Fat Girls on Bikes

So I saw this, and instantly needed to share. First off, I need to plug my friend Alicia's blog yet again, not just because she is creative and awesome, but because she just shared some amazing shots of her bike Lulu that I adore.

She was recently featured in a blog Fuck Yeah Fat Girls On Bikes. Um is that not AWESOME?!

Alicia has always been a promoter of having a positive body image, regardless of your size, and I admire her so much for it, especially in this day and age of physical perfectionism.

So, check out her blog, check out Fat Girls, love yourself, and get on your bike!

The ride tonight got rained out, and my work schedule is now when the Janes tend to go on most of their rides. Fear not, I will ride again, hopefully soon.

Adventures in Crafting!

When I was visiting the Lehigh Valley I decided to go to the Indie Made Craft Market in Bethlehem. The IMCM has been around for a couple years I think, and I always miss the opportunity to go.  This time around My good friend Meghan insisted we go, most importantly to be one of the first 50 people to get free swag bags, and also because it was World Wide Knit in Public day. I myself am not a knitter, but Meghan is, and I do love me some free swag so we set out on our way.

 Even the posters were crafty!

The IMCM was being held at the Bethlehem Ice Skating Rink, but Meghan and I ended up going to the wrong ice skating rink. Seriously Bethlehem, how many ice skating rinks do you have? I thought, wow there are a lot of people here, but rather than seeing fellow craft enthusiasts, I saw people getting out of their cars with skates and hockey sticks. Strike one. My phone died and I couldn't figure out where else we had to go, but eventually we figured out where to go, got there, and hoped we still were eligible to get some free swag. I ended up being the 48th person in line, as Meghan was the 49th, and we did end up with some sweet swag bags. Each one was different, and had little somethings from the different vendors at the market.

So many business cards! So much awesomeness!

I wanted to share with my readers all the things I found(bike related, and non-bike related) and shout out to the vendors that I absolutely adore.

First off, the only reason I know about the IMCM is because of my good friend Emily. She's been making jewelry for many years, and is in an amazing jewelry group call Blue Stem Studios. They consist of many individual artists, but I definitely recommend checking out Emily's shop on Etsy, especially if you like quality stone and metal working with the occasional found items such as plastic dinosaurs.  

This is part of a broken plate made fabulous!

I may or may not have a new love interest(remember that drama I keep talking about? Yeah, I'll tell you later). So I saw Geek Boy Press and immediately had to buy something for him. My friends Patt and Emily have plenty of Geek Boy's lady superheroes and villains decorating their daughter Wylie's room, so I always wanted to see what else he had to sell, as I'm not the biggest marvel/dc comics kind of gal.Geek Boy has everything from comics to Star Wars to Ghostbusters to popular movies and other TV shows. He even does commissions! Looks like I might be getting those Bioshock posters I've always wanted.

I went with my favorite droids, and he loved it. <3

Next I stumbled upon Survive Design and their stunning but simple bags. I got one for free in my swag bag - the pink and green bunny watching tv. However, when I saw their other designs I wanted to swap it, or collect them all. While these are more my style, they also have larger purse/tote styles available.

I love the bike, the owl, and the robots.

A good part about the show was that I got to spend plenty of time with my friend Meghan, as we hadn't spoken in quite some time. Here's Meghan doing what she does best, being awesome. She also is an artist, so check out her site too!

She just learned a new knitting technique. So proud!

While I was sitting with Meghan in the knitters circle, I couldn't help but notice that Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation was staring at me from across the room(see below). I had to go over and see who had made this glorious thing, as I am a huge fan of parks and rec. I approached the stand and got to meet Aaron and his wares called Aaron Takes Pictures. We talked for a while and he also offered me some PBR goodies that he had left over from the Philadelphia PBR craft show. His photographs are pretty amazing in their simplicity, and not to sound shallow, but it definitely helps that he was downright cute.

Ron Swanson, giving his best Ron Swanson.

I thought I'd leave the best for last. While each booth had a couple items I wanted, BubbleDog made me want to run off with the whole table of goodies. Everything from plushes, shirts, pillows, belts, and paper crafts. If you click any of the links on this blog, Bubble Dog is the way to go.  He makes so many interesting characters and each one gets more adorable. I was completely overwhelmed by his collection of belts. I knew I had enough money for one and that I needed a new belt. I spent about 30 minutes though in front of his stand trying to decide which one suited me the best. I even needed Meghan's help. I decided to get this one.

Narwhals in LOVE!

I wish I could post everyone of BubbleDog's items on here, but check out the website again. He also sells exclusive items here at ShanaLogic. They also have tons of other cute adorable things that I insist you look at.
I've already found two amazing bike-related shirt dress there that I want. This one and this one.

