...Is what my last blog post should have ended with given my recipe for today.  You remember my last blog post, right.  With the topless sandwiches and pandas and everything.  It's here if you don't know what I'm talking about.  Bread, plant matter, and cheese is something Heather and I both love.  I'm continuing the theme this week with one of my favorite quick and easy meals.

Last week was definitely full of exercise - exercising patience.

Baby Girl got sick towards the middle/end of the week, and she wholly believes in sharing her misery. I can't remember the last time I've been that exhausted, which cut into my motivation to be a functioning adult.

I did get another new pair of running shoes. I scoped out DSW earlier in the week, and they had 4 different models of Brooks running shoes, including the Ravenna 6's. I had a plan to come back during the weekend, with my DSW coupon in tow, to get them. When I returned on Saturday, DSW had gone from 4 models of Brooks to 2! The Ravenna's and the Adrenaline's were gone! Ack! So, I run over to The Running Store, and talk to one of the sales guys. I need a Brooks Ravenna 6 (I know the 7's just came out) in a size 11.

It was fate. Their last pair of Ravenna 6's were my size. I bought them on the spot, and earned a free t-shirt. Yay for free clothes! So I now own two of the exact same shoes. Hubs suggested I call the new shoes Ravenge, which I totally love, so that's their name.

It's too close to Nashville to wear them at the race, but I'm going to wear them this week. I'm wearing the old Ravenna's for the race on Saturday. Super excited about Nashville! 5 days! Squee!

Ok back on topic - Read on to see this week's recap!

This week started off full of gusto and starry-eyed wonder, but then it came to a crashing halt.

Hey all! I'm back reviewing yet another McCall's pattern.

Funny how most of the patterns I seem to be making are from McCall's. Sure, there's been a Simplicity thrown in there, but McCall's just seems to be my go-to lately.

That's ok, I find that I migrate between the pattern companies depending on my mood and styling preferences. McCall's is very up to date, but not over the top crazy. They seem to keep it classy and elegant while not being dated. Simplicity would be more en vogue, but Vogue is always the creme de la creme! Butterick is more modest and not always up to date, but they do have some great staple classic pieces that the other 3 pattern companies don't. Butterick also has Patterns by Gertie, which are super fun.

Anyways, back to the current pattern. I found this pattern a couple of weeks ago, and it was an impulse buy. It's a versatile dress that I totally envisioned wearing this summer at the winery or out on a date, or just because.

Then while at Jo-Ann's with Mom a week or so later, we found some great linen on clearance. Squee! It's a multi-colored print that will seriously go with everything. I also love linen. This is a linen-blend so it won't wrinkle as badly as true linen, which is nice, because I hate ironing.

I decided to go with View A on this dress, but without the contrast. I got enough yardage for View B, because I knew that I'd have to lengthen the skirt by at least 6" and since I wasn't having a contrasting fabric, I'd need the extra fabric for the bias cut ties. I think I have enough fabric leftover for a cute little dress for Baby Girl.

So remember a few weeks ago, when I asked the question about the chemically smell in my nose after working out? The post is {HERE}.

So my question today is why do I get chilled after running?

This is not a new question, but I found several varied answers. Some of them I wholeheartedly agreed with, and some left me shaking my head.

So let me start out with some things I know -

• After a good, hard, sweat-inducing workout of an hour or more I will get chilled to the bone afterwards. 
• It doesn't matter the season or weather. I've been out running when it was 9* and snowing, and bundled up to the teeth, and out in 100* sun-baking heat in little more than shorts and a tank. 
• What I eat before, during, or after a run doesn't matter either. 
• I'm a shade under 6'2" and weigh 195 lbs, which means my BMI is 25 (can you believe it still categorizes me as overweight?). 

Our bodies are very good at a lot of things, but sometimes they don't always keep up with changes. Our cooling/heating system is one such item. When we're running a distance (this is up to your body) that enables your body's cooling system (sweat) and then we suddenly stop, our body doesn't always get the memo, and it continues to cool our bodies, until it's done such a good job of cooling us that now we're cold. Our cooling system has over-cooled our body to the point that the emergency heat kicks on (shivering and goosebumps) and begins to warm our body back up. After a few hours, our heating/cooling system has stabilized our body and we feel normal again. 

Or, as many call it, tartine!  For those of you that don't know, tartines are basically topless sandwiches - fancy people may refer to these as "open-faced" whilst holding their pinkies in the air and sipping volcanic rock filtered water from a bone china teacup handcrafted by endangered panda bears.  Whatever you call it - tartines, topless sandwiches, trumped up toast - the basic concept is the same: stuff layered top of a slice of bread.  It's kind of like building a salad in that you want a balance of different flavors and textures.  Maybe something sweet, something crunchy, something creamy, and so on.  Heather has a penchant for tartines, and we spent a good half hour or more today discussing recipes for them.  The next few weeks will be delicious!

So you know the old saying - "Necessity is the mother of invention"?

That's the reason for today's post.

Our family has a shoe problem. A big one. I may or may not be the biggest offender of this problem, but in my defense, my shoes do make it back up to my closet far more often than the most prolific offenders, my children. I'll give Baby Girl a pass, because she's a toddler.

We have shoes everywhere, and it's not for lack of trying to organize them. We have a shoe organizer, but it just doesn't hold enough pairs, and it's destroying the top of the closet door.

So while grumbling after fussing at the boys for the umpteenth time to pick up their shoes, and then tripping over a pair of my Hub's shoes, inspiration dawned.

The sofa table. I can replace the sofa table with a sofa table height shoe organizer. Apothecary style. I could build it.

From these incomplete but inspired thoughts, this plan came to life.


