Adventures of a Desi Blonde

Royal Family 5K during Princess Half Marathon weekend

2013-04-14T19:10:00.001-07:00

A few months ago, I told you about how I was preparing some costumes for the Princess Half Marathon in Orlando. (Missed those blog posts? Check out Wigs and ears, Cinderelly? Cinderelly!, and Cheshire Cat style.)

Soooo....I went a bit overboard on the costume for my 5K event. Like Wigs and ears, overboard. Did I mention I even made a Cheshire Cat smile out of craft foam...?

Every race shirt needs a motivational quote, right?

As I told you before, I had already put together quite a bit of things for my Cheshire Cat outfit. And with so much time remaining before the race, I just kept tweaking it more and more.

A few weeks before Princess Half Marathon weekend, a local runner friend who I met last year hooked me up with a contact of hers who helped me put a quote on the back of my Cheshire Cat tank.

I had several quotes in mind:

"Every adventure requires a first step." --Cheshire Cat

"Haste makes waste, so I rarely hurry. But if a ferret were about to dart up my dress, I'd run." -- Cheshire Cat

but the one that I ended up getting was at the top of my list. My friend's contact was even able to add a Cheshire Cat smile and googlie (googly?) eyes!

I arrived in Orlando on Friday morning (red eye flights suck), and the schedule for the weekend was:

Royal Family 5K on Saturday morning
Princess Half Marathon on Sunday morning

All my gear

This was my first runDisney race, and I knew well ahead of time that their race events start ~~at the butt crack of dawn~~ super early in the morning. It's a good thing I'm kind of neurotically organized...I had all my 5K "race" stuff laid out out way ahead of time.

I say "race" with air quotes because I really wasn't planning to run the 5K. Nope, not at all. Walkin' the whole thing. No shame in that, right?

In fact, I was so committed to the non-racing race thing that I sought out other runners who'd also be dressing in Alice in Wonderland themed costumes! Good thing I started a group of Facebook where we talk about running and race costumes all the time...I had no trouble finding a White Rabbit, an Alice, a Mad Hatter, a Red Queen, 3 Tweedledee/dums, and another Cheshire Cat.

Ready to rock this 5K!

As expected, the alarm went off waaaaayyy too early. But I was rarin' to go...wig, ears, and all. (Whatta ya think?)

All the runDisney events at Walt Disney World require bus transportation to get to them. I was staying in Port Orleans Riverside, and my room was right near the 1st bus stop. So after getting ready, I high-tailed it out of my hotel room and headed over to the bus stop.

It was still pitch dark outside, and as I was walking up to the bus stop, I just barely missed one (and then had to wait 5-10 minutes for the next one to arrive...shoooot). As I raced up huffing and puffing (yes, I did run 30 feet to the bus stop but refused to run at the 5K, go figure), the lady working for the transportation group said to me, "Oh you should have called out that you were coming! I would have held the bus for you." I thought that was super nice and made a mental note of that as something to remember for all future WDW races. At the bus stop, there was only 1 other person with his kid (the kids races were also on Saturday morning). I guess everyone else was sleeping in a bit longer...but I had a bunch of Alice in Wonderland characters I was meeting and had to get going!

In the corral

I gotta say, the ears and smile were awesome. Buuuttt....the ears already fell off (onto the ground) as I was running for the bus. So, after that incident, I was 100% convinced that I would not be able to run the 5K. At least not wearing the ears anyway.

We Alice in Wonderland characters were all meeting up at bag check around 5:30am. Most of us made it to the meeting place on time (even I ran a little late after missing that 1st bus). A few people didn't make it...but I was able to find them later.

I also found a few random Alice in Wonderland characters who were not associated with our little group, so that was cool too.

And I had already arranged to walk the entire 5K with a new friend I'd just met that weekend, who would be dressed as the Red Queen. We had a blast walkin and talkin and checking out Epcot.

White Rabbit, 2 Cheshire Cats, Mad Hatter, and Alice
Photo by D. M.

Besides our Alice in Wonderland group, I also spotted many (many!) other costumes, some that were pretty elaborate and others, not so much.

I even saw 1 gal running in what appeared to be a wedding dress (literally). It was strapless and one of those big poofy ones, and all I could think of when she passed was WHY?!?! (Meaning, why torture yourself. Because, hell, I was wearing mostly normal running gear and wasn't even running the 5K just because of my ears and Cheshire Cat smile.) To be perfectly honest, it did not make sense to me...but whatever...to each her own, I guess. (It turns out that gal is in 1 of the Facebook groups I belong to, and she wrote a whole blog post about how she stuffed that (enormous!) dress in her luggage and then dressed up for the 5K and everything. I did ask her why, and from what I understand, it was something along the lines of because she could.)

Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Cheshire Cat, and Alice

The whole appeal to runDisney races is that they have character stops along the course.

And since I was already flying all the way over to the east coast for this half marathon, a couple of months after I registered for the half marathon, I figured "in for a penny, in for a pound" and ended up signing up for this 5K. I just looked at it as another opportunity to see Walt Disney World and Epcot and to be involved in the race weekend activities and, potentially, I could do some character stops during the 5K.

Because I was already walking (and pretty much toward the back of the pack), I didn't actually end up stopping at any of the character stops. For what it's worth, I recall seeing Aladdin and Jasmin, Minnie, and Snow White.

Red Queen and Cheshire Cat at mile 2

My new friend (the Red Queen) and I stopped at a few different places inside Epcot as we walked the 5K. The mile markers were usually pretty crowded with other picture takers, but we did manage to get 1 photo of us at mile 2. (I don't know what's up with our faces -- maybe we were laughing??) As for the time, we started back in Corral D (which means we started later than the "official race time"), and we were walking.

Overall, the 5K was fun. But I think what made it fun was the costume and the group of like characters and just taking it easy. Would I do it again? Maybe. The only drawback to doing the 5K AND the Half marathon is that you have to get up super early on both days! Not cool if you're not an early riser.

Incidentally, runDisney races offer a "coast to coast" option, which means you get an additional medal if you can do a race at Walt Disney World AND Disneyland in the same calendar year. The Disneyland Half is over Labor Day Weekend (end of August, early September), and runDisney has already announced a new race challenge called Dumbo Double Dare which involves a 10K on Saturday followed by a Half on Sunday. They have also already given the 10K race an Alice in Wonderland theme.

I'm already signed up for Dumbo Double Dare, and while I think it's awesome that I pretty much already have a Cheshire Cat costume put together, I don't think I'll be wearing this costume again so soon. After all, the biggest problem I see with going with the theme (instead of counter to it) is that there will be a zillion others dressed as the same character. And while that does appeal to me in the sense that that would make for a lot of cool group pictures, it also means you (or I, in this case) don't stand out in the crowd. Which means if anyone goes with me to watch me in that race, it will be very hard for them to find me and pick me out of the pack.

Sooo....I'm already working on my costumes for Disneyland Half and Dumbo Double Dare...but I'll tell you about those later.

So what do y'all think of my costume and the other Alice in Wonderland characters?

Transforming my home into a Mad Hatter Tea Party

2013-03-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

I was recently telling you about how ~~a super long time~~ awhile back, I threw a Mad Hatter Tea Party.

It was the kookiest thing I've ever done. My husband thought I was off. my. rocker. (If I had a rocker, that is.)

So I'll be perfectly honest in that I invited way too many people for the type of party I envisioned and for the size of my home. But I just couldn't stop inviting! (Ok, I eventually did stop...but only after it was pretty much too late.)

As a result of my over inviting, I literally spent days trying to figure out exactly what table arrangement would work for my dining room and how I'd seat all the people I'd invited (because after all, a tea party must be done sitting down, right?). I moved the table and took pictures. I drew diagrams of the arrangement of the table and chairs. The whole thing was completely over thought (but worked out fine in the end).

And don't even get me started on how I begged my BFF to let me borrow spare seating and an extra table to accommodate all those people. Yeah, I went a bit overboard on the inviting. Can we give it a rest now? Sheesh.

So, let's talk decorations. Because there were a lot of them, and I literally spent weeks working on them.

Most of the decorations are my own creations, but I was sometimes inspired by something I saw on Pinterest or Etsy. For those wondering about the paper-based decorations, I did them by printing to a regular printer and then glued the decoration onto some cardboard to give it some weight and to make it more study and durable.

As for the items I got made from Etsy sellers, I mainly did that because I didn't want to spend time trying to figure something out and because it didn't look like I was going to be able to save any money by doing it myself. The 2 items I had made through Etsy were a rose topiary and 2 little card "men" who were supposed to look like they were painting the topiary.

I spent so much time and effort on many of these decorations that after the party I was sort of thinking I should sell them. And I hemmed and hawed and never did decide to do that (even though every now and then my husband still says I should...and I still might!). Even if they're not for sale (not today anyway!), I wanted to at least show you what I did.

Clock, door, and Enter (DIY)

Let me start at the beginning. Because from the moment people stepped onto our front patio, they could tell something was a little....off.

This might be a bit hard to see in the picture....but at the bottom of our front door, I put a tiny tiny little door with an arrow that said "Enter," and I also put a clock showing the time of the party (3 p.m.). (Scroll down to the bottom of this blog post for a close up picture of the door and arrow.)

There was no way guests could end up at the wrong house.

Direction signs (DIY)

As the guests entered our home, I had more signs leading them...well, pretty much every which way. (Confused yet?) The direction signs were inspired by a wooden set that I saw on Etsy. I'm pretty handy with software so I did my own. Which, actually, turned out great because then I got to choose my own color scheme.

As our friends entered the dining room itself, there were even more decorations there.

