Pining for the Fjords

This past week, I received another delightful Stitch Fix box in the mail, and since it’s been awhile since I shared my results on the blog, I figured I’d do so now.  Since I know the regular pose of me trying on clothes in front of my bedroom door must get old, I figured I’d spice it up this time.  Instead of just presenting the clothes, I’d do some acting to add in how the clothes made me feel.  Get ready for a master class, people. Clothy goodness! First up was the Kut From the Kloth Kate Distressed Boyfriend Jean ($78).  Stitch Fix introduced me to Kut From the Kloth jeans in my very first fix, through the pair of black skinnies I still love to wear today.  All on my own, I sought out another pair of skinnies from this brand in green corduroy, and they served me well through the four harsh days of winter we endured here in Phoenix.*  Thus, I was excited to see another pair of jeans from the brand appearing in my delivery this month.  I ...

Last weekend, Chris and I ran races on back to back days.  On Saturday, we ran the 5 th annual Kiss Me, I’m Irish Run,* and on Sunday, we ran the City of Peoria Cactus Dash.  We’re beasts like that. The Irish Run is staged at Westgate, which is the large entertainment area housing the stadiums/arenas where the Cardinals and Coyotes play.  It’s only about 15 minutes away from our house, and it has all sorts of fun restaurant offerings, including a Yard House.**  The event can get a bit crowded, and even though it has age group and other awards, it ends up being more of a “fun run” than an actual race.  Anytime you take a large group of people (900 in our run and 2500 overall) who don’t normally race, ask them to show up in costumes,*** and then point them at a balloon arch, it’s highly likely that pandemonium will ensue.  This year’s race was no exception; although we were close to the start of the pack, we still ended up behind several strolling seni...

This year’s shirt design. Pretty cool, right? This past Sunday, I participated in the annual City of Peoria Half Marathon.  This is my second year running the race, and it’s super convenient for us, since it’s held on the pedestrian path that runs along the wash right outside our neighborhood.  The start and finish of the race is at Rio Vista Park, which is only 4.5 miles (one way) from our house on the path, so although we could technically bike to the start, we normally end up driving, as we’re tired enough afterward to make riding home a painful endeavor. From the start, the course heads south on the New River Trail through a set of smaller rolling hills, crossing through the wash around the 2 mile mark, and then looping back to the park on the other side of the wash.  This is also the loop that the City of Peoria uses for most of its 4 mile runs, so racers doing the 4 mile distance peeled off at this point and headed across the bridge to the park, then...

But only a few bites to eat! We’ve officially had the gardens for one full year now, so I figured it was time for another update!* Occurring since the last update , in late October/early November, we took out the watermelon vines on the right side of the big planter, swapping them out for seeds of winter crops, specifically, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts. From left, on the right side of the trellis: The area for the brussel sprouts, the happy, happy broccoli plants, and the cauliflower. Also, it’s not a garden picture if the dog isn’t in there somewhere. As you can see, the broccoli has taken off like gangbusters.  We haven’t harvested yet, but I figure we need to do so pretty soon, as the floret that popped up first is starting to widen out.  From past broccoli plants (in the other house), I’ve found that once the floret widens out, it flowers, moving past the stage where it’s edible.**  Hooray, healthy stuff! ...