Guys, I found Typography Ryan Gosling and Graphic Design Ryan Gosling. Neither of which are worth linking to because they only have 1-3 posts a piece … but still.
Check it out. I love that the type isn’t that god-awful on these (which is kind of the point). 
I’m ringing in 2012 by going to the Bears vs. Vikings showdown at noon today (aye carumba!).
Who will win? It is a tossup. When I bought the tickets I thought the Bears were sure to win … but now I don’t know. It’s sure to be an interesting game!
Happy 2012 everybody! If you’re suffering from a hangover and/or from watching football, why not try making one of these football-friendly comfort foods?
Amazing chili
Greek Turkey Burgers and Coleslaw
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
Nutter Butter Knockoff Blizzards
NACHOS.
Also, in case you’re wondering, I did NOT dye my hair red again. I snagged this pic from my facebook from last year. 
However, it is about this same length again!
Maybe.
Just maybe I’m back.
And I can thank my fabulous former roommate for running a marathon last month — 20 minutes faster than she anticipated even!
What am I talking about?
For those of you who’ve forgotten, I used to love running — in fact, that was the ENTIRE purpose for this blog in the first place. It used to be called “Life plus running” and be over at blogspot.com. Then I obsessed over it and ran a marathon. Then we broke up for a while. And then running was a huge pain in the ass because I had to be strategic about it, so it became a chore instead of a beloved pastime.
But now //
// I think it’s fun again*.
And I can blame my old roommates. Both of them. One of them got married and the other came and stayed with me for the evening before the wedding. Danielle and I used to run together a lot in the 4 years we lived together. That’s how I got my start. In fact the last time I ran any significant distance with anybody was a 7 mile run right before the marathon 2 years ago with here.
What better way to get back in the saddle than by enlisting the help of a friend to make running fun again?
So we ran about a 10K. I haven’t run more than 3-4 miles in at least a month. In fact, I hadn’t run AT ALL for 2 whole weeks. And the weird part? I didn’t miss it a bit. Not ONE tiny bit. I was actually DREADING our Saturday run so much that I put it off until we absolutely had to go in order to get the rest of our stuff done before the wedding that evening.
Then it started again. That feeling. The almost giddy feeling I used to have every day knowing that when all my work was done that I got 45-60 minutes ALL TO MYSELF (and, let’s face it, 5 years ago Slipknot was there too). My time to relax. My time to think things out. My time to pound the pavement and bust out all the bad feelings I felt before I made it home and they eeked out into the rest of my life.
Sunday I RAN my errands. I had to pick up a prescription, and guess what? HyVee is on my 5K route. So I ran a 5K. THE DAY AFTER I RAN A 10K.
The thought of being injured again made me very wary of running two days in a row since the PT lady told me not to do that 2 years ago when she released me back into the wild after 3 months of physical therapy. But I’m lifting and training specific muscle groups now. I’m seeking chiropractic care once a week. I’m being SMARTER and I know my body and my limits now.
So all that being said? Yeah. I think it’s back. I ran a mile yesterday too — 2 laps backwards in fact — which makes 3 days in a row of running. Not of running significant distances like before, but the victory here is that I want to run again. It makes me happy. No more hours plugging away at boring cardio machines or workout videos. I have the option to run. Whenever I want. And most importantly I have the drive to run again.
Where am I going with this? Nowhere in particular. I haven’t set any weird crazy goals for myself — except not to get injured again and to continue to enjoy being outside running like I used to. And of course, to get some of the awesome gear associated with running.
*Sorry for the weird typography … I’ve been reading the typography bible and I’ve been wanting to try some new things for separators.]
I think I forgot to mention that I decorated a little bit. Mostly our room. Check it out!
The table in the corner used to be primary blue and red, from when Mark was little, and apparently was Mark’s mom’s furniture when she was younger too. I spray painted it an avocado color that we liked to go with the quilt and body pillow.
I spray painted all of these random frames one color and placed them around a mirror. This is really neat, but it’s kind of a pain in the butt at night because it’s right next to our bed and it’s easy to knock things off the wall …
And here is our geeky living room. It’s in progress. I want to add my Roseanne Afghan that I’ve been working on since 2007. Yes. Since 2007. It’s mostly done. I have to weave in ends on 120 granny squares to finish it. Which means 1200 ends to weave in. So I might be done by 2017.
But we’ve got a framed print of all the doctors from Dr. Who and of the main cast of Buffy (courtesy of my awesome friend Seth) and a framed x-stitch of a PBR label (courtesy of our awesome friend Katie).
Five years ago today I posted this photo on Facebook:
And two years ago today we went from close friends to being nearly inseparable. I’m going to be disgustingly sappy, but I’m so thankful I found everything I ever dreamed of and more all rolled into one amazing guy. And he’s mine.
Here’s a photo from the first night we went out in public as a couple. Steph and Nathan just got engaged so we went to The Lift and Fong’s to celebrate (where else?).
Here we are at Welch Ave. Station in Ames (again … where else?). One thing I love about Mark is that I’m not the only one geeking out over 80s tunes when he’s around. Full-on belting occurs when “Come on Eileen” or “Take on Me” is played.
February 2010 — Night of the Living Prom — this is our Billy Idol pose. Rock.