I looked around online, and didn't find anything that really suited what I needed, but I did take inspiration from several different styles and sources. This design, though, is all my own.

There are 18 cubbies that are more than big enough to fit a pair of sneaker or even a couple of books.

Here's another shot with some dimensions.



The piece is slightly longer than the sofa table we have now, but it's the same height.

Now I just have to figure out the wood requirements and price it out. Given the width, I may end up having Lowe's rip down some plywood boards to the 11.25 width I need. I'll also need some edging for the fronts and sides. I really wish our table saw hadn't died.

Be on the lookout for this project to come to life. I'm desperately tired of cleaning up shoes.

Cheers!

This week was ok. I got my workouts in, but still no core training. Seriously, I need someone to yell at me to get those strength workouts in. I know why I'm not doing them. The only time I'd really be able to focus and get them done is during Baby Girl's nap and there are other things on the list competing for that uninterrupted time. It comes down to exercise or getting the house in order. Right now, getting the house in order is more important. The state of the house is causing stress. There's discord everywhere. Baby Girl seems to revel in the chaos she creates. Hubs and I do not share her admiration for the mess.

I am not really into zombies...says the girl who loves the film "Warm Bodies" and the TV show "iZombie" and only runs because there are undead around.  I have less than no interest in "The Walking Dead" and most other zombie related things, though, so that makes my initial claim legit, right?  Dubious.  I'm selectively into zombies?  I'm digressing, more about the running.

For those who are unfamiliar, there is a really fantastic app called "Zombies, Run!".  It is the only thing that has kept me on any kind of fitness regimen, which it has done extraordinarily well.  I tried different things for about two years before finding ZR.

I'm blessed when it comes to be able to rely on my people. I have 2 people that I lean on a lot when it comes to the night before a race. My husband and my sister.

However, Saturday night they were both busy! How dare they have lives! Don't they know I have a race tomorrow? Please read, see, feel the sarcasm dripping from these words.

I love that they were out, and that they took the time to talk to me while I had my regularly scheduled pre-race freakout. Of course, my husband was going to be coming home and then waking up early with me and the kids to trek to DC with me, but my sister was out at a friend's house and still talked to me.

I freaked out when I realized I'd forgotten to buy more gels, and the boys were already in bed, and hubs was still out. I called him and without even saying hello, quizzing him if he was going to be home before midnight, and if he could please pick me up the fruit punch gatorade gels that were in the sports drink aisle at Wegmans. I didn't realize I was on speaker, and my dear sweet friend's husband got to hear what a mess I am the night before a race. Luckily, they missed the conversation between my sister and I.

My sister was out, and I tried calling her. She didn't answer, but instead texted back, that she's busy and what's up? I basically vomited everything that was running through my head in the text back to her. She called me immediately. We talked through my outfit for the next day. How many layers should I wear? Am I over thinking this? [yes]

She then helped me create a new overnight oats concoction. After I had the overnight oats done, I let her off the phone so she could go back to being a perfectly lovely guest. I'm a terrible older sister. Sorry to your friend, because I monopolized your time for a bit, but I love that you did that for me! It's why you're my person!

So here's what we came up with! Peanut butter banana is one of my favorite flavor combos. I love the Ben & Jerry's Greek FroYo Peanut Butter Banana, so why not try to whip up a breakfast with that same flavor profile?

I am an anglophile; I adore England.  Honestly, if I wasn't married, I'd probably be living there.  We don't have enough time to go into all the reasons, so I will sum up with this: the accents, my bestie, the beauty, and the food.

That last one may surprise some people because there's this crazy idea that British food is terrible.

Where does this come from?!  Jammie Dodgers, mince pies, fish and chips, meat pies, and Victoria sponge cake...what's not to love?!  This hideous stereotype is completely unfounded!  The stereotype about how much they drink tea, though?  100% true.  Seriously.

I actually didn't discover Victoria sponge cake until this last trip I took over there, last year.  It is such a simple yet delectable dessert.  Essentially, you've got two bits of sponge cake sandwiching strawberry jam and whipped cream, and you sprinkle powdered sugar on top.  That's it!  And now I can make it all on my own!

So I actually ended up making it twice using two different recipes because I wanted to do better after the first try.  Therefore, this is going to be a comparison-recipe-review mash-up.

Happy Monday everyone!

I was so excited to make this pattern. I love maxi skirt patterns, and the tulip effect of of View D had me hooked, which is why I bought this pattern on an impulse. 

I wish it had turned out well. I bought a midweight melon colored knit for the pattern, and all was well until I got to the waistband. 

The skirt draped beautifully, and the only hairy part was the gathering of the center front. The guide sheet doesn't adequately describe that you have to gather each section, baste them together, then add more gathering stitches to the combined front and then gather all of that again.

I don't know if a jersey would've handled that better ,but I just think there were too many rows of stitching on top of one another to make the last set of gathers work well. That could've been done better, but I made it work.

I decided to make the pattern at a 20 because that's the size my hips are, and just cut the elastic band at a size 18, which is my waist measurement. All should have been fine. Then I got to the waist band.

The elastic was encased inside the facing for the top of the skirt. The problem with this is that with the gathers at the center front of the skirt made it heavy. Heavy enough to pull down and look silly. A yoke would've been fine, but would not have aligned with the tidy look of the top. Maybe a lighter knit would've been ok, but I doubt it. There's a lot of fabric at the center. So needless to say, I'm done with this skirt.


I could try and fix it, but it's not worth my time. I don't like how the construction of the waistband fit on my body, and even though I cut the skirt out for my size, it's not flattering.

I have more knit fabric, and will just make a traditional column maxi skirt. No frills, just keeping it simple.

So there's the disappointing skirt from last week.