Thursday's Threads: Valentine's Edition

 

Outfit DAY! And we got to be pretty ridiculous this week. Been awhile! Lol! Al is our model today, because he looks fab in pink. Here's what he wore:

Bridle: Joseph Sterling
Browband: homemade

Look at that handsome nugget! Kinda looks like he's grown a second tiny head... but I assure you, that's just one of his buddies in the other grooming stall. That browband was a dog leash in its former life. 

Saddle: Butet
Saddle Pad: Equine Star

Half Pad: Stephens

I wasn't planning on getting any new pad sets this year since I'm trying to save some money to hopefully show this year. But my supplier reached out to me with a deal I couldn't refuse around holiday time and caved on this set I'd had in the planning archives. Glad I did because it's adorable!

Boots: Equine Star

I mean really. Look how cute! Can hardly wait until next year to use them again!

It's hard to see in these photos, but the candy hearts have all the typical sayings on them. Luv U, Call Me, Cutie, that sort of thing. My outfit however, features much snarkier messages.

Here's what I had on:

I should have remembered to grab my pink helmet and boots from my tack room, but I didn't. Instead I wore my Samshield and the same black boots as last week. I'm going to skip those photos this week since I didn't take new ones. We'll jump right to the rest of my outfit.

Sweatshirt: I don't remember where I got this

Hahaha! Funny right?! The single girl's Valentine's shirt. Made me giggle. I think I got this from Amazon, but honestly, it was last year, I can't remember for sure.

Belt: Mane Jane

Obviously I had to do the bubble gum pink belt strap. Duh,

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

I was actually going to wear a green cardigan sweater that has pink hearts on the sleeve, hence the green cami peeping out above. But that sweater turned out to have a broken zipper so I had to switch. Fortunately, these Mixed Berry breeches still worked with the sweatshirt. I wasn't in the mood to change my pants too. #lazy

Socks: Dreamers and Schemers

Found these my accident whilst perusing the D&S site one day and when I realized they had the same snarky messages on the hearts as my sweatshirt, I obviously had to get them. No brainer!

That's what the ponies and I wore to celebrate Valentine's Day. Did you wear pink or red to celebrate? What about your ponies? No? Just me? Okay then... Not the first time. Haha!

What's Up Wednesday

I'm back in the frozen tundra, but that doesn't mean we can't finish recapping my trip south! When we left off last week, Badger had managed to knock himself over lunging, but still was able to show on Wednesday. We figured we'd toss him on the lunge Thursday morning before I braided to see how he looked. He was just fine so I braided him up but forgot to get a photo before he rubbed... Boys. They looked better for day two, you know, prior to said rubbing.

post rubbing... could be worse, right?

Badger looked sound after a few stiff steps when he first started out. But once in the ring, he decided to let us know that he was feeling sore from his antics the day before. He doesn't tell you by, oh I don't know, limping? But rather by acting like a feral child. He started out nicely over the single, but played through his lead change and would only give a tense 10' stride at the canter. Know what that results in? Adding. It results in adding. He also threw in some small hops and lots of ear pinning. The second trip was mildly better, but he was still pretty ornery. This is why trainer shows him! Haha. Babies. It wasn't a total loss in my eyes though. He showed in a different ring on day 2 than he did on day 1. So again, it was a brand new ring to him. This one was next to the road, but there was a large privacy hedge  between the ring and the road. The weird thing about that though, is they can still kind of see the traffic, but not really. Pretty spooky in my opinion! But he didn't spook. He never was worried about being in a new place nor about jumping new jumps. So while he had a terrible attitude about the whole thing, he still had some redeeming qualities in the ring.

And also, he jumped like that. EVERY SINGLE TIME. Seriously. He's so fancy. I wish I could get along with him.
So after his telling us all about his sore body, we checked in with his vet. She said a few days of bute and no riding until Monday. Yep. I flew down to Florida for seven days to ride my horse and I got to ride him twice. Never even got to jump. Or canter a ground pole. Nothing. He literally is just eating and pooping my money. It's a good thing he's so darn cute! I guess if nothing else, he fits in well with the rest of the herd. (Also, now you probably understand my need for retail therapy...)
Fortunately, trainer shared Cara with me most days, so I did get to ride almost every day. She was perfect as always.

I didn't get to ride Friday because someone was trying Cara, but I went to the barn anyway to stuff Badger with cookies. And then I got irresponsible... You guys. La Mundial has an outlet store in Wellington. They sell all the orphan boots that didn't work out for people. I figured I was safe popping in since I'm so awkwardly sized. I wear a size 6 shoe, but have a solid 16" calf. Also, I'm a short girl, but calves are fairly long. Super awkward. And yet, I apparently have some size twins out there in the world. After trying on about six pairs of boots, I realized I couldn't leave empty handed. These two beauties are shipping to me this week... Because I have no self control.

