Marathon Training begins and Literally a Cocktail Dress

Tomorrow begins marathon training. I will be hopefully running two this year:  Missoula and Smuttynose, july and october.  I have not been feeling so hot the past few days so I laid off the running and did some NTC and Pilates.  I also wanted to get some sewing in since I know I will be pressed for time in the upcoming months.  

At the end of this month we are heading to Arizona for my sister in laws wedding and i am sooooooo looking forward to the warmth.  This month's burdastyle magazine (4/2013) is FULL of items I want to make, and one seemed especially simple and within my skill set (#126).  So I was looking through my stash to see what would work and I came across this fun print:

I had originally purchased it to make coasters for Matt and Jaclyn but the print was too large.  This shift pattern I had chosen would be a perfect way to showcase this fun print!!  I did not have enough fabric to create the ruffles that are featured in the original pattern so I bought some crocheted trim in a butter yellow color and I am so pleased with the result:

This was my first time sewing anything with "set in" sleeves.  This went fine except at first i stitched the sleeve wrong side out, but I have made friends with my seam ripper and quickly corrected it and VOILA!  It took almost longer to trace the pattern off the burda sheets than it did to make this dress.  It came together so fast i began it today and wore it to the in-laws for Easter bbq.  i was a bit over dressed but I wanted to make sure it stayed hemmed, etc.  I can't wait to wear it at the Valley Ho!! :)

I really want to attempt a halter dress in this issue with white eyelet and line it with either gray or teal... time and skills will determine whether it happens.

Anyone else at the beginning of training plan?

Jaclyn's bachelorette and surprise retro shower

I have been working very diligently for a few months now on a secret mission. My sister in law was engaged this summer while visiting montana with her boyfriend Matt.  I was honored to be asked to be an attendant.  I love weddings!!  I think they are a magical time and as long as perspective is maintained on the objective (marriage is a lifetime, the wedding is a day) it can be a fun time to express yourself and merge families and share your unique love story.  Jaclyn wanted to have her bachelorette in Montana (she lives in Tempe AZ) so I thought it would be fun to have a shower here, with some people she grew up with that probably won't make it to the wedding but still want to celebrate this special time in her life.  Both Jaclyn and Matt are into vintage/retro themed things and love 50's style music/cars/decor/fashion/etc. So my plan was forming:  A 50's/retro themed shower.

Let me back track.  They were engaged at Mark's in and out, a seasonal eatery that is Jaclyn's favorite in Livingston.  So my thoughts were to buy the food from there: burgers, extra crispy fries, vanilla cokes.  Unfortunately Scott Black, the owner ran into an issue with his bun provider and meat man and had to delay opening for a week.  He was, however, extremely accommodating and helpful in us replicating his food.  He gave us the cheese, the vanilla syrup, some coke cups, his crushed ice and told us how to do the fries and the patties.

So for the past few months I have been collecting unique items and working on some special gifts.  Sunny made the cutest invites:

She also made awesome key fob favors for everyone too! :)

Thursday I drove over to Bozeman with Colleen--the girls flew in from Arizona.   It was so fun to meet everyone and put faces to the names.  We had dinner at Larry and Colleen's and just all hung out and visited.  

Friday was the Bachelorette night and the Peckinpah suite at the Murray Hotel was the headquarters.  Hubbee and I went in a bit early and did some decorating.

Finally the girls ARRIVED!!  Kacie made the cutest wine glasses for everyone and we did a cheers:

Jaclyn is in the gray charlotte is next to her, and Ahn is in the red.  That is my hand with thumb ring and you can see one turtle on my wrist.

Kacie

Pre-dinner cocktails!!

Dinner!  I made the fascinator in Jaclyn's hair.  She needed something to differentiate herself, but no cheasy sash or tiara.

Fun times at The Mint.  Rod, a friend of Jaclyn's set us up with some champagne and The Fossil's were playing so it was good times and dancing had by all!! Stephanie made a beautiful toast; that BRAVE girl!! 

Hubbee picked me up and I headed home so I could have a decent night's sleep for the festivities the next day:  the shower!  I left an invite with Sarah and she placed it in front of Jaclyn the morning of and said, "have you seen this?" and that is how they told her about the shower. 

I was so thrilled that everyone was on board with the theme and dressed the parts! Our garage smelled like Mark's and the food was a success!   Hubbee did great!!  We played Bingo and Iris, hubbee's god daughter was the bingo barker.

