Christmas, Costumes, Concerts

In my previous post, I forgot to mention a bunch of things!  First, Christmas!  I haven’t had a “real” Christmas in I have no idea how long.  I don’t even remember.  This past Christmas was a different story, though.  I was invited to my boyfriend’s family’s Christmas.  I was not expecting any gifts, so when his mom walked over to me with this sorta big thing wrapped in green cellophane, I was almost brought to tears.  It wasn’t anything extravagant, but it was perfect.  It was a custom succulent arrangement that she had done herself!  There were 3 different succulents in the arrangement.  About a month after Christmas, one of them seemed to be starting to die.  It’s plump leaves were shriveling up and falling off.  So, the other day I went to Home Depot and bought a couple replacement succulents.  When I went to pull out the dead one and replace it with the 2 new ones, I discovered new growth on what I thought was a dead plant!  So I left it alone and managed to squeeze the new guys into the arrangement and, frankly, I am in love with it.  The new additions really compliment the other plants in it.  One of the succulents that his mom picked out has hot pink flowers on it.  One of the new ones has a bright yellow top.  So there’s lots of color. 

 

Still on the subject of Christmas…my boyfriend ordered 2 things for me.  One (the “less cool gift,” as he called it) arrived the Saturday before Christmas so he gave it to me Christmas Eve.  That was this lace weight silk yarn that was hand beaded.  It’s gorgeous but kind of a nightmare too.  It gets tangled and knotted so easily.  But I have a swift and yarn winder now, so I bet if I wind it, it’ll be easier to use.  My second gift was coming from another country and had a manufacture time frame of 3-4 weeks, due to popularity and the time at which he ordered it (10 days before Christmas)…and then a delivery time frame of about 2 weeks.  It arrived January 31^st.  When I opened it, I was beyond ecstatic because it was exactly what I wanted and was hoping for.  I wanted this dress so much that if he hadn’t bought it for me, I was definitely going to buy it for me.  Needless to say, this dress will get worn a LOT to festival.  It’s so pretty and comfortable.

 

 

I ordered a frog for my sword.  My sword is nothing fancy and neither is the frog, but it looks decent and is functional.  My sword is just a cast production of Glamdring from LOTR with a pretty cheap bonded leather sheath.  The frog I bought is also just cheap bonded leather, but I can use it as a pattern to make my own quality frog out of good leather myself. 

 

I’ve still been knitting away.  I’ve just been trying to be more rounded with all my crafting…scale & chainmail, knitting, sewing, etc.  Speaking of sewing, I really need to pick that back up because I still have my elf huntress costume that isn’t finished and I would really like to wear it to Sherwood Forest Faire this spring.  I need to order a couple things off Etsy and Amazon to complete the costume, but what’s left of what I have to sew on the elf costume is actually somewhat minimal, but it includes doing some things I’ve never done before, like buckles.  So, as silly as it is, I’m a bit intimidated by that.

 

I think it’s funny how excited I was to start playing World of Warcraft again and then my boyfriend talked me into playing Diablo 3 and now I’m all obsessed with Diablo 3 and haven’t even logged onto WoW in like a month now.  I am really enjoying Diablo 3! 

 

The other night, we went to see an Irish rock band, the Blaggards, at the local Irish pub, Fado’s.  It was their 2^nd to last show there because Fado’s is closing down next month.  It was a really good show and we stayed for the whole thing.

What's The Haps?