The top pair is black with navy patent leather for the top trim. I figure I can wear them for everyday, but they'd also be a nice spare pair to show in if my zippers break or something. The other pair is navy blue all over. I have no good excuse for these. They're just SO PRETTY! And I got both pair shipped (and the blue ones are having some alterations done) for about $350 less than I spent on my Parlantis. So I mean... that's a good deal right? Two for less than one!
Friday after pony related activities, I headed over to the house to spend some time with the nieces. We had lots of fun swimming and playing with my little ponies.
Saturday was supposed to be my last day, so I spent some extra time at the barn stuffing Badger full of cookies and watching some lessons. I got all packed up and sat down for some lazy tv time when I found out my flight the next day was canceled. SO SAD! Oh wait, no. Not very sad at all! I mean, I missed all the fur kids at home, but another storm was hitting and I didn't mind missing that too much. Trainer takes Sundays off unless she's showing, so that meant no ponies on my extra day. Instead, I slept in a bit, and went to my favorite Florida breakfast place, the Lazy Loggerhead.

Probably not good for my "diet" (hahahaha, yeah right, I'm dieting...) but it was delicious! After breakfast, I enjoyed some sunshine on the boat:

And I came up with a potential logo for the farm. Not that I really need one... but I totally want Winthrop Corner gear and I definitely need a logo for that. What do you guys think?

I'm thinking it might be better to have the farm name written on the horse shoe instead? Or maybe just the initials on the rosette? I dunno. For now it's ok as is I guess.
At this point it was still only around 12:30. I have 10 million reviews to write for Beeju Boxes, but my internet was awful during the day (too much traffic I think) so that wasn't going to be a good use of my time. I decided instead to take full advantage of my day off and went for a pedicure. Definitely a good choice.
And then it was time to mentally prepare for the Tundra.

Land of ice.

My flight Monday was slightly delayed. There were high winds in CT, and so they had to clear a different runway back at the airport for a safe landing. Our plane couldn't take off until the airport in CT confirmed we could land there. It wasn't a long delay though thankfully. The flight was uneventful despite warnings of bad turbulence which didn't come to fruition thankfully. I was home snuggling ponies by around 4:30. I missed them SO MUCH! Once they were appropriately snuggled and fed, I set to work trying to de-ice Jorge.

There was a solid 3 inches of ice covering about 5 inches of snow. So that was fun. (No, no it wasn't.) It took about an hour, but I finally freed him and went to get the short kids! I hate leaving them, but I LOVE reuniting with them. The horses all kind of ignored me when I got back (well not Jamp, he's always happy to see mom) but the Pugs celebrate like it's the best day EVER! I heart those kids.
Tuesday was Valentine's Day, which I don't really celebrate as a single old spinster. But my friends are pretty awesome, so I still got some spoils:

I spent the evening giving the tall kids extra good groomies. They were definitely in need after my week away. I'm happy to report that shedding season is in full effect:

my fuzzy valentine

That's about it from here this week! But I won't leave just yet... I know you're dying to know what all those pictures were yesterday on Truthful Tuesday. Well, two of them were the boots above. One is my surprise from Equine Affaire, but I'm not revealing that until it's finally here. Sorry! All I can say is, "OMG SO PRETTY! I CAN'T WAIT ANOTHER MINUTE FOR ARRIVAL!" Two of the photos were of spurs. I brought a couple of pairs of spurs down with me to get colored by Color Tack. I'm getting one pair done in gold and one in hunter green. I think they'll take about two weeks. And then I shall outfit them with my homemade spur straps! Woohoo! Well maybe... Another of the photos is a new Mane Jane belt. One side is green crocodile and the other side is purple croc. But in addition, I got a pair of spur straps also in the green crocodile. I think I got princess crowns on the keeper too. I promise to share everything once they all arrive!
Ok, that's really all that's up this Wednesday!

Love 2 Run Virtual Race

Waaaaay back on Valentine's Day (right before I discovered I had no hot water, and a few hours prior to my truck breaking down in the middle of the road) I ran a virtual race. I had been trying to get back into running and figured signing up for a race was always the best motivation. But I was not motivated enough to run outside in the arctic air on icy roads. So I went looking for a virtual run. And since I had only been running a teeny tiny bit, I was excited to find the Love 2 Run virtual 2.14 mile race for Valentine's Day. I loved the idea of the shorter distance since my fitness was lacking. I still like to aim for a 10 min mile (or better!) on race day, so the shorter distance made that seem relatively attainable.
Since I planned to blog about my run, I decided to dress for the occasion:

I almost never wear race shirts in the actual race I get them at. And I pretty much never wear a bib for a virtual run because that just seems a little awkward. But I decided to wear both today because I miss racing.

