I'll take you in my backpack

12/1/12 It's no big surprise that I'm a bit of a mileage points ho. I'm a very dedicated United mileage member. I've attained the highest elite status with them (affording me upgrades on international flights, access to the elite lounges, and just a better all around travel experience) and I intend to keep it! Recently I discovered the process of elite status matching! How fabulous. So, if you have Elite status on United you can call some of the airlines and go through a process (some require fees) of getting your status matched with them. I'll provide the information here and where I had success. American Airlines Offers elite status matching (no cost) if you are a United 1k member with very little leg work. Just call 1-800-882-8880 and find your way to a customer service agent to request Elite Status Matching. They send you an email, you send the requested credentials (a screenshot of your recent United Account info, A copy of your United Mileage card, and ...

11/23/12 cups and dishes Rather than flocking to the nearest Best Buy or Walmart (they don't even exist here, and if they did I still wouldn't be there!) I went running in the opposite direction of Americans! I ventured off to the Tsuboya Pottery Festival and Kokusai Street (note: nowhere near the BX madness!) chopstick holders Tsuboya became a pottery village because of the quality of the dirt (perhaps they call it clay, I'm no potter). Because of this crafters started settling here, and up popped this little village of amazing artisans. The Tsuboya Pottery Festival was hosted at a local school in the outside school yard. On a beautiful day this would have been wonderful to stroll around. Unfortunately today was less than "beautiful". It was rainy, and that combined with this wonderful clay/dirt resulted in my shoes getting little works of art formed on them. I look forward to scraping it off tomorrow when it finally dries! It was really neat to se...

11/10/12 Barbells for Boobs is an amazing event that utilizes Crossfit to raise funds for mammograms for young men and women. We did Amazing Grace. 30 Clean and Jerks (135#/95#) for time. This exact time last year I was really getting started on my Crossfit adventure. In 2011 I used the 35# bar and added a 5# plate to each end. I struggled through the event, but finished with a time in the 6-7 minute range. Today, in 2012, I did the WOD prescribed, 95#. Wow, what a difference a year makes. Instead of struggling to put 45# overhead, I had doubled the weight. Yes there were struggles, but I never once overlooked the journey that I had gone through to get there. I couldn't have been happier to do this event again at Shogun Crossfit...some of the faces have changed, but the underlying spirit has not. It is like nothing else. As a team we did an amazing job fundraising, but it's not too late...we can still continue to raise funds...there is no limit to our goal and every...

11/8/12 So after several car mishaps I finally landed the cream of the crop... Now, you might recognize the style, this is the same model as my first car...but the color. Oh yes. In a sea of silver and white cars I assure you I never have a problem finding mine. The picture isn't that great (I took it as I was rushing to work and realized I had not yet shared this goldmine with my bloggies) and doesn't properly display the limeyness...

11/1/12 Well after feeling relatively successful with the little boy's shoes...I attacked my converse...I couldn't be happier with how they came out. Before After. So much more...me! Everything is fair game right now for some serious studding! I did an older pair of low chucks this weekend (with shiny silver studs) and they came out fantastic! When I looked on line for pre studded converse the prices were ridiculous $150-$200 for some. I will tell you that on a site like 6pm.com you can get really great prices on Chucks (some for $20) and then if you go to Etsy you can find the metal studs for about $2 for 100 pieces. I used one pack of 100 for the high top shoes above and had some leftover. So for under $40 I was able to stud the shoes above. Much better than $150 or $200.

11/1/12 So after spending way too much time on Pinterest, and then Etsy, and then eBay...I decided that I would try to make my own studded shoes. I wanted to stud my Converse to give them a custom flair. Looking on eBay and Etsy resulted in nothing impressive (other than the ridiculous amount of money people were charging for these shoes). Being a "non crafter" I thought that maybe this was out of my skill level. I'm happy to report after doing a custom pair of Vans for my favorite little 6 year old, that this was well within my abilities...and FAR cheaper than buying them! Plus, I might even admit that it was fun! Once you find the right studs and get a good method down, it's relatively simple, and not too time consuming. Up next are my Converse...just have to decide how studded I want them!