"Hostess" :)

Erin and Preslee and Ahn

Kacie, Sarah, Jaclyn and Iris calling Bingo!

Julie and her Mini-Me!! 

Then it was time for PRESENTS!!!! :)

She received fun items from her registry and a cool framed print of Mark's in and out at twilight, her cake cutting set, a beautiful keep sake box, a gorgeous pearl frame, the beatles cookbook, gift certificates, a wedding day survival kit, and i made her a VW pillow sham, a bridal set (polka dots!!), the sheet music from wedding framed with their names and wedding date, a pic of them at mark's, and a tiered cupcake/appetizer stand made of beatles albums!

Iris was dancing to the musical card.  At this point she had had several cookies and two cupcakes!!

It would not be a traditional Montana Shower if some guns didn't go off...         

And here we are today, the last supper, back at the Mint:

The girls all had mini facials by Colleen and we had to rush and get them home to pack and head to bozeman to catch their flight.

I think all in all it was a success and fun was had.  I love throwing parties and making unique gifts or finding personalized items on Etsy.  I realize I am not the most warm and fuzzy person, or overly eloquent with my words; however I am paying attention and I show my appreciation and affection this way, if I love you!! :)  

A special thanks to Sarah for some pics!!  The next time we will all be together it will be time for this:

And I can't wait!!

Now I have to go remove crepe paper and poms from my ceiling!! 

a half and a festivity filled weekend!

I have been working on lots of items, however I don't think my sister in law follows this blog, but i am not 100% sure so I don't want to wreck any surprises.  I will post about them soon enough.  

This past saturday was the "Run to the Pub" half marathon.  This race has really blown up since it was ranked the #2 half in the nation by Runner's World.  Some locals were upset that it no longer seemed like a local race, however I liked that they changed the course (now to include a long uphill--I am not lying when I state that I LOVE hills! Just does something for me...) and they took out the trail section that although it was fun in theory, it would bottle neck and it was often icy and at mile 12 in a half, it just sucked.  You would have to battle walkers from the 10K--which i don't want to discourage anyone from walking any distance, I am just saying it was always congested and a recipe for fueds.  My day was off to a smashing start.  I forgot to eat my toast with peanut butter, thought the bus was at 9:15 and it was at 9.  I had JUST enough time to purchase a bag of chomps (they were out of bloks and if you know me--i hate chomps) and I RAN to the bus.  so I will regress to the chomps:  they are like JU JU bees.  THose hard yet supposedly gummy candy I remember from the movie theater.  You attempt to bite into them and it sticks your top teeth to the lower and no matter how strong ones jaw is, that is where it stays.  And it is the slowest thing to break down EVER.  so you are running, with this large thing stuck in your mouth, making you salivate yet you can't appropriately engage swallowing muscles due to the weird jaw setting and this now begins to affect how you breath.  ugh--i hate them.  i had to pry it off my teeth with my dirty/sweaty hands and throw it out.  no fuel.  I did not fuel appropriately, but I apparently over hydrated.  I had to pee twice--the last few halves i have done I was so proud I didn't have to use any facilities.  Also, the last mile, my right show was untied so I am ran like a weirdo so as not to launch my shoe into the spectators or a fellow runner.  BUt i was NOT stopping AGAIN!  I ran 1:54:09.  not my best, not my worst, but not a lot of it felt good.  I felt better at Seeley.  

Don't despair!  I did see my silver lining!!!  The weather was gorgeous!!  I loved the new course, there were way more supports than their used to be (last time I wouldn't have had two porta potty stops because there WERE NOT any potties) I had several clients that participated and everyone did well, had success and was smiling at the finish.  That made me feel great!! One of the perks of the race is a free beer at the finish so several of us met up to imbibe.

Erin with out glasses, Merry with crown, Angie with hat and me! 

I bought this shirt off of Etsy.  Some poor child is missing their step-dancing top!!  I love seeing how creative people can be and what people are willing to tolerate for MILES!!  Amazing! :)

Also--Hubbee ran the 10k and did GREAT!  He is not a runner.  his last time running was at the oktoberfest so he literally runs two times per year.  He is able to pull it out though! He did commit to running the half while I run the full this fall.  THis needs to go on the record!!! He will train he said!!!!!!

Full Marathon training begins for me on April 1.  I have mixed emotions about that due to how much stuff is on my plate (more will be revealed...) but I also know i do better when on a plan and it helps me focus and not spin my wheels.  Anyone else in training?  For what?