The start of my MERRY UNBIRTHDAY banner (DIY)

Behind the table, I strung a MERRY UNBIRTHDAY banner. For the banner itself, I used several different images in the background and each letter was printed and laminated separately and then hole punched so that ribbon could go through both sides (for hanging it up).

Some of the ceiling decorations (before I added
more "balls" and fans)

Following some simple tutorials I found on YouTube, I had made paper fans and some tissue paper "balls" and hung those, plus some paper lanterns, all at varying heights from the ceiling.

Once I had them up on the ceiling, I kept thinking I wanted more and more of them. I was going for a very "full" look but had to settle for medium full so as not to go too much overboard.

On the wall in the dining room, I arranged some standalone letters that I'd had laminated at Staples which read "We're all mad here."

Besides the paper-based decorations, I spent a lot of time perusing different stores for various tea-related items. Target...Cost Plus World Market...you name it, I probably went there looking for 1 thing or the other.

Oh, and I even made a trip to Goodwill and bought a bunch of used and mismatched coffee and tea cups, saucers, and a teapot to use as table decorations.

Here are a few more pictures of the party decorations.

Painting the roses red

The final MERRY UNBIRTHDAY banner (DIY)

Some of the paper fans (DIY)

Closeup of the tiny door and arrow (DIY)

Stay tuned...there's more!

Mad as a Hatter

2013-03-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

So there's something I never told you guys. I'm kinda half crazy. You know, the kinda crazy that's kinda fun? Yup, that's me.

Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad?
Alice (in Wonderland): I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.

Sometime around the beginning of last year, I was kind of bored and looking for something interesting to do. At that time, I was just started to get addicted to this silly little thing called Pinterest. (Perhaps you know it? Incidentally, it was started by a guy from Iowa.)

As often happens on Pinterest, I somehow got off on this weird tangent and suddenly found myself down a rabbit hole.

Figuratively, that is. And then one thing led to another...and before I knew it, I'd decided

I was going to throw a Mad Hatter Tea Party.

You see, I thought...it was my birthday, and what better way to celebrate than by having an unbirthday tea party?

And seeing as how my husband loves tea, it was just perfect. Perfectly mad, that is.

If you've never been to a Mad Hatter Tea Party, then you don't know what you're missing. Because the minute I started looking for ideas, I suddenly found myself completely and utterly carried away with the idea.

And the more time I spent planning it, the more crazy and out of hand things got. In the height of my madness, while trolling on Craigslist, I stumbled upon a croquet set that the seller said was literally saved from the Titanic, and later, I nearly drove 2 hours just to pick up a topiary that would have been perfect for the Queen of Hearts. Alas, I didn't get either item. And I guess it's probably for the better...lest my friends really think I've gone mad.

Alice and the cards
(free clip art from easyvectors.com)

It all started with this board on Pinterest where I collected a bunch of ideas. Food, drinks, decorations, costumes...you name it, I put it all there. (And I'm still collecting ideas there! I made so many decorations and spent so much time preparing everything, that it's almost guaranteed that I'll be having another Mad Hatter Tea Party sometime in the future.)

Nearly every week night was spent preparing something new for my tea party. Oh...what fun I had (and still am).

I contracted out decorations to Etsy sellers, I handmade croquet balls and flamingo croquet mallets (complete with flamingo feet!), and I put my design skills to use by making wall decorations like you wouldn't believe. Ok, so they weren't blow-your-mind-spectacular, but I thought they were pretty good.

So, why am I telling you all this? Because I wanted to tell you all about my party...oh, only like a looonnnggg time ago. But I got busy with other things (1 of which was planning and executing a Mickey Mouse themed birthday party last summer, complete with Mickey Mouse ears for all the guests -- shut the front door!). In fact, I got so busy that I just never got around to telling you about how my little tea party went.

And I hate that. Because I was so excited that I pretty much told everyone else.

Sooo....better late than never, right? (Right???) You bet.

But...ooooohhhhlolololo...I have a big problem, dear readers. These days, I have way too many cool things to tell you about and just not enough time to do all that writing. (That's a good problem to have, right?) So while I know some of you might be still waiting to hear about 1 topic or the other (and now I've got you on the hook for this Mad Hatter Tea Party too!), sorry to say, but I'm going to be jumping around a bit. Ok, kind of a lot.

Stay tuned!

Shopping at the Princess Half Marathon expo

2013-03-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently participated in the Princess Half Marathon in Orlando (at Epcot/Walt Disney World).

The half marathon race itself was on Sunday, but it was a whole weekend full of activities. And it all started with the expo.

Most larger sized race events have expos as part of the race schedule. The expo is where participants pick up their race bibs and where runners can buy anything from clothes to shoes to light up accessories (more common in night races like the Las Vegas RnR).

All 3 of the half-marathon races I've participated in so far have all been 10,000+ runners, so the expos have been fairly large, and the runDisney expo for Princess half Marathon was no different in that regard.

So far, my impression is that the expo quality can vary by race organizer and by size:

Race	Race Size	Impression
San Jose Rock 'n' Roll	12,000+ runners	Well organized, vendors were somewhat sparse
Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll	22,000+ runners	Well organized, lots of vendors
Princess Half Marathon	26,000+ runners	Poorly organized, lots of vendors but not much space

I was on a red-eye flight, so I got to Orlando around 6am. I didn't have a hotel room reserved for the first day, so I quickly changed clothes at the hotel and then headed straight to the expo after breakfast.

Buses started leaving from all Disney resorts (within Walt Disney World properties) at 8:30am in preparation for the expo to open at 9am.

I had arranged to meet a friend at the expo at 8:30am (before knowing that the buses wouldn't start until 8:30), so I considered taking a bus to a resort first and then going over to Coronado Springs (where the expo was being held), but decided against it in the end. By the time I got to the bus stop at the front of my hotel, there was already a line, but I was able to get on the first (crowded!) bus.

Somebody on 1 of the Facebook groups posted the expo layout a few days before Princess Half Marathon weekend, so it was nice to get an idea of the expo floor arrangement prior to arrival. I didn't go so far as to plot out exactly the order in which I'd go to each of the "shops," but I did at least make a list of what I wanted to buy.

So what was on my list? Sooooo glad you asked!

"Cinderella" running skirt from SparkleSkirts
TeamSparkle skirt (green and possibly pink!)
Couple of shirts from RawShirts

The expo itself was a crowded mess (some might call it a clusterf*ck, but I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that).

Don't get me wrong. The booths were definitely too close together, the race bib line area had way too much space (while the shopping area suffered), and the lines got longer as the weekend wore on. Not to mention that the runDisney merchandise area was pretty much impossible to even walk through. (As a result, I didn't buy a single thing from runDisney directly.) I heard about people who waited over an hour in the runDisney merchandise line. As for me? Not that committed or interested. (Thanks for saving me some cash, runDisney.)

I was at the expo for about 3 hours on Friday and then I went back for another 1+ hour on Saturday. (I went back mainly so I could try to exchange the tshirt for the 5K but unfortunately there weren't any size Small shirts available anymore.)

There were speakers talking on different topics throughout both days, but I didn't stay to hear anyone talk. (What? I was there to shop!) I ended up buying:

2 pre-ordered shirts from Rawthreads -- 1 was on sale for $5 over the Christmas timeframe and says "Race you to the castle" and another 1 was to be for an upcoming St Patty's Day race
3 Team Sparkle skirts in blue, pink, AND green
along with a couple of other odds and ends things

I looked at the SparkleSkirts booth and really liked the Cinderella skirt (it has shorts underneath), but I just couldn't pull the trigger on it (it was $80!).

In addition to all the shopping at the expo, runDisney organizers had 3 cool photo op areas for race participants (the castle backdrop above, the garden-like backdrop below, and the princes in front of a castle which was included in my last post).

Overall, the expo was a decent experience, though I do think that (for future years), runDisney needs to:

Give MORE space in the rows/walkways between booths
Better manage the bus situation (there was always a long wait trying to get in or out of the expo)
Better manage the runDisney merchandise booth so that people can actually shop and purchase

Incidentally (and I hope you're reading this, runDisney), I heard reports from other runners that there were (many!) people going into the NewBalance shoe area and ordering the "special" Mickey / Minnie shoe in BULK and now they are turning around and selling them on eBay. In addition, I also heard about and saw something similar happening with some of the shirts and other runDisney official merchandise. I seem to recall there was a "13.1" magnet shaped like a Mickey (or Minnie) head that was selling for (less than?) $20 and someone recently pointed out to me that that magnet is now selling on the "black market" for almost $40. I know we live in a free society and free market and blah blah, but I think it's pretty sad that some of the official merchandise sells out and even race participants are unable to get it...but yet you have sites selling it for double (or more) the price. (Cue the "the world is not fair" speech...)

Princess Half Marathon weekend was crazy fun!

2013-03-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

In my last few posts, I mentioned that I was getting prepared for the Princess Half Marathon in Orlando:

Aaaannnnddd then I kinda left you hangin'.

So let me catch you up.

Princess Half Marathon took place 2 weeks ago (Feb 22-24), and the whole weekend was kind of crazy, actually. From the moment I stepped off the plane in Orlando until the time when I left at the crack of dawn to return home, practically every moment was filled with fun and excitement.

Ok, maybe not every moment. There was a couple of (cranky) hours in the beginning when I had to change clothes in a tiny hotel (public!) bathroom because my hotel room wasn't available yet. Not my finest moment...but I digress.

But seriously...I had a lot of fun in Orlando during Princess Half Marathon weekend. I made several new friends and had fun during the races. (Starting with these 2 dudes I met at the expo!)

But before I get into details about all that fun, let me back up a little bit.