I know I haven’t been on here hardly at all and my last few posts have been mostly anything but running related.  I would like to preface this post by saying I have not run since the marathon at the beginning of December.  I’ve been dealing with what I can only refer to as an injury that got way out of control.  Since I was 17, after a weight lifting mistake/accident, I have had pretty constant pain in my lower back and increasing issues with sciatic pain that shoots down my right leg a little bit.  I went so far as to get a spinal cord stimulator implant about 7 years ago that I do not use because I don’t like it and it doesn’t actually help, it just masks the pain therefore causing me to continue to not actually deal with the injury.  About a year ago I started having shoulder pain.  Last month I started having really bad neck pain.  All on the right side.  The neck pain finally got so bad that it brought me to tears (I have a super high pain tolerance, so pain that brings me to tears is significant), so I decided I needed to make an appointment with a chiropractor.  I called 4 or 5 before one actually answered the phone.  2 or 3 wanted you to leave a message and they’d call you back…no thanks.  I made my appointment and waited impatiently for my appointment to come around.  When it did, it was amazing, let me tell you.  The other two chiropractors I’ve gone to in my life were serious quacks that apparently had no clue what they were doing (one actually made my back WORSE!  And that was what led to me getting the implant) and I know that now.  I went from walking in the door with a pain level of about 9 to a pain level of about 1.5.  I knew that some of the pain would come back after the endorphins of all the spinal popping that happened (I didn’t realize I had that many vertebrae in my spine, I popped so much!) and it did.  I was about a 3 or 4 within the next 2 days, but not bad at all really.  Definitely manageable. 

 

I went in for my 2^nd visit with him 3 days later and he adjusted me some more and said I was progressing nicely and that 1 more visit and I should be pretty well off.  So, anyway I just realized I skipped over what the problems were, so let me talk about those.  First, the neck pain that sent me to the chiro in the first place.  It had its roots in my right rotator cuff.  It was very angry and inflamed.  As a result it was affecting the muscle that goes between my shoulder and the side of my neck, pulling my neck all out of alignment.  He popped my neck not once, but TWICE and each time it popped 5-7 times!  The other problem I had was my hip flexor was super tight and was basically in a constant spasm.  It was pulling my lower back completely out of whack and making my right leg about 3 inches shorter than my left!  WHOA!  So, he stretched my hip flexor, popped my pelvis back into place and popped my lower back.  I stood up and I felt downright amazing!  I will say that I had been walking around with one leg shorter than the other for so long that it felt seriously weird to walk for the first couple days after that initial adjustment.  I’ve had to stand up at work a couple times since then.  Usually my feet and my back are killing me by the end of my shift.  Not anymore!  They’ll be tired, but not hurt.  Also, since my energy isn’t focused on blocking pain, I have sooooo much more energy!  And I’ve been sleeping better for the most part.

 

My injuries are mostly resolved, though I will be going back to the chiropractor probably about once a month just to insure that things stay in alignment.  In fact, I need to make another appointment for some time in the next couple/few weeks.

 

I’m still working on my costumes a lot.  It’s a mixture of creating my own items and purchasing items to pair together.  My most recent purchases were all Viking-related.  I now have a full Norse maiden outfit.  I bought through a company called Black Raven Armoury.  They’re located in the UK and sell a wide variety of costume attire.  I chose an under dress and an apron dress.  I made a mistake in reading their sizing chart and ended up ordering the wrong size and when I got them the dress didn’t fit.  It was about 2 weeks before the event I wanted to wear it at was happening, so I panicked a little.  I was going to ship the under dress back to them and they were going to exchange it for the correct size for me, but discovered that in order to get that done in a timely manner so I’d receive the new dress before the event, it’d literally cost as much as ordering a second dress…so that’s what I did. 

 

I also really love to make purchases off Etsy when I can for my costumes and other projects.  I love to support small businesses.  My other Viking-related purchases included a knot belt with the Elder Futhark alphabet stamped into it and a belt pouch big enough to hold a large cellphone.  Everything arrived before the event, so I was beyond happy about that.

 

The event in question was another Viking Feast at the BS Brewery in Seguin, TX.  I went to their first one last October and this one did not disappoint either.  It was a little chilly out so we didn’t stay nearly as late as we did at the first one, but we still had a great time and the food was just as good as well.  They had pickled eggs this time and I’d never had one before so I tried one.  They’re good…but just not my thing.

