Color Me Rad 5k

This spring I decided to sign up for my first 5k.  My friend Sarah agreed to do it with me, and we both started training.  I was actually making some pretty good headway and was running probably the best I ever have.  Of course, then I got pregnant.  It was really hard to do much of anything for a while, much less run.  So exhausted :P

Anywho, I realized I'd never even gotten these photos off my camera.  This particular race involves getting hit with colored cornstarch, or "color bombs".  It's not timed, anyone can do it, even babies.  They don't care if you walk it or run it.  In fact, the rules say you should finish by sunset so you can see where you're going.  So we jogged just a bit, but mostly walked.  I'm sad I wasn't able to run it, I feel like I was so close before things got nuts!  But it was seriously a LOT of fun, and if you ever get a chance to do this or something like it, I highly recommend it.

Photos are all taken by DS on June 17, 2012.

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Making Some Rings

I woke up this morning bright and early with a fully formed idea in my head for a flower ring made out of shrink plastic.  Rings made from this material, commonly known as Shrinky Dinks, are not new to me.  I have one of those Klutz books all about making jewelry out of the stuff.  Basically, you just cut a long strip, decorate it, shrink it, and then bend it into a circle while it's still hot.

So I thought, if you can make a circle while it's still hot, why not other shapes?  I envisioned a three dimensional flower, and then set out to make it happen.  I really love the way it turned out, as did my friend Sarah, to whom I gave it.  She has metal sensitivities, and so the shrink plastic lets her wear rings without getting all itchy.  Bonus!

These designs still need some work.  Sarah broke her band while playing with it nervously.  While I could easily tell people not to pull out on the band, I'd also like them to be a bit more sturdy.  At any rate, I still think they're kind of amazing, and will be cooking up more ideas for these soon.  What do you think?

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PA Renaissance Faire

Apparently, around these parts, the Renaissance Faire is a big deal.  I'm told it's famous.  Bri was very bothered I had never been to one at all before, much less PA's.  So we took advantage of the Labor Day 2-for-1 special and took the boys.

I've always wanted to go to one of these.  I wish I'd had a costume.  I wish I hadn't been so sunburnt that it hurt to wear clothes.  I am thankful for Lidocaine spray.

This place was huge, and completely full of actors in period costume walking around and manning booths and performing, so you really feel immersed in Elizabethan England.  Well, except for all the people like me, running around in modern clothes with a giant camera.  When I walked in, two of the actors welcoming people freaked out because I had a "hand cannon."

It was a rainy day, and we weren't there for very long.  DS and Bri had to work for a bit in the morning, and then we all had band practice in the evening.  This is really the kind of place you should experience all day.  There is a storyline that the events follow throughout the day, and as that's one of the few free things, it's probably better to soak it all up.  We thought we were going to see jousting, but it was just the pre-joust that set up the story for the 6pm "joust to the death."  Lame.  We did see the human chess game, which was amusing.  Probably the best part was the whip/comedy/variety show with Don Juan and Miguel.  Those guys were hilarious, and if you get a chance to see them or watch one of their dvds, I recommend it.

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Fall Beginnings

Fall is my favorite season, followed very closely by winter.  In my head, all of the wonderful things these seasons bring start in September.  There are all the holidays, the decorations, the colors, the smells, the FOOD.  Also, my birthday.  You guys know how nuts I am about my birthday, and this year is a milestone.  I'll be 30.  Apparently that makes some people feel old, but I say, MORE CAKE.

On Sept 1, Thursday, Bri dragged me to a bikram yoga class.  We had got a set of five classes for $25 through Groupon in the spring, and they expire in Nov.  We figured it was about time we used them.  Especially now that we're working out so much, we actually feel in good enough shape to get through a whole yoga class.  You know how I am about heat; I hate it.  It makes me sick.  So probably bikram yoga was a bad idea, but I figured that I'd at least try it.  It was 107° in there, and I felt bad the second we walked in the studio.  The first 45 min were standing poses, and I kept falling out of them and then sitting on the floor waiting for them to get to the next one, trying not to cry.  It was entirely too hot for me.  The last 45 min were seated poses, and my head tended to be in the draft of the back door, which someone had cracked open.  That made things soooo much better, and I ended up really enjoying the second half.  It was hard work, but the kind of hard work that makes you feel good.  Instead of the kind of hard work that makes you want to run away in tears.  I have 4 more classes...

On Friday I did my first pull-up since elementary school.  So I guess all this exercise is working.

Today DS and I have been mostly relaxing.  But when our chef friend gets off work late tonight, he's picking us up and we're going to the beach.  We live super close to the beach, but in the entire year we've lived here, we've yet to go.  So Sunday, BEACH.

