I'm leaving... on a jet plane.

So, I've never been on a plane.

There.

I said it.

My friends think it's so bizzarre, but honestly, where would I have flown to? We travel a good bit, but it's usually to Wilmington, Hilton Head or Atlanta- close enough to drive!

Well, ONE week from today, I'm getting on a plane and flying to Texas to meet my awesome cousin Maureen for the International Quilt Festival! The market is this weekend (trade show so not open to the public... and I am "the public"), but I hear a lot of vendors stay for both weekends! I'm so excited to see all the awesome quilts and, let's not kid ourselves, SHOP!

These pictures (from IQF's facebook page) make me so so so so so so excited!

Have you ever been? Are you going this year?

all together now: "oooh... aahhh..."

Lookie there! Quilt Story is featuring my Kappa T-shirt Quilt today!
Head over to check out a really unique quilting blog. They feature a quilt and its story everyday AND I'm kind of in love with their Fabric Tuesday link-up post (for me it's a swift kick in the rear to get something completed over the weekend and post it by Tuesday)!
Go see!

Oh, did I mention...

I ran another 5k!

I actually walked twice during this one (only once the last race) yet still managed to beat my last time, so I'm assuming that means that when I *am* running, I'm running faster!

Noah was stoked to see Homer (the mascot for our local minor-league baseball team) there and spent most of the time that I was running waving at him.

See? That is a stoked face.

Joe only got this one pic of me running.

I'm the blob in the back wearing a grey shirt and pink hat.

So see that 4 year old in front of me? Yeah, that's a complaint for the race. They started a 1 mile fun run about 10 minutes after the 5k started, so the kids that walked the 1 mile were finishing right as the 5k'ers started coming in. Logistics fail.

I can't say that I love running, but I'm getting to where I love how I feel when I'm *finished* running, so that's a start. My friends and I (from the first pic!) have been running together 3 mornings a week, but we're backing off a little for now, as a lot of that was time the kids were in school when we really should have been doing other stuff. We plan to continue running on our own and signing up for another 5k in December!

I also read about the Ramblin Rose Triathalon this week... maybe that could be next year's project? Yeah, I've officially lost it.

and in the years after, with tears and with laughter...

... we'll always remember our dear Kappa days.

I told my dad my senior year of high school that I would absolutely not go through Rush at USC.

"I'm not going to PAY for my friends." I said.

Little did I know that some of the best friends of my life were waiting for me.

The memories that this quilt hold are worth every penny.

mmm... fall.

I'm not sure about where you are, but in South Carolina it's dang-ole-HOT until about October. This week has totally taken that to a new level.

yesterday = September = high of 84 degrees

today = October = high of 65 degrees (holla!)

We took advantage of this ah-mah-zing weather and headed to a pumpkin festival at our local farm (and CSA provider!). Noah met some cows...

we took a hay ride

picked a few pumpkins

checked out some pony rides (just watched!)

and totally crashed a half mile down the road.

In other news, it's been about a month since my last blog entry. No good reason, just attempting to spend a little less time online and a little more time doing the following:

making akward faces all. the. time.

... especially while re-fashioning some clothes that have been in my closet for YEARS without wear.

finishing my KKG t-shirt quilt (yup, that's all the preview you get.)

It is currently at the quilters, totally quilted and ready for pick-up and binding!

snuggling with this cute kid who just recently decided that cuddling with mom isn't the worst thing ever

and all-around enjoying his whacky antics (yeah, this is how he came out of his room that morning. What a weirdy).

Oh, and running. Yeah, THAT'S still going on. I have my second 5k one week from today. I wouldn't say I'm "enjoying" it, but I do like the chit-chat time that comes with running and I'm not missing the 17 pounds that running scared away OR the new jeans it brought with it!

I'm hoping I'll have a finished t-shirt quilt to show you soon along with some appliqued fall clothing and possibly some step-by-step pics of a shirt re-fashioning? (aw shucks- I've had 2 people request that already!)

*whew* I can breathe now.

The past month has been insane... and resulted in a crap-ton of pictures.

My dad's 50th surprise party went off without a hitch!

(I realize that is super young for a granddad, but I was adopted by my aunt and uncle so he's not biological! )

Although I'm having a really hard time with the fact that my brothers are now teenagers and the oldest is a college student. What the crap!

Also, I finished the Couch to 5k program and ran my first 5k!

My friend Ashley and I ran it together and it wasn't that bad! There were a TON of big hills, though, so I'm pretty proud that I only walked 100 steps (yup, I'm a geek and counted!) and ran the rest of it! I'm already signed up for a 2nd one on October 8th!

I used this tutorial to make a new pillow for the couch! I used 2.5" squares because that's what I already had cut out from a random night when I cut pretty much ALL of my scraps with the Go cutter!

This was my first time putting an invisible zipper in a pillow- it was easier and faster than the envelope method in my opinion!

Lastly, Noah turned 2 yesterday! We threw a Dr. Suess themed party on Saturday. Most (if not all) of these ideas came from Pinterest (here's the link to my pinboard of ideas for it!). We rented a bouncy house (from Friday to Monday- yeah, we hung out in it after Noah went to bed at night, so what?) and I think all the kids had a blast!!

These party hats were presh! I totally recommend Modern Bebe for any party printables! She was so great and the stuff was so easy to print!

The favor bags had "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" skewers, 2 pencils and 2 buttons (from the Target one spot!).

The birthday boy had a great time!

Today I even went ahead and made Noah's thank-you postcards and started writing them!

I've never been this on top of things!

Whew! Now that the crazy month is over, I'm hoping to have some more time to finish some projects- first off that t-shirt quilt!

flashback friday: big mama.

Two years ago today, I was pretty dang miserable.

I wished away every second of every day of August 2009.

I was convinced I would have an August baby because- holy crap- he was huge on the ultrasounds and my family is known for big babies and no one ever made it to their due date.

No one but me.

Fast forward two years and our house is a frickin' wreck and I just want time to slow down.

(For the record, it appears as though Thomas the train and Dr. Seuss had a love child, which has vomitted all over my living room.)

Nostalgia got the better of me for a minute as I looked through these "belly pics" that I took every few weeks when I was pregnant with Noah. He was so much quieter and easier to deal with while in utero. :)

Now, in the last 45 minutes I have of Noah's nap, I'm off to bake Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes and make some Who Fluff on a Stick. Oh you've never heard of Who Fluff on a Stick? Then you better check back later to see some party pics and experience it's awesomeness.