 

 

Yet another Viking-related costume purchase was a gambeson (padded shirt that was traditionally worn under armor and chainmail).  I love it!  this will replace my tunic when the weather is chillier.  And speaking of armor and chainmail, I’ve been doing a fair amount of work on my scalemail and am close to finishing up my scalemail outfit.  I will finish it up with a chainmail box weave around the top and for the clasps on the sides to make it lay flat because, as is, it likes to roll up at the top.  I just hope it looks as good as I think it will when I get done with it.

 

I bought a linen wrapped, blank Viking shield last month, as well.  It arrived and I proceeded to stencil my chosen design on it and then hand painted it in blue and yellow.  Then I painted the back black and hand painted “Vykharen” in Long Branch Futhark across the top.  The other day, my boyfriend and I did some work to finish up the shield.  First we got the cone boss attached and looking good, then we attached 2 belts I bought to make a cross-body strap so when the shield gets too heavy to carry around the festival (it weighs 12 pounds, after all), I can strap it to my back and still be in costume.  So I’m pretty excited about that.  It looks great and it’s comfy too. 

 

 

 

I’ve started weighing myself again…once a week.  I want to lose 30 pounds.  I will never get back to the 151 that I was the summer before last and I’m okay with that.  Sure I miss that body and how it looked and felt to be in it, but unless I want to run 40+ miles EVERY week, it’s just not maintainable for me.  I’ll be happy as long as I’m around 175.  I’ll be…comfortable…and that’s what matters.  My boyfriend thinks I look good and his opinion is the only one that matters to me.  His opinion of how I look has helped my self-esteem a lot.  I’m so grateful for him in so many ways.  We’re going to start running…just one mile at a time.  But, I do have to say, that the 1 mile route we’ll be doing is VERY hilly, so it’s not an easy mile by any means.  And we’re going to start cycling again too.  And we’ve vowed to not eat out as much and cook at home more.  Good changes.  So this blog may be salvaged after all!  Although, I think it’s going to become a hybrid of all my loves in life…running, being as healthy as I can, crafting, cosplay…you get the picture.  So I’ll probably be modifying the name soon.

 

 

Runs, TRF, Bday & Christmas

I want to update you guys on some stuff.  I know I’ve been really silent lately and I definitely haven’t been doing much in the way of running.  But I did run a few times recently!  I know!  Crazy, huh?  I’m sure I’ll get back to running more regularly at some point, but right now my priorities are very different.  Anyway, let me fill you in.

 

On November 19^th, I ran the Run With The Heroes 5K held on the Camp Mabry campus in Austin, TX.  This was the 4^th year that I’ve participated in this race.  2 years ago I even did it in a walking boot with a broken ankle!  Last year I placed 3^rd in my age group.  This year I knew I wouldn’t be fast because I haven’t been running, let alone training.  I finished in 33 minutes and some seconds.  I was about 1 minute or so behind the 3^rd place female in my age group.  WOW!  Didn’t expect that at all.  Of course, there were 2 other females between her and I so I got 6^th in my age group…out of 26 total.  NOT BAD AT ALL!  I felt good and didn’t push myself super hard.  Just kept myself moving and enjoyed the run and the feel of running.  I really do love the way running feels.  I just feel so alive when I run, you know?

 

The second race was the Inaugural Round Rock Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  This was the first year that this particular race was held.  It was completely untimed and strictly just for fun.  I didn’t care at all what my time was and that was fantastic!  I told my boyfriend that I’d be done in 1 hr 15 min or less.  I finished in 1 hr 6 min.  It was a 5 mile run as most turkey trots in my area seem to be.  I chose not to run my usual Thundercloud Turkey Trot for a few reasons…costs more (this one was only $12!  Sure I didn’t get a shirt, but I have enough shirts.), parking sucks, further away, it starts later, etc.  I had a packed day planned for thanksgiving so the earlier start time and the closer proximity to my apartment was a huge plus. 

