boo.

If you've heard about the Peachtree, you may have heard about Heartbreak Hill. My boyfriend told me it was called that because the hill was so terrible people died on it every year. He's such a stinker! This is definitely not true. I think the hill is only a small incline but boy, it lasts forever! Like half a mile forever! Also, it goes right passed the Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation hospital. That's were the name really comes from- seeing those people cheering you on who can't be out there themselves. It didn't really break my heart to see them, it made me smile, because they were smiling. It was extra motivation to keep pushing. Also providing motivation were all the people who started walking on the hill. All of a sudden, I felt like I was flying just because I kept pushing while they all dropped off like flies hitting an invisible wall.

After that hill, my knees started hurting a little and the cramps I had before the start started to come back. All the people along the side helped me push on and forget that I was running 6.2 miles (oh my goodness, 6.2 miles!!!!!). Once you hit about 5.7-5.8 miles (this is me guessing- I'm terrible at guessing!) the number of people lining the streets swelled, the music was louder and more frequent and the cheering, bells, and clapping became constant white noise. That was really energizing. I've never felt that kind of accomplishment before. It was really something special that I don't know I can explain properly. It was something like exhaustion, motivation, pride, relief, inspiration, thankfulness, excitement, and power, all at the same time.

So when the time came that I rounded the last corner, started the down-hill stretch and same the 6 mile sign, I was able to kick it into 3rd gear and sprint under the finish line just under an hour. BOOM!
That's how I felt.
Maybe a little bit more like "boom". haha

I think the worst part of the experience would be after the finish, when I ruined my shoes in the park. It's been raining for two weeks in Atlanta and Piedmont was super muddy. I tried to wash my Nikes when we got home but, they'll never be the same. sob.

Other than that monumentous event and weeping over my lack of job, the only other thing I've been doing is cooking. Tons of cooking. My boyfriend's family has a garden which seems to be over producing zucchini and squash. I think I have those two vegetables coming out of my ears!! Time to get creative I guess!