If you've been paying attention, then you already know that I've been training and running competitively since around July 2012. But Princess Half Marathon was my first runDisney event. Without having done it before, I didn't know what to expect, how easy (or difficult) the course would be, what kind of pre- and post-race activities would be there, etc etc. I was lucky enough to find a couple of groups on Facebook that I found to be extremely useful:

I joined both groups back in November-ish (well before the race) and posted to them and read other people's messages in them...oh, only multiple times a day. Members of the groups are mostly other gals (and guys) who'd already participated in past Princess Half Marathon events as well as other gals (and guys) going through my same training for this year's event. I found both groups to be highly informative and helpful (and the ladies on there were supportive!), and the groups were also a huge source of entertainment for me on a regular basis. (That is, until most of the members went into complete "freak out" mode about 2 weeks before the race...but whatevs.)

If there is anyone reading this blog post now who is thinking about participating in Princess Half Marathon, I highly recommend joining these Facebook groups. (There may even be similar Facebook groups for other runDisney events.)

I talked to the members in those so so much. (In fact, 1 of the groups is set as an open group, so my Facebook friends got a lot of enjoyment watching my replies show up in the "creeper feed.") I even ended up setting up a meet up at the Princess Half Marathon expo so I could meet some of the group members IRL ("in real life"). (Doesn't the acronym remind you of Sleepless in Seattle? 20 years later...and still one of my favorite Nora Ephron movies.)

Stay tuned for more details about my participation in Princess Half Marathon weekend.

Wigs and ears

2013-01-27T10:15:00.001-08:00

Remember when I told you about my Cheshire Cat costume for the Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Royal Family 5K during Princess Half Marathon weekend?

If not, this picture should serve as a little reminder.

Weeelllllll....I'm kinda taking it to the next level.

Last night, I put the finishing touches on a pair of ears(!), and this morning, I ordered a wig. A purple one.

I can't wait to show y'all how the whole ensemble looks.

It could be awhile before the wig arrives in the mail. So, in the meantime, you're gonna have to settle for a couple of teasers.

Here are the finished ears. I decided to go with a headband (versus attaching the ears to my dri-fit hat) because I'm planning to walk the 5K (instead of run) with a new friend.

The ears look a bit more like Snarf from Thundercats (see a picture here), but I completely designed them myself, and I think they turned out better than I expected. I'm ecstatic!

As for the wig, well, it was hard to decide which one to get. Over the last week, I placed multiple bids on several different pink-purple-ish wigs on eBay, but I kept getting outbid when the price went over what I wanted to pay.

So I took a step back on the whole wig thing and looked at the choices again. Which made me think maybe a pink wig isn't the way to go at all (after all, my pants are purple) and that maybe I needed a purple wig! (I also thought a purple wig might make the pink ears stand out more.)

So I took screen captures of pictures from the ones I liked and compiled them together in 1 image so I could look at all of the options side by side. (What...? This is a serious decision!)

Here are the ones I liked. (Keep in mind that these are only screen captures from pictures I found online.)

I've already purchased my wig...but that shouldn't stop you from commenting! Which wig would you have chosen and can you guess which wig I chose? Leave a comment below. :)

(Oh, and I'm kinda nervous about wearing the wig. Hope I don't chicken out!)

Cinderelly? Cinderelly!

2013-01-21T21:14:00.000-08:00

For those of you sick of hearing about running and races and costumes, sorry, but this blog post isn't for you. For those of you who enjoy all the aforementioned things...read on!

So...in my last blog post, I mentioned that I'm not only running the Princess Half Marathon, but I'm also doing the 5K. Dressed as the Cheshire Cat. (Yup, you read that right.) The good news is, just today I found another fellow runner who will be dressing as Tweedle-dum (or is it Tweedle-dum?), which will make for an interesting picture if and when I find her at the 5K event! (Now if only I can find a Mad Hatter, an Alice, and a White Rabbit?)

For the half marathon itself, lots of people dress as (what else?) ... Disney princesses. (Btw, some people consider Princess Leia from Star Wars in the same category as the rest of the animated princess. Me? Not so much. But I digress.)

As for me, I'm not so familiar with all the latest princesses (like Merida), so I wanted to stick to something I knew. And a color I liked. So I'm doing Cinderella!

Jaq: Poor Cinderelly. Ev'ry time she find a minute, that's the time when they begin it. "Cinderelly! Cinderelly!"
Drizella, Anastasia: Cinderella!
Jaq: Cinderelly, Cinderelly
Night and day it's Cinderelly
Make the fire! Fix the breakfast!
Wash the dishes! Do the moppin'!
Mice: And the sweepin', and the dustin'
They always keep her hoppin'.
Jaq: She go around in circles 'till she very, very dizzy
Still they holler...
Mice: Keep-a busy, Cinderelly!

I've gotten many hours of entertainment out of this whole costume thing. I think I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I like to shop. I'm pretty much.always.shopping.

And there's something interesting about this costume thing in that you're going around to different stores or looking online, trying to find different items that fit what you have in mind. Sometimes a color or style is very easy to find; other times, not so much. I prefer to buy things that I can reuse or that are versatile and are not costume-specific.

I love when I have an "a-ha!" moment where something just clicks and I figure out 1 of the pieces of the costume. Sometimes those moments come easily; other times, I need a little inspiration.

Truth be told, for Cinderella, I was always planning to go more "simple" and "color matchy" than full-on costume. So I kinda had it all figured out way back in Oct-Nov. Here's what I've had since then:

light blue Lululemon tank (new)
bright blue hat (reusing from San Jose Rock
'n' Roll half)
medium blue Nike capris (new, got them on clearance!)
blue / silver / white tutu (reusing from San
Jose Rock 'n' Roll half)
arm bands (made new)

As I said, I like to buy things that I can reuse. The lulu top is definitely reusable in training or any other race, and this will be the 2nd time I've used the tutu and hat. As for the capris, I'm thinking I can reuse those in a Wendy (from Peter Pan) costume or in an Alice (in Wonderland) costume.

The problem is, at this point, I think I've had way too much time to work on this costume. Because I've started second guessing it and feeling like whatever I have is just not right.

Take the arm bands. I'm just not so sure I want to wear them anymore. I feel like they're going to be too tight on my teeny tiny arm muscles, and they're just going to look weird.

I also feel like my costume needs a little something to make it way more obvious that it's Cinderella. You know...something that just puts it over the top. Other people have said it's the little details that really "sell" the concept. A fellow runner suggested I add some mice to it, and along those same lines, I thought about somehow attaching a measuring tape to myself. (You know, like the mice are in the middle of creating Cinderella's dress??)

But...then I started thinking that all that stuff attached to me is just gonna be a big hassle (much like my annoyance with the arm bands at this point) for 13.1 miles.

So I thought about a few things that are more simple. Like maybe adding a black ribbon around my neck. I also got a couple of things at Michael's that I thought might be cool...if I do them right. I bought some felt to possibly add some "poof" to the left and right sides of my tutu, and I also found a package of glittery foam tiaras which included 1 in silver, so I'm thinking about somehow attaching that to my hat.

But I'm still on the fence about all the "extras" at this point.

So. Without further adieu, here's a picture of how my "costume" (which is, as I said, more of an adventure in color matching than an actual costume-costume) looks right now. I'm still considering it a work-in-progress with several things unfinished / undecided.

If the straps look a little strange, it's because they have velcro pieces where I was planning to attach the arm bands (which I have since removed since I'm on the fence about wearing the arm bands).

At this point, my adjusted Cinderella outfit list now looks more like this (those items that I'm on the fence about and that are not shown are listed in italics):

light blue Lululemon tank (new)
bright blue hat (reusing from San Jose Rock 'n' Roll half) with
silver glittery tiara attached (somehow!)
medium blue capris (new)
blue / silver / white tutu (reusing from San Jose Rock 'n' Roll half) with some "poof" on the sides (?)
bright blue arm warmers (new)

Stay tuned. There's still 5 weeks to go. Which means I have plenty of time to change my mind oh...only about 100 times.

Cheshire Cat style

2013-01-08T20:48:00.001-08:00

Halloween is 1 of my least favorite holidays. Call me a fuddy duddy, but I'm just not such a huge fan of dressing up in costume and being...someone else.

But I don't know...there's something about putting on fun clothes for a race. It kind of makes the whole thing feel less like strenuous exercise and more like 1 giant party. (Right?)

I knew I wanted to dress funky for the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll and Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll half marathons. And before I'd even finished those 2 half marathons, I was already signed up for the Princess Half Marathon at Walt Disney World. It's like 1 giant Disney-themed party...count me in!

And the Princess Half started to look even more fun after seeing some Pinterest pins (like this, and this, and this) and several pictures posted by Kelly of According to Kelly (like this, and this, and this). Kelly makes rockin' a costume (and wig!) look easy!

During the Princess Half Marathon weekend, I'm signed up for 2 events:

the Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse Royal Family 5K
the Princess Half Marathon

So, of course, it'd be cool to have some kind of costume for both events... (I should mention now that when it comes to run costumes, I'm more of a color-matching type of gal than I am a getting-it-exactly-right-and-over-the-top type of gal.)

Tank with Cheshire Cat iron on

For the 5K, I became pretty fixated on dressing up as the Cheshire Cat. I think mostly because I like Alice in Wonderland but also because I knew I could find a pink tank and some striped socks and because I also thought some purple or pink tights might be fairly easy to track down.

Well, Princess Half Marathon weekend is still over a month away, and my Cheshire Cat costume is ~~almost done~~ ~~done~~ almost done.

But...at this point, I'm starting to second guess the whole thing. (Like, should I even wear a costume at all? Cause the tutu is going to take up considerable space in my luggage...) So I thought it might be best if I share it with all of you. (Maybe that will keep me from chickening out?)

So here's what I've got: tank top with Cheshire Cat iron on transfer + capri pants + tutu + funky socks.