 

My third race was a beautiful disaster.  Let me tell you.  Just wow.  It was the San Antonio Rock’n’Roll Marathon.  Yeah, you read that right: MARATHON.  While I chose to defer the marathon I was registered for last month to next year, I didn’t do that with this race.  I figured, even untrained, I could complete it in around 6 hours.  First off, I was wrong.  Very wrong.  It probably didn’t help that I kept up with my TRAINED friend for the first 12.5-ish miles.  Therefore, I went out WAY too fast for my serious lack of training and therefore hit the wall SUPER early.  I told my friend to leave me because I was just holding her back.  I then randomly ran into a guy that was on my team for the Capital to Coast relay last year.  Then around mile 22 I made a new friend, Irene.  Her and I pretty much walked the last 4 miles together and “ran” it in when we go the finish line in our sights.  Soooo…the cut off time for this race is 7 hours.  Challenge accepted.  My official finish time was 6:59:58.  BOOM!  I learned 2 things from this race.  1-you can totally complete a marathon without training…and 2-don’t complete a marathon without training.  Yeah.  Hey, at least I can see the humor in it, right?  I do have to say that since I knew this race was going to hurt and suck, it didn’t get me down at all and I actually had a pretty good time.  However, I would definitely NOT recommend doing this to anyone else.  I also got to meet Meb at the expo! 

#truth

 

total fangirl moment!

 

ready, not ready...haha...wearing my ultimate unicorn shirt!

Other happenings in my life lately include a fantastic weekend at the Texas Renaissance Festival over the weekend following Thanksgiving.  First news about that is that I chose to get plastered drunk Thanksgiving night and tell my boyfriend that I love him.  Thankfully, that did not backfire and he said it back and said it felt really good to finally say it.  So, there you have it, best drunk decision I’ve ever made!  Haha!  The weekend at TRF was awesome but thoroughly exhausting.  On Friday, we dressed up as Vikings, on Saturday we were Pirates and on Sunday we were Celts.  We were going to camp thru Monday morning, but by Sunday afternoon we were beyond exhausted and decided to call it.  All of our friends had already broken camp and headed home, so it was going to be a boring night for us.  The 2.5 hour drive home almost [figuratively] killed us.  We were so tired.  But it was an amazing weekend nonetheless.

Celts!

 

pirates!  my favorite picture of us <3

 

Vikings!

 

my favorite purchase, this leather mug wrap!

 

My birthday was the 14^th and I took 3 days off for it.  The day before my birthday we took my washer to his roommate’s mom’s house and dismantled it for the drum to use as a firepit.  We also dropped off TWELVE bags of clothes, linens, shoes and purses that I’d gathered from within my apartment (that may sound impressive, but let me tell you, I’m MAYBE two-thirds done going thru all the stuff in my apartment to get rid of things) and donated it.  I seriously thought the lady at the donation place was going to cry when we unloaded all the stuff and I said I didn’t need a receipt.  I don’t need a reward for doing something good.  Heck, they were really doing ME the favor by accepting all those things I no longer needed/wanted.  Then we met our friends Jes & Manny for dinner at a little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant in Buda where the staff ambushed me and made me wear a purple sombrero and sang to me…and I loved it! 

it looks so concerned haha

 

 

On my birthday, we went to Fredericksburg for the day and he bought me everything I said I wanted while we were there, with the exception of this ridiculously priced sleeveless shirt that I loved.  It was on the clearance rack, but the original price was $131!!!  What the what?  No way.  Even at 50%, that was a ridiculous price for a t-shirt.  Ugh.  So we walked right on passed that and I was only a little sad.  Haha.  In the evening we went to 2 places on the east side of 35 that I had won a gift card and a gift certificate to in a raffle over the summer and got dinner and drinks…and a shirt…with them.  We were planning to go to the trail of lights, but he was tired and just wanted to be home.  I told him he’s not getting out of it next year…hehe. 

 

not a wine drinker, but I LOVE this wine!!!

 

The day after my birthday, my friend Bri and I went to the Blue Genie Art Bazaar and the Revelry Eastside Holiday Market.  This is where I completed my Christmas shopping by getting my presents to myself!  At Blue Genie, I got a shirt, a ring and a whisky glass with cactus etched onto it.  At Revelry, I got homemade soaps and a small cactus arrangement!  Of course, the cactus arrangement was from an actual shop that just happens to be on the street where they were holding the holiday market.  It’s called Succulent Native and has a massive selection for such a tiny shop.  The staff is super friendly and helpful and their prices are very good.  I got 3 little cacti and a nice copper colored planter for $23.  I’m very happy with it and will definitely be going back when I have the space for more plants.  YAY!

