Pocoyo!

Miss P has a new(ish) favorite cartoon: Pocoyo. One day I posted on FB that I had sewn a Pocoyo costume for P. Very shortly thereafter I received a request to make one for the son of a friend. Never one to turn down a paying gig, I made one the next day for him.

Miss P as Pocoyo:


Larson as Pocoyo:


I'm happy with how the costumes turned out. P and I made the faux-zipper pulls out of Fimo. First time I've ever used it and I really didn't know what I was doing, but I'm good with them. I think they look cute.

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More pics of the girl in action:

Stay outta my kitchen!


Pics from a photoshoot:


Me & P at Meadow Brook Music Hall in Detroit:


At work with hubby at Meadow Brook Music Hall:


Random pic of me, proving that I'm just.not.there.yet.


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On July 12th we took a road trip to Detroit to see Weird Al Yankovic in concert. On the way there, I ended up driving over a nail and punctured the tire. Not in a place where it could just be patched. Oh no, if I'm going to pop a tire, I do it right. We checked in to our hotel and when it was time to go to lunch, we went out and found the flat tire. Nursed the car to the gas station to fill it up, drove it out to the Goodyear joint in Rochester Hills and waited while they told me that they'd have to ORDER a tire. Stupid special tires. Oh well - good thing we were planning on staying the night anyway. So while they put the donut on the car, we went to lunch. Got the car back and proceeded to head back to the venue. I hung out with Bermuda while he worked on his kit and hubby and P went back to the hotel for a swim / nap. Had dinner, then went to the show. Seeing as how we had just been there four days prior for hubby's show, the crew at the venue knew my car. Well, that and the fact that I've been there so many times in the past few years that already knew me anyway! So yeah, rockstar parking! Anyway... here are some cool pics from the show:

Bermuda working on his kit before the show:


Polka Face!


Bermuda at work:


Al working the crowd:


With the 501st Great Lakes Garrison during "The Saga Begins"


Bermuda during "Yoda"


Technical difficulty-filled show, but a good show none the less. Al will be back out this fall. Check the tour dates to see when he'll be in your neck of the woods. I can't sell the show enough - it really is a good show.

After the show, P was super-stoked -- not only did Al sign her copy of "When I Grow Up", but his daughter Nina (to whom the book is dedicated) signed it to. According to Al, P now has the only copy with both of their signatures! Too cute.

(This pic isn't from this particular show - this one is from the show back in May. P was so cute - she waited in line to get her lanyard autographed and then when it was her turn, she showed Al a video of her singing "Pancreas". Too adorable)


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Other than that, I'm back in training mode. I'll be running the 7.9 mile leg of the Road Runner Akron Marathon on September 24th. I'm lamenting the fact that I'm going to have to switch back into regular running shoes - I'm having issues with overpronating my left leg which is causing issues with my knee. Grrrrr... I really, really love my Vibrams. They're so comfy and I love the ground feel. I wonder if there's another minimalist shoe I can switch to and just put an orthotic in. Hrmm... Oh well. I'll figure something out.


Hope you and yours are having a wonderful summer!

Now That the Running Updates are Done -- SEWING!

Many of my sewing projects start with a simple request from P: "Mommy, make me a _______ costume." And then I do. This project started with a pair of shoes. We found a simple pair of black Mary Jane's for P and she immediately groked on to the fact that they looked like "Alice" shoes. And so it began: "Mommy, mommy, mommy! Make me an Alice dress, please!" (at least she's saying please now, so there's that).

I used a basic dress pattern, puffed out the sleeves using the slash-and-spread method (a first for me), did NOT do a collar (not that I care, but she might) and used fabric / notions that I had on hand. The apron was completely self-drafted.



(Yeah, I know. I used a brown zipper. It's what I had on hand. Whatever. She doesn't care and neither do I!)

Using the same fabric as her Easter dress, I whipped up this dress in an afternoon.

(Yes, she's doing yoga while posing for the pics. She's an odd duck)

A shirt for me:

McCalls 6120, View A. The fabric was a mystery jersey blend that I found at Mood Fabrics in New York back in January. (I still have some other fun fabrics from that trip, but inspiration is needed to make use of them.)

In honor of going to see Weird Al, Miss P wanted a "Dare to be Stupid" costume.