These hot pink capris
will just not do

I initially thought the tutu might look best with some hot pink capri pants. But when I tried everything on, the hot pink capri pants made it look like a pink flamingo threw up all over. So I ended up swapping out the pink capris for some purple capris instead.

The blue tutu I had in the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll half marathon (shown here) is just a regular 'ol tutu. It was fine...but for the Cheshire Cat, I wanted to try something a little different. So I shopped around and found an Etsy seller (Brittany from Enterherworld) making tutus in "bustle" style.

The tutu that the Etsy seller made for me has 4 distinct colors: purple, hot pink, light pink, and black. It took her a few weeks to make it, but when it arrived, I was blown away by how amazing it looks. Suffice to say, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Here's another pic (this time with the purple capris) and a pic showing the back of the tutu with the "bustle" (it sure looks close enough to a cool Cheshire Cat tail to me!).

I'm not sure what else I could add to this ensemb to take it "over the top" (or even that I want to spend any more money buying stuff to take it over the top!).

I know a couple of the items in my "costume" are special to the Cheshire Cat (like the socks and the tank and maybe the tutu), but actually most of the items can be reused for other outfits or just regular running. (I'm even quite sure I could reuse the tutu, and if nothing else, I could wear the tank and tutu again at another Disney-themed race.) To be perfectly honest, I'm actually a huge fan of lululemon gear (I buy almost exclusively from there). Their stuff always fits me right and has tons of pockets (for storing a house key or other stuff needed on a run). So the only thing I don't like about all of the pieces for my Cheshire Cat outfit is that both pairs of Nike capri pants have little to no pockets in them. (The hot pink capris has a tiny tiny, useless pocket on the back, and the purple capris have no pockets at all...boo. I don't know about others, but when I'm running a half marathon, I need at least 1 decent pocket so that I can put my Honey Stinger gels somewhere. Buuuttt...whatevs.)

The only other item in my "costume" that's not shown in the pictures above is a hot pink Nike dri-fit hat that I'll wear to keep my hair in check. (I actually thought about rockin' a hot pink wig -- Kelly style -- but I'm just not sure I could pull it off.)

So....what do you think -- did I hit the nail on the head with the Cheshire Cat outfit or did I miss the mark?

Packing for a race. . .

2012-12-21T15:45:00.000-08:00

photo credit: ro_buk [I'm not there] via photopin cc

If you've ever read my Travel Adventures of a Desi Blonde site, then you know I love to go places.

I recently started mixing 1 of my old favorite things (travel) with 1 of my new favorite things (running).

Racing in my own area was and has been relatively problem free.

Racing in a completely different city is (like when I went for the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon)...well, different.

I ran across this Race Day Checklist from Brooks, and I've enhanced it for race travel.

Here are the items on my travel checklist. (I hope this is of use to some of you!)

photo credit: smcgee via photopin cc

Race-specific items

running socks
warm-up clothes (long pants, sweatshirt, etc)
race clothes (capris, shorts, skirt, long sleeve jacket, tank, sports bra, etc)
cold weather gear, if necessary (hat, gloves, arm bands, etc)
costume, if applicable (tutu, sparkly skirt, accessories, etc)
running shoes
hat or headband
sunglasses
headphones
armband for phone or other audio device
lights for night running, if applicable
belt/waist pack and/or bib holder
Body Glide, thanks to suggestion by Kathleen W

Non-race items

regular clothes (pants, shirts, socks, underwear, pajamas, etc)
regular toiletries
alternate shoes or sandals (for post-race)

photo credit: Bukowsky18 via photopin cc

Other items

bathroom wipes in small (snack size) baggie (since the portable bathrooms don't always have tp)
antibacterial wipes in small (snack size) baggie OR antibacterial gel/liquid (since the portable bathrooms don't always have a way to wash your hands)
camera
chapstick
pre-race food/drink (granola bar, banana, etc)
food for during race (GUs, chews, etc)
post-race food/drink (energy drink, snacks, etc)
personal space blanket
extra snack size baggies
sunscreen
backpack or other bag that can be used at the expo (for all your goodies)
extra safety pins
permanent marker or pen (for writing on back of bib), thanks to suggestion by Andrea BG
extra large safety pin attached to belt (for attaching items like gloves or a hat that might otherwise be tossed during the race), thanks to suggestion by Andrea BG

A couple of things to keep in mind with regards to this list:

If you're travelling by air and checking your bag(s), always make sure to put the "can't live without" items in a separate carryon. (That means your running shoes and race clothes. Don't think the airline-losing-your-luggage-thing won't happen to you!)
If you're travelling by air and NOT checking your bag(s), remember all those liquid things (like the antibacterial gel that I mentioned) have to conform to airline regulations (size and need to fit in the quart size baggie).

Race review > Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon 2012

2012-12-19T19:05:00.000-08:00

Sooo....I don't know if y'all remember, but I did the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in October. (Ok, ok, it's all I've talked about lately.) At that time, I gave a review of the race (in case others are looking to do it and want to know how it was).

Then in December, I competed in the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon cause y'all know I love me some Vegas. I've been kind of slow telling you guys about it (oopsie!), but I thought it might be a good idea to give a review of the Vegas race too. So here goes.

The finish line before the race

Just for a point of reference...the Vegas RnR was more than twice as large as the San Jose RnR event: the San Jose half had almost 10,000 participants, and the Vegas half had over 22,000 participants (not to mention another 3,000+ participants in the full marathon).

The important stuff--

It was crowded!! Remember how I said I had to do a lot of weaving in and out of runners during the San Jose RnR event? Well, imagine that for the entire 13.1 miles. At times, I wasn't even able to run the speed I wanted because there were just so.many.people.
I'm not sure I'm completely on board with events that size. For future races, I think I'd rather be in events that are less than 10,000 people.

The race itself--

Pro runners at the start;
Some walkers toward the end

While the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll had a couple of small hills, the Vegas Rock 'n' Roll was completely flat.
Even in December, the weather was perfect....up until about an hour before the race...when it turned windy. Thankfully, we only ran into the wind for about the first 1 mile (before the turn-around point), and after that, I didn't notice the wind for the rest of the race. I ran in capri pants, 2 tank tops (layered -- 1 of which I had to shed about 1/3 into the race), and a long sleeve "jacket"/shirt (which I shed after about a mile).

The rest--

The music options were just okay. I know the bands are all there for entertainment, and I do think it helps (me) that I'm not just out there running and running (and getting bored)...but I'd rather run to my own soundtrack.
There was even some non-music entertainment during the race: a fire-breathing grasshopper! I tried to take a picture of it, but sadly, pretty much all my pictures during the race turned out blurry. So...the picture turned out to be a big, blurry, fiery...nothing. The pictures I took were on my cell phone, and I even debated (before the race) if I should carry my regular camera, but I ultimately, decided against it. For the Princess Half Marathon (which I'll be doing at Walt Disney World in Feb 2013), I'll probably have to figure out a way to carry a regular camera since there'll be plenty of photo ops with Disney characters.
Having the race in the afternoon/evening messed with my nerves a bit. At the time when I had to leave the hotel to walk to the start line, I was a bit of a nervous wreck (but I felt better and more relaxed once I checked my gear and got to my corral).
Seeing the strip at night (while running!) was ok but maybe a little overrated. (Keep in mind this is coming from someone who's been to Vegas many, many times.) I estimate at least 5 or 6 miles of the race were actually on the strip, and the rest of the race was in other areas of Vegas (the full marathon runners went right through the "Fremont Street experience," but the half marathon runners only went near it). Here's the 2012 course map -- see for yourself.

Beatles LOVE

I got to spend some non-race time in Vegas (which is always fun!).
I treated myself to a seat at Beatles LOVE at Mirage, a show I've been wanting to see ever since it opened 5+ years ago. (Hubs isn't really a fan of The Beatles or at least not as much as I am.)
I went shopping in The Venetian and Fashion Show Mall. Hello, sale at Banana Republic!
I had a big post-race meal. Actually, my eyes were bigger than my stomach...I could hardly finish what I ordered.

Like the San Jose event, I was happy with the way race organizers handled the event.

Getting all the RnR gear (bib, shirt, etc) was super quick and easy.
The expo was HUUUUGGGGEEEE, and the vendors were even better than the San Jose event. I (literally) spent like 4 hours at the expo on Saturday. (Whatever money wasn't spent in The Venetian and Fashion Show Mall...was spent at the expo.)
I even took part in several running Elvi events!

I only had a couple of real complaints (besides the overcrowding already mentioned) about the event (are you listening, Competitor and RnR?):

I'm familiar with Las Vegas. Even so, I had a really hard time finding the gear check area. I had already walked beyond Luxor and almost all the way down to Mandalay Bay before I realized the gear check was in an empty lot near Hooters (the old Tropicana) and Excalibur. I sure wish race organizers had put up some signs pointing runners in the right direction.
At the end of the race, the "Secure Zone" area was crowded, seemed to go on forever, and my hands became quickly full of all the post-race goodies. It took a long time to get out of the Secure Zone, and even when I did get out, I ended up at the wrong place and completely missed out on the gear check pick up (which was farther down) so I had to get back in again. Again, it would have been nice to have some signage. Also, by the time I reached the end of the Secure Zone, my hands were so full of ... stuff that I wasn't able to stretch (not to mention that it was too crowded to do so).

The medals (pre-race):
Half on the left; Full on the right

Caveats--

I didn't attend any of the pre- or post-party events, so I can't speak to how awesome (or lame?) they were. After the race, I was just exhausted and tired and happy to be done with it.

Ho Hey

2012-12-18T19:42:00.002-08:00

I've talked before about music. And the connection to it that I feel.

Like many other people, music moves me. It has since I was young. And it still does.

