Shoes, and other things near and dear to me.

I feel so smart. S-M-R-T! I am so smart! I'm not so good at the fashion, so it tickled me to find a pair of sandals at Target that look an awful lot like their more expensive Anthropologie counterpart.





I've got the shoe madness, folks. Warming temperatures remind me of bike rides on the city bike, remind me of sundresses, remind me of cute, pretty sandals. Aaahhh. Ladies, you with me?

Blog readers, sometimes you're just gonna have to bear with me. Some people are here to read about bikes, some people read to keep up with what I'm up to (ok, those are my relatives), some people are only around for Snips... ok, you're all around for Snips. We knows who runs the place.



I could split up personal and cycling topics into two separate blogs, but I like having everything in one spot. So go ahead and skip the posts with with pictures of the apartment, or gloss over race reports. I won't make you read them.

We can all come together and agree that was a spectacular find on the sandals, though. Right? (Don't worry, Dad. I didn't buy either of them. I'm being responsible!)

Getting Hayesed

I work with these dorks!

Hayesed Trailer from Thirsty Boy on Vimeo.

Getting Hayesed means we steal your bike, update it with the latest and greatest components, and you get a shock when you go to grab your bike. (You get your old parts back in a bag.) This woman is a mother of two (I believe) and brings her kids to ride Ray's all the time. She wrote a thank you note and baked us cookies! How nice.

The new Hayes Components site looks pretty good, too. It pains me to say I didn't have anything to do with it. However, I do believe I supplied the black and white logos of all our brands to the marketing firm who did, so... none of this could have happened without me.

The Odd Couple

Hayes just picked up a couple of sponsored riders who are rad riders and really nice guys. There was a video competition at Ray's (The Odd Couple) and they got second, and Mike Montgomery won 'Best Rider', as voted on by the pros present. If you know the park, it's pretty crazy to watch the stuff they do:

Rays Odd Couple 2011 - Aaron Chase & Mike Montgomery from RaysMTB on Vimeo.

I asked Mike if he got nervous for the filming- he said no, that it was just fun. He was kind of shy, actually. He's younger, and it seemed like Aaron Chase was watching out for him. Example: we were in the van headed to Ray's, and Aaron asked if we were going to get lunch, because they had planned on it, and Mike hadn't eaten any breakfast. Awww, how nice.

Here's an article on picking up Aaron.

I almost forgot! Should you come across Aaron, be sure to ask him about his 22" rod.

Work Space

Cale's headed to San Diego (To live out there. Keep up, people.) so I'm downscaling the living situation. No more Garage Mahal for me, so I'm moving all of my junk into the apartment. You know how it is with moving- you do the fun stuff first, then it seems there are several boxes of stuff that doesn't fit anywhere... Thankfully, I'm still in the fun stuff, as evidenced below.



I moved the vinyl cutter and its supplies into the apartment. This corner works out really well, and the table, taken from across the room, works perfectly. The cardboard box is the DIY garbage can, left over from a shipment of vinyl. The drawers hold some bike parts in the bottom drawers and some excess decals in the top. My button making supplies also fit in this new project area. The computer on the shelf by the window runs the cutter. Aaand, that concludes this tour.

Home Improvement

After years of keeping an eye out for an awesome, affordable and easy-to-clean rug, I figured out that there is no such thing and decided to paint my own on the floor.





It's home improvement month, since I'm giving up the bike room and moving everything into the apartment. I've got the Vinyl Countdown cutter and workspace set up... here's a teaser of that space.



I started throwing supplies up there and noticed it was taking on an all-white artsy look. All of it's legit except the ball of twine. I did have it laying around, but I don't use it for vinyl work. I'll admit, it's purely decorative! I feel I make up for it by having made the pencil holder myself in a clay class in high school. (I got the anthro box with a gift card. Excessive packaging, yes, but at least it's been re-purposed.)

Too Many Colors?

Trick question! Fact: No such thing as too many colors. I think it was my grandma who used to say, "Why would God make all these colors if you couldn't wear them all at once? (The accent color was not a familiar concept to Evelyn.) The idea that God had anything to do with a blaze orange, lime green, lemon yellow, silver, purple and blue helmet is kind of humorous...

Anyway, giggle all you want at my colorful new helmet, but the evidence is undeniable: I had a new facebook friend request when I got home from Ray's tonight. HAH.



I think another thing about this helmet that's really gonna catch on is that it squishes my cheeks. You might think that's unattractive, but I think it's going to be the new cleavage.

Ray's

Top two activities this winter: riding at Ray's and recovering from riding at Ray's. Sprained ankle, split open chin, and I'm pretty sure I picked up bronchitis there, too. I'm being careful with the goods these days. I borrowed a full face helmet to practice the expert jumps with, and it felt pretty good. The wolf shirt gave me courage, as well. I'm not as terrible anymore, but you certainly wouldn't call me 'good'. One night down, many to go on the expert jumps.



I think this is my next only somewhat warranted bike related purchase....



p.s. The pump track is the best thing since sliced bread. And 24" bikes in the pump track is the best thing ever.

Domestic Livin'

Here's some of the stuff I've been up to lately.

Cale made a pot pie. I kinda helped.



I made some decals for work.





The cat continues to do his thing.



I got rid of the ugly, sagging plastic shelf next to the fridge and put two random things there instead. Best case scenario, right there.



I painted part of the kitchen. It was boring and ugly. And now it's not boring anymore!





Stuff from the plastic shelving got relocated, aka crammed in other places.



Ever have a long sickness where you get tired of blowing your nose? Me too.