Today, I borrowed my FIL’s home gym to start my core workouts (I’m alternating strength training/running to improve my form).
I totally impressed myself, which is exciting!
I grabbed this little guy who couldn’t go to baseball games all day with the fam:
And then we went and woke up his auntie…
It is extremely hard to type with a yorkie in your lap, but I am managing!
He is a little overwhelmed by two or three of our residents here…I know he just can’t wait to get back to his BFF later tonight:
I occasionally endeavor into crafty things, like say for example, my girlfriend is coaching little league and forgot to order me a shirt…
So to the old (and I do mean old) craft bin, where I happened to find some iron-on letters circa 2003.
No wonder all the shirts I made in college looked like crap.
So, this is Michelle’s Guide to Crafting:
(You should see what the inside of my brain looks like, its even scarier than this.
The instructions said: hold iron on letter for 30 seconds, then release.
Cool.
Yeah I figured it woldn’t be that easy. See how the “Q” looks like someone’s been nibbling on it? The “I” did too, so I tried to reapply the iron but forgot the wax paper in between. Ooops. But lesson learned: (30 seconds = not enough time).
So I amped my time up to 45 seconds. But, not having learned in attempt one, that the letters have to peeled away from the paper just so…resulted in this:
Lesson 2 and 3 learned: (Peel slowly and deliberately + find the side that wants to come up) + (Don’t think you can just push it down with your hand and it will adhere to the shirt).
So I persisted..
Really? I even tried putting the paper over it and letting the iron sit for another 10 seconds, but not this stubborn little guy.
The best I got?
Not enough confidence from this experiment to think the word “BLUEJAYS” is going to be coherent on my shirt.
BOOOOOO.
This was mostly just for fun, I’m not a very crafty person to begin with and these letters are really old; I don’t even know the brand name.
Has anyone else ever tried to make a shirt for America’s favorite pasttime?
Well, Changin’ Time is one step closer to expansion, pending some serious financial decisions to be made this week (and not by us). So last night, feeling pretty confident in what we have accomplished so far, she♥ and I went out to celebrate a little bit.
Like an good lesbians, we went to Shadyside, thinking we would do a mini-bar crawl (like 3 bars). We started at 5801 because, hello. Its gay and classy and has a patio (not that it was warm enough to take advantage of it).
I am pretty sure this is her♥ initiation into Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week…
Mine was the other day, if you remember correctly. She hated this one, but ended up finding one she did like.
I had a pomegranate martini.
Now, I am by no means a drinker at this point in my life. Beer has made me fat. Wine is fine. But liquor – whew! – things can get a little messy.
So in order for me to maintain my dignity (and don’t worry, I spilled some of my drink after 3 SIPS!), we ordered one of the healthier looking bar munchies, roasted red pepper hummus with flatbread:
So good! The flatbread seemed like it had been fried though, which of course takes the health level down, but we didn’t even finish the small portion that we shared. Guilt-free celebration, especially since I turned out to be a one-tini-weenie.
We called it a night by 9:30 and crawled into bed…had to get up early to support some of our boys at their track meet this morning!
Of course Shadyside is known for its nightlife, but I do like to people watch and check out scenery so our trips to Shadyside are like a triple threat!
This was the gallery we parked next to, so I thought I’d take a few shots to share:
It was a great night! Just long enough for a little celebration and then a lot of sleep so we can get a TON done this weekend!
The kids did amazing at the track meet today, and hopefully the little league game that she♥ has this afternoon will go the same. Go Bluejays!!
I must say – I’m a little disappointed with the lack of media coverage of Earth Day/Earth Week this year. I have barely heard anything on Twitter and if the news sources ain’t tweeting it – they ain’t writing it. This is the ONLY thing I saw regarding it:
Changin’ Time and delaCueva Soap Company teamed up this week and attended Earth Market 2012, which was sponsored by Mayor Luke’s Office of Sustainability. Mayor Luke failed to make an appearance though, which was disappointing as well. I remember him giving a great speech years ago when ZipCar was kicking off in Pittsburgh (I even signed up!) The Zip Car girls were repping it anyway, despite Luke’s absence:
Anyway, in Market Square (which is beautiful – pictures really can’t communicate the vibe or urban beauty of the place), we sold our natural, locally handmade soaps and cremes and talking people up about cloth diapering.
Even though it had been cancelled 3/5 days it had been planned due to “rain,” I felt that it was a success and look forward to the Market Square farmer’s market this summer. Only Wednesday was nice weather, so on Friday I was too bundled up to get many photos…but here’s a quick little slideshow:
Lil' Red hanging out
There was a guy talking about converting vehicles to run off of vegetable oil and gTech’s program of reclaiming lands to fuel sustainable development – very cool stuff.
This woman was weaving bags out of plastic shopping bags on a loom. She even let me try it, which was my 1st experience weaving! I don’t think I’d be a very good weaver…but her bags are beautiful.
They were giving away trees to plant, for Arbor Day, but mine went directly into the compost pile because I HATE pine trees. Sorry Western PA, but I think we have enough to last us.
Anything that involved a person in a giant costume – Red was there.
If you’re interested in learning more about CFL light bulbs and why they are a good option for your family – here is a good resource.
On Friday – there were more vendors/exhibitors/nonprofits, which you’d think would be a good thing. But the weather was crappy and there was a worker’s union going on that reminded me of a Vietnam protest, so it kind of sucked.
This made me happy though, its the PRC Litterbug who was having a dance party in the middle of Mkt Square:
Oh, and just as a WTF Friday kind of moment – why was the Pennsylvania Resource Council handing out free bottles of Dasani bottled water? I really don’t care that they are made with a higher percentage of plant materials and less plastic. They still go into landfills because PEOPLE DON’T RECYCLE CONSISTENTLY. I can’t even tell you how many bottles I saw in garbage cans, not recycling bins (located directly next to the garbage can). HELLO – hand out reusable BPA-free bottles and teach people to REUSE items instead of OVER-CONSUMING. You would think that a progressive organization like the PRC (which I attend their workshops and usually support) would have rethought that strategy a little bit.
Whatever, I took the free reusable shopping bag and gave them a smug smile while lecturing the poor girl manning the table.
It was an exhausting day for some, obviously…but fun and it was nice talking to pro-cloth or questioning-cloth peeps.
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