Oh--this weekend my sister in law and 7 friends are flying up for her bachelorette party!!  It will be a fun whirlwind weekend--more on that later!! :)

Snow Joke half and some crafts

Last Saturday was the Snow Joke half marathon in Seeley Lake.  They tout it as a dog friendly, minimally supported half to help people keep their training up throughout the winter.  Seeley Lake is at high elevation and nestled in the mountains.  Cold and lots of snow.  For "minimal support" i found it to be better supported than most!  They plastic-ed (yes--making that a verb/word) off the gym floors and everyone, dogs included, could go indoors prior to the start and after to warm up.  There were also two aid stations with some sort of energy drink and water and porta potties.  I have done several half marathons in bozeman where there was no porta potty... eek.
I felt pretty bad a** too since it was snowing, and cooler temps and a hilly at elevation course.  I LOVED IT!! :) me (duh) just before start:

The morning started with light snow but by the time the race began (at 11!!!! :) ) The sun was poking out but the wind was picking up. We ran up the two lane highway and then turned onto a side road that looped us back to the highway where we finished at the school at which we began.  This loop road was snow packed and it was like running on sand.  it wasn't slippery as in icy, but it moved away from your foot.  i had a brutal calf crap at 12.6 miles that literally almost dropped me.  i went to grap my calf and the muscle was soooo tight it felt like a piece of wood--my calves are strong--but they don't normally feel like that!  I just played around with how to plant my foot and not "feed the cramp" and it went away.  I was able to sprint the last little bit to the finish, which is always fun.  

Several others were supposed to run the race, but everyone bagged out.  I have another half in two weeks so I was using this as a "long" run and wanted to finish in under 2 hours.  I did 1:54.  I was happy since the whole way felt super easy.  I think this was a fantastic event and so well organized and I look forward to doing it again.  They had quite a turnout too, 600 people.  Seeley is known for summertime fun, but it was gorgeous in the winter and tons of great cross country skiing all over.  Maybe by next year wrigley will be trained to run that distance?!

We rented a cabin with two other couples and it was delightful.  After the race I took the chill off by the fire and we played jenga with a really crummy old set of blocks and we played yahtzee for mula and Christy and I each won the pots!! :)

A few weeks ago I received a message from Nike Running that I would be receiving FLYKNITS!!!!  And they arrived!!! They are so light but so supportive and comfy.  I don't do too well with a minimalist shoe, which these lack weight like a minimalist, however they don't compromise on comfort, cushion and support.  Plus they look badass!! :)

I ran a little over five and a half miles in them yesterday and they were STELLAR!!!  Plus I love the card that came with them. 

I have been working on some items for my Sister in Laws wedding festivities. I made her a fascinator/veil for her bachelorette party.  I know she wanted something to single her out, but not something tacky like a sash or plastic tiara.  She is into retro things and custom things so I tried my hand at millinery.  

It really looks much better on, however I have not washed my hair in probably three days (ya--i lost count--that is how dirtball i can be!!) so I don't want to post pics of it in my hair.  The veil covers the left eye and goes about to the nose.  it is attached to a simple alligator clip.  I made the flowers too.  I cut a zillion circles and singed the edges, stitching them together and using Swarovski crystals and pearls into the centers.  I ordered some ivory tulle to put under the black--her hair is jet black and the ivory will help make it pop.  i will post a pic of it when completed and I am somewhat more presentable than i am today.  
THis was quite a feat for me since I am afraid of fire!!  the first circle I attempted to singe caught on fire and went up in an instant to NOTHING.  I was freaked and almost had to have hubbee do it.  Alas--I persevered and the rest went along much better.  Key is not to actually touch fabric to flame, it simply needs to be near it. 

I also completed the fascinators for the bridesmaids.  I ordered all the supplies off Etsy.com and worked my magic!!  These we will wear at the wedding.  I am excited since I have wanted to wear something like this but live in the middle of nowhere and my dogs simply don't react with enough enthusiasm to hair styles as they do when I lace up sneakers...

There are seven bridesmaids and Yes, i made seven.  the wonky one in back i tore apart and redid, also.  
I still have a longish run to do today and i need to get to work on some TOP SECRET items that i will share at a later date!! :)  

I really want to run the Run to the Pub half marathon 1:50 or under but I don't know if that is realistic?  How is everyone else's training going?