 

 

I cannot wait for Christmas.  I’ve already given 2 friends their Christmas presents but haven’t received any myself as of yet.  I know they’re coming and am not concerned at all.  I seriously love giving presents.  And, while, yes, getting presents is nice too, I just love giving presents.  And this year I had 7 people I bought gifts for!  So exciting!  I do know that 5 of those people I bought gifts for either already or will be buying me gifts as well, but most won’t arrive until after Christmas, which is perfectly fine with me.  I am a stickler for GIVING presents on the proper day, but am totally flexible when it comes to receiving my gifts.  I’m totally understanding.   

Oh, and probably the most important thing, my birthday present to myself was a profession dye job!  I’ve been wanting to be a full on ginger for a looooong time.  And, while my natural color is pretty, it’s a bit boring.  Now, my hair is fantastic and I’m 100% in love with it!

And some randomness to end this post with...

Corsetdeal.com was having an amazing Cyber Week sale,
so I got this dress I've been drooling over for 50% off!



this package is...
seriously, favorite fragile notice ever

aaaannd, it snowed in the Austin, TX area...this is the most
snow I've seen in the almost 20 years I've lived here

Updates and Playing Catch-up

“Running is just a small part that makes me happy and it will always be there for me when I’m ready to come back to it!  Oh, and remember that I am still a runner, even if I’m not running for a little bit.”

 

I can’t remember what blog I stole this from, but it’s one I read regularly and this statement really hit home for me.  As I’m sure you all well know (those of you that are still sticking around, that is), I have not been running much at all.  Like, weeks will pass between me going out for runs.  It’s not for lack of WANTING to run.  It’s a whole combination of different things all added up together.  First, I’m still working an average of 64 hours a week.  Second, if I’m not working double shifts, I’m most likely at my boyfriend’s house (oh yeah, I started dating someone about 6 months ago).  Third, I’ve been heavily distracted with crafting and costume making.  Fourth, if I have down time from those other 3 things, I’m exhausted and don’t want to do anything and if I do anything at all, then I’m cooking and/or cleaning. 

 

Anyway, the gist of me including that quote is that even though I’m not really running right now, I’m holding onto my identity as a runner.  I’m not willing to give that up.  I’m just on a hiatus right now.  I’ll get back into it.  I know I will.  I love it too much.

 

So…even though none of this will be running related, let me fill you in on what I’ve been up to!  First, it’s been exactly a month since my last post.  My response to that?  Oops.  I’m really sorry, I truly am, but I’ve just been so preoccupied with everything else going on in my life right now.  I’ve wanted to write posts, but when I sit down to write, I can’t think of anything.

 

My last post, I wrote about costumes and contacts.  I did end up buying a full 6 month supply of daily wear contacts.  That will last me quite a while as I only intend to wear them while sporting a costume or if I’m going to be outside all day, that way I can wear some stylish sunglasses (of course, if I’m doing something sporty, then I’ll wear my most awesome double-tinted prescription sunglasses).  I had just completed pirate jacket #2.  So let’s pick up there…with the pirate jackets.

I have now completed THREE pirate jackets!  And I will tell you right now, the third one is my favorite.  First, it’s pink…well, more of a dusty mauve, really.  Second, it’s corduroy!  And thirdly, I’d already made 2 jackets before it, so I pretty much had all the “bugs” worked out of the process of making this pattern…namely with the sizing issues I was having.  Also, it just plain looks fantastic and unique.  I also received my pirate hat in the mail and I love it!  I was able to decorate it without using glue or poking extra holes in it.  So I’m pretty happy with that.

