SF Randonneurs' 115k Populaire - June 22nd

I drew a map. This is happening. I can't think about it yet because my brain is alternately consumed with a shit ton of work and dreaming of riding the California coastline.

But when the time comes, I hope to see you folks out there. I hear that the picnic will be fabulous.

Register here: http://www.sfrandonneurs.org/summer-2013-115k-populaire.htm

TEN Days until the Big Dance!

In ten days, TEN, I will be on the road to Los Angeles. By bicycle! I've trained since November, ridden about 400 miles every month since February, climbed who knows how many hills. Love them! Yes I'm prepared!

This past weekend I had a wonderful experience with the Positive Pedalers. We rode up the coast to the Russian River on Saturday, then headed to Petaluma and back to Mill Valley on Sunday. This was my last big training ride before the show starts on June 2nd. Since we camped out Saturday, this was a great test run for the actual ride. Who knew that so many things have to happen before one can get on the road at 6am? Packing up the tent. Sunscreen. Pump up the tires. Eek.

Bill is going to witness my process over the next ten days with packing and trying not to buy new things. Send him love. :) I am in full-on planning mind.

Thank you thank you thank you to all. I could not do this without all of the support. Whether it has been financial support, words of encouragement, listening, reading, riding with me, all of it was very helpful. HUGE thank you and air kisses.

If donating was something you intended to do, now is the time. I don't know if I will be able to write more before we leave.

My Team is trying to raise $150,000. If 30 of you donated $10 right now, we would be a big step closer.

You can donate here! http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/AliceStribling

Instagram will probably get the most updates on the ride. As the week goes on, it will likely get very silly.

Insty: AliceStribling

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fourfivealice

Love: Y O U

It's a hard life if you live it

My heart has been heavy this week. My family is struggling with my Dad's every changing behavior due to dementia. Last weekend was particularly stressful, and I've been recovering. I've been holding things close, not riding, and I've thrown myself into a project.

The not riding was intentional, because I'm participating in a two-day ride up to the Russian River this week with the Positive Pedalers. We ride 75 miles up the coast Saturday, camp overnight, then return inland through Petaluma on Sunday.

I have had some amazing insight into my process this week.

1) When I'm planning for a trip and it gets closer to the trip I want to buy things! Because somehow what I have can't work. : /
2) When I'm upset I feel more like making things than spinning pedals.
3) I have a wonderful support system.
4) The hurt passes with time.
5) Good things and bad things happen. Sometimes at the same time.

 It's spring break and we had Monday off at Apparel Arts. I worked on this instead:





This is my Freddie Mercury sash.

I would like to thank Margaret Jayko for the title of this post. She and I used to work together, and often she would say this quote, in a thick New York accent. It's true.

Also, if you are into meditating and would like to hear a nice dharma talk about Anxiety, I can recommend this talk by one of my favorite teachers, Matthew Brensilver. It's helping.

I ride for Freddie

A lot of folks ride AIDS/LifeCycle  for the people in their lives who can't ride, which is beautiful. I'm riding for Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen, who died in 1991 of bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.

I am a HUGE fan of Queen. HUGE. In another life, and perhaps sometimes in my apartment, I prance(d) around with the same grace and larger than life exuberance of Freddie Mercury.

From what I gather from Wikipedia and this documentary, he kept his illness a secret because he didn't want to make 'public liars out of friends and family'. They had all denied his illness.



I feel like it's not right that AIDS had/has such a stigma that he kept it a secret. The documentary made me sob like a baby and also made me realize that THIS is why I ride.

Five years ago, I had the idea to merge some interests. Bikes, Queen, Girls/Ladies/Women/People who identify as Women riding bikes, Drag Queens, Queens in Nun drag, I could go on... and Dr Sketchy's.

I posed for the first Cute Girls on Bicycles event at Dr Sketchy's SF and our inspiration was this:



This year, as incentive for fundraising I told the drawer-ers at Dr Sketchy's that if everyone put $1 in the kitty, and we raised at least $50 I would do a 20 minute pose. And of course I HAD to recreate the album cover.

Now all these artists have started posting their goods on the internets and I realize that we not only raised money for the SF AIDS Foundation and LA Gay and Lesbian Center, but that I now have a very personal collection of drawings of me on my bike. SO. MUCH. LOVE. My heart is going to explode.

