Operation: Sparkle - Update 1

I've decided I want to blog about this thing I've decided to do. My girl friends who are doing it with me and I have decided to name it Operation: Sparkle.

Here's the short of it: We're training (and saving) for the Walt Disney World Princess Half marathon weekend in 2015. 

I'm hoping to blog about it once a week to keep a running update (no pun intended) for myself but also to try and inspire others and just share some general thoughts.

I have never been a runner. I've always thought runners were a bit nuts to be perfectly honest. But then, I started working out last summer because I noticed my pants were getting a little tight from just sitting at my desk all day or working in the lab. So me and a couple friends signed up for aerobics at the university. And it was great for the summer, when my schedule is a little more free.

But then the Fall came and the classes were no longer at a feasible time. But I knew I needed to stay active. So I went to my friend Lauren, who was a college athlete and already ran, and asked if she could help me run. And we began the C25K program. It took us the whole semester to get through it, but I found myself really enjoying it by the time we broke for Christmas. So after Christmas break, we started C210K. But I announced a new goal: to RunDisney...specifically the Princess Half. 

And so we did. And we've pulled our friend Bekah in with us. And it's been great. I find myself looking forward to my run days with great longing and anticipation because of the great release of stress I feel from them.

I hope this continues. And I hope you'll come on this journey with me. 

My Friends call me Meg, at least they would if I had any friends... - RDP SAL Week 11

Good morning stitchers!!!!
Though my computer acted slower than molasses this morning to scan this pattern, I've got it here for you now!

I proudly present, in the return of the Run Disney Princess Stitch Along, MEGARA!

CLICK the PIC

Megara has always been a favorite of mine because, like the entire movie "Hercules," she is a sassy little minx.

And she gets this great song.

See you next week...oh, it's good to be back. 

Happy Stitching!

The Run Disney Princess SAL continues the race THIS SATURDAY

That's right, stitchers, you read that right. I'm finally coming back to you, with a slightly different format.

We're going to return to our regularly schedules programming by bringing you a pattern EVERY SATURDAY until the deed is done. That starts this Saturday, February 1st, with everyone's favorite sassy Greek.

I'm hoping that a Saturday updating schedule will help me stay on task since I don't have to be at work by a certain time on Saturdays.

There are currently 2.75 princesses in the queue and I hope to make that a solid 3 by Saturday...so let's get back at this.

At some point, I promise, I will show you all the fun projects that kept me from the princesses...maybe this weekend or sooner.

Until then, keep stitching!

They shut the door on "Paradise"...or I'm still not over the Cancellation of "Bunheads"

With the return of "Switched at Birth," to ABC Family, I've had some old feelings reawakened. I don't watch a lot of ABC Family shows. As a matter of fact, the only one I watch now is SaB, because they cancelled the best show they've ever put on the air - "Bunheads."

I should probably preface this with a disclaimer: I've seen the full series of "Gilmore Girls" at least 6 times. Translation? I'm a huge Amy Sherman-Palladino fan.

When I heard that ASP was bringing a show to ABC Family, I was overjoyed. It had been 5 years since I had been able to enjoy new hijinx from the the quirky characters she creates and I didn't realize how much I needed more than the residents of Stars Hollow. And then to find that it was starring Broadway's Sutton Foster and was going to be about dancers...I was ecstatic. 

The series began and it was quirky and charming, and the end of the pilot was completely unexpected but took the show to a completely different emotional level and I was in love, so much so that I made my house watch it every Monday that summer while I was living in California for an internship. 

After 10 episodes or so, it went away, as all ABC Family shows do (they run such weird seasons over there), but I knew it would be back. It was charming and hilarious and Sutton Foster was a shining star, so how could it not? And I was right, when it returned in January with my other ABC Family favorite, "Switched at Birth."

It took me through spring and the quirky, lovable characters had their ups and downs and I tuned in every week anxious to know what was up with the residents of Paradise. And then the spring finale came and I knew it would be back for season 2. It had to be. It was witty and charming and better than most the shows they had on air, so how could it not?

So I waited. And summer passed with no news of renewal. Pilot season passed without any of those cast members able to do anything. And then in the fall, I got the most unbelievable news: "Bunheads" had been cancelled by ABC Family.

Surely this was some sort of mistake. This is the network that had a show on the air for 5 or 6 years about teenagers getting pregnant in high school that made me question if I had the wrong kind of secret life as a teenager. The network that has a show about pretty little teenagers that have been lying for longer than I can remember about who knows what. Surely they didn't cancel the brilliant, witty, sophisticated show they had on air.