I also started working on a scalemail bra which I plan to pair with a kilt for wearing after hours at the renaissance festival.  Scalemail is actually fairly easy once you figure it out, it’s just tedious and takes a while.  But, I’m really happy with how it’s going so far.  I’m completely done with one side of it and a little over half done with the second side. 

I’ve recently relearned how to do the basic knit stitch!  I’m pretty excited about this and am already 2 skeins into a scarf!  I’m going to do another ½ skein and then finish it off.  Then I’ll start work on a scarf for the boyfriend as part of his Christmas present…pretty excited about doing that for him.  after I’m done with his scarf, I’ll hit up the YouTube videos on how to knit a beanie hat with the remainder of the yarn for my scarf so I have a matching set!  So that’ll be fun!

Another thing that has happened is I got another tattoo!  I love it!  It was done by an apprentice artist and she really did a fantastic job and I would totally get another tattoo from her.  I do plan to have my regular artist add to this tattoo by doing a background of a tattered American flag behind the eagle.

The boyfriend and I also went out to his friend with the leathershop's place and made sheaths for our spearheads and I'm pretty happy with how mine turned out.  However, I do wish that when I asked him which leather dye would match the leather wrapping that was already on the spear that he had told me the correct one.  Oh well, I do like how it turned out and how the dye isn't solid in its coloring.

I cooked some Indian food (a mash up of beef curry and tikka masala which is good but not exactly what I was hoping it would be) and made this rice recipe that called for saffron...so I bought saffron!  I went to this awesome spice shop in the Arboretum in Austin called Savory Spice Shop.  I highly recommend this place.  The staff is super friend and knowledgeable and the selection is huge!  While there, discovered that coriander leaf is another name for...drum roll...cilantro.  HA!  I felt a little silly when I found that out.  And they threw in a free baggie of vanilla bean sugar, which I gave to the boyfriend.

During the last month, boyfriend and I attended a Viking Feast event at a local brewery.  Dressing up in garb was encouraged and we jumped at the chance to do a test run with our Viking garb!  We got there a little early and we were getting ourselves pieced together at the same time as the Viking Invasion re-enactors, so we struck up conversation with them.  We got lots of compliments throughout the night, including the re-enactors referring to us as "the pretty people"...HA!  Then, one of them gave us a little private lesson on hand axe fighting.  That was pretty awesome!

I think that's pretty much all my updates from the past month.  I, again, apologize for my lack of posts.

Costumes & Contacts

My life has drastically changed in the last year.  Last summer I was 100% in the zone with running and being at what I thought was the “perfect weight” with my “perfect body.”  Sure, I LOOOOOOVED how I looked and I felt amazing, but in order for me to maintain that body/weight, the pressure was and would be pretty great and demanding.  I just don’t have the time or motivation right now to attempt to maintain that standard.  Maybe after I’ve paid off a good chunk of my debt and am no longer working 64 hour work weeks most weeks, then I can refocus and work on upping my motivation to better my physical self.  Right now, I’m about 35 pounds heavier than I was this time last year.  I have to say that I’m about 85% okay with that fact.  Why?  Because other than my finances and that I haven’t worked out beyond walking a couple times a day in almost a month now, things are going fantastic in my life. 

 