Jeff Plotkin

Diane Olivier

You can order this one from Madelyn Lee!

The Big Rock Candy Mountains

I walked out of my door Sunday morning at 6am, with the early morning light casting everything blue. I had the PERFECT shot of a tanker motoring through the bay from Presidio, with a strip of pink at the horizon line, but it was too early to stop and take the photo. Oh well.

About 30 of us left Sports Basement in the Marina, bumped across the bridge along the well worn path through Sausalito, bike path, Camino Alto, Ross, San Anselmo, then out to China Camp. I rolled through China Camp noting that what was once green has now turned to gold. Then we popped over to Lucas Valley Road for a nice little climb up to Big Rock.




Meow Big Rock! Note that the landscape has changed dramatically with one week of hot weather. It's really neat to see the swift changes. I felt truly energized by the cool weather and dynamic skies. It was quite a day to be out in the elements.

Tia, Shelley and I stuck together on this ride and I enjoyed their company, especially after lunch when it got hotter and towards the end of ride when we were all tired and grumpy. Climbing over the easy side of White's Hill and getting the descent into Fairfax made my heart soar. I felt like I was flying. I finished the day feeling strong, my legs felt like a metronome.



Monday in Apparel Arts was a little difficult. I was tired and I got a little confused drafting my last pattern. I hope to have time to cut out the pieces so that I can sew them up in our next class.

I am excited because I found some really great fabric for my two final skirts. It would be super if I could start on these before AIDS/LifeCycle but considering it is less than a month away, I am ok with letting that go. I did get some linen for my Freddie Mercury sash. I don't know if I have mentioned that on the blog at all. I'm embroidering Freddie on the front and MOXIE on the back. It will be a reclaiming of the beauty queen sash, with sparkle, camp and some hi vis mixed in. I hope that it will be truly spectacular.

Tuesday at Dr Sketchy's we had one of my favorite events of the year: Cute Girls on Bicycles! We referenced the original inspiration from 5 years ago, the cover of Queen's Bicycle Race.

Constance and Zoë were spot on with cute poses, in 70s inspired outfits. My AIDS/LifeCycle Team sold baked goods and made delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. We raffled off a zombie pencil/makeup bag from Nooworks, water bottles from Box Dog Bikes, a Woolrich messenger bag from Timbuk2, beautiful posters by Meli Burgueño, a handmade sketchbook from John Hull and a $200 certificate for coffee delivery from Ritual Coffee/Chicken John.

Oh yes, and I auctioned off a pose. I told everyone if they put $1 in the tip jar, and we raised $50 that I would pose for 20 minutes. It was a big success and a lot of fun.

And so in total we raised over $600 from our beloved Dr Sketchy's community. I feel both proud and humbled by all the support.

Complicated Interests Rock

There are lots of interests moving towards end points right now.

First at Dr Sketchy's, we are about to have one of my favorite events of the year: Cute Girls on Bicycles:

 

Constance and Zoë modeled last year, they recreated some vintage imagery that made me so happy. This year we are revisiting the original inspiration: the album cover art for Queen's Bicycle Race and Fat Bottom Girls.

They will be wearing 70s inspired outfits and I'm hoping we can find a 10speed of that era, with exposed white brake cables. We'll see.

This is a fundraiser for AIDS/LifeCycle and we will have baked goods for sale to raise money.

Edit, we'll also have a bag from Nooworks, some water bottles from Box Dog Bikes and some handmade sketchbooks from John Hull. All available for raffle.

Further edit, Meli Burgueño has donated a poster!

This brings me to the 2nd topic: AIDS/LifeCycle. In one month 3000 other likeminded folks and I will be embarking on a 7 day, 545 mile ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I want to do this because I want to break past the mental hurdle of what I currently think is possible on my bike. I also want to give back to my vibrant San Francisco community. The AIDS Foundation keeps people alive, prevents future infections and helps eliminate the stigma still surrounding HIV and AIDS. It matters. It feels really awesome to be a part of this amazing community.

Here's my team profile pic, it's freakin hilarious:

Speaking of ALC, our training last week took us up Mt. Tam to the 7 Sisters (or bitches as some call them). The climb up to Alpine Dam and the top of the ridge was fine because it was covered, but once we got up on the ridge, it was exposed and hot and I ran out of water. That's the first time I've ever been nauseous on the bike. Thanks to the Training Ride Leader who had V8, it saved me from tossing my cookies all over the bitches. It's a good thing these ladies are pretty, because they are a little bit brutal.