So glad I went and I had a blast. Can't wait to go to the next one! Next time I will have to take my good friend Alicia with me who probably has an equal love for Ron Swanson and Narwhals, but more importantly crafts!

Warm Weather Adventures!

Good day, readers! This post is long overdue. I've been out adventuring for quite some time, and have finally returned so that I may share my recent travels with you. The beginning of June started off with some adventures with the Janes. I can not believe it is June already as that means I've been in State College now for half of a year. I didn't want to sacrifice safety trying to take ride pictures, but here we are getting suited up for Abbey's first guided ride.

Bikes and Janes a plenty.

While it may have been a longer ride than what I'm used to, I felt very accomplished afterwards. I got to face the dreaded never-ending incline of Blue Course Drive, and it wasn't nearly as bad as last time. It almost felt like a completely different route. I also got the chance to talk to Carla more, and I am even more positive now that the Janes are where I should be, and that they will help me get to where I want to go.

 I had been craving rivers, and Tom and I took Vali over to Spring Creek Park to run around and explore. 

He's a natural swimmer.

Tom and Vali at the Mike Lynch Overlook.

The Janes had attempted a hike the last week in May but there were tornadoes(?!) that day, so it was cancelled. Tom and I, wanting to explore, decided to set out to the same destination of the cancelled hike on a later day and see where it took us. Mt Nittany kicked my butt that day, as I hadn't realized that there was a 600 foot elevation change all within less than half a mile. The next week the Janes went there and it was much more leisurely. Maybe because I didn't have an empty stomach this time. Everything seems easier with the Janes.

This picture is a must, as everyone has to see Carla(R) and her growly face even though we're shadows.

After some adventuring in State College, I set my sights to the motherland, and headed home to the Lehigh Valley. I had a couple amazing destinations on my list, such as Bake Oven Knob, the Rittenhouse Gap Mines, and the ZOO. My only sad report, is that I was having so much fun adventuring, that I took little time to document those adventures. I guess that makes me a good adventurer, and a terrible blogger.

I love you goats.

I went to the Lehigh Valley Zoo and saw all the animals. I arrived with less than an hour before the park closed, but managed to do my favorite thing, and that was feeding the goats. <3

Good yawn! or he's cheering for the Iron Pigs.

I also took Vali to Bark in the Park at CocaCola Park to see the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. It was way too crowded, and on dog days the last thing you end up seeing is the actual baseball game.

Vali making friends.

Now I'm back in State College and I start a new job soon so I will have a little less time for adventures. In this kind of world, I need the money so I can't complain. I do have a lot I'm mulling over on the personal front, so I will report back shortly. Thanks for reading!

The Many Gifts of the Internet

Being mostly unemployed, I spend a lot of time online. Not to say it's all I do, and I know when to quit, but yeah, I spend a lot of time online. I have a really happy blog coming up, but it might not get posted for another week, so in the meantime, I thought I would share some of the many gifts of the internet.

This was just posted yesterday, and he knows what he's talking about.

 While on the topic of motivation, I think I will also post my favorite affirmative video.

And now some comics!

Every. Genital. 

This Picture combines 3 things I love. Bikes, fruit, and CAKE.

Biking IST KRIEG!

Safety First! 

 I want this. I saw it at the NAHBS in 2010 in Virginia.

This is an amazing shop I found on etsy called Lofty Mornings that has a lot of nice earthy bike stuff on it. It's kind of awesome.

I thought of posting more but I actually work in the morning and should probably sleep. HAHAHAHA. Maybe. I can't wait until my next entry, I may even have to break it into two parts. I'm going back to Allentown for a bit, so stay tuned for fun adventures. Until then, get on your bike, the weather has been AMAZING.

You Can Call Me Jane

Wednesday was my first ride with the Janes of See Jane Ride! It was definitely a rewarding and cathartic experience.

My day leading up to the ride was a very hectic one. Everything from the dog accidentally getting kicked in the face, losing a tooth, bleeding everywhere, me running late, the printer not working(I had to print my trial pass), to almost running out of gas and getting a little bit lost. In the end I made it just fine, and was pretty psyched to go on my first ride. Jane was even there waiting for me!

 Jane, You don't know how much I need this ride right now.

The amazing Dana (co-leader of the Janes) waited for me and filled me in on some safety tips. I honestly don't know much about road or group rides, so now I do. As you may remember I am lacking a bike right now, so I was set-up with an awesome 2010 Cannondale Quick; part of the Jane's fleet.

I was looking forward to talking and chatting, and even hamming it up. I have a habit of coming off as anti-social because people mistake my shyness as disinterest, so to make up for it I try to be over-the-top nice. It turns out that instead of being a chatty Cathy(or should I say Jane?) I decided to sit back and take it all in. It couldn't have been a more perfect day.

 Happy little farms.