I’ve been focusing a lot on costume making lately.  So far I’ve made 2 pirate jackets.  Why 2?  Well, you see, what happened was…and I want to preface this by saying that your actual clothing size does not determine what size you should buy your sewing patterns in.  Needless to say, I wear anywhere from an 8 to a 12 in regular clothes, but apparently in sewing patterns I wear a 16 to 18.  This was rather frustrating to discover AFTER I’d already completed jacket #1.  I put it on and while it was a smidge tight in the breast area, it was comfortable.  Then I took it off and happened to look at the seams down the back of the jacket and the fabric (which is NOT a stretchy fabric) was stretching.  NO BUENO!  So I have decided that until I lose weight again, I cannot wear that jacket again.  Sooooo, I made a second jacket and this one fits.  It’s actually a teensy bit big, but not by much.  it’s very comfortable and looks fantastic.  I’ll be making a 3^rd jacket before the big trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival over Thanksgiving weekend with a large group of old and new friends.  But, first I need to take a small break from pirate jackets.  Both jackets I’ve made so far were frustrating for separate reasons.  I’m pretty sure that jacket #3 will go a lot smoother, but I still need to take a breather.  So what’s up next?  An elf huntress costume, of course!  This costume isn’t going to be worn until the Sherwood Forest Faire in next spring.  However I do want to get a jump on it and get the sewing done then I can focus on doing the purchasing of the commercial items that will accompany my wearing of it.  My elf huntress costume will basically be my Linken costume.  In case you’re not familiar with Linken, let me just give you the short story: Linken is a female Link (from Legend of Zelda).  That’s it.  My commercial purchases for this costume will be Link’s shield and a dozen arrows with green fletching.  I already have a Link’s sword.  I will make a baldric that goes cross-chest to hold the sword.  And I’ll make my own quiver.  And then I’ll just use the belt and pouch I’ve already made for my Viking costume.  The quiver will hang off my belt.

selfie in jacket #1

jacket #1 with underdress, corset and boots

selfie in jacket #2

I’ve also been doing some pyrographing.  What is pyrographing, some of you might be asking, I’m sure.  Basically, it’s just a fancy word for burning designs into wood.  I pyrographed a few quotes onto my Viking spear, along with a rose as well.  Then I pyrographed the Futhark runes into wooden discs to make a set of casting runes.  And most recently, I pyrographed my long bow!  I had quite a bit of fun with this.  I burned the symbol for the “unfound” from Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series twice onto the spine of the bow, above and below the grip area.  Then…and here’s the actual fun part…I chose some quotes in J.R.R. Tolkien’s elvish language and then burned them onto the bow.  It turned out amazing and I’m quite happy with it!

the rose I pyrographed!

my set of casting runes!

up close of the runes that wrap around the bottom of my spear

"unfound" on my bow

completed spear with leather wrapping and pyrography

quotes in J.R.R. Tolkien's elvish language

I recently got a new eye exam and an updated prescription.  And let me tell you, I’m going to see much better once my the new lenses for my glasses come in.  They had to special order them because I had to be fancy and want the photochromatic, anti-glare, scratch resistant lenses and they didn’t have them in stock at the store.   I bought some frames off the internet from Zenni Optical.  (I highly recommend them, but would probably advise you order them with your prescription already in them from Zenni and not take them to a local shop because it’s more expensive…I’ll be doing that next time)  I bought a pair of sport sunglasses for running and biking.  And I bought a pair of regular, daily wear glasses.  The sunglasses came with tinted, mirrored lenses and it had little inserts for the prescription lenses.  Well, the prescription lenses are also tinted and polarized too.  I’ve always been frustrated because I cannot find sunglasses that are dark enough for my preference.  I have very blue eyes and they are rather light sensitive.  Well, these sunglasses are PERFECT! 

 

On top of getting an updated prescription, I got fitted for contact lenses.  I have absolutely no intention of wearing them frequently.  In fact, a 90-count box will most likely last me at least a year, if not longer.  I want them pretty much exclusively for when I’m in my costumes.  Because, you know, who ever heard of a Viking or a pirate or a barbarian wearing glasses?  I have a follow up appointment with the eye doctor later this week so I can report back with my thoughts about the contacts and then order that 90-count box.  I will say this about the contacts.  I’m used to glasses and varying levels of correction and also going between looking thru the lenses of my glasses and above/below them at whatever I’m looking at.  So the fact that I had complete correction no matter what direction my eyeballs are pointed is a little disorienting.  I don’t know how to describe it, other than it just gives a weird sensation sorta like extremely mild vertigo, mostly when I point my eyes in a direction that would normally be above/below the lenses of my glasses.  But it’s something I will get used to and it’s a very mild affect, so it doesn’t SUPER bother me.  Right now it takes me a few minutes to get them in and to get them out, but I know that time will improve with practice.  I do want to get some colored contacts in grey. 

might be hard to see, but there is a contact lens in there!