Hello!

and Happy Valentine's Day to you and your's! i'm not usually quite as chipper for this occasion. but the sunshine and the beautiful weather has gotten to me. this morning i made breakfast for my roommates...i present you, Pecan Crusted French Toast!



i woke them up and had their breakfast already sitting on the dinning room table. i think they loved it.

since i have to work today, we celebrated our day on Saturday with a little gift exchange and i got an awesome handmade diorama. next to my Christmas present, it was an amazingly thoughtful gift and i couldn't have asked for anything better or more original.



and last, i want to show you what i'm working on...



stuffed hearts i will be gifting to my girlfriends if they ever get finished today. i'm hoping so, but there's lots going on.

anywho, happy Valentine's Day! i'm off to a little bake sale hosted by some friends involved in "the Vagina Monologues" benefiting V-Day. ("a global movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Eve Ensler's award winning play The Vagina Monologues") Then i must report to smoothie duty at work!

seconds do matter

if you've read a couple of the previous posts, then you knew that i attempted to run my first 5K that benefits a local day care (the fees help aide tuition) over the weekend. i seriously thought that in order to prevent death, i was going to walk for the most part of the race...but set a goal of 30 minutes. yea, i play soccer, but it's not a continuous running sport.

i entered the race with a team (team Kazu, yea!) of six, but had plans on walking by myself. right before the race, my good friend and team member ask if we could run together cause she hadn't been feeling well. whatevs, i thought...even though i knew that she runs on a daily basis. i even said: "if one of us wants to walk, lets walk...k?" and she obliged. two minutes into the race, i wanted to drop dead, but Liza didn't let me stop she said that if we stopped, we would never start...pfff...i thought to myself. the weather could not have been more perfect and we were running right by the river and it was gorgeous. not even half way through the race (1/3 me thinks), people were already making their way towards the finish line (winner gets $250!). i was out of breath and possibly thinking that death was the better option...i kept telling Liza i was going to walk, and she's answer with 'get to the sign or get to that cone' and so i kept on going, each time i passed a mark, i got a little bit of energy. finally, going up a crazy and seemingly never ending hill, i decided it was time for me to start walking. my legs felt like jello, but walking up a hill was easier said than done! i was power walking up a stinking hill just to keep up so after a minute of power walking then running, power walking then running, i decided that i should just continue to run.

coming down that hill was a breeze and then we got over the next (smaller) hill after that. i got a bit more energy when i knew the finish line was nearing and yelled for Liza and our other teammate, Kristen, to keep pushing. all three of us finished consecutively. my time was 29.55 mins. yup, you read right, 29.55...5 tenths of a second before my goal...i'll take that.


Liza and i right before the race.

Brian whizzing passed us!


the hill (taken while walking)...i took a camera...how ridiculous, right?

the team after the race.

thanks to Liza, i made it in just above my goal. who knows what time i would have finished had i been running alone? i was so proud of everyone on our team (to the left of tall guy is his mom and aunt!) what's next, you ask? we might do a 25 mile bike ride!

Foto Fun Friday

this week's photo is a preview of a photoshoot i had last Saturday. if you remember, i had a photoshoot with Natalie for her website before. this second time around, she brought the whole family! and although the spot light was on her adorable Labradoodle, i couldn't help but get shots of the whole family. i love love LOVE this shot.



today i helped out at a preschool that i used to work for (where my love of photography blossomed & where my buddy goes to school). every year before Mother's Day, they hold a Mother's Day Tea party (pretty hats and all!) and i was there to help capture the moments, get portraits of moms and kids, and to take the class photo. it brought back good memories and reminded me of why i love taking photos of people/kids.

i hope you all had a wonderful Friday! i must go get ready for work! tonight i'm going to bake some muffins for a bake sale that benefits the children's department at the Shepherdstown library; they are having an amazing used book sale tomorrow (you will find me there for sure!), so stop by if you're around. oh! and did i mention that i'm running in a 5K tomorrow morning as well? i will be participating (i say that because i might be walking at times) in the Run by the River 5K with some good friends...who talked me into it. yeah, i'm nervous (even though i play soccer, i am not in the best shape), but it's for a good cause and i love helping out (um, and it's in town!). so come cheer for me!

ok, i really have to get going now. wish me luck tomorrow!

Let's beat it.

i finally dusted off my trusty sewing machine and started my very first project in over three weeks. DANG! this particular project will benefit The Fiercegrrl Fund, which will in turn directly benefit Nicole Puzan. i don't personally know Nicole, but she's a dear friend of OhMeaghan (who has brought this thing together! you go girl!), so i wanted to help any way possible. here's a little something about Nicole and the Fund:

"Nicole Puzan is a 26 year-old queer artist and crafter living in the DC metropolitan area. An active member of the local community, she has participated in a number of craft shows including Crafts 'n' Kisses and DC Craft Mafia's Unusual Suspects, as well as helped produce Phase Fest

She can no longer work and must make ends meet for medical and everyday expenses as best she can. This website has been set up to share her story and to provide people the opportunity to donate to help Nicole stay afloat and comfortable without worrying about how she will attend to her most basic needs. All donations generated through auctions and directly via the button to the left will go to Nicole.

Crafters are a tight-knit community, as are members of the queer/LGBTQ community, and it's our duty to help lift up and support our friends in their most desperate times of need. and other queer events. In early 2010, she was diagnosed with Stage IIIc ovarian cancer and currently faces intense chemotherapy and a fight for her life."

every knows cancer sucks, so every little bit helps. you can donate money, services, craft...or even blood (if you're A+) since Nicole has just recently started Chemo. if you would like to donate something to be auctioned off, feel free to contact oh.meaghan@gmail.com. so far, the fund has raised over $1000 dollars through the auction and donations.

lets come together for a great cause! i will let you know when this little cutie goes up on the block.

new old things

here's something i'm currently working on for my cousin Kelly. she just started a cookie business (on top of her regular two jobs...so we can totally understand eachother!), and is selling in Urbana at the Farmer's Market on sundays. unfortunately, i haven't been able to make it there to support her, so i'm going to send FINGS instead. it's actually going to be a part of a series of two or three (if it works out) items. this guy was supposed to be a pouch, but it didn't turn out that way...so you could now just shove cookies into it...or whatever. Loveydoodle Cookie Emporium has a poll every week for a fan choice cookie on Facebook, so when you are a fan, you get to vote!!

i've tried making cookies before. the last time was for as a Christmas gift to a friend. he would always ask me if i brought him a cookie, so i finally did! it was one of the first FINGS i've ever made...you could definitely see a bit of a difference here.


another FING that's been in the works is a giant Mr. Pickles with a Darfur heart patch. i made him for an upcoming benefit/concert being held in She-town...tomorrow. it will be a part of an art auction mostly donated by local artists. i think our little chickadee is donating something.

so come out if you're around. it's rain or shine!!

back to work for me!

Snail Mail Valentines!!!!!

i know i'm like three days behind on mentioning this, but FredFlare's Snail Mail Valentine for charity are now on sale! you can pick up a bundle of cards (it's a surprise bunch!) for a couple of bucks and it all goes to charity. remember this? lets see if you can spot it in this cute Love, Illustrated video...

i'm loving the music mix!

i'm heading over to FredFlare right now to get some!!!!

and ps - if you love the bacon card, come on over to Craft and Kisses and snatch one for yourself!