 

I can barely contain my excitement about number 3. I will FINALLY have something interesting (at least it feels interesting to me) to show for Apparel Arts!! To me it feels like my process photos all look the same, paper patterns, muslins. All this translates to white, beige, boring??

Anyhoo, I have two more skirt projects to finish before I can move on to the 2 fashion fabric skirts. I have had my inspiration for months, I don't want to reveal anything because I don't want to set any expectations. I also have to go to the fabric store and I *hope* that is successful.



The above is a photo of the 2nd to the last skirt project: a contoured waistband skirt with free hanging lining. Then I draft a straight waistband/with a secured lining.

That's THREE AWESOME complicated interests. My goal book will be thrilled. I am excited. 

Also not be missed. Polk Street changes. Please sign this petition to show support for making it a beautiful pedestrian/bikey thoroughfare: http://www.change.org/petitions/forward-on-polk-with-the-complete-streets-project   This is what I want San Francisco to be!!

Babycakes and I had a super time at Al's Attire getting some custom things made by a local artisan. Very excited about my custom shoes! Look at the mess we made, there is fabric and wine and cheese littering that table top... It was a good time.

On

Ugh it's another one of those weeks. It feels like I can't get to the grocery store to get anything healthy to eat, I'm not getting enough sleep and I am cranky-pants and exhausted.

My 'sh'edule has worked its way to being FULL one week, then I'm off a week. This week is on, with something after work Monday-Wednesday. Then Thursday I should ride. Friday night sit, then just spin the wheel all weekend with errands and balancing time with my babay and training. It definitely starts to feel like things are out of control. Also work is picking up for the Summer.

Positives:

• Completed circle skirt and box pleat/accordian pleat skirt this week in Apparel Arts.
• Made a new sloper to reflect the two inches I've lost off my waist and hips since January!
• Started drafting a contoured waistband skirt, only a couple more exercises before I make two skirts out of fashion fabric. I have plenty of ideas!


• The Pelican looks great and on trend with neon accessories for Spring.
• I like the new short reach SOMA HWY1 bars
• Took the Rivet saddle  out for a 90 miler Sunday, I think I like it. Still needs more testing.
• Love the way the Swift Industries tool roll looks on the Pelican.

• My legs felt good on the bike this morning.



• I can highly recommend drawrrrring Lucha Libre masked models at least once in your lifetime.

The music at Dr Sketchy's last night was really really great, had some help from Pamela Palma and Jesse Mullan this time around. The Frida soundtrack is fantastic. Still loving the Lumineers. Especially 'Slow it Down'. The new Bowie album is taking a while to grow on me, 'The Stars (Are Out Tonight)' is a goodie. Rodrigo y Gabriela play some mean acoustic guitars, of course their cover of Stairway to Heaven is amazing.

I endeavor to take a deep breath before talking this week. Everything is too close to the surface and unfiltered shit just keeps pouring out of my mouth.

The Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake * 5:12 AM - April 18, 1906

Every part of Marin seemed to sparkle like gemstones last Sunday. Usually the light from noon-3pm washes everything out, the colors get flat and dry. Not on Sunday. The sky was very very blue all day long and the landscape reminded me of France in the summer, with every shade of green imaginable put to good use. Olives to acid to red greens.

One of my teammates pointed to the grass on the hills which appeared to be 'swirling' from the wind. It was a day during which I enjoyed looking at the landscape and the changes of the road. I felt like I experienced a valley and wondered whether the road on which I was riding had once been a stream or well worn path from travelers in the distance past. I looked forward to where the road would rise and we would ride over the hills that I could see in the distance.



We took our turn from the Point Reyes Petaluma road onto Nicassio Valley, then turned left into Rancho Nicassio.

 

I went into the store there to see about getting a salty snack. The charming man at the counter asked another passing cyclists about her ride, and she told him that she had just finished. He asked me about our ride and I answered that we had been through Point Reyes Station and we were on the way back to the city. While paying for my snack, he showed me a book that had had a pot of coffee spilled onto it but that he could not bare to throw away because it contained stories written about San Francisco.

He asked me if I had time for one of them and preceded to read me a story, written by Jack London, about the San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fire of 1906.