Sometimes I find myself stumbling upon a new piece of music. One that sticks with me and lingers in my ears even after the music has faded.

Several months ago, the TV show Covert Affairs featured the song Ho Hey by The Lumineers on one of its recent episodes.

After that episode, I remember looking up the songs used. I remember thinking it was a decent song. But I soon forgot about it.

Until recently, that is.

If you haven't heard the song yet, here it is.

The folksy melody isn't really my style at all. But there's something haunting about the song. And redeeming.

And I can't stop listening to it.

"...Love we need it now

Let’s hope for some..."

Let's rock, everybody, let's rock

2012-12-17T22:17:00.000-08:00

I recently told you about how I rocked the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in a tutu.

And then in my last post (almost 3 weeks ago--bah!), I mentioned that I was about to run the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon and that I'd tell you more about my running Elvi thing.

Well...I guess I've kept you in suspense long enough.

My "Jailhouse rock"
Elvis costume

Here I am in the hotel room prior to the expo.

You must be wondering what that whole Elvis thing was about. The RnR group (organizers of the event) was trying to get the most number of running Elvi at their event. So they were kind enough to organize several activities for those people who wanted to participate. And all you had to do was tell them you'd be dressing up in costume! Weeks before the Vegas RnR event, they contacted me (and other people too) to let us know the Elvi agenda for the weekend. What they had planned was:

a photo op at the expo on Saturday
another photo op pre-race on Sunday
and then
grouping the Elvi runners together in a special corral so we could all gather at the run-thru wedding location

As I previously mentioned, I really wanted to dress up in Elvis' "blue owl" look. I really thought that light blue tutu was gonna work. I contacted countless Etsy sellers about bellbottoms and capes and about so many Elvis ideas that were swirling around in my head. But alas, my "blue owl" look was just not meant to be. (A few days ago -- weeks after I had already successfully completed the Vegas RnR half -- I discovered this business: Elvis Run. SIGH. Where were they when I needed them??)

But anyway. It all worked out for the best because I'm not sure I could really run comfortably in that full-on Elvis get up. As it was, I ended up getting super hot even just running with that non-wicking striped tank top on top of my other tank (not to mention that 1 of the 2 tanks started chafing under my armpit). About halfway through the race, I ended up stripping the striped tank off and tucking it in my waistband. (I'm not sure that's what the RnR race people meant by their #stripatnight hashtag.)

Anyway....back to the Elvi-themed events.

I got to Vegas late Friday night and didn't do much except take the shuttle from the airport to the hotel and check in all by my lonesome. But the next morning I was up bright and early so I could get over to the expo and pick up my race goodies before the first Elvi photo op.

I showed up to the photo op on time. But I was pretty much the only one there, so I raced around the expo (wasting precious energy that I needed for the race the next day!) for a bit trying to find other Elvi, or the RnR coordinator, or anyone who knew where I should be waiting.

In all my racing around, I stumbled upon 1 of the RnR organizers who (mistakenly) thought I was not in my Elvis costume and suggested maybe I needed to change(?) to which I told him that I was "jailhouse rock Elvis"! (A little bit later, this same person told me I looked more like a bumblebee than Elvis....hm.)

I eventually stumbled upon an Elvi couple from Canada. And then the 3 of us...waited. Cause no other Elvi had shown up on time or at the expo -- at all. Finally after 15 minutes, a gal from the RnR group told us we could disperse if we would meet up later at the expo stage (which was great because both me and my Canadian pals really wanted to check out the expo vendors, and we hadn't really had a chance to do that yet).

A little bit later the RnR gal did pull me aside near the Competitor murals and told me I could jump in anyone's photos (who wanted a photo with Elvis), but after the whole "bumblebee" comment, I was feeling...inadequate, so I took a pass and went back to shopping at the expo.

The expo photo op event was ok. They asked each of the Elvis impersonators (including me) a couple of questions (where are you from? who are you running/travelling with?) and then they brought a few of the couples up on stage who were going to be married in the run-thru wedding during the event. One couple had even won a deluxe wedding package from the RnR organizers -- deluxe (upgraded suite), gift certificate to use at Tiffany's (yes, the Tiffany's), and a couple of other perks.

I went to the other Elvi meetup events, and they were ok. (I appreciated being in the same corral as others...especially since that corral was 8 corrals ahead of the corral where I was originally assigned.) But to be honest, I mostly participated in all the Elvis events because I was there by myself, and I wasn't really sure what else to do to occupy my time over the weekend. If I'd had a travel (or race) companion, I might not have been so eager to jump into all these extracurricular events. But it's ok...I still had a good time.

Oh, and for those wondering about my "costume," it is:

Lululemon crop pants
a striped Nike tank top (it's actually navy blue and white, not black and white...but the color was close enough that you couldn't tell the difference)
an Athleta tank top (under the striped top, you can't see it)
a Lululemon long sleeve pullover with thumb holes
black & white socks from sockdreams.com

On race day, I also ran in a black Nike dri-fit hat.

Vegas half marathon...THIS weekend!

2012-11-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

I've told you before about how I completed my first half marathon. And I think I also mentioned about how I got a little carried away and signed up for more races even before I'd completed that first half.

(It was crazy, I know.)

My next half marathon is coming up in just 2 (incredibly short!) days. I'll be running the Las Vegas strip (iA). At night!

So....Vegas. I don't know what I was thinking.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I do know what I was thinking. I wanted to do it from the moment I read about the race organizer's idea to have the most number of running Elvi at the event.

And I do love me some Vegas (the lights! the shows!) so that doesn't hurt.

Ok, and there was one more reason I guess. I think part of me wanted to prove to myself that I could do it on my own. And it looks like I'm about to get my wish next weekend.

.....aaaannnnddd I'm kinda nervous.

You see, another part of me keeps wondering if that first half was just a fluke or a 1-time thing. Well, I guess I'm about to find out.

If you're a fellow runner and also participating in the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, maybe I'll see you there! (I'm hoping to actually meet a fellow "princess in training" from the upcoming Princess Half Marathon 2013 -- she's coming from the Seattle area.)

Wish me luck...?

Stay tuned ... I have to tell you more about the running Elvi thing!

This is .... almost 35

2012-11-10T15:39:00.001-08:00

Last night, my husband and I went to see the new Bond movie, Skyfall. (Awesome movie, btw. But I digress.)

~~Eating movie popcorn with lots of butter~~ Watching the previews is 1 of my favorite parts of seeing a movie in the theater.

Image from behappy.me
(you can buy art and posters!)

1 of the previews before Skyfall was the movie This is 40.

It's supposed to star the same characters who were in Knocked Up. The comedy-duo of the sister and her (miserable) husband were played by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann, both of whom I happen to love.

The movie looks hilars, so you can bet I'll be in line when it hits the theaters.

Anyway. Ok, so the trailer wasn't more than a few minutes. But the general theme / message of the movie that I got out of it was this:
Be happy with your life. (And if you're not, change your attitude.)

And all this because the main character played by Leslie Mann is turning 40. (In the movie, that is.)

So...what does that have to do with me? Well, my goal was to do a do a half marathon before I turn 35 in March 2013. And to add a little spice to my goal, I decided I wanted to do a runDisney race, so I set my sights on the Disney Princess Half Marathon in Feb 2013.

Well, I already finished my first half marathon in Oct at the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll. And I'll be running the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll in Dec. And after that, there's the Princess Half Marathon in Feb. And then I'm hoping to just keep running.

Here are the trailers for the movie. (Just a warning that there appear to be some....well, disturbing scenes involving a starfish and a mirror.)

This is 40 Trailer 1

This is 40 Trailer 2

Race review > San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon 2012

2012-11-04T13:53:00.001-08:00

A little less than a month ago, I finished my (very first!) half marathon.

I already told you about my experience and wrote about the Rock 'n' Roll half marathon a few more times.

I think I've almost run out of things to say about it.

Almost.

I just wanted to give a (little) review about the race itself since I thought it might be useful for those people who might be considering it as a future race. (I know I'm always looking for first-hand accounts of races, so even if this helps only 1 person, I'm ok with that.)

The important stuff--

There were plenty of port-o-potties (in Iowa, we call them Kybos, but not sure if that's a brand name...I digress) spaced around the start line. I got to the start line ~45 minutes early and there were no lines at that time, but 10 minutes before "gun start" you better believe there were lots of lines (but they were still manageable and not too long of a wait).
I did notice that not every port-o-potty had the anti-bacterial stuff for your hands, so I'll definitely be bringing something for my own use for my next race.
There was no one "policing" the corrals. (Take that how you want...could be good or bad, depending on what you're trying to do -- jump ahead or not get crowded out.)
The medal is unique and cool. As far as "bling" goes, I love it. And it's my first.

The race itself--

The whole thing was mostly flat. Prior to the event, a friend who'd done it before told me that there was only 1 hill. That was not exactly true -- I think there were 2. 1 near the Shark Tank (HP Pavilion, home of the San Jose Sharks hockey team) and 1 near Bascom Ave and 880. (Here's the 2012 course map.)
There were a lot of spectator groups around the course, including some cheerleading squads from local high schools (which was kind of cool).
Race organizers and the police presence was plentiful along the route. I never felt like there was any time when cars or non-race people were encroaching on the race space. I appreciated their efforts.

The rest--

Race organizers did a good job with the whole event. I didn't have any problems with any part of the race weekend itself --

getting the bib was quick
switching corrals was fairly painless (took less than 10 minutes)
the expo vendors were decent (though that was my first expo, so I'll admit that I wasn't really sure what to expect)
the event started on time
drink/Gu stations were managed well enough

Probably my only "real" complaint about the race itself was that the walkers and mini marathon people were started at exactly the same time and in the same corrals. So I basically spent the first 3 (or maybe even 4) miles weaving in and out of people so I didn't get trapped behind someone slow.