I paired them with some old Nike Shorts and my Pug knee socks I found at Five Below a few weeks ago.

This pug looks bad ass.

And to complete my race outfit: My Mizuno Wave Hitogamis.

I felt great starting out. I was having a decent first mile when all of a sudden I hear a yelping. It was Artie. He waits until it's a dire emergency to let me know he has to go outside. Since I'm a good Mommy, I paused my awesome run to let the boy out. And then waited VERY impatiently while he took FOREVER to do his business. Seriously, this is why you should go OUT for your runs. No interruptions! But still, I appreciate him not going on the floor.

After all the that, I climbed back on the treadmill to kill the rest of my run. It wasn't as easy and as awesome as it started out. But I made it!

And more or less reached my goal too! Yay! This virtual run had the best loot too. Check out this medal!

The top actually comes completely off (I'm holding it in the top photo) to reveal little heart candies printed inside.

AND they sent actual candy hearts too!

Instead of the normal sayings, they have cute runner related quotes on them: Love 2 Run, Chase Me, You're my PR, Run 4 EVR. So CUTE!
I love a good virtual run. They aren't as exciting as an actual real live race, but it's fun to get out and earn a medal on your own schedule. And they're great motivation to get back at it.
Have you ever run a virtual race?

What's Up Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday everyone! It's been a little ridiculous here lately. Over the weekend we had some of the coldest temps I've ever experienced, and then yesterday it was 55 degrees! Crazy. I'm excited for the warmer weather, and hope the ring clears up enough to maybe get some saddle time in this weekend! Time will tell on that...

  In the meantime, let's take a look back at the past week!
I went back up to Mt. Purses the other day and finished weeding out and organizing. It's not perfect, but it's much better than it was before! I keep them in the same room as my shoes, so the photos below are the wall opposite my shoes.

I love these shoe chairs. I got them in college and think they're perfect for my shoe room!

I haven't been able to do much with the horses other than brush them and stare at them during their turnouts. I suppose I could be trimming their whiskers and pulling their manes, but I like to give them a reprieve from all the primping in the winter. I figure when they are outside, they'll want that extra hair to keep them warm! I mean seriously, look at these temps:

Cuddling with Rio has obviously been the best method of staying warm.

He has my entire messy bun in his mouth...

So glad I decided to heat the barn!

 

It was SO COLD this weekend that the short kids even wore blankets to go outside:

Sadly, their blankets are a little too small. Sorry kids. We'll get bigger ones next year!

Saturday I ran some errands, took care of the all the four-leggeds, and otherwise just hibernated. But Sunday I was ready to be a more productive member of society. Ah the best laid plans...
Sunday was Valentine's day which as a single lady, I don't really bother celebrating. But would obviously never turn away chocolates. Or cupcakes. I have a coworker who is also a good friend. He has a sister-in-law that owns a flower shop. So every year on Valentine's day, he and his wife bring me some flowers and a sweet treat. Isn't that the nicest?! My goodies were coming by around 1, so I had plenty of time be productive before that. The horses were groomed and tucked back in by 11, so I headed indoors to complete my Valentine's virtual run (2.14 miles-more on this later).

After that I turned on the shower only to discover I had no hot water. Ugh. Thankfully it was a quick fix. But not quick enough to have time to shower. Oh well. Hopefully I wasn't too smelly. My friend stopped by with some cupcakes and these pretty flowers:

His wife is a 911 dispatcher and works Sundays, so she couldn't come by. He and I hung out for a bit and ate too many cupcakes. I was meeting another friend of mine to go see "How To Be Single" at 3:30. I went out early to get my truck running and warmed up. It's a diesel so this sub zero weather can be tricky. He started right up though! I let him run for about 10 minutes to make sure he wasn't going to stall out. And then we were on our way to the movies!
Unfortunately, about half way there, my truck stalled. On a winding, narrow, road with no shoulder of course. Yikes! I had to have it towed.

Needless to say, we did not make the movie. Never a dull moment! I'm still waiting to hear back on my truck's status. He's been giving me some difficulty lately. I'm confident this latest incident was due to the cold weather (he did this to me once last year on the way to work!) but he didn't want to start a few weeks ago when it was warm out. Best to get it figured out now, and not while I'm hauling horses this summer!
I borrowed a truck on Monday from work as we were getting snow again. My little Betty car is pretty much useless if it's snowing, so I am so thankful to have access to a four wheel drive vehicle! Seriously. So grateful.
The snow turned to rain during the night and then it poured all day Tuesday as it warmed up to 55 degrees. Ok by me as the snow is all melting away. Bring on spring!!!
Well, that's what's up with me this Wednesday! What's up with you? How's the weather where you are?