Jack London wandered around the city taking notes about what was happening as the fire spread. I was captivated by this southern gentleman reading to me about the desperate folks hauling trunks full of all their belongings from neighborhood to neighborhood trying to escape the fire. Some workers buried their trunks. Refugees had gathered in 'the grass' of Union Square because it had been deemed a safe place, until the fire banked the square on three sides. An employee from a hotel had been tasks with numerous trunks from guests and was looking to pay $1000 for horses and a cart to get them to safety. There were no horses for hire.

He read to me for about ten minutes. I am very grateful to my fellow southerner for reading me a wonderful story out in the middle of glorious green rolling hills.

Normally, the stretch of Nicassio Vally road back to Sir Francis Drake sucks my very soul dry of all happy thoughts. I don't like it. It goes up and down over and over and it doesn't make any sense. But this time it felt different.

Two training rides/week

I bumped up my training rides to two last weekend, a Headlands 35 miler with 2400' of climbing and a 55 mile ride out to Fairfax and back with 4600' of climbing. At least these are the stats according to Ridewithgps. It's good enough for me.
 
My friend Kacey and I enjoyed a foggy one Saturday. There was nothing at all to be seen in the Headlands and we were on top of the ever changing tone of fog horns as we popped over the GG bridge. Believe it or not there were tourists out on rent-a-bikes.


We did the loop and took McCullough road back to the roundabout. Now I know why people ride out through the tunnel to Bunker road, McCullough is a-bitch-of-a-never-ending climb. I could feel my legs at the end of this ride for sure.

I was able to cut out patterns Saturday afternoon, yay! I had 3 flared skirts on the chopping block: Princess flare, A line and bias flare.

Had a Saturday night work function that kept me out past a decent bedtime. 5am sure did come early.

The Cat 2 folks wanted to get us over the bridge early due to a race, 6:30 is indeed the earliest I have ever ridden over the bridge. Even SFR events tend to start later than this.

Since I had been sick the previous week and trained Saturday, I opted out of the full 75 mile ride. That was smart on my part because I was exhausted afterwards. The rest of Sunday was a wash on the bed watching Mad Men & Game of Thrones. I was too tired to even nap properly.

My team training recommends starting two training rides/week in April and I'm glad that I am doing it. This weekend was a crash course in what the 7 day ride will be like and I hope to survive without my crankypants.

Yesteday was pretty tough, I could have slept all day. It does make me wonder if I'm overtraining or if this is just what happens when the levels get bumped up. (Tuesday my legs feel fine and I feel rested so there you go). Recovery is an interesting process.

Last night night in Apparel Arts was all assembly line, all night. I pinned together all 3 skirts, then banged them out on the sewing machine. They all fit really well, if not a little too big now. I am drafting a circle skirt with a smaller waist to see if I'm on the right track. I am pretty sure that my waist has narrowed by 2 inches since I started class in January. If the tape measure is to be believed, I have also shrunk 2 inches in the low hip. Bike riding changes your body for sure.

Tonight is Dr Sketchy's 'April in Paris'!

March mileage= 400
Fundraising= $3850

Donations gladly accepted here: http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/AliceStribling

Have been feeling poorly

Enjoy some photos.

Big Rock on Lucas Valley Road.

Babycakes before Cirque du Soleil.

Some ladies at Viva Las Vegas. The Satorialist happened to be there.



We're drawing April in Paris at Dr Sketchy's on Tuesday. See ya there!

Also, if you care about changing a neighborhood landscape for the better, please consider reading about Polk Street improvements and signing this petition.

Sign here: http://tinyurl.com/cuwyoyj

It was a good week

I think it was the right amount of 'doing' and 'reflecting' and 'puttering', as Bill says. I guess I didn't really have to make any major compromises, and I got to spend a lot of time by myself Saturday to reset things, do homework and be creative.

Some of my favorite time is spend at home listening to music, while artmaking or sewing. Sometimes there is dancing. I do wish that I had more of this. 

We saw a documentary on Johnny Cash a couple of weeks ago. One of the memorable topics was the series of albums that he recorded before he died. There was a lot of time spent on the song 'Hurt', a cover of Trent Reznor's song. Of course I had to go get this album. Two big favorites on the album are of course 'Hurt' and 'Streets of Laredo'. Again songs that reflect on death have been resonating with me.

My uncle passed away this week. This was my father's brother, he has been in full time care for a while and also had dementia. So there's that.

