meet me in st. louis, bay bee!

here is the st. louis buzz. short and sweet. totally enjoyable. great views from our hotel of the arch. above shot of how I like to make a hotel room have that at home feeling. okay so there just so happened to be a flower shop in the hotel where we stayed so I purchased a rose and spruced up the room with some sunshine! also showing is my travel journal that I made up for the trip. still need to put some photos in it! later....




I had the absolute thrill of visiting these two lovely sisters at their store. Red Lead has it all under one roof. Paper, paint, glue, scissors, fibres, fine art supplies, vintage emphera, books, rubber stamps (even their own line) and tons of classes. One of the coolest things was their "open studio" concept. You go in and pick a project from the display that you want to make, pay for it and sit down at the art tables in the back of the store. All supplies are provided along with great conversation and help if you need it. I try and visit this store every time I go to St. Louis. Check it out! Hi Chris and Sharon!



as seen on a wall in Starbucks. kewl. another thing that made me smile was how they wrote your name on the side of the cup. yup, well up here in Canada they don't do that, okay! I wanted to pick a different name each time....like Zena, Isabella, Sophie, but of course as M reminded me I would have to remember which name I gave them so as not to miss getting my drink. Like the day I had them put laurie on it and it made me smile when I heard them call her name. kim deal with it! I know you almost lost your cookies last time I was adoring her.

did tons of shopping at the usual haunts (just in time for halloween, get it?) the galleria, macy's victoria's secret, brookstone and jc penny! I know - woo hoo! I did manage to find a dress for the wedding in a couple of weeks and a few shirts, sweaters, and pants. even boots bay bee!



this was the highlight of my trip....donna. I was able to take a class with her at for keeps sake. lucky me! I first met her in March at artistry and loved her so was quite excited to find out that she would be teaching in St. Louis while I was there. I will be seeing her again at her event in April. check it out!

back to reality and in the studio stirring up all kinds of fun.....workshop this weekend! yay!

csc4k, stars and all

SO far behind on the report, but here goes. first class was with iod and the class was called the "ME" journal. Lots of swag from prima.



Sally Griswold and Josie Celio were SO sweet!


holy bicks and klausen batman! the pickle man (aka Lance Anderson sat in on the class with us. fun, fun, and lots of laughs.

next up was "the beauty of life" class with kelly.




she is a hoot and hopefully will still talk to me after all the "Can ida" ribbing. I love accents! can I just say that? I do! I signed up for her class on the spot and was glad I did. laurie and I did this all on the santa maria. yup! classes on a ship! go figure! I warned them about my sea sickness, but no one listened! we were fortunate enough to meet up again at lunch. more chatting and laughing.



the next morning, at the crack of dawn, roosters crowing and all we showed up for "growth" with kristina. first I must say this...whoever photographs this girl does it so well that it makes her appear to be six feet tall! I ran into her on the elevator and my first thought was, of course, she is beautiful and then omg she is short? how can this be. when M takes my picture now I try to get him to do it ala "kristina". I look SO much taller now! you need to keep in mind that I do not tower over many people. okay I didn't tower over her but I also didn't have to look up, way up, to talk to her. she is so real and I lover her style!

high five to trisha for putting this even together and to all her volunteers. not an easy task, but I felt it was a wonderful way to support a great cause and to bring some awesome instructors to Edmonton. up next? st. louis report! whew!

dedicated to u

I missed u today......

so I pretended u were here...

exciting stuff X2

today's post is short and sweet, but filled with big stuff! so exhausted and am hoping it is the marathon recovery and not me getting sick. either way I am trying to listen to what my body needs and if it needs a two hour nap after a walk around downtown then I give in. nuff said! LOOK!

exhibit A - saaaay whaaat? no, the amazon man did not follow me to st. louis! yes, I am a crazy woman! before I left I hit chapters because I could not wait one minute longer to start reading this book. happy girl!

exhibit B - I know that sooner than later santa claus is coming to town, but before that happens my baby is coming back to me! five months to the day! I cannot believe that I am seeing him twice in one year! over the span of six months! can this be real? oh yeah baby! got the tickets! now to get the outfit!

hope to download some pictures from csc4k tomorrow and post about the event.

I DID IT!

say "hello to my little friend"

SO far behind in the blogging, but SO in recovery and flying here there and everywhere. back from OIM and now in st. louis.

let's start with the race! I started out really strong and was on track for my 1/2 marathon time (2:40) and then at around 22 km I lost my mind! I mean for real! I started thinking about why I would do this, what was I thinking and where the hell did everyone go? I was out there on that mountain alone for quite awhile. the tears started flowing and the pity party began. all were invited! there was the girl with the participation ribbon from grade 3 track & field, the other one who withdrew from a class because the assignment called for an oral report, and the young mother who felt so inadequate. this combined with my son's song coming on the i-pod started with tears and then full blown ugly cry! then my funeral song came on (you all have one, don't you?) and I started singing at the top my lungs through the tears. then it hit me! what about M? scheduled to do the 1/2 marathon? did he finish? was he okay? did he recover? is he rushing back to see me finish? okay! enough! I blew my nose, tossed back a couple of sports beans, swig of GU and said "get your ass running down that road right now!" "you CAN do this!" "GO!" and there my friends you have it! I started running and just kept on going. a few extra walk breaks here and there and then passing walkers cause I would not have any of that till I finally reached the finish line at 6:00:24. yup! six freakin' hours mis amigos! John called my name as I crossed the finish line, Liz put the medal around my neck and M hugged me held me as I cried. over to the massage tent for a quick rub and then back to the hotel for the food frenzy and frenzy we did! this week was spent recovering so no running. more later about csc4k.

