enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

Aprilweekend

Weekends are quickly becoming my favorite thing. I know that's strange – who doesn't love weekends? But before this year – I didn't. I was either working (retail never sleeps) or Paul was (medical interns never sleep). And then Paul was deployed and weekends always made me sad because everywhere I went it seemed to be "family time." I relished the weeks where the Internet was busy and my work kept me occupied.

But now – for a short time (after his GMO tour, Paul will start residency and never sleep) – we have weekends together. And it's awesome.

This past one was wonderful. We collected our first basil harvest* and made pesto. We caught up with Sons of Anarchy and finished season 4 – WOW – what a show. We watched comedian Jim Gaffigan's Mr. Universe stand up special  (totally worth the five bucks) and I laughed until I cried.

Saturday morning, I drove to LA and ran in the She Runs LA 10k with my running partner veronica. (It was an 80s themed race and though we had talked about what we were going to wear, we were still surprised to realize we had dressed as twins.) It was my first 10k and my goal was to come in at under an hour. I was happy to hit 55 minutes, but my feet were pretty mad about it. Turns out my super minimalist shoes are a bit too minimal for long runs without training… I need much more practice, clearly. Either way though – I love races. I always forget how satisfying it is to finish and my love for running is re-hyped all over again.

And then Saturday evening, Paul and I met up with Amanda and Nate Driver to take some photos. Amanda got in touch with me right after Paul got home and wanted to gift us a photo shoot in honor of Paul's return. I was excited, of course, and we decided to take them around our second anniversary (which is next week). We took a bunch downstairs in our house (!!) and then around our neighborhood. I was able to get a peek at a few as they were shooting – and OH MY – I am thrilled – at one point I may have jumped up and down clapping. Cannot wait to see the finished results and share here. Cannot believe how much Paul and I have grown up since our engagement shoot in July 2009.

And then Sunday was a lay around, catch up on work (the blog never sleeps), grocery shop, farmer's market, make a pizza & harvest* mint for mojitos day. No complaints here.

I am ready to hit the ground running this week. The BLOG 2.0 class is open for registration again! The stamp pop-up shop launches this week! It's going to be so rad. I have lots of posts in my brain to get ready for the blog as well… when life gets busy, the blog gets busy. Excitement central around here. Let's roll.

*I love calling trimming my patio herb garden "harvesting".

Dottedline

Blogbannerad2

Posted in ,

22 responses to “from the weekend.”

  1. Allie Avatar

    Congrats on the 10k! That’s so exciting!
    I’m so excited to see the photos from your session and your stamp shop! So excited!

    Like

  2. Rebekah Hanna-Lozano Avatar

    My husband and I watched Mr. Universe last week! We decided to eat ice cream sandwiches and watch, and we weren’t even 5 minutes in and I couldn’t finish my sandwich because I was laughing too hard. It’s hard to eat when you can’t breathe 🙂 Chris and I now make “whale noises” at each other from across the room, and then bust up laughing…
    So glad you and Paul are able to enjoy your weekends together 🙂 It makes us (your readers) happy to see you so happy!

    Like

  3. Her Sunday Avatar

    I agree- weekends are so much better these days. You’ll have to share how your basil turned out. I’ve never tried it but I’ve wanted to. I tried planting herbs last year but I think the area I had them in was too sunny because they didn’t do very well.

    Like

  4. Nat Avatar

    Jim Gaffigan is awesome – saw him in Vegas once. Thanks for the tip, the husband and I will likely stream it as well.

    Like

  5. Cecilia Avatar

    hehe. i love using garden terminology too – it makes me feel like i know what i’m doing!

    Like

  6. T A Woodward Avatar

    Hi Elise, I am wondering how can I access the videos for the blog workshop or download the PDF. I took the class in February but still need a little help. Please Help X XX

    Like

  7. elise blaha Avatar

    Terri, please email me when you have a chance. I have a hotmail email address for you that I have sent info to. Is that not your primary address? thanks. elise

    Like

  8. T A Woodward Avatar

    Sorry to trouble you Elise, that is not my primary email and is only linked to my paypal. Can I email you the correct email address in order to download a copy of the pdf?

    Like

  9. Lorena Avatar
    Lorena

    Hi Elise, I’ve been following your blog and love everything about it! I was excited to see you may be offering the Blog 2.0 class again at a later date because this one is right in the middle of law school exams. 😦 As much as I would like to sign up, I think I’ll have to wait until the next round.

    Like

  10. Nancy Avatar

    I highly recommend the Blog 2.0 class – I learned so much when I took the class and I still refer to the notes and videos.
    Sounds like a great weekend! I’m xcited about the stamp shop!

    Like

  11. elise blaha Avatar

    hey Lorena – thanks for your interest! I may run the blog workshop again this fall, but keep in mind, you do not have to check in every day. The class site will be open through June if that works better for you. 🙂

    Like

  12. Kelsey Avatar

    Yay for weekends and yay for blog design! I’m excited to take your workshop.

    Like

  13. Skye Avatar

    Congrats on the 10k! You’ve really inspired me the way you took up running and got so into it. I’ve been thinking about trying it. I can’t wait to see the photos! 🙂

    Like

  14. Lorena Avatar
    Lorena

    Hmm ok. Something to think about! Would definitely be a nice change of pace after all this studying! Thanks so much for the quick reply, I can tell already that it’s going to be a great class.

    Like

  15. Sydney Avatar

    What a lovely gift that your friends are giving you! A photo shoot is such a beautiful way to show love and capture important moments!
    I am happy that you are enjoying weekends again, it is always nice to hear about people having positive breakthroughs in their lives!
    Love the blog 🙂

    Like

  16. Chrystina Avatar

    So excited for you. Sounds like an awesome weekend. And 80s themed run… love it. Can’t wait to see the pictures from the shoot. Also, I’m impressed by your 10k in under an hour. I wish I could get into running… maybe one day it will just click. Have an awesome week!!

    Like

  17. Ali Avatar

    what a fun weekend! love it!!
    Do you have a tip on creating quick instragram collages for the blog – do you use a program like bighuge labs or something?

    Like

  18. elise blaha Avatar

    thanks! I do not – just play around in PSE. no fun, but then I dont have to deal with flickr. 🙂

    Like

  19. Carla M Avatar
    Carla M

    Elise, you inspire me — some day I want to be like you (even though I am probably, at least, 15 yrs older than you)! 🙂 Can you tell me what brand/color your white nail polish is — and please tell me it didn’t take 4 coats to make that opaque. have a great week!

    Like

  20. Ali Avatar

    thanks elise! I’ve got photoshop CS5 and have made a canvas that’s 900 pixels wide (perfect for my blog) – that makes me able to easily change the size of instagram pics into blog format! I have flickr, the only reason though is so I can create mosaics for my instagrams.

    Like

  21. Carla M Avatar
    Carla M

    oops, I put my comment on the wrong post. It should be on the post titled ‘I love paper’… maybe you will see it here though.

    Like

  22. elise blaha Avatar

    no worries! It is actually a pale opaque pink and it is by Essie. Not sure of the name, I borrowed it from a friend. It took just two coats though. 🙂

    Like

Leave a reply to Lorena Cancel reply