I spent Saturday drafting an 8 section skirt called a gore. The skirt has pleats between every section and I chose to make knife pleats, sort of reminded me of plaid skirts that I had in high school. Of course I wore them with thigh high stockings and mary janes, that was the uniform of the time. The skirt was actually too big, I am shrinking and my body is changing due to all the bike riding.

Sunday was spend with the AIDS/LifeCycle Cat 2 training series hosted by the Positive Pedlers. My teammates (Team Unpopular) and I were up and at the Sports Basement at the crack of dawn's ass. 

The ride went out to Fairfax, then to Nicassio, around the reservoir and back around through Samuel P Taylor to Lagunitas. Then home. 70 miles is about what I'm doing every Sunday. We'll increase the mileage and frequency as it gets into April/May.

It was a beautiful day. I felt strong on most of the ride. I followed a fellow affectionately referred to as 'Uncle Larry' up White's Hill and just took my time, this stretch gets easier every time!

I struggle with the rollers out on the Nicassio road, I run out of steam on the uphills and it always takes me a little while to get into the rhythm of them. This is to note and to practice.

Tuesday night we drew Alotta Boutté at Dr Sketchy's. She is such a joy to draw, so many beautiful shapes! For the first half, we were treated to a drapey, corseted coraly-pink dress made by the fabulous Mr David. Everywhere my pen landed was a luscious curve and drape. I really had fun with the watercolors. Strong shadows go down as a line of bold watercolor, then I just go back with some water and let the shadows 'bloom' into the lights. I'm really having a good time experimenting. Most of my drawings were pleasing and relatively complete. Setup and breakdown were pretty simple. Our volunteers and attendees are the best. So grateful. 
 

Right now, it's like this

It was a little bit of a challenging weekend. Saturday and Sunday were busy and I really just felt like hanging around the house.

I participated in a fun event on Saturday. Pushbike had a sale and swap on the sidewalk of their shop. I sold some tires, pedals and a bag...then turned around and got some Pushbike armwarmers. +$60, -$40. +$20 overall, woo! The sun was out and people had beers in hand.

I volunteered for the first shift of the SF Randonneurs' Russian River 300k. The first riders came in right after I arrived at 5, they finished at 5:03 which is 11 hours and 3 minutes after the start. Holy hot foot Batman, these guys are fast.

From 5-8pm, we probably checked in 30-40 riders. It is really nice to welcome everyone in and give them a chocolate milk, though it was frickin cold. We processed the brevet cards and got everyone signed in. My shift ended at 8pm.

I hit the pillow early so that I could get up with no light, thank you daylight savings time, and get to an 8am meetup with some ALC folks. My friend Tia has been riding with these peeps for a while and she joined their team, which is known as Team Unpopular. 

Lots of silliness ensued at the start, these guys have moxie in spades. We followed the same route that other ALC training rides were doing that day, out to China Camp with a mini Tiburon loop at the end.

Jesse, Tommy, Shelly and John had me laughing the whole day. I like the flamboyance and craziness of this group and plan on riding with them every Sunday.

Apparel Arts is slow and steady. I finished and tried on two skirts on Monday, it does feel awesome to have my teacher check off all the finished patterns from my list. Here is a list of all the skirt muslins that I have drafted since I started the class in January. Feels nice to list them out, also feels nice to have them hanging in the closet. One day I'll get to sew them in fashion fabric!

• single dart
• double dart
• yoke slit skirt
• empire pencil kick pleat
• pleated godet
• lowered waist/seamed
• button placket

Next week we draw again at Dr Sketchy's, this time it's curves for days with Miss Alotta Boutté!

Art more

Last Friday I had a little bit of stomach flu. While it didn't knock me out for too long, I felt just crappy enough to stay off the bike.

Monday in Apparel Arts, I sewed up a button placket skirt and drafted a drapey wrap skirt. I'm hoping for some time soon to work on Bill's shirt pattern and a fashion fabric version of one of the patterns I have drafted.

Since I was indoors last weekend, I spent some time watching and practicing watercolor tutorials on youtube.

Lorraine Watry has a great series of 4 videos: http://youtu.be/wbDawbOO8XY

She drew out a grid on her paper, then systematically goes through each technique. Some of the techniques looked a little boring at first, but I decided to give them all a go...and I was pleasantly surprised that I liked them all. I really was surprised how cool the sandpaper/watercolor pencil technique is. Of course I knew that I loved the wet on wet and blooms techniques.



