Sunshine and Slacking

Oh the rain has gone and the sunshine has returned! I am so happy! Three straight days of rain flooded my poor patio garden and made the grass grow super fast. Fortunately my plants seem to be doing fine! Some of my lettuce sprouts got pushed around but I'm sure they'll bounce back.

So while I'm here...I have a confession. Remember how my husband and I were doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred? Well, we went back to Richmond for the weekend and got totally thrown off schedule! We've skipped almost an entire week! I know, I know...for shame!

So far we've completed Level 1, which we came to enjoy! I'm so mad we let ourselves skip so many days! As punishment for our lack of commitment, we're not going to go through Level 1 again, we're going to push on through to Level 2. Take that, slacker-self.

We're hoping to start back up ASAP! Tonight we have friends coming over and tomorrow my husband will be out of town for work all day so the plan is to get out butts back in gear on Saturday!

We'll see how it goes. Level 2 let's do this!

What do you do when you get thrown off course from your workout schedule? How do you fight to keep your consistency? How do you reward yourself?

Till next time,
Catherine

Scary Roads and Weekend Fun

I don't know how it is where you're from but here in Lynchburg it is COLD and WET! Yuck! Areas near Richmond got snow but we just got rain and ice.

On our way home from Richmond last night it began to rain a little, but nothing bad. The temperature was above freezing so we cruised as usual. All of a sudden, maybe 20 minutes from home, we saw about 6-7 sets of tail-lights going every which way on either side of the road. There was one car in front of us and they began to hit the brakes and fortunately we *carefully* followed suit. Just in the nick of time because we began to slide back and forth a bit but we were able to slow down safely without ending up like the other cars. It was a panicked 15 seconds for sure!

The odd part was that it was only that small few hundred foot section of road that was iced over but nowhere else was. I'm just so thankful we saw it in time! One car was facing down into a ditch but up on a hill on the other side so they were facing the road! No idea how they managed that but I hope everyone is OK!

Other than that we had a wonderful visit in Richmond. We got to spend time with family, including my precious niece and see some friends too. It didn't work out for me to have a girl's night like I had planned but that's ok...we'll be back soon and we can hopefully do it then!

My husband and his friends even made a bow out of PVC (for about $10) from this tutorial video I found! Man oh man did they have fun doing that! Unfortunately they didn't get pictures for a tutorial but the'll be making more and next time I'll be sure they get pictures! Maybe even a video too! So be on the lookout for that!

As for today, it's a snuggle under the covers and watch a movie kind of day! It's too cold for anything else!

How was your weekend? Are you as ready for spring as I am? 

Till next time,
Catherine

Random thoughts...

Some random thoughts of the day:

• I have the best cat. He purrs and sits on my lap while I clip all his nails. He also meows a lot. Ok he doesn't think he's meowing...he thinks he's talking to us.
• I am super excited to start watching the Scarlett miniseries that is based on the book Scarlett, sequel to Gone With The Wind. The actors who play Rhett and Scarlett are no Vivien Leigh and no Clark Gable but it is a great book that needed to be turned into a movie or TV show! My husband can tell you...the entire time I was reading Scarlett I kept saying "This book needs to be made into a TV show! It would probably suck without Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable but it needs to be done!" Lo and behold...someone did in 1994! Only 3 years after Alexandra Ripley wrote Scarlett!
• How did Miss Frizzle teach science with a MAGIC school bus?
• I want need a dresser so badly. Why are they so difficult to find??
• I desperately miss riding horses. Gotta find a barn here in Lynchburg.
• Has anyone ever heard of a little wooden toy called a hootie stick? You're probably from the Richmond area if you have! I'll probably have to elaborate more on that later. 
• Lastly...what am I doing on the computer?? We have a friend staying with us for a few days so I need to get my butt in gear and do some cleaning! 

Feeling some random thoughts lately? There are so many but I forget to write them down! How about you?

Till next time,

Catherine

The Bizarre Bazaar-A Richmond Tradition

If you've ever lived in Richmond, you know about The Bizarre Bazaar! It has been a Richmond tradition for 37 years and there are two each year. There is The Spring Market, usually in April, and The Christmas Collection in December. 

I drove all the way from Lynchburg to attend this year! My mom and I planned to spend just about the whole day at The Bazaar but we actually ended up stopping at two other craft shows! It really did become an all day event! 

First we stopped by one of my favorite places for a small local artisan craft show at The Montpelier Center for the Arts and Education. This is actually where my husband and I had our beautiful wedding reception! The building serves many purposes from a library to a ruritan meeting place to a dance studio to a venue for various events. There is a beautiful ballroom surrounded with windows and a hallway around the entire ballroom. There is always beautiful, local art work hung up in the hallway. During our wedding reception there was animal themed art in the halls which was perfect for someone like me!

We showed up nice and early around 9:30am to start off our day!

There were maybe about 30 vendors that hand-crafted everything from goat's milk soap to pottery to wreaths and even beautiful woodwork. It was hard to keep my wallet in my purse! 

Several vendors were showcasing their gorgeous handmade jewelry. There was even a lady who hand spun wool into yarn. I absolutely LOVE seeing the gifts and talents of my local community being showcased. Everyone has some sort of talent that they can put to work and I really enjoy supporting them in their endeavors. If you've been keeping up with my blog, you've probably noticed a pattern where I love finding Made in the USA products. As much as I love USA made products, I love locally made products even more!  

After we spent almost 2 hours at the Montpelier Center, I was checking Facebook on my phone and a friend had commented that there was another craft show going on at a nearby high school that had about 75 vendors! I mentioned it to my mom and off we went! 

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that show but there were a lot of great vendors and products available there too! There were a few more direct sales type of vendors but also lots of cool handmade products. We spent another couple hours at this craft show and we each found a few good things for gifts so it was nice and successful. We also bought lunch there to support the school, which my mom and my older sister both attended, actually!

Now, onto the big daddy craft show! The Bizarre Bazaar! 

I couldn't stretch my arm high enough to get even a fraction of what was there!! The Bazaar is held at the Richmond Raceway Complex which is a huge venue for all sort of events. The Bazaar alone took up their main building and 3 adjoining buildings! This year there were 475 vendors, primarily from Virginia and the nearby states but some even as far as Vermont. 

This picture is deceiving because, let me tell you, there was rarely that much available walking space in the isles! This place was packed with people from all over Richmond! We spent about 4 hours going booth-to-booth trying not to miss anything! There was just so much to see...and taste! 

By the end of it we were frankly quite tired! We each found a bit of stuff to buy and I found one of my favorite soup companies, Leonard Mountain! Their soups are delicious! They're "just add water" soups and are quick and easy. They're great by themselves or you can add all sorts of extras and it's always delicious! I blogged about one of the soups here. I had been hoping I'd see them because I was out of the soups I had bought last year. I ended up buying 7 soups at a craft show deal price. Yum! Winter is always the best time for soups, isn't it? I also bought some adorable reusable sandwich and snack bags for my husband's lunch! So glad I won't have to use hundreds of plastic baggies anymore! My mom also found plenty of gifts and we collected lots of business cards for reference. 

All in all in was a great day, not only for buying locally crafted goods, but for spending some fun, quality time with my mom :-) 

Do you enjoy attending local craft shows? Is there a yearly event you just can't miss? What's your favorite product you only get from local vendors?

Till next time,

Catherine