It felt so nice  to just let go. I had been waiting to get out there, especially not having a job lately. I'm turning into a complete lump. Thanks Jane for kicking my butt. The mileage wasn't bad, something like 5 or 6? I have a feeling road riding miles will not intimidate me much anymore, especially if they continue to be as nicely paced as this loop. A couple hills along the way - nothing too scary. In fact they were very rewarding.

Happy little hills.
 

I would have liked to get to know the Janes more, as I did meet a couple, but feel like the opportunity will arise soon enough. I did meet another leader of the Janes, Carla, and got to introduce myself to others that I know I will see again. You should check out the Janes either at See Jane Ride or on facebook, and they also write about our adventures here!

Have a goodnight Mr. Sun!

The ride was very easy going. Perfect weather; perfect day. Without getting too personal, I have a very strong spiritual/religious connection with the wind. A certain someone was with me there that day. I find that Nature's greatest gift is some wind through your hair. I couldn't have been happier.

Partly Cloudy

Since moving to State College I haven't had much luck in the employment category. I have my mascot job, which averages to 4 gigs a month and my BBW job, where they never put me on the schedule. I was working at a clothing store for some time, but the owner/manager was a monster and I didn't want to be around all the negativity.

I can relate.

I figured it'd be easy to get a better job here. All the students leaving at the end of April should make more positions available. I've spent the last 3+ weeks filling out applications and taking online virtual job assessments like a crazy person. I have retail and management experience(a lot of it) and figured I could settle down in just about any retail position.

So with being almost unemployed and having lots and lots of free time, I was biking a lot. I decided, because I wanted to get a new bike, that it was probably time to sell my old bike before I wear it out too much. I put it on Craigslist for $300 and sold it for $280 within the week.

This was how I felt when they took my bike away.

Now dearest reader, you might think, "but Megan, now you can buy your brand new bike!" Well, with all the debt I was slowly sinking into from seeing little to no shifts at work, I realized that my bike money would have to go towards life expenses first before I get a new bike. I just got slammed with an $800 car bill (new tires, inspection, and a new motor mount, if you must know). I felt so utterly upset.

If you're a believer in that phrase about closing a door but opening a window, the next day my friend Jess was moving out of State College. She asked me if I wanted her sweet huffy. Now, while it isn't a Trek Skye S, I figured it'd be better to have A bike than NO bike.

Rusted Everything?? I'll take it!

Not considering the huffy, I am currently without a bike. This is depressing especially with the weather starting to get warmer, Janes starting to go on rides, and less than 113 days away from the Coal Cracker Classic. On top of that the boy and I are having some issues, ones I don't wish to tell the internet. I almost considered moving back to Allentown. With all of this crap that is getting in the way, I still would try to compete in the CCC. SO without training as much as I'd like to be, I will still compete to prove it to myself. I have to.

 You will be mine!

On the upside, today I was called to schedule an interview with a lovely new interior design shop downtown =). Also, tomorrow the Janes are going on a ride, and while it semi-conflicts with my work schedule, I must attend! I was also given a free trial membership which is great! Even though I don't have a bike they can loan one to me for rides and I'm happy with that. I do believe that things will turn around.  I do believe that I can climb out of this debt hole once I get a nice job. I also believe that I will be on a bike again in no time, and you will see me this September at Bungalow Park at that starting line for the Coal Cracker.

Training a Champion

So remember in my last post where I said I was having some personal issues and didn't feel like writing much? Well 10 days have passed and I felt I should say SOMETHING. Here's a little story about Vali's first trip.

Two weeks ago Tom and I decided that we would go for a small bike ride at Circleville Park. We had become so hopeful about Vali being a bike dog. We knew that even though he was young that we could at least get away with a short ride, and see how he did.

Vali says, "Safety First!"

Vali loves to chase the bikes, so before we got to the field we let him off leash in the baseball fields across from the park. He followed for a short bit but then made a break for the road. We are bad parents, in that we trusted him too much. Lesson learned. We got to the park and decided that we wouldn't let him off leash until we got to the woods. Here he is going up the hill. I might also add that I used to hate this hill, but now it ain't no thang.

 You can tell from his pulling, he really wants to GO.

We let him go and he followed us for a good while. He even went the right ways when I'd yell LEFT LEFT LEFT. He stopped when he met up with another dog, they sniffed and we continued. Just when we thought everything was going well, he decided to make a break for it and run to the park. I have never seen him run this fast in his life and he was gone. I left it up to Tom to catch him, and spent the time trying to find where they both went, as it started to rain. 

I'm not too fond of my face in this picture, 

but Vali looks overwhelmed with accomplishment.

We met up and had a photo opp, then continued. He was much better behaved on our way home. Tom even was able to ride with him leashed and he kept pace.

Look at him go!

The next post will be full of DRAMA. I don't know if you're ready for it.