Then on Monday, we're going to the PA Renaissance Faire.  Apparently it's a big deal.  I'm so super excited.  I've always wanted to go to something like this.  Bri keeps exclaiming about how I'll eat an entire turkey leg, but I'm more excited about the costumes and the jousting.  Because I'm a nerd.  And it's awesome.

Hopefully we'll have some good pictures of that stuff for you.

Oh, and before I forget.  My band is playing a show on 9/14, which is doubling as my birthday party (and also our cellists', whose birthday is the 18th).  We're planning to debut 2 new songs, one of which was my idea.  It will be the first time we'll perform publicly with DS and I included in the whole show.  Plus, someone is making me cupcakes.

I told you this month was awesome.

Downtown SLC

With the actual reason for visit being a conference DS had to attend, I didn't have a whole lot to do starting Monday.  Except look at the snow, and walk through rain and sleet without a jacket looking for a lost phone.  Joy.  Tuesday turned out to be much more hospitable as far as the weather was concerned.  So I ventured out to see the town.  The only other time I'd been here, it had been dark and we were only interested in seeing the Christmas lights in Temple Square.

I decided to walk up to the Salt Palace convention center, where I'd experienced a really beautiful art installation while DS was getting his conference badge.  Outside the building there is a set of 12 windmills, and each one is connected to a wooden tubular bell inside the entrance.  As the windmill turns, it causes bell to strike.  Each windmill sort of does its own thing, so the music made is random.  I walked into this space, not even really in the building yet, just part of the entrance, and stood there with my mouth open.  I spun around a few times, looking at all the bells, the way the light played in the space.  DS was waiting for me, wondering what the heck was wrong with me.  I'm telling you, conference halls and locations are wasted on the people that use them.  For real.

I also wandered over to Temple Square to see the area in the light and the splendor of fall.  I had nearly made it out of there when I was caught by two Sisters who wanted to talk to me.  I think I could have gotten away, but they lured me in with the promise of seeing the inside of the Tabernacle.  With my love of historical architecture, I agreed to follow against my better judgement.  I will say without any reservation that they were more than nice, and didn't bring up religion in the sense of getting me more of it until I'd hung around and seemed interested for too long.  My mistake.  At the same time, they were nice in a way that made it really hard for me to just walk away or be rude, and so I felt trapped.  I ended up using a text from DS as an excuse to go because we had a "lunch date."  Which was mostly true.  He had texted me, and I still hadn't had lunch at 3pm.  And I honestly don't regret seeing that building, but remind me to never be Mormon.

In conclusion, if you ever get a chance to visit Salt Lake City, I highly recommend it.  It's beautiful, the people are nice, the food is delicious.  If you go at Christmas, check out the lights in Temple Square.  Just be wary of lingering too long in one spot in the square unless you're looking for advice on converting, or you're actually Mormon.

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Raccoon

There is a momma raccoon that lives around our building.  I can hear her sometimes at night, but other than a flicker once while DS was grilling, I've never actually seen her.  Tonight I heard her, and managed to see her running along the fence that separates the little patios for the downstairs apartments.  She was out with one of her kids.  I grabbed the camera and went out to see if I could catch her from a distance, but was surprised to find them in the tree running up the front of the apartment.  I guess she thought if she came down and walked away some, she would get me away from her kid, which she left in the tree.  I kept my distance, got a couple of shots in, and vamoosed.  I certainly don't want to run her off, nor did I want to risk rabies.  Check out that stance man.  She's like, "I don't want to, but I will eat your face if I have to."

Fall and Food

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you've probably heard me complaining about the warm weather we're having in Santa Barbara. Not that it's been unbearably hot. But there is something distinctly wrong with picking pumpkins in shorts. This is not an activity you're supposed to do in 86 degree weather. We did, however, and we still managed to enjoy ourselves.

We went to Lane Farms, which is in town and about 3 or 4 blocks from our apartment. They had a nicely sized corn maze which was actually well designed. At least, DS and I were lost in it for quite a while. We never did find the exit, but finally managed to find the entrance again. This is partly to be blamed on us assuming the exit should be on the opposite edge, and partly on DS deciding he was too hungry to enjoy further attempts.

There were no tractor rides out to the pumpkin patch; in fact, there wasn't anywhere to go. It's a small place. The pumpkins were all nice looking though, and arranged in rows around actual pumpkin plants that were still growing. The best part? They had pumpkin butter and apple butter for sale! We love that stuff SO MUCH.

