michelle my belle

ever heard of cyclocross?

well, this is cyclocross.
and these are the Cross Crusades here in Portland, OR.
with over 250 women participating!
yes, that is me on the left.
my 2nd cross race EVER.

my hubs assured me that "cross" is FUN!

this is him on the right in blue.

if 45 minutes of being completely anaerobic and muddy is "fun"...
then i can honestly say it's a BLAST!

i'm not used to working this hard.
pushing my body to the edge.
wanting to give up.
fighting mentally.

but, when that 45 minutes is up.
it sure feels good.
accomplished.

cyclocross is empowering.
invigorating.
exciting.

Reggello, Italy area

here are some random pictures of an area just south of Florence...

keep in mind, many of these pictures that i've already posted and will continue to post are from the little point and shoot while riding. so lindsay (my wonderful photography mentor)... i know you're looking at this, don't judge me by my pics! haha :)

this is looking out from the bed & breakfast we stayed at for several nights.
LOVE this place!

on the sidewalk in Reggello.

uh, YUM!

and YUM some more!

my husband. he isn't posing for this, promise.
are you sick of my italy pictures yet?

no running for me

one of our new money banks we introduced at the gift show in NY.
(available end of Sept.) i just love him!

okay, i'm finally back to the blogging world.
i've been wallowing in self pity long enough.

about what? oh, about not being able to run-mainly.
i've been having some trouble in my hamstring/knee for the past month.
this weekend i was supposed to be running Hood to Coast but had to bail.
i'm beside myself bummed!

but, on the "thankful" side of things... i can still ride my bicycle!

since i haven't been able to run... i've had more time for eating! haha!
every time i go to NY, a burger from 5NapkinBurger off 9th is a must. yum!!!

while looking for 5Napkin's site i found the recipe for their burger on MarthaStewart.com!!!
this might have to be on our menu for tomorrow!

if you're interested in attending Artfest this coming spring, registration is open!
you'll probably want to register quick as a lot of things fill up right away.
here are direct links to my classes.

silkscreen & stitch journal

what's your story?

dangling dudelings

off and running...

i'll be back in a few days.
say some prayers for me please :)

here are a few of my friends (julie & ashley) who are also running.

painting in my color faves!

my long-standing joke with myself is that "i want to retire and paint".
i guess it always sounds funny cause painting is what i do now.
but the reality is, most of the painting/creating i do now is with product in mind.

so, inspired by my workshop at Artfest with Jesse Reno, this piece was purely for fun.
and i cherished every minute of it.
okay, okay.. i admit, there were a few moments of frustration.
especially when i felt like i had to paint over some of my favorite spots.

i have to say, all said and done, i love it!
i love the blissful colors mostly but i also love the surprise that awaited me.

p.s. thank you for all your sweet and encouraging comments on my workshop post. :)
i wanted to also tell you that my friends Janne and Shelly will also be teaching at Artfest 2011.
this will be their first time. very exciting!


oh, and did you know... i'm running another marathon in 9 days?
yes, ANOTHER ONE! what was i thinking???
i thought telling you about it might relieve some of my guilt for not even running for the past 4 days!
............
nope! didn't help! :(

robot, running & rain

many of you guessed right! it was a robot money bank :)

i'd love to reveal the rest of our fabulous Allen Designs summer line but you'll have to wait till July. boo! so sorry.

did you have a good weekend?

being here in the NW, we were blessed with one absolutely beautiful day, in which i went for a 7 mile run and took my kiddos on a 27 mile bike ride.

and one day of torrential downpour, soak you to the bones-RAIN! ( forgive me if this is bad grammer/punctuation, if you haven't noticed-not my strong point!)

pouring rain and all, my friend Ashley (thank you Ashley!!!) and i managed to run 20 miles.
i have never ran a "long run" in non-stop rain before.
admittedly, i was a bit nervous.
would i get blisters?
would i get cold?
could i handle over 3 hours of this?
would it just be downright miserable?
i really...REALLY didn't want to go.

pushing past things that are unpleasant or daunting, is challenging.
but can be so rewarding. the feeling of overcoming obstacles is empowering.
like i tell my kids, "if it was easy, everyone would do it!

be different.

amazingly, it turned out to be a great run.
fun, adventurous, mentally strengthening and definitely memorable.

what have you recently pushed through?
sometimes it's the smallest things, like emptying your Inbox! :)

running is for the birds

first off, i just want to say thank you so much for your kind words on my blog these past few days. you have no idea how much they mean to me! i love each one of them, no matter how simple.
just knowing i'm not alone on here and somebody IS listening!