Caveats--

I got dropped off (instead of using the designated participant parking area), so I can't speak to whether the parking situation was a mess or nicely managed.
I didn't pay too much attention to the bands along the course because I mostly listened to my own music on my headphones. (I did pause my music a couple of times to see what was going on though.)
I'd never listened to (and didn't care for) the headliner act, Matt Nathanson. So I hightailed it out of there with my family pretty quickly and didn't stick around for all the "after party."

I'm a survivor

2012-11-02T20:49:00.001-07:00

You know that song "Survivor" by Destiny's Child? I hate that song, I really do.

But today I feel like a SURVIVOR. Yup, you read that right, a survivor.

Exactly 8 days ago, I got a wisdom tooth pulled AND got a bone graft in the place where the tooth existed before.

That little tooth distraction could not have come at a worse time. (Actually, it probably could have...but for the sake of argument, let's just say that any time would have been horrible timing for it.) You see, I had just finished my first (ever!) half marathon (the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon), and I was well on my way to gearing up for my next half marathon (the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon on Dec 2) and lining up more races beyond that.

Aaaannnndddd then this tooth thing happened. I thought it would be no big deal. Ok, I'm lying. I pretty much spent 2+ months fretting about the damn procedure and thinking of any possible way I might be able to get out of it while still preserving my dental health (there wasn't). (Remember those hives I mentioned??)

And to make matters worse, in the middle of all that waiting, I found out that not only would the procedure hurt and the recovery might also hurt (and be slow) but that I wouldn't be able to run for at least a week (let alone eat normal foods or drink from a straw--W.T.F.).

Dental doomsday finally came, and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't sufficiently...ahem, medicated during that procedure. (What? We all have our weaknesses. Needles and invasive medical procedures are just 1 of mine.)

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together...
there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe,
stronger than you seem,
and smarter than you think.
But the most important thing is, even if we're apart...
I'll always be with you.” ― A.A. Milne

But now here we are. 8 days later. Yesterday was my post-extraction visit to the dentist, and my stitches were removed! My dentist said the area is healing nicely and that I'm a fast healer.

And more importantly, she said I could get back to running (and eating spicy foods too!).

So....guess who laced up her running shoes tonight? This gal!!

And guess who ran over 3.5 miles tonight? This gal!!

Happy Halloween!

2012-10-31T08:28:00.002-07:00

Happy Halloween!

My supplies and decorations
(click image for larger view)

I love ~~eating~~ ~~baking~~ eating cookies, so in honor of the holiday, I baked some festive cookies a week or more ago.

I did 4 types: pumpkins (of course), spiderwebs, ghosts, and candy corns!

I used my all time favorite favorite sugar cookie recipe from Anna Ginsberg of @Cookie_Madness (her cookbook, The Daily Cookie: 365 Tempting Treats for the Sweetest Year of Your Life, is being released this coming Nov 6 and this sugar cookie recipe is included -- buy it!).

The candy corns in progress
(click image for larger view)

Of the four types of cookies I made, the candy corns were a bit of a challenge. (And I will admit that I may have bitten off more than I could chew, literally.) They made me...exhausted. I had to mix 3 separate colors of dough, then roll out all 3 colors (separately), cut them, and then splice them back together. PHEW. They were cute, but they sure were a lot of work.

In the end, all of the cookies turned out awesome (and tasty!). I was actually surprised the candy corn cookies stayed together for the most part (though a few of them did break -- they were a bit fragile).

I made a TON of cookies (over 100!) and did have some QA issues in the beginning. (I tried to roll the dough out directly on my marble countertop...but it kept sticking, even with flour!) Those that stuck all had to be eaten right away (of course) because visually, they were just not...up to par.

The finished candy corns and pumpkins, before frosting
(click image for larger view)

But whatevs. Once they were all baked, I had some gal pals come over to decorate them (and 1 gal even brought pumpkin cupcakes too--yum!).

I have to say those gals were way more creative with the frosting and decorations than I was...I was more about quantity than creativity but that's ok.

Thoughts on being a big baby

2012-10-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

On my last blog post about the tutu I wore at the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll half marathon, Caanan @ No Vacation Required left a comment saying I'm brave.

Well, some days, I don't feel very brave. In fact, for the past 2+ months, I've felt more like a big coward.

I'll try to spare you the super long story, but the not-so-long story is that about 3 months ago, I started experiencing tooth pain. I'm a pretty healthy person and have, historically, never really had any major issues (teeth or otherwise).

Image courtesy of digitalart
/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

As it turns out, I got an infection (in my mouth!) because I have what the dentist calls a "deep pocket." About 6 dental x-rays and a visit to a periodontist later, it turns out the infection was mostly caused because of an impacted wisdom tooth. (For those who've never had one of those, it basically means 1 tooth is growing into another tooth.) The dentist recommended that the impacted wisdom tooth be removed and that bone grafting may even be necessary to "fill the gap" (to help with the deep pocket issue).

Anyway due to a scheduling issue, I wasn't able to actually get an appointment for the "extraction" any time soon. So I had to wait. 2+ months.

But I used those 2 months wisely! (haha) By spending nearly every waking moment worrying about the appointment and going back and forth on whether I should cancel it. (After all, who's to say if it would ever get infected again and if it did, how soon? At least that's how I rationalized it to myself.)

My appointment was yesterday, and all of my thoughts this entire week were pretty consumed by even more intense worries about the procedure. It's pretty safe to say that the whole thing caused me a lot of anxiety and that I did not feel brave -- at all. In fact, some might say I acted like a big baby.

But I didn't let myself cancel the appointment! (even though I wanted to like a million times)

All in all everything went smoothly. It did take a couple of hours, but to be honest, I didn't really notice how much time had passed (thank you, nitrous). After everything was over, the dentist showed me the extracted tooth which I guess was no different from any other tooth I'd pulled out when I was a young child...just maybe a little bigger.

And now I'm just taking it easy. Soft foods are my best friends. So far, I haven't experienced too much pain (which is great), and my understanding is that the pain should start to subside after a couple of days.

My biggest problem at this point is that I can't get out and run (or do any exercise for that matter), so my race training is on hold for at least the next 1 week (if not longer).

Incidentally, one of my regular readers keeps asking for more photos in my blog posts. As much as I'd like to accommodate that request, I kind of felt like this particular blog post just wasn't the right opportunity. So...for those of you who like pictures, I hope this goofy little tooth is good enough.

Rockin' the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon 2012 in a tutu

2012-10-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

I think I've told you before about how I love to accessorize when I exercise. For me, it's not just about getting fit...it's about looking awesome while doing it.

Over the years, I've bought a lot of stuff, a good portion of it from Lululemon because I like their style and quality.

When I initially started getting back into running, I thought I'd finally found a sport where I didn't need to buy much. But boy was I wrong. So far, I've bought:

3 flashing lights for running at night
2 dri-fit hats
1 sports armband for carrying my cell phone
1 set of Motorola Rokr (Bluetooth) headphones
1 small water bottle for carrying on long runs
1 hydration waist pack for carrying on long runs (when I don't feel like carrying the small water bottle in my hand--haha)
1 (expensive!) pair of running shoes
a ton of Gu

And as far as clothes go, I've bought 3 more Lululemon pieces:

1 pair of capri style running pants
1 running skirt
1 tank

My San Jose Rock 'n' Roll
Half-Marathon 2012 costume

But apparently, there's a whole other line of clothing that I had no idea I'd need. As I started training for my first half marathon, the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll, I discovered that some runners like to wear tutus!

I dabble a bit in crafts, but I've never made a tutu. So I did the next best thing: I turned to Etsy! I found a couple of Etsy sellers whose business is devoted solely to making tutus for runners and other running related clothes:

I found several Wonder Woman-themed outfits (tutu + tank or shirt + shorts) that I really liked. But in the end, I decided I should go for something music related since it was for the Rock 'n' Roll Half.

I actually wasn't even planning to wear a special outfit for the San Jose RnR half at first. But about halfway through my San Jose RnR training, I decided to sign up for the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half. And the Las Vegas event has some very special entertainment: a run-through wedding and the largest number of Elvis look-alikes!

Count.me.in.

But what to wear????

I started by Googling "Las Vegas Rock Roll marathon Elvis" and discovered that a lot of people dressed up (in previous years) in those full (polyester?) suits that Elvis always wore. I found quite a few pictures of people in the "white eagle" outfit. But if I was going to dress up as Elvis, I wanted my outfit to be...different. (After all, my husband already had a hard time finding me in a 5K race earlier in my training. Finding me in a sea of "white eagle" Elvi would be next to impossible. Not to mention that that the full suit would be uncomfortably hot while running a half-marathon.)

So I went about dreaming up some kind of "blue owl" themed Elvis outfit that I might be able to wear. I started with a lot of amazing ideas, like real or fake bellbottoms that could be attached to my running outfit, a blue tutu, a bedazzled tank, and a "cape" with a high collar. But, as it turned out, finding someone who would actually make those pieces -- Etsy or otherwise -- proved to be extremely difficult. Each of my fantastical ideas fell away as the idea of finding someone became more and more bleak.

But I tried not to get discouraged and worked on getting 1 piece of the outfit at a time made. If I was going to do a tutu, I wanted it to have use for more than 1 event, so since I was already thinking about doing a Disney race, I decided to do something blue themed that might also work for Cinderella. Jenny at Lucky Number Tutu was patient and listened to all my ideas. I even sent Jenny pictures of my 3(!) blue Lululemon tanks so that she could more closely match the color to my existing clothes. She initially suggested mixing a couple of colors together, and at first, I didn't really like the idea. Until I gave it some more thought and realized the idea had some merit. In fact, I ended up loving the idea. So Jenny designed a tutu using a bright blue tulle, a light blue (for Cinderella) tulle, and a silver tulle. And in keeping with the music theme, Jenny designed a tank with a guitar on it to go with the tutu.