And my most recent project, a special request from my best friend in honor of the opening of the last Harry Potter movie.


And the entire costume - Presenting PROFESSOR SPROUT:


Yes, she's holding a Mandrake Root:


Next up in the pipeline? Making costumes for Miss P's fourth birthday party. She's requested both a Pocoyo and a Toy Story party. So if I can get her to narrow it down... (I already have the fabric and an idea of how to do the Pocoyo costume. Doing the Toy Story stuff would be easy, too. Heck, I might just do them both.)

Warrior Dash 06.05.11 - Logan, OH

Seeing as how this was my second Warrior Dash, I was totally prepared this time. Totally.

Yeah, right.

This race came three weeks after the Rite Aid Cleveland Half-Marathon and I hadn't run at all during those three weeks. I could barely walk, let alone run!

I met TK & SM at TK's house and we carpooled from there. It was a little over three hours south of here, so ROADTRIP! Polar Pops in hand, we hit the road and made it in good time. Found a great place to park (right next to the bus pickup/dropoff location) and hopped on the bus. The Warrior Dash was held in a park... if you could say that. More like a nature preserve or something. The mud smelled so bad - it was sulfur mud and it was like standing around in a barrel of rotten eggs. Ugh. The weather cooperated - it was overcast and maybe 80F, so not too hot, not too sunny. We were scheduled to run in the 530pm Sunday wave - which means the course had been torn up sufficiently, and, due to the torrential downpour the night before, was muddier than all get out. Which, while fun, wasn't the easiest to find purchase when trying to climb the hills...

Before we got muddy:


When it was our turn to hit the track, we shot off at a good clip. This wasn't a race for time, it was a race for fun. Even though I had the advantage of having done the Dash before, I knew it was much more fun to do it WITH someone, so we kept together. The first mile or so of the course was pretty much all straight up hill - straight up mud, too. Slipping and sliding for everyone. But me... I was wearing my Vibram Five Fingers and was able to bend my foot sufficiently to grab roots and stuff with my toes! Woot! Mud, mud, slide down the hill, more mud, run as fast as you can down the hill to avoid falling, swim through the log lake, climb over the cars, run through the tires, more cars, climb another hill, go through the spider web, go down more mudslides, go thru the tunnel (which I didn't do - claustrophobia got the best of me), slide down the hill some more, traverse the creek, climb the cargo net, climb the 12-foot wall, cross the plank, cross a horizontal cargo net, more running and then the finale...


FIRE!!!!

After the fire was the mud bog. Gross.


Team KA:


Warriors!


It was a good time. Finished in 48:xx - definitely could've done it faster, but that's not the point of this, now is it?

Cleveland Half-Marathon Recap...

So yeah, I've been remiss about this whole blog thing. Excuses, excuses. So much to do, so little time, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Here's how the Rite Aid Cleveland Half-Marathon went down for me:

It was cold and drizzling - which was perfect weather for running! We left Akron around quarter after five. The information packet said to be downtown no later than six because the roads would be closed, etc. With a quick pit-stop in Brecksville for my nervous gut, we made it to Cleveland right around 6am. Found a parking spot over by E 4th street and proceeded to make our way down to the starting area (Browns Stadium). P was a trouper - she insisted on walking the whole way (as opposed to being worn by daddy - ah, but that carrier would definitely come in handy as they waited for me...).

Before the race:

(I was wearing the headband at the insistence of P. I don't normally wear those.)

From the time the starting gun went off, it took almost eight minutes to get to the starting line. My goal for the race was to finish vertically, but there was a time goal (I know, I know... bad T) I wanted to accomplish: 2:30:00. In order to make that goal I knew I needed to line up in the 5:00:00 pace group. The crowd was so big and the starting line so unorganized (really, they should have started in waves) that I couldn't get close to the 5-hr pace group. I was ahead of the 5.30 group - and could still see the sign for the 5-hr pacers, so I grudgingly accepted my spot and started on my way.

The first three miles went by so quickly. Even though I was wearing my earbuds, I did NOT listen to music. I had them on only to hear the mile markers and time from my runtastic app. I couldn't believe how many people were in line for port-a-potties so close to the start line. I guess I could, though, really, because when I'm not in a race and just running for fun, I usually have to facilitize somewhere around mile 2.5. (I seem to have a nervous gullet for race-day and always manage to get that out of the way beforehand!)

