oops!

all of my non-exercising time
i was supposed to dedicate to
being lazy
and blogging
got filled up
with baking
and risotto cooking
and a very little bit of cleaning!

sorry, be back soon!!

post tri training nutrition

the 'off season' has officially begun
boys and girls.

WOO-HOO!!!

sooo excited to not get up this morning
and have to pack a gym bag,
or think about what's on the workout
agenda for the day,
or which gym has an aquafit class
that's going to interfere
with said workout agenda.

aaahh...time to relax...
oh wait, i'm lousy at that...
okay so time to busy myself
with things other than exercising.
for the moment/week at least!

i'm sure many athletes probably
have something very healthy
and nutrient rich
and well balanced
and all that good for ya mumbo-jumbo
as part of the beginning of their off season
routine.

but in my house,
the post triathlon training nutrition program
looks a little something like this:

Narragansett Fest Lager...hello fall!

and this...

a homemade version of pj whehlihan's
hot-honey buffalo nuggets.
fried, spicy, yet sweet goodness.
it's probably the only thing
anyone should ever eat
when they go there.
that and the hot-honey wings.
everything else on the menu is just a waste of stomach space.

full tri coverage coming tomorrow...too hungry tonight! :)

gray day, tri tomorrow!

the forecast for today in RI
previously said 85 and sunny.
not quite the case...
instead it's been a
gray,
insanely foggy,
humid/muggy,
and windy day.

buuut...
tomorrow says
less clouds,
less humidity,
and more sun.
c'mon goof on the roof,
ya gotta get it right once
in a while!!
please?!

other than the fact that
humidity is not
exercise's (or my hair's) friend,
and that a strong cross wind is less than ideal
when riding a road bike,
this weather just makes the ocean look
really angry!!

could use some positive vibes from
the water...
definitely don't want it to seem
like a scene from a horror
movie before i dive in
for the first leg of the triathlon tomorrow!!!
aaah!

other than that,
i'm excited.
just got my hair braided...
lightning bolt part to
accompany the french braids this time,
courtesy of kerry, the best hairdresser ever...
"power hair" as she stated.

michael, the birthday boy,
and i drove the course today
and it took a long time,
in a car,
not too promising,
so i'm going to have to adjust my time goal
since i'm totally not prepared (mentally)
for 90% of the course
to be uphill.
no exaggeration.

the bike starts off up a steep,
long hill and while it continues
past gorgeous scenery,
cow pastures,
and pick-your-own fruit farms,
there is literally zero relief.

very fitting that this is the first sign you see once leaving transition...
and yes you have to turn left,
so ominous... 


the run?
it starts off up a windy,
hilly road too.
honestly think they
must've moved all of the hills
in RI to middletown for the weekend.
RUDE!

but luckily there's been lots of support
to help us keep chugging along
with the positive attitude! :)



so my new time goal (instead of the 'under 2 hour' goal i had last time)
is now to just catch my husband
since he's in the wave 9 minutes before me!

bridal jewelry: kate's plus 8 - bracelets

similar...yet all so different...

just like the girls that supported kate on her big day!

bridal jewelry: kate's plus 8 - earrings

kate's wedding jewelry was a huge undertaking.
one that i was thrilled to be a part of!!
it helped me stretch my creativity
and skills to the limits though,
and i'm very thankful for that!

the wedding party was huge...
7 bridesmaids and
1 jr bridesmaid
add to that
1 mother of the bride
and 1 mother of the groom...
that's a whole lotta jewelry
ladies and gentlemen!

since her ladies all had different variations
of the mocha dress she had picked for them,
there were different necklines that had
to be taken into consideration,
different likes and dislikes,
unpierced ears,
etc etc.
all of these items
made for some wonderfully personal
pieces of jewelry that hopefully
will be something the girls have
as a keepsake of how
much kate appreciates each and every one of them.

here are their earrings, decked out in czech glass, bronze findings,
some coin pearls, flourite...and more!

 

 

 

bridal jewelry: kate

i know i promised this post way back when
(like thursday maybe, zoiks!)
but i totally didn't pay attention to the days of the week
and was on my way to a rehearsal dinner
up near the poconos on thursday afternoon.
so no blogging for me!

i had the pleasure of making bridal jewelry
for my good friend kate.
her wedding was friday
and it was wonderful.

such an outpouring of emotions...
and tears...
and happiness.
and killer white-guy/girl dance moves.
my legs were so sore from spending
the entire night on the dance floor in 3.5 inch heels!

thank you brian & kate for letting us
take part in your special day!
xo!

now on to the beads...
kate's wedding colors were brown, purple and ivory
but she has superbly lovely, fair, irish skin
and i knew too much color wouldn't work,
but being the bride she still needed to have something that stood out!
so i picked some rose quartz briolettes for the earrings and the necklace
& paired it with a diamond cut sterling silver chain for extra shine

