Loving this look on one of my childhood idols (who am I kidding, I still love her)...the one and only, Ashley Olsen. Fresh stripes: check. Punchy color: check. Awesome sandals: check. Wayfarers: check.
So fetch.
40 degrees. Pouring rain. Freezing wind. Hail. Does that seem like a normal May morning to you? Uhhhhh no. Hell no. Well maybe the hail. But that's the morning the organizers of the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon decided to have their event.So me and Mary got our butts downtown for a prayer service at the Survivor Tree around 5:30 am (the last time I was up that early was when I pulled an all-nighter after the Harry Potter premiere in November...and everyone at the UW remembers what I was like the next day) and at that time it was a lovely 55 degrees and dry. Not kidding, 5 minutes later, we were freezing cold and soaked through. And we still had another hour before we even started our run. Needless to say, it could have been an absolutely miserable experience, but this is Oklahoma. And this was the 11th annual OKC Memorial Marathon, where this incredible city comes together to remember what happened to our community 16 years ago on April 19th, 1995. I was only 6 on that awful day, but I remember it well. And it is the most heart-warming feeling to see the survivors and the family members left to grieve their loved ones and hear their stories and see just how far this city has come. It was too perfect that on the day of this marathon, the Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round of the NBA playoffs. NBA PLAYOFFS!?! Oklahoma City? It is a mark of just how much we have progressed here to know that those two things are now synonymous. If you grew up around this area, you know exactly what I mean. 16 years ago, the only sport anyone here cared about was played between September and December and the name of the team had "University" in it. We wouldn't have dreamed that an NBA team would ever come here. But this is 2011 and Oklahoma City looks very different.For one thing, this now sits at the center of our beautiful city:
168 glass chairs, representing 168 empty seats at 168 dinner tables. This is why we ran. We may have been young when it happened, but we've seen firsthand how our community reacted and it was nothing short of a miracle. It has come to be known as the "Oklahoma Standard" and I've never been so proud to call myself an Oklahoman. Mary brought the following testimonial from another runner to my attention a few days before the marathon and it just seems so incredibly appropriate, especially considering the events surrounding Osama Bin Laden that have occurred in the last 24 hours:"Like everyone else in this country, I was horrified by what I saw on the news on April 19, 1995. It was hard to imagine something like that could ever happen in our country. Especially when we found out it was carried out by some of our own people. But like most people in this country, to me it was a horrible story that happened to somebody I never met and it was something I would never experience. That all changed one Tuesday morning when I went to work and somebody intentionally flew a jumbo jet into my office building. On September 11, 2001, my city became that place that everybody watched on TV in horror. But eventually they shut off their TV's and went about their lives. Yet only one American city understood what we were going through and knew what it was like to join this club that nobody wanted to become a part of. And that was Oklahoma City. Right from the beginning, people from Oklahoma City came to New York to help with the recovery effort and to comfort the family members and survivors. And eventually, that was how I came to meet survivors from the Murrah Building. Over the following years, I became close friends with these people. When they told me about the Memorial Marathon and what it represented, I knew I wanted to become a part of it. Not only to show my personal appreciation for what you did for us but to show the solidarity between our two cities. Two very different places that showed in a very similar way what it's like to stand up to adversity. And so I have to come to Oklahoma City for 5 years to run the half-marathon. This is just an incredible gathering that shows that good will always overcome evil. And that even from the worst possible acts in human history, something good can result. Thank you Oklahoma City for helping New York City when we needed it most and for letting me take part in this great event."After reading that, it makes our small obstacles and miseries seem like absolutely nothing. The best part about my first half-marathon (and I'm sure Mary can attest to this as well) wasn't necessarily finishing (although, yes, it was a very very close second). It was seeing all the people who came out to support us. Even in the 40-degree weather, pouring rain, freezing wind and hail. Complete strangers dragging themselves out of their warm beds on a Sunday morning to stand in the rain and give us high fives, scream encouragements, and provide us with water and snacks. That was the only thing getting me through mile 11. And the reason I sprinted mile 13. And why I smiled as I crossed the finish line, right behind a group of five women who walked across that line, holding hands, hugging and crying. THAT is the Oklahoma Standard. On April 29th, 2012, you will find me on that course again, hell or high water.
As the announcer said before the starting shotgun, following the most chilling 168 seconds of silence I've experienced, "We run to remember. We will never forget them."
My sweet sweet friend keely reminded me that I have not updated my blog in a while...7 weeks to be exact. Whooops. I do have a good reason, however. As mentioned in my very first post, one of my several New Years resolutions was to run a half-marathon. Hopefully in 2 weeks, I will have that one checked off my list. I'm planning on running in the OKC Memorial half-marathon on May 1st...so that's my excuse. I've been spending my evenings training for that instead of sitting at my computer.
But I'm back. With a DIY project. Remember this print?
Yes, well I decided I loved it. However, it was only a 7x5 print and I wanted something bigger. So I decided to make one myself.
You will need (you can get all these at Hobby Lobby, Home Depot or around your house):
-a canvas (I got the largest size they had - about 48x36 inches)
-2 colors of paint (I had leftover Behr from painting our kitchen chairs, so it really ties our living room and kitchen area together)
-roller brush & smaller brush-cardstock -foil -tape
-x-acto knife
1. Use the roller brush to paint your main color on the canvas (I used a turquoise color). Don't worry about making sure the whole thing is painted well, it looks better when there's imperfections.
2. Find a type face (font) you like. You can find free fonts online - I used Bodoni. You want to make sure it's really bold and blocky, otherwise it won't transfer very well onto the canvas.
3. Type out what you want your canvas to say (I used the "why not?"), using one letter per page to make them big enough to trace. My canvas was so big that I couldn't print the letters big enough, so I just free-handed them, but it would be easier to trace.4. Print the letters on cardstock and cut them out with an x-acto knife.
5. Here's where it gets a little tricky and messy. Take some foil and roll it up in about 6 inch pieces. Tape them down on both sides to the cut out letters so they act as little handles. You'll need multiple "handles" for each letter.6. Position the letters on the canvas as you want them. One by one (and this will require 2 people), lift each letter, quickly paint your other color on on it using the smaller brush, then press it down where you want it on the canvas. Press down all the edges to make sure all the paint transfers to the canvas. Use the foil handles to pull the letter back up. It won't look exact, but it will look AWESOME. Promise.
7. Continue to do that with each letter until you're finished.
8. Hang your masterpiece and enjoy!
Even though I'm so looking forward to spring/summer and the update to my wardrobe that the warm weather will bring, I will miss one thing about winter.
BOOTS.Like these...
I'm beginning the mourning process as I prepare to put mine away for the next 7 or so months. Step one: wear them as much as possible while I still can.
Check back in to see how Step 2 goes.
So elegant.
Funny how white and taupe can make for a gorgeous bedroom.
My comforter is the color of that door, so I'm leaning towards these colors, only gray instead of the yellow cream color.
Cutest laundry room I've ever seen.
Loving this color combo...
If I could paint the outside of my house, it would look like one of these.
I think this is what I'm going to go with. Grey on three of my walls with the white crown molding, then these stripes on one accent wall. Plus white furniture and yellow decorations and my turquoise bedspread. Perfect.