Last night DS experimented with a marinade for chicken that involved olive oil and orange juice and zest. It was so juicy and delicious! I was in charge of the salad. We've discovered that we really like spinach, and it's relatively cheap here, so all salad are spinach based at our place. Most of my salads consist of spinach, pine nuts, and then whatever fruit we have lying around. Last night this was dried cranberries, the left over orange slices not used for the chicken, and I added some tomato slices to mine. The tomato was from my downstairs neighbors' backyard, and had been on the window sill for a while. It was time to eat it. I wasn't sure how it would go with the cranberries and oranges, but I was happy to discover that oranges and tomatoes actually taste good together! The whole thing was topped with raspberry vinaigrette. And also there was Sam Adams Oktoberfest beer, in my new "Paper Bag Parade" pint glasses.

Today for lunch, we had cored apple slices, banana slices and almonds with peanut butter, apple butter and pumpkin butter as dipping options. Who knew that bananas and pumpkin butter go great together? Also, so do almonds and apple butter!

All in all, things here are good. I finally got my first paycheck, so we were able to stock the fridge again with things that are actually yummy, instead of a bunch of cheap stuff that would keep our bodies working. We're still working to make ends meet, but at least we can do so on bellies full of scrumptious food! Also, I'm enjoying discovering random foods that go well together. Food is becoming a sort of art form for me. Like an experiment in taste. As long as I don't have to use the stove...

Photo Fun

A while back something came through my Google Reader feed about this little thing called TiltShift Maker. It's an online tool that transforms normal life images into something that looks like a miniature model. I've been playing around with it today, and here's one of my results.

This was one of my photos taken in Chinatown in San Francisco as a trolley came through the intersection. I love how tiny the trolley really looks after sending it through the tilt-shift tool.

The site is really easy to use, and it's free. So go try it!*

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*I feel like a salesman.. and that feeling compels me to tell you that I'm not getting paid for this in any way. I honestly just started playing with it and really liked it. :P

Boom!

Yesterday morning I was woken up by what I was sure was my first earthquake. The whole apartment shook. The windows were rattling. My bed was vibrating. It sort of sounded like a tree had fallen on the apartment, or a car had hit the building.

DS, as usual, had been up for some time.
Me, yelling from the bedroom: Was that an earthquake??
DS: I don't know. I think something fell on the roof.
Me: No way. Nothing could have fallen on the roof that hard. There's nothing above us.
DS: I don't think it was an earthquake.
Me: Well, it didn't sound like something hit the roof to me.
DS, pointing to the ceiling now that I'm in the living room: I think it hit right there.
Me: I don't believe you. I'm looking it up.

As it turns out, we were both wrong, though it was surprisingly hard to pinpoint the cause. It was actually the sonic boom of the space shuttle landing at the Edwards Air Force Base, which is roughly a 3 hour drive from here.

A sonic boom that big from an object that had been in space?! That's almost cooler than an earthquake*. Awesome. :)

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*I have always been very fascinated by natural phenomenon and disasters, and was very close to choosing meteorology as my major in college so I could be a storm chaser. So unless dying is involved, an earthquake would be sweet. I swear I'm not crazy.

Found Treasures

I don't know why I never knew about this, probably my general lack of awareness of the world at large.. but the person I bought the tiles from for my table around a year ago posted a photo of it on their flickr account. That was nice! But more to the point, people commented, and I am touched. They say I have talent!!

I should think about doing mosaics more.. I really enjoyed it, and I still get compliments on the table. *le sigh*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cocomomosaics/2313739124/

If you want to try your own mosaic work, but don't like those boring squares at the craft store, then I highly recommend CoCoMo.

Laser Tag

During our trip to Morro Bay, our friend David kept the cats entertained in the little hotel room with his laser pointer. DS and I enjoyed watching them so much that I decided to purchase one of my own. This way I can laugh at them whenever I want!

Aside from the good workout it seems to give them, we've discovered two tricks we can make Winston perform. The first, which you can see a little of in the video, is this crazy, arms spread wide, side to side walk thing he does when we jerk the beam quickly from right to left in a zig zag motion. DS and I laugh so. hard. Really. He's moving a little too fast in the video to get the full effect.

The second, more easily photographed trick is climbing the wall. A flat wall. It's pretty impressive. We've gotten him to jump nearly 5 feet in the air so far. Of course, now there are little black cat feet up and down my white wall.... perhaps I should have cleaned the ash out of the apartment better before playing this game....

Felix jumps sometimes, but not as often as Winston.

I love this one. It looks like she's giving him a boost.

You can really see the red dot in this one.

You can hear Winston wheezing at the end of this video. He's not use to moving his pudge that fast...

Belgium gets cool points

I shed a tear of pure joy watching this. I love that a group of people would decide to do this seemingly random act in public, and even more, I love watching the bystanders react. They start out shocked, and by the end, people are dancing along. Just awesome.

Punch-Out Freak Out!!!!

HOLY FREAKIN CRAP!!!! If I thought for one second that my husband would actually wear this, I'd buy it in a heart beat!