Around mile 4 my right IT band started hurting. Not so bad that I was going to stop. I was making good time (for me, anyway, I was averaging a 10:12 mile). I kept plodding along, happy with how things were going.

Halfway point:


Yes, I really was feeling good! Sore knee, but all was well.

Until mile 10.5. I sidestepped a safety cone that had been put in the most inadvertent place and when I did that, my kneecap decided to jump track and start rubbing against the cartilage. Yeah, that hurt. Slowed my progress significantly. Up until that point, my 2.5 hour half was totally doable. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. I started walking... and walking... I walked for about a mile and half until I decided it hurt just as bad to walk as it did to run, so I might as well get this over with as soon as possible.

As I rounded the corner for the sprint to the finish, the hubby was there with his trusty camera.



Finish line ahead:


As I was coming in for my finish, apparently so was the female winner of the FULL marathon! Yes, she ran the entire course in the time it took me to do half of it. *sigh* Oh well - at least there was a ton of excitement as I was crossing the finish line.

After finishing and collecting my medal, banana and chocolate milk, I wandered around trying to coordinate meeting up with the hubby. I was cranky and in pain, so it wasn't exactly the runner's high that's so promised.

We trudged uphill back to the car (another mile) and stopped to take pictures of P.




After it was all said and done, I have my medal:


...and I have my sticker:


... and then I went and ate the most disgustingly fattening thing I could think of: Strawberry-smothered french toast. It was delicious!

The aftermath of my feet. (SFW, just not safe for the squeamish). Believe it or not, they didn't hurt. Or maybe they did, but the pain in my knee was so much that I didn't notice the feet hurting.

Oh, and that 2:30:00 goal? Missed it by that much. My official time was 2:35:22. So close...

Five month recap. So Much, Sew Little.

After leaving off at Christmas time, so much has happened. But then again, not really.

January was spent being cold and miserable. Not much on the running front, not much on the sewing front. I did the Warrior Dash at the end of the month with my brother down in Florida. It was fun, but not nearly as difficult as it should have been. I ended up with nasty blisters on the back of my heels from my crappy shoes. Lesson learned - wear shoes that fit properly. My time wasn't great due to the blisters - I had blood in my shoe by the one-mile mark. So that stung. Near the end as I was approaching the cargo net climb, I was actually heckled by some drunks. They yelled at me for walking. I responded "I have blood in my shoes and I'm a pussy. Bite me." Yeah, good manners were not on the course that day.

It was nice to spend time with my brother, though, so there's that. And I looked FIERCE!

February brought NO running, but a little sewing. Why no running? The blisters on my heels became holes. I couldn't wear shoes that touched them in any way, so I spent the month wearing Uggs. Yeah, I know they're ugly, but at least they didn't hurt my heels. Anyway, to the sewing:

A pair of overalls for P:

Her Valentines dress:

A pair of hedgehog mittens:

Hubby and P went down to Columbus to protest SB5. My hippies!

In March, training for the Rite Aid Cleveland Half-Marathon started in earnest. I joined the Y and hit the treadmill. I culled the internet for a training plan and made one up that worked for me. It had me running three days a week - two short, one long. I didn't do intervals or speed work, which I suppose might've been to my detriment. But alas, I'm still okay with how my training went. I ran the numbers today and all in all it was 157.93 Miles Run (appx 32 hours), 139.12 Miles Biked (appx 9.5 hours), 11 hrs 35 mins Cross Training (Weights/Elliptical). No wonder I'm so tired! Heh. More on the Half-mary in a minute...

I think I only sewed one thing in March. P said to me "I want a Dopey coat!" She's like EF Hutton - when she speaks, I listen. My first completely self-drafted item:

April was just training. It seems all I did during April was run, bike and work out with weights. We did get down to Charleston, WV to see Huey Lewis & The News, though, so that was cool.

I also started taking a yoga class. I don't like it so much. :(

Oh, I did sew one thing in April - P's Easter dress!

The first two weeks of May were pretty much devoted to the Half-Marathon. Which I will get into in my next post... (stay tuned)