New Year’s 2011 (man I looked bad with RED red hair!). This is an ill-advised hair moment for both of us. Advised by who? Me. Of course. I kept dying my hair red while telling Mark he should grow his out again because it’s so cute … [thanks to Justin for the pic!]
Spring 2011 (I may have put this one in just because I love my hair and earrings combo here). For the record, I LOVE BEARDS. I didn’t like facial on men before I fell in love with Mark. Now I realize that fur on the face makes the man.
And at Steph and Nathan’s wedding in May of 2011 (yeah we came full circle here!). Thanks to Kelly for this pic. I included this because Mark looks awesome in a suit and I absolutely adored the flowers we got to carry.
July 2011. Last photo of us together … most likely because we haven’t gone out forever. Mark bought a car in August and I’ve been pretty much worked to the bone since July. We’ve been hitting up La Fuente like nobody’s business, but otherwise have pretty much spent our nights at home with Netflix and Buffy, Kevin Arnold and zombies.
Happy two years, babe. I hope we have many many more.
A while back I talked a bit ’bout making new wallets. The first one was cute, but not what I wanted.
Well, I sketched and sketched and put together another few before I finally got these down. And I had two days this week between jobs (I’m unemployed for 2 whole days! whoopeee!) so I got to sewing.
Introducing my new and improved wallets!
PS the one in the middle is MINE.
How are they improved from the old version of my wallets? Well, for starters, they are sewn better — all thanks to my NEW sewing machine that I got on Wednesday. This Janome DC1050 solved all my problems of skipped stitches and weird tension happening with my old machine. AND there is a stop/start button, so I can use that instead of the foot pedal. This feature comes in handy when sewing a lot of the same thing in a row. Hit start, feed everything through the machine, then hit stop.
Also, there is one additional feature that my old wallets didn’t have — a divider with card organizing slots. And the closure? It’s not a button anymore. It’s a magnetic purse snap. It’s like my wallets went and got all grownup on me!
[one of my old wallets for reference]
I’m thrilled to have all these wallets ready for Craft Saturday next weekend. I also made a bunch of revamped teeny-tiny wallets. They’re a bit bigger to accommodate cards (which was the ORIGINAL idea … but my math skills got in the way) and they’re more nicely put together. Again, thanks to Ms. Janome. All of my old inventory will be on MAJOR SALE next weekend to make way for the new stuff.
I recently discovered that you can shop online at Goodwill. And I’ve taken advantage of this.
Lookie what I got in the mail! ($5-7 a piece)
Did I mention that Thriller is in near-mint condition? Crazy. If I would have tried to find this on eBay I probably would have paid upwards of $50 for it. Instead, I got it for $5.
Now I need a record player. I would actually like to start getting vinyl. I love vinyl — always have. I used to alphabetize my dad’s collection and I’ve called dibs on that collection should he ever want to get rid of it [MINE, Coree!]
For Mark’s birthday, July 17th, we took a few days off to hang out with his Aunt Donna and his mom at Donna’s house around the Chicago area. We spent most of the time in and around her pool in her backyard. There are most definitely not going to be photos of that in this post (which I’m sure all will thank me for). I ran a few miles, played with Donna’s adorable dog, Guinness, and we watched a few movies.
Did I mention that I drove the whole way? Not trying to make Mark feel guilty — just pointing out that my leg injury from the marathon (3 years ago!) is finally at the point that I can DRIVE for a few hours at a time (namely, six).
Beautiful. The only time we actually went into the city was to go to The Needle Shop — which is NOT a tattoo shop. It’s actually a really amazing fabric store around Damon Ave..
[Mark drove there. I suck at real city driving.]
[my amazing finds — mostly Habitat]
On Mark’s birthday we trekked over to his favorite pizza place. We were going to see Harry Potter, but since it was the first weekend it was out the show was sold out for the rest of the foreseeable future.
Um … odd sign in Elk Grove Heights.
LOU’S. aka the promised land of Chicago Style pizza.
Mark is pleased. It’s the first piece he’s had (besides the frozen pies his dad occasionally gets) in over a year.
I had a slice too. And by a slice, I mean a few slices. The epic stomachache I had afterwards was so worth it. I had the Lou’s — spinach + tomato. YUM.
I know I’ve already featured LCD Soundsystem, but I recently purchased an older album of theirs, “The Sound of Silver” at the suggestion of a friend upon seeing my last post about these guys.
This album is slowly growing on me, though I don’t like it as much as “This is Happening” (their 2010 release). I am in love with this song, “North American Scum”. On repeat.
You should check out my friend Calee’s etsy store.
Yes CALEE — and she pronounces it the cool way like I do — Cah-LEE. I met her at the dawn of facebook when I was curious as to how many Calee’s there were that pronounced their names like I do. It was about 50/50 when I did it (there were about 20 on there in 2004). I’ve stayed in touch with Calee over facebook and twitter because it turns out we’re like the same flipping person. She runs all the time, we both have a really odd sense of humor and apparently we like the same hair styles.
She only has one item listed so far, but she’s doing subversive cross stitch. Which I would do if I had more time, but she does a fabulous job.
Also, can I just say, I definitely would like one of these hanging somewhere prominent. I feel this way a lot (not that I suck. other people suck!).