In my start corral at the San Jose Rock 'n'
Roll Half-Marathon 2012

The guitar tank and tutu were all I had left of my fantastical "blue owl" themed Elvis idea, but it worked out well.

(<-- Psst...I love how this picture turned out!)

Both Lucky Number Tutu pieces arrived in plenty of time before my San Jose event, and I was even able to find a matching blue dri-fit hat at the Rock 'n' Roll expo a couple of days before the race. Put all of it together with my sunglasses, and I looked...awesome.

I tested my tutu out on a short (1.5 mile) run the day before the race, and everything worked fine. The day of the race, I decided to shift the front tulle pieces so that most of it was in the back (and out of my way), and it worked even better. (I have since learned that I can buy "bustle" style tutus on Etsy.) By shifting most of it to the back, I didn't get bothered by the tulle at all during my race because my arms weren't swinging into it.

So, what do you think of my race day outfit and have you ever dressed up in a costume for a race?

Oh, and incidentally, after thinking about my outfit some more post-race, I actually decided not to use it for the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll race after all. In fact, I'm still dressing up as Elvis, but I've shifted to a different Elvis theme now: "jailhouse rock" Elvis! Whatever I end up putting together will probably be fairly simple (as opposed to my elaborate interpretation of "blue owl" that I was previously trying to put together). I'm still working out the details of "jailhouse rock" Elvis, but I did get an email from Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll race organizers today saying that there are some special Elvis-themed parts of the race that I can join: a photo op and a chance to meet other Elvi (like me!) before the race. Stay tuned...

Changing the beat

2012-10-21T10:41:00.003-07:00

As I've mentioned before, I have a thing for music and my tastes (in music, that is) are kind of...a mixed bag.

As you can probably imagine, I like to listen to music while I'm running. But my last exercise-themed playlist was, well, severely in need of a makeover. So I got some new music before running the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon a few weeks ago. Well, I should say "new to me" music...because some songs are oldies (but goodies).

My latest playlist has quite a few songs in it since sometimes my runs can be over 1.5 hours. So here's what I've got:

Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones
We Run the Night by Havana Brown
Titanium by David Guetta (featuring Sia)
Strip Me by Natasha Bedingfield
100% Pure Love by Crystal Waters
3 AM Eternal by Klf
I Know by Save Ferris
Everybody Talks by Neon Trees
Payphone by Maroon 5 (featuring Wiz Khalifa)
Rolling in the Deep by Adele
Set Fire to the Rain by Adele
Bitter by Tedding Geiger
I Love So Good (Without You) by Jessie James
Loca by Shakira (featuring Dizzee Rascal)
Sweet Home Alabama by Jewel
I Dream of Chicago by the Parlours
Little Miss by Sugarand
Ballroom Blitz by Tia Carrere
Band of Gold by Freda Payne
Bitch by Meredith Brooks
Brighter than Sunshine by Aqualung
Come on Eileen by Save Ferris
Cowboy by Kid Rock
E.T. by Katy Perry
Freedom by George Michael
Goodbye to You by Scandal
How Far We've Come by Matchbox Twenty
Love at First Sight by Kylie Minogue
Read My Mind by The Killers
Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes (featuring Adam Levine)
Teenage Dream by Katy Perry
Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles
Who Can It Be Now? by Men at Work
Wicked Game by Linda Pritchard
Killing in the Name by Rage Against the Machine
In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel
If You Had My Love by Jennifer Lopez
Gonna Make You Love Me by Ryan Adams
Keep Your Hands to Yourself by The Calling
'Till I Get Over You by Michelle Branch
Disagree by Chantal Kreviazuk
One More Night by Maroon 5
She's So Mean by Matchbox Twenty
You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones
Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds

So there you have it. Highly varied, style-wise and energy-wise. When I leave for a run, I tend to just start the playlist at whatever point I'm in the mood for and then I fast forward to the next song if I need to. I use the high-energy songs to jump start my run and then use the slower songs to carry me through the middle of the run.

Oh and one more thing: when I first started running again in mid-July, I found myself getting highly annoyed and distracted by the headphone cable bouncing around in front of my body. So I bought myself some Bluetooth headphones since I'm always running with my cell phone.

I ended up finding a local store that would price match Amazon's low price (< $50), so I didn't even have to wait to get them in the mail and was able to use them on a run the same day (yay, me!).

I love them and wear them every time I run. The only issue is that I have to remember to charge them up about once a week or they won't hold enough charge. (A couple of runs when the charge started going low, it kept beeping every few seconds which was even more annoying than the headphone cable.)

So which song is a "stand out" during my San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon? I remember I skipped through a bunch of them in the middle, but I fast forwarded to You Can't Always Get What You Want for my last 0.5 to 1 mile, and that's what I crossed the finish line with.

Do you have any music recommendations or what music do you listen to when you exercise?

I did it!

2012-10-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I told you about how I was about to do something that terrified me and then on Sunday, I told you about how my confidence got a bit shaken from the things that went wrong before my race.

So I bet you're wondering how my first ever half-marathon race went, aren't you...?

The race start time was at 8am, so I started my day with a wake up at 5am.

As someone who hates to get up before 6am, it seemed excessively early, but the official event guide for the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll half-marathon said to do that.

(It also said to start carb loading a couple of days beforehand and to not experiment with new foods in the days leading up to the race, which I also did.)

For breakfast, I had:

8 ounces of water
3/4 of a granola bar (Luna peppermint flavor, for those curious)
toast with peanut butter
banana

During all of my training time and prior to showing up at the race location, I tried to be confident but not to get too optimistic or ahead of myself. As a first-timer half-marathon runner, my primary goal was just to not get picked up by the "slow people" van. Beyond that, I had a couple of different time goals based on the training that I'd done. My initial time goal was 2:30, and my secondary time goal was 2:15.

As I mentioned in my last post, my right leg has been giving me a bit of trouble in the last few weeks. So much so that I was only able to train up to 10.3 miles (instead of the final 11 mile run that I originally put on my training schedule). Even heading into today's race, I was well rested but worried about my leg. I just couldn't accurately predict how the race (and the day) was going to go. Hence, the 2 different time goals. Even the day before the race, I thought I'd run it just like any other long training day (and not overly fast). (At the expo, I wasn't even 100% sure at what pace I would run. I actually signed up to run with the 2:15 pace group and even confirmed what I should do if I had to fall back to the 2:30 pace group.)

After getting to the start location, the corrals were clearly marked, and it was easy to understand what to do and where to be. I spent a bit of time doing some short practice (warm up) runs, stretching, and checking out the start area. Then about 15-20 minutes before the race start time, I had a Stinger Gu (Vanilla flavor, for those curious) to refuel my energy.

And before I knew it, it was race time!

I've had a lot of experiencing doing both road and cross-country races, and 1 thing I've found is that it's better to start out at a bit faster pace because you need to get out and around some of the crowd. So I did end up going with that strategy again but then since I was unfamiliar with the course, I got a litte disoriented on how far I'd gone and, by mile 1, I felt like I was going too fast. I had to keep (mentally) telling myself to ease off a little bit because I didn't want to run the beginning too fast and run out of energy (and have to walk).

Towards the beginning of the race, I couldn't find the 2:15 pace group at all. And then around mile 3, I finally caught up to them....only to pass them a couple of minutes later.

By mile 4, my right knee area was already starting to feel uncomfortable and like it was going to start hurting worse. So I again backed off the speed a little bit (not much) and tried to just keep making good strides and being consistent. To some degree, though, I had to just ignore my leg issue and just keep powering through because if I didn't, I'd just be giving it way too much attention. On the 1 hand, I knew it might become more painful if I didn't stop and walk or at least ease back, and on the other hand, I didn't have much experience with this kind of issue so wasn't 100% of what might happen or what was the best course of action. A friend of mine who has been doing many (many!) half and full marathons told me that I should take the first few miles easy (or at least easier) so that my body would treat it as more of a "warm up." (Too bad I remembered that advice after I'd already started out at a faster pace!)

Well...I must have done something right because around mile 5, I started to forget about my leg.

Around mile 9, I started to feel tired, but I pressed on.

Just before mile 12, I started feeling like I was almost done and that I still had some energy left, so I used whatever I had and picked up the pace for the last 1.1 miles.

I'm pretty sure I ran most of the race with the 2:15 pace group somewhere behind me. I still ended up finishing in under 2:15 (but on my own).

Well, for someone who had a goal of not getting picked up by the slow bus, finishing in 2:30, or finishing in 2:15, I think I did pretty well for my first time.

How about any of you readers -- have you ever done a road race?

Confidence shakers

2012-10-07T16:43:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I told you about how I was doing something that scared me. In fact, it terrified me.

For weeks, I let its intensity build up in my mind.

I had trained for my half-marathon, but over the last few days to a week, I let small hiccups chip away at my confidence.

It started with my fitbit breaking. My fitbit was something I had purchased when I started my half-marathon training. At the time, I was feeling extremely unmotivated about exercise, and I told myself that having some kind of quantifiable data on even the most simplest of activities (like climbing stairs) was what I needed. So I plunked down $100(!!) on a ~~glorified pedometer~~ fitbit. And for about a week, I was really good about always attaching it to my clothes and using it on my training runs. And then 1 night, I accidentally forgot to take it off my workout clothes from the previous day before throwing them in the laundry. And my husband did a good job of starting the laundry as soon as he got home. (OOPSIE!)