 

she wore her hair up and had a strapless gown,
so the back of the necklace needed to make a statement too!

the earrings were a gamble.
i knew that i liked them,
but kate is not much of an earring gal,
she was pushing so hard for something closer
to a stud...like the kind that you might mistake for a fleck
of glitter on someone's ear ;-).
i pushed back and surprisingly she agreed...
still tiny, but i know they'll make an impact in the pictures...
speaking of which,
i kept my camera stowed for this event,
which i'm totally regretting now because
i'm DYING to see what their photographers captured.
and i really want to share them with everyone!!

bridesmaid jewelry up next...

bling blang

once upon a time,
i tried to setup a DIY light box
to take pictures of my jewelry...
based on inspiration from these other ghetto
projects found over at digital-photography-school.com 
it was messy and not quite right,
but did a decent job.

silly me,
i got so excited to box the newest
jewels up and send them to their brides,
that i didn't take the time
to take better pictures this go-round.
live and learn.

creations for alicia's wedding...
each bridesmaid had their birthstone incorporated
into the design,
so there was consistency but they were still
unique and personal!

loads of shiny swarovski bling going on here...

i've definitely perfected my wire wrapping technique now!

more to come tomorrow...

a glimpse of what's to come

for the past few month i've been very crafty...

two gigantic jewelry orders
plus learning to do nifty things with my mac,
like making business cards...
until i feel like it's worth it to get some
fantastic letterpress cards.
i'm sure it will never be truly worth it,
but i love/am borderline obsessed with paper.

i felt like i was never going to finish
and maybe my fingers would fall off,
but it's all done now,
the brides have their
finished goods...
everyone's happy
and i'm ready for the next challenge...
hopefully it involves more time doing fun things like
using my brain to make something lovely.

jewelry pics will be up tomorrow
and i'm attending one of the weddings on friday
so i'll have some shots of it in action!

little leaves

not feeling so hot today.

stressed to death with work,

allergies (which i swear i don't have) are out of control,

and might be getting sick.

swimming is tough enough,

but when you're congested 

it's downright awful.

and extra snotty, ew.

so i'm making some

straight outta the customs line

chinese green tea.

i'm anti cold medicine,

honey and green tea usually get the job done though!

before it hits the water.

post steeping!

my dad got it for me on one of his

many trips to asia.

and the first time i made it

i had a good laugh for myself.

ya see, i love tea.

i drink a lot of loose leaf tea.

tealuxe (boston born but also online)

is my fave place to get it.

i thought this was just the same as my usual stuff.

nooooo way,

those little green bits in the first picture

are actually little tea leaves rolled up.

once they soak in some steaming water,

they open up.

in my first attempt,

i made an entire pot

and used a decent amount of tea...

when i took the teapot lid off

the entire thing was filled to the brim 

with what looked like seaweed salad!!

kinda shocking,

but super delicious.

so close to the weekend...

i can almost taste it!

summer vaykay

whenever i see someone abbreviate vacation

as "vaca"

my brain IMMEDIATELY says...

oh, spanish cow.

i know that's not what they mean,

but it cracks me up each.and.every.time.

so i've decided to go with vaykay,

just in case you thought that maybe

i went cow tipping

or thought dairy farms were high on my list of vacation getaways.

over the past 10 days my car

gained about 1200 miles.

think my bum is still numb from sitting/driving for that long.

started out the trip with the longest stretch of our journey...

philly to Jackson, NH.

so far north that the highway signs have miles and kilometers,

silly french canadians.

but i love that place,

haven't been there in the summer in nearly 10 years,

missed the rivers and the hiking

so much!

it was the best place to just unplug and relax.

and sweat.

the house does not have AC

and there was no breeze whatsoever!

the first day we went hiking on the Carter Notch trail.

kara & i were on a mission to go swimming,

even though the water was beyond cold.

i mean immediate brain freeze as soon as your pinky toe

hit the surface of the water cold.

roll around in the snow and then

jump in a tub of ice cold.

take too long to find something in the

walk-in freezer cold.

it still hurts thinking about it,

but it was worth it...

because the pictures are hilarious.

there was no other option

than screaming as you stood up!!

check out all of the new hampshire pics by clicking HERE!

it's just temporary

i'm on vacation, hence the lack of blogging.
no worries, it won't last forever!
i have tons of pictures and hilarious stories to share
once me an my mac reunite!

but for now i'll leave you with this picture of my sis.
obviously she was trying to kill my father.
temporary tattoo courtesy of BullsEye brand, so fitting.
she and my mom were in on the joke,
i was pretty certain it was real
so could offer no comfort to my dad
who was swearing and clutching on to my arm for dear life.
:)