The whole point of doing these tutorials was to have some ideas for color ready for the Dr Sketchy's Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence event on Tuesday!

We love having the Sisters model because they are so dang visually appealing, but also because they are funny and they tell us facts about the work that they do.

Underneath the puns and makeup are ordained ministers, nurses, and community activists. They raise money for folks on the fringes and build community in our amazing city.

Two years ago they blessed Diane and I for our community building with Dr Sketchy's. It is a cherished memory and reminder of how important community is. This was the fourth year that we have had the Sisters model for us.


Sister Mae Joy B With U, Sister T'Aint a Virgin and Sister Jezebel.


Drawing of Sister Jezebel, Sister T'Aint a Virgin and a dime bag full of glitter


Drawings of Sister Mae Joy B With U and Sister T'Aint a Virgin

It was really nice to have some quiet time making art this week. Things can get out of balance pretty quickly 'round here.

Recovering & Catching up

I've been laying low and catching up on sleep, eating well and reading this:



Work has gotten busy again and it's draining. Training for ALC is teaching me a lot about balance, including taking time for friends and family and saying no when needed.

I got back to the Friday night sit at Against the Stream with one of my favorite teachers.

I caught up a bit on Apparel Arts:



And tried to cook a little this week:

Next up, we draw the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at Dr Sketchy's on March 5th.

This is not to be missed! I've been looking at watercolor tutorials on youtube, and hope to practice some new (to me) techniques for this one.

This has had a big effect on me this week, Women Who Make America:
http://www.makers.com/documentary/

Grateful to all these women with courage. In the words of the Sisters, 'We remember, we remember, we remember.'

Rando-crazy

On Sunday, it was like this. Pedal... x 1 million.

Up a hill to the bridge, out a path, wind, sun, up White's hill, out to Petaluma (mile 45), Petaluma to Valley Ford (mile 60ish), VF to Pt Reyes Station (cross my threshold of 75 miles into unknown possibly dark mental territory) to Pt Reyes Station (mile 86), and back onto familiar territory, race back to the bridge and over. And done.

• 124 miles/200 k
• Ridewithgps says 8887ft of climbing
• 12 hours, 16 minutes
• Well deserved beer, burger and flowers from my baby afterwards!
• Quite an accomplishment

I was very grateful to my riding buddy, Juliayn. We rode the entire day together, she was very kind to me during the dark times and we had a nice day.

I don't know what else to say about it, I'm still processing and recovering.

I took one photo of Juliayn photo-stalking the lambs:



And she took photos of me, her entire set is here. Also more photos of the ride from Vélocia.



In art news, some friends and I drew at Catherine Mackey's studio Saturday:



And we drew Vivian de Milo's Magic Tea Party Tuesday at Dr Sketchy's.



Pam Palma posted some great photos on flickr

The rest of my week is going to be all about recovery. I am very tired.

xoxo,
Moxie

"She's got moxie in spades"

I heard it on an Absolute Ru Paul drag race commercial and it may have changed my life forever. The definition has been running around in my head all week: The ability to face difficulty with spirit and courage.

I have considered changing my middle name to Alice Moxie Stribling.

But of course the more practical solution is to get this tattooed on my person. My logic is that when I'm tired of being in the saddle, I can look down and see it and think about what it is to face difficulty with spirit and courage.

This is who I want to be.

On Sunday, I rode 60 miles out to China Camp and back. I met friends in Mill Valley and we went through some turns that I'll never remember (good thing I have this), through San Rafael and out to the park. It's a beautiful place.



Monday in pattern making, I sewed up the pleated/godet skirt and holy crap I like it. It's very flattering and I'll probably make one in some for-real fabric.

I also cut the fabric for the seamed skirt, there are 4 front pieces and 6 back pieces, so this one is a little time consuming. My teacher showed me how to draft two more patterns to do over the long break (we're off for President's day).




Oh yeah, I got my hair cut. My stylist rocks.



Thanks to Mom's Body Shop, Olivia Olivier, and Dave Groeschel for having their annual $25 Valentine heart tattooing extravaganza. Dave is going to donate all the profits to my AIDS/LifeCycle fund. So awesome.





Sunday is the SFR Two Rock/Valley Ford 200k. I am embracing it.

xoxo,
MOXIE