About halfway through that night's run, I remembered about my fitbit being in the laundry, and I raced home just in time to pull it out of the washing machine...completely soaked. The LED/LCD was blank and nothing happened when I pushed the button.

I may as well have just taken that $100 bill and thrown it straight in the trash.

But instead of it dying, I saved it by leaving it overnight in some rice. The next day it was fully recovered. And that's how I almost killed my fitbit.

That was more than a month ago, and my fitbit seemed to have fully recovered after the washing machine incident. But then 4 or 5 days ago -- just a few days before my first ever half-marathon race! -- I left it charging for a few hours and a little bit later, pushing the button on it did...nothing. My husband and I both tried to fix it but to no avail. I tried not to get too serious about it, but it was hard not to feel a little superstitious about my training "crutch" being broken just days before my first big race.

That was, until I saw the fitbit booth at the expo for my half marathon on Friday. I mentioned to 1 of the fitbit booth workers that it had died and that I had already contacted customer service and that I was...well, panicking just days before my race. So she gave me a new one. For free and just like that. Not only was I ecstatic, I was relieved. (Fitbit people, if you're listening, thank you again!)

And then there was the issue that I was having with the knee area on my right leg. It started a few weeks ago during one of my long runs. It wasn't hurting...but it didn't feel right either. I heard from others that it might be a very common problem with my IT band, so on that person's advice, I took a few days off (after my long run) and tried to stretch the muscle. After a few days went by, my leg seemed fine again...until my next long run.

Even though my leg wasn't hurting...I worried about it. (Admittedly, probably more than I should have.) I must have mentioned my leg issue to no less than half a dozen people. And I posted about it in an online discussion forum. I tried to play it off like it wasn't a big worry...but the more I thought about it, the more I worried. In the last 1-1.5 weeks of my training, I reduced the mileage on all of my planned runs in an effort to give my leg some respite and that seemed to help.

Then in the last 1 week before my race, another problem developed. I've been washing my clothes in Tide Free & Clear for weeks. My skin is really sensitive, and I've had problems with Tide detergent before, but this time I thought Free & Clear would be ok. It turns out...nope. Nearly every square inch of my skin has been itching for the last 1 week. After realizing the itching might be coming from the laundry detergent, I switched to a different brand and re-washed some of my clothes. Yesterday, I swear I saw a few red bumps on my legs so I'm not 100% sure it's not hives (from stress?). The itching has not stopped 100% yet, but it does seem to be subsiding.

So? How'd my first half-marathon turn out...? (Stay tuned...I'll try to post about that next.)

Do something that scares you. . .

2012-10-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

This time tomorrow morning, I will be doing something new. And different. And scary.

Let me back up a little bit. My in-laws arrived in early June and stayed until mid-July. And in the weeks leading up to their arrival, I didn't get much time to exercise. And the whole time they were here, we were eating amazing food (and lots of it) and having high teas with cakes and breads and cookies. And all that time, I was just getting...well, lazy (and maybe a little fatty).

And although I'm not a huge fan of exercising (Ok, I hate it. I'm going to spare you the sidebar on how I'd rather be sitting on the couch watching 1 of my favorite TV shows.), I also know that exercise is a necessary evil.

During all that time when they were here, all my time was pretty much taken up with activities related to their trip or maintaining household stuff while they were here. And when my in-laws left, it was like there was this humongous hole.

So I did what any ~~crazy~~ sane person would do: I filled it with another activity.

I went and signed up to do a half marathon. (Yes, I was half crazy that day.)

I do a lot of shopping at Lululemon, which is (kind of an overpriced) an athletic store. (Their items are mostly focused on yoga but the clothes can work for any sport.) With every purchase, they give you a reusable shopping bag, and several years ago, the shopping bag had all these "handwritten" (and mass produced) notes and graphics on it, and one of them said something along the lines of "do 1 thing a day that scares you." I'm kind of way behind on the doing-it-everyday part, but I've definitely got the doing-something-scary part nailed in this case.

So. Tomorrow morning at 8am PST, I will be running my first ever, half marathon in the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series.

I've trained for over 2 months, including running a 10K in August and a 5K in September. (Now you guys know what I've been busy with all this time.) At this point, I'm probably as ready as I'm ever going to be. That said, I can't help but feel...a bit terrified. I mean, this is big. Colossal, big (for me, anyway). Last I heard, there are over 10,000 runners registered for this event.

So, what's there to be afraid of? Falling on my face, getting trampled with faster runners, having to walk the whole thing, having to walk part of it...oh, and not to mention my IT band has been giving me a bit of discomfort...so I'm praying that thing doesn't flare up and turn into a real injury.

Wish me luck and keep me in your thoughts...?

Accent blankets and pillows

2012-09-30T17:02:00.000-07:00

I know it's been awhile. When I last left off, I was telling you, dear readers, about how my husband's family had come to visit and stay with us.

I think I mentioned about how I did some preparations before their arrival. We have 3 bedrooms in our house, our master bedroom + 2 guest rooms.

As mentioned in an earlier post, we've painted each of the bedrooms. Our master bedroom is green with black furniture. One guest room is blue with black furniture. And the second guest room (which used to be an office-slash-guestroom) is light purple with black furniture.

Part of the preparations I did before my husband's family arrived was to buy some accent blankets to kind of play up the colors in each room. The blankets that I ended up buying weren't exact matches, but they were pretty darn close!

But the blankets were just a small stepping stone in getting the rooms ready for our family's arrival. I don't know if I've ever told you guys, but I tend to spend a lot of time on Esty. I'm always browsing and shopping for one custom thing or another. (Don't even get me started talking about my latest custom Etsy project!)

Several months ago, when my husband's family first started making plans to come visit, I started thinking about how I could make our home more special and "homey" to make them feel welcome.

And then I stumbled upon some awesome decorative pillows that people put on their beds. I looked at so many of them over and over again and spent a lot of time hemming and hawing about if any of them would work and look nice with our other decorations. I became hooked on several different styles that said "love" and "good night," but I was still stuck on how to make mine...special.

So I consulted my favorite Urdu resource -- my husband -- and asked him if there are any special phrases that people say at bedtime.

And then I went back to several Etsy sellers to see if they could do anything custom for me. To be quite honest, I think I'm probably the worst person for an Etsy seller to deal with. (Actually, I hope I'm not.) But I do change my mind a lot. And I overcommunicate. And I have a lot of fantastical ideas that, in some cases, are not so easy to bring to reality. Sometimes I feel like that annoying mosquito that just does not go away.

Thankfully, I found a great gal, Jodi at Cedar Street Creations, who was very patient and helpful. (She also happens to be from Iowa, just like me!)

Even though the pillows that I'd originally liked were all different styles and colors, in the end, I chose to have Jodi do all 3 pillows (but in different fonts and font colors) because I felt that was the best way to keep this custom project on budget and to not go overboard (which is not to say I still didn't go overboard--haha). And, actually, Jodi only did the pillowcases (which saved me some cost in shipping, if nothing else). I got the pillows at Jo-Ann fabrics and was able to use coupons each time (usually 50% off) so got the pillows themselves for super cheap (yay me!).

So what I ended up with was this:

For the master bedroom, "pyar" which translates to "love"
For the first guest room, "shab bakhair" which roughly translates -- not literal translation -- to "sweet dreams"
For the second guest room, "so jao" which translates to "go to sleep"

Here's some pictures of the pillows in each room, along with the matchy-matchy blankets that I bought.

"pyar" pillow in master bedroom
(click photo to view larger)

"shab bakhair" in first guest bedroom
(click photo to view larger)

"so jao" in second guest bedroom
(click photo to view larger)

So, what do you guys think? Did I succeed in bringing a little bit of "home" (from south Asia) into our home...?

Preparing for guests

2012-07-18T19:08:00.002-07:00

To be perfectly honest, I meant to write this over a month ago. At that time, I wanted to tell all you dear readers how excited I was that family was coming to visit us this summer and what all I'd been doing to get ready for their arrival.

But I got so busy with oh, everything that blogging about all the ~~cool stuff~~ effort I was doing just wasn't a priority. (But I'm here now...so read on!)

Anyway...until this summer, all of the other times we've had visitors, it's been just 2 people at a time and for a very short amount of time. My sister and her husband visited about 6 (or was it 7?) years ago for a week or less; my husband's cousins visited 3 (or was it 4?) years ago for a few days; and my husband's other cousin and his wife visited 2 summers ago for a week or less.

But the family visit this summer was different. As I mentioned before, this time it was my husband's immediate family -- my mother in law, my nand, nand-dui, and their son -- and they were coming to visit for the first time...ever. (Not to mention they were staying with us for about 5 1/2 weeks.)

Two summers ago when my husband's cousin and his wife visited, I did a lot of preparation before they arrived. First, we painted the guest room a calming light blue color and redecorated it with new furniture. Then, we painted the master bedroom a couple of different light green colors and replaced the furniture there too.

But whatever preparations I did that year was nothing compared what I did this time.

Even though the guest bedrooms were in pretty good shape, we did have to convert our 3rd bedroom from an office (only) into an office/guest bedroom. I also spent a little bit of time "sprucing up" each room with extra blankets. And then most of the rest of my time over the past several months before they arrived was spent baking and freezing stuff (that we'd be eating later after they arrived) and shopping for gifts.

So that's what I was busy with before they arrived. After they arrived, there were dinners at home, and dinners out, and travelling, and taking them sight seeing, and shopping for lots of groceries, and planning and throwing a party, and...phew. Even just thinking about all the stuff we did feels exhausting.

They flew home last Friday. But getting my energy back to what it was before has been a slow process. I spent the entire last weekend watching TV and movies at home and only left the house to walk the dog. So...while I'd love to tell you more details right now about my preparations and their visit...you'll just have to stay tuned.