I ended up doing the makeup for everyone at my friend’s wedding. This is me and Jess after our mad
dash to the bathroom at the reception hall for touch-ups just before our ‘grand entrance’. Luckily the
wedding was gorgeous on its own because it was not a lovely day for a wedding – 60MPH winds,
freezing rain and about 40 degrees outside.

I went to Philadelphia to visit my friend Marta and we went to see the
Love statue – and I’ll be honest. It was tiny and underwhelming. I was not feeling the love.

A vintage fan at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

A new illustration – whale watching! Watercolour & ink. Up for sale soon in my Etsy shop once
I get the scans done. The original illustration will be for sale as well as a limited number of prints.

A new illustration – sea flora! Watercolour & ink. Up for sale soon in my Etsy shop once
I get the scans done. The original illustration will be for sale as well as a limited number of prints.

I ran my first half-marathon in May in Buffalo and had a relatively abysmal time (and trained very little). This time around, I was determined to best my time – I prepared. I ran regularly since late July/early August. I was ready, or so I thought. As soon as the race started, I had to pee. I hoped that perhaps after running a mile or two, the feeling would go away – it didn’t. I wasted nearly ten minutes waiting to go to the bathroom (I should have thrown dignity to the wind and went behind some bushes, but with my luck, I’d be cited by one of the many police on the race route). By the time I rejoined the race, the pack I was with was long gone and my pace was disrupted. I was charging along – it’s so much easier to run when there are a lot of other people around you, I find. Mostly because if you stand still? You get run over.

The rest of the race was largely uneventful – it was extremely hot and sunny, though. I haven’t yet checked to see if I have a sunburn, but I do not do well in the sun. I think my favourite part of the race was either running by my friends cheering me on (at two different spots in the race) or when we ran through the Franklin Park Zoo. It was strange to run through a zoo and just as I was about to start walking, I saw the aviary ahead of me and banners with yellow birds on them. Now, they probably weren’t finches (I didn’t exactly stop to check the species), but they gave me an extra oomph to run as much as I could of the last mile. The worst part of the race? The very end – you see a sign that says 400m to go and you think “Yes! I’m doing it! It’s almost over!” and there’s this giant blow-up “banner” that says “FINISH” and you run through it and where are you? STILL HALF A TRACK LENGTH FROM THE ACTUAL FINISH. How cruel is that? I sprinted to the fake finish only to find out, oh, haha, we were just kidding – run around half the track to the real finish line, sucker.

So I did and now, I don’t know why I do this – I’m terrible at pacing myself, but I always have something left at the end of the race because I’m competitive and if there are ten people beside me, I am going to start sprinting like there is a tiger chasing me because I want to beat each one of those ten people. So I sprinted the rest of the race (and passed the ten people because I am a jerk) and then immediately wanted to collapse. Whenever I run, my hands swell up like oven mitts, thanks to edema, so I headed into the medical tent and snagged some vile yellow Gatorade, had a lie down for a bit and then when I was cleared to leave, met up with friends for brunch. Well, they ate brunch. My stomach is still doing flip flops from all that running.

Oh and my time? Virtually identical to the first race, but I’m giving myself a 10 minute credit for that bathroom wait. So really I did 10 whole minutes better. (Still a pretty terrible time, BUT – I got a medal with a unicorn on it and a t-shirt AND one of those mylar capes they wrap around you to conserve your body heat.) I’ve always wanted one of those mylar capes and tried to steal my dad’s when he ran the Boston marathon, but this time? I EARNED THAT CAPE FOR REAL. BECAUSE I HAD TO GO TO THE MEDICAL TENT. AND THAT CAPE IS GLORIOUS.

Also, upon taking this photo I only just noticed it says “Boston Marathon” not “Half-Marathon” – I GOT A REAL MARATHON CAPE, SUCKERS.

I enjoyed some Maple Sugar Candy (it is so delicious, it needs to be capitalised) brought back from New York by my friend Lisa – I have cut back significantly on sugar in preparation for my half-marathon on Sunday, but indulged in some sweets. I paid dearly for it with a migraine, but for those seconds where the maple sugar dissolves in your mouth? It was worth it. Almost.

Before returning home, I went and picked up a few art supplies and new earbuds for my iPhone (yikes those things are expensive!) and then returned home to find two wonderful pieces of mail. Usually, I am the type to get bills and menus from random restaurants so two pieces of real mail in one day was a big thing – the first was a package sent by my dad and step-mom – a few Bondi Bands – for the race. My favourite says “13.1 – I’m only half crazy!” (Unlike those smug 26.2 people.) The second piece of mail was a beautiful letter from one of my Squammies – my cabin-mate, Margi. Writing letters is a lost art and it’s one that I used to eagerly do with friends from summer camp. I had another artistic friend and we would basically try to out-do how creative we could be with our envelopes and letters. It was wonderful, but as long distance friendships tend to do, faded over time and now I wonder where she is – and if she still writes such beautiful letters to people. I can’t wait to write a real, honest-to-goodness letter back to Margi – it will be a wonderful change from responding to 200+ e-mails every day.

I’m building bridges in work and in life and these connections are lifting up my soul and showing me how full my life is, despite my often pessimistic outlook on things.  I tend to see the bad before the good, but I’m really trying on finding even the smallest moments of beauty and joy every single day.  A good cup of coffee in the morning, a quick conversation with a stranger in line at the grocery store, a “Have a nice night” from the bus driver after work – little things do matter and it’s as easy as noticing them and soaking them in, fortifying yourself, instead of letting them pass you by and missing the opportunity for a bright moment in your day.

I cannot wait to share it with all of you.  I am also in the market for someone to take some headshots of me – nothing fancy, I just need something professional that I can use in various places where I’m hopefully going to display my work soon. If you know anyone in the Boston, Buffalo, or Albany area willing to perhaps arrange a trade? I love trading with fellow creatives.  Send me an e-mail at hello@littlestfinch – you’d be forever in my gratitude.

Last, but not least, I have to thank Squam and my Squammies once again – I am a changed woman.  I was meandering through life with no purpose and my week at Squam – something clicked.  I realised what I want and need to do with my life for it to have purpose.  I know what brings me joy and I know how I can make a difference and I’ll share a bit more about my plans once I’ve gotten them underway a bit more.  I will say that Jennifer Lee’s Right Brain Business Plan has become a bible of sorts.  I actually look forward to working on my business plan and it has even gotten the seal of approval from my much more left-brain financial planner father who is very business-minded.  I’m excited for things to come and I owe a lot to my time at Squam and now that I’ve learned to own my work and my effort – the hard work I’ve been putting in – I owe a lot to that as well.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you – may creative breezes find you in good spirits.

Cheers & chirps,
Finch

Below are some of my journal pages that I created while at Squam and some photos that I took (you can see more on my flickr):