But they did. And they replaced it with an edgy show about a lesbian couple raising their foster kids, all of whom have troubled lives for one reason or another that I'm not quite clear about. And now every time I watch ABC Family, and I see a commercial for one of their insipid programs, I wonder what ever happened to those lovely girls in Paradise and their crazy ballet teachers. 

And sadly, I'll never know.   

"So...how did he do it?"

One of my friends from college and I email back and forth pretty regularly. Mostly to discuss various British shows we watch on PBS. At the beginning of the month, he began basic training for his new job in the Army band, which meant he wasn't going to be able to watch the new seasons of "Sherlock" and "Downton Abbey" because of his lack of TV and internet. 

Now, Thomas has been crazy theorizing how Sherlock survived the "Reichenbach Fall," but that had been pushed aside in our recent emails for more Downton-centric discussions.

So, when I got a letter from him I got really excited. Then I opened it and it only had six words: "So...how did he do it?"

I was already excited to see the return of Sherlock. I've been actively avoiding spoilers since the season aired in England (because I've already accidentally spoiled the past two seasons of Downton and I can't do that again...). But now, I was watching with a purpose...I couldn't let Thomas down.

But at the end of 90 minutes Sunday night I was left with a major dilemma...what was I supposed to write him???

My pen was poised from the start and I almost started taking notes on what turned out to be ridiculous Anderson being ridiculous. But then the episode began, and I was enthralled by having my favorite functioning sociopath back on my TV and wondering how long it would take me to find a "I don't shave for Sherlock Holmes" t-shirt. (The answer? Not long. The BBC themselves cashed in on that one)

By the end of the episode, though, I still had nothing to write Thomas (mostly because I'm convinced what he admitted to Anderson is still a lie)...and I found myself raising my fist in the air and screaming "MOFFAT!!!" through my teeth. 

Now, I'm a Whovian...this was not something new for me to find myself doing...but it was new for me to be doing it to Sherlock. My brother always tells me that one day he looks forward to saying "I told you so" over my lack of enthusiam for Steven Moffat as the head writer of "Doctor Who". And I used to think he was right. After all, there was promise in the one-off episodes he wrote under Russell T. Davies. And then, with Sherlock, he seemed to be firing on all cylinders...after all, he only had to write 3 episodes a year! How could he screw that up?

Well, you could argue he did. Because he didn't deliver on unspoken promises (yet again, I might add...exhibit A: The first half of Doctor Who series 6 v. the last half). He didn't answer the most impossible cliffhanger given to TV audiences since someone shot JR!

But I think, and it pains me to say it because I hate it when my big brother is right...I think he did the right thing. For two years, people have been postulating how Sherlock did it...just like Anderson and his crazy "Empty Hearse" club. And let's face it - any explanation Moffat gave wouldn't live up to whatever theory you had decided was the truth. 

So...he did the right thing. As much as it pains me to say. He left it up to us to decide and hopefully he will keep it that way (no spoilers, please). Even if he left me nothing to write to Thomas. 

In the end, I wrote him the story Sherlock told Anderson, in case you were wondering. I had to give the man something. 

The Run Disney Princess Stitch Along is returning soon!

Mark your calendars stitchers! I've given myself the goal to get the RDP SAL up and running again (no pun intended) by the end of the month. I'm giving myself this lead in time in an effort to get ahead in my stitching. Right now I'm aiming for the 31st of January.

We'll return with everyone's favorite sasser, Meg from Hercules.

Stay tuned.

Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

Here we go: obligatory "it's a new year" blog post!

2013 has been an interesting year. It was the year I studied my ass off to stay in my grad program. It's the year I decided to stop be a couch potato and sorta start taking care of my body. It's the year I finished my first paper piecing quilt. It's the year I got even more comfortable with myself. And it was the year I started designing my own SAL patterns.

But we still have places to go, so here's to 2014, which is going to be a lot of things. It will be the year I finish hosting my first SAL (I've got plans to get going again mid-January-PROMISE!!!). It's the year I will celebrate becoming a quarter of a century old. It's the year I will see the expansion of Wizarding World. It's the year I will continue to get in the best shape of my life. And it's the year I will be proactive in my life and in getting what I want. It's also the year I will watch my best friend marry the move of her life.

So here's to 2014, all. I wish you the best.