NuMb3rS

anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? look carefully and you will understand my concern. perhaps there is a hidden message? observe the three things that are similar:

#1 - it is the 13th annual OIM
#2 - my runners are the kayano 13
#3 - my bib number is {13}79!

see what I mean? is it true? all they say about unlucky 13? Triskaidekaphobia?. I am a huge fan of the bakers dozen (13) and will be consuming many bakers dozens of something tomorrow after I cross the finish line. we went and picked up our race packages today and as soon as she gave me my number I looked at M and said "is this a sign?" you can't deny that YOU wouldn't be thinking about it. I mean what are the chances? I remember talking to tricia about it being the 13th annual and was that bad luck? she suggested using reverse psychology. in any event it is what it is and IT is happening tomorrow morning at 8:00 am....13th annual OIM, with kayano 13 on my feet and bib 1379 and M waiting at the finish line with 13 doughnuts. no? ciao!

and we're OFF!

as I am posting this I am listening to my boy on i-tunes. MY boy as in "my son" who put together a cd for mother's day. bawl! anyway he has a great voice and is super talented as he plays drums, keyboard, guitar and almost any musical instrument you put in front of him. I wish I knew how to put music on here and then you could have a listen too. patience people! I can't figure this all out that quickly. I'm old! lol! last night we had our ecs meeting and anam came along to check it out. found about her from laurie and am so lucky for that. talented girl. in other news:

how fast can you make a travel album? 55 minutes! yup! too cool! there IS a book in me! my girl gave me some funky pens last night and they came with a little canvas pouch which fits my travel journal and pens perfectly. I am only gone for four days so it is bang on batman! checklist! travel album, runners, imodium, sports beans, GU drink, headband, i-pod avec jon, partner, CHECK! okay so I am off to check this off my life list. yes, people I am one of those crazies who has a life list and completing a marathon is on there. I just finished listening to my marathon music selection and have determined as I had previously suspected that I am in LOVE with Jon Bon Jovi. Change that coffee to going to the chapel and we are gonna get married. I have to move fast because while I was working away at my travel album linda took advantage of those 55 minutes and started dialing Jon for dessert. okay maybe I just wanted to add Linda to this post cause she is such a freakin' sweetheart! ciao Linda! no sight of the amazon delivery man yet! it's coming and hopefully next week. ANYway things are packed, dogs are off to daycare, my shuttle awaits and now I must say ciao.......

it's tuesday and I've been tagged!

kim tagged me! my first tagging! hee hee!
here goes:

"seven random things about myself"

1. I love books, but hardly ever finish reading one

2. name a diet, I've been on it, and if I haven't I probably have the book, currently I am on the "run my ass off diet"

3. I feel like I will never have enough time to do all that I want to do in this lifetime

4. I love "gifts with purchase"

5. I want to have coffee with Jon Bon Jovi or George Clooney or Kiefer Sutherland or Craig MacTavish or James Carrington

6. I want to jump out of a plane before I die, which will probably be right after I jump out of the plane

7. I have never lost anyone close to me and am scared to even think about it

whew! that was hard! I am not one to reveal intimate information about myself. oops that was 8!

now to pay it forward.....

francie fancy pants

vicki

linda

ciao! more 21 day challenge for ya!

marvelous monday!

ah yes, the start of a new week, THE week, you know, THE MARATHON! yup! few things happened in the last couple of days and here's the thing, well, not one of the things, but just in general, like, here is the thing! The thing is, you wake up on Saturday morning and head out for what is to be your race pace run. kind of a get the feel of how fast you will be running the race at. so I head out with my running pal and a group leader for 16 km. the group leader is done at around 4 km and we keep running. you see V and I spend the whole time talking while we run. we truly believe that IF we were to run a marathon together that we would talk the whole time! great run, great company with great food after. the run done and I head home for a shower and then I am off again for an afternoon of errands. I get home and am exhausted! relieved that I do not have to wake up early on Sunday to run, but instead participate in THIS. A 5km walk with my team "the spicy italians". there were nine of us this time around. my cousin tammy, my hero, looked awesome! she amazes me everyday with her courage and is the angel on my shoulder when I feel I couldn't run another minute. she keeps me going and she keeps on going. after the walk it was off to T's birthday party. what a hoot! I miss D being that little. I loved watching the little boys playing with toys, blowing out the candles, opening presents and just the neat ways they interact with each other at that age. so there goes saturday and sunday and we arrive at monday morning. "art day" has two days this week as "lost and found studio" have a few deadlines to meet. okay so I created the deadlines to keep us focused. meanwhile L tosses in the occasional curve ball just for shits and giggles and to see if I am still listening. that and carmel popcorn! yum! we spent the day working or I should say playing cause man I had tons of fun! I wish I could share all the stuff we have been creating, but it is for the "secret workshop" so I gotta hush. how about a peek?



cool! so the studio is a buzzing and tomorrow is another "art day". finish off this project and try to start work on the order which I have given a due date of October 31. and here is another pic from the 21 day challenge. ciao!