my talented momma inspired me to do some pen & ink-then photoshop'd, which i love!
once a doodler, always a doodler.
i can hardly manage talking on the phone without filling up a paper with scribbles.
sometimes i must admit... it does distract me from the conversation at hand. yikes

yes that is one crazy-red-faced-woman you see before your eyes!
or at least i felt a bit crazy by the time i finished running 16 miles in the apartment courtyard this morning.
everyone stares at me anyways, being a foreigner, but now i just keep running and running AND RUNNING.
i'm sure they were wondering what the heck i was doing.
i just kept smiling every lap and before long many of their, to be truthful; hard, unfriendly stares, turned into big smiles and even thumbs up. so cute!
my faithful Andy Stanley podcasts (3 of them to be exact!) and those smiles got me to the end!

 
my time is almost done here in China.
one more day at the factory going over pricing, packing up samples and a few other last minute details and then home!
have i mentioned how much i love home? my family? toilets that come out of the ground???

my boston marathon

yes, this is the same Boston Marathon that happened several weeks ago and i'm just now getting around to posting about it!!

the expo and packet pick-up.

the night before. everything laid out and ready to go.

morning of, lining up in Boston Commons, waiting for the buses to take 25,000 of us out to Hopkinton to the start.

a beautiful but cold morning. which was especially nice considering that, once bused out here, you can spend more that 2 hours in these fields waiting for your start time.

i spent this time chatting with my friend Chelsea from CA, who was also running, and trying to decide what kind of race i was going to run. i knew i had missed a lot of runs and hadn't taken the training very seriously. of course kicking myself for it now!! questioning what my body could handle and how hard i should push it. 

my friend and running partner Stacey and i at the finish. 

i decided i'd start out running to try to re-qualify. which would be 3:45:59/or about 8:36pace.

i was averaging 8:36pace up to mile 20. at that point i knew i was going to really have to push hard (and maybe not healthily hard) to make a 3:45. knowing that i'm already signed up for the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon in June and the Portland Marathon in October i opted to back off and enjoy Boston. from mile 20 on- i slapped hands, looked around, smiled, walked every water station and just tried to take it all in. my finishing time was 3:52:18/8:52pace. i would have liked to have ran faster but all in all i'm excited that i got to experience the Boston Marathon. what a privilege! and a reminder that i can't "wing" a marathon!

the Boston medal is the yellow and blue one on the left. i came up with this easy DYI idea for displaying my running medals. here's one i found online. when i get bored with displaying them i plan to donate them to Medals4Mettle.

Cycling 100 Miles, am I out of my MIND?

Monday, my wonderful, supportive of my LIST husband and I set off to conquer #15!

Which was to ride 100 miles.
I've been riding a bit over the summer but nothing very consistent
Wondering if I can really do this.
I haven't ridden 100 miles since I was 19.
But, here we are, still smiling at around mile 25 (out around Lake Merwin).
1 water bottle down. 1 potty stop. 2 pictures

Mile 70.
I asked a lady grabbing her mail to snap this picture of us.
We've done about 5000 feet of climbing up to this point.
And, been on our bikes for close to 3 hours and 45 minutes.
I'm really starting to get tired.

Around mile 80 is where things went bad for me.
I thought "there is NO WAY i'm going to be able to ride 20 MORE miles"!
I slowed down to like 12 mph and just couldn't go any faster.
I'm thinking that this is a really STUPID idea and I HATE my list!!!

My hubby's cheeriness is NOT helping!
We stopped, got a Coke and I ate the rest of my 550 calorie Baby Ruth.
Things are always better after candy.

100 miles!
actually 101 miles!
5.5 Hours
Averaging 18 mph.
All without tears or "the bicycles in the ditch" and fighting!
(like in our earlier days)

SO glad to be finished with #15 on my list!

thank you my dear husband for putting up with me!

Mail Goodness, Bad Email and my mind is RUNNING!

I'll start with the Mail Goodness. I received this delightful package in the mail from my friend in Norway! I literally squealed when I got it. I just loved the envelope Janne stamped, I'm sure, with her own handmade stamp. Some other goodies she included: some Norway brochures (including one on cycling), a mouse pad with Indian pillows made from a photo she took, handmade paper and a card with a self portrait stenciled on it. Janne is so broadly talented artistically! She sews, takes fantastic pics, paints, designs costumes for stage, digitally designs, acts, and i think she sings too?! 

I'm trying to get focused on new designs but I've been having so much trouble with my email, I've been out of my mind! We switched servers and for some reason I'm getting some emails and not others. SO, all this to say, I'm sorry if you've commented and I haven't gotten back to you!!! :( 

I've been on a bit of a runner's high after the marathon. Thinking about what and when my next marathon will be. Boston isn't until April 2010, I'm not sure if I want to wait that long. hmmm.

I did find some VERY INSPIRING RUNNING BLOGS these last few days:

Heather Daniel, who placed 4th at the Eugene Marathon with a time of 3:07:55 after running Boston only one year ago with a time of 3:37:40!

Run Denise Run

A Girl Just Wants To Run (and have fun)!!

Racing Stripes

Thank you for all your cheers on my marathon! I've hoped I haven't been boring you to death with the running portion of this blog!

ttfn, xoxo

michelle