Three Things Thursday

#1 The Nightingale

 

A coworker let me borrow this book to read and I haven't been able to put it down since Monday! The book recounts the time frame of World War II in Nazi occupied France. It follows two sister's stories and all they did to help refugees of war. It is fiction, but the author is such an amazing writer, you feel as if you're there. If you're a history fan, this book is right up your alley! This book truly opened my eyes to just how blessed we are. Simply having food to eat, shelter over our head, and clothing to wear is a pretty huge deal. You don't realize just how blessed we are until you hear what someone else (in this case, lots and lots of people) had to go through.

#2 And the rain rain rain came down down down....

So, we felt like Winnie the Pooh and the blustery day here yesterday. It rained and rained and rained and rained some more. Roads that never flood were flooded and I almost didn't make it home from work. I am not in a flood zone at all and was amazed at how high the water came around my neighborhood.

This pretty much sums up yesterday...

Source

#3 Tone It Up Challenge

Last Monday (April 24), I joined in with the Tone It Up Girls Spring/Summer 8 week Challenge for their annual Bikini Series. So far, I've been up early every morning (except Sunday...I took Sunday off) for either a HITT workout, toning, or Yoga, keeping my normal running routine in the afternoons. 

I didn't think I would still be going with the morning sessions at this point, but I'm happy to say that I am! Overall, I feel better and am working muscle groups that haven't been used in a long time. It's incredibly satisfying!

That's all for today! Happy Star Wars Day, by the way! :)

Have you read any good books lately? Any recommendations?

runDisney Belle Costume Book Prop

Over the past couple of months since the Princess Half Marathon, I've received several questions and comments about my Belle book prop that I held while running the half, so I am going to share a closer look at my prop with you today!

You guys know I'm all about the details and I felt as if my Princess costume was rather plain. It just needed a little something extra in my opinion. The book I used in the photos of my costume reveal was a legit book from my book shelf and I knew I didn't want to run 13.1 miles holding onto it as it was heavy and bulky.

The day we left for our trip, I had a brilliant idea....why not make my own book, tailor it to the Beauty and the Beast story line, and make it light weight and race friendly?! Yes, please! 

Enter: my very own "Tale As Old As Time".

Supplies:

• Two pieces of lightweight foam
• Card stock
• Computer/printer
• Copy paper
• Tape
• Mod Podge, clear
• Paint brushes
• Elastic band
  

To begin, I cut two pieces of light weight foam (from a local craft store) into 6x8 size. I then used copy paper and tape to "wrap" each piece of foam like a present.

Using Word, I created my story line as well as the front, back, and spine of the book, printed it all on card stock, then cut each piece to fit the dimensions of the foam.

The spine was the first portion of the book to be glued down and was followed by the cover and back of the book. After these pieces were relatively dry (I was working against time as we were set to leave for our trip), I used mod podge over the entire outside of the book to hold things in place. I also figured that using mod podge was my best bet for the book to maintain it's color/form while running a humid and sweaty race!

After the outside was dry, the inside story pieces were glued down and also mod podged into place.

Once it was all said and done, the whole book weighed a whopping 2.5 ounces! 

My plan was to just carry the book along with me throughout the race and toss it if it got on my nerves. However, my genius husband had a grand idea!

He asked if I had an elastic hair band that was stretched out to the max. Oddly, I did!

He slipped the elastic band around the spine of the book so I could use it as a handle while running the half! In the end, it worked out GREAT!

Many people asked how I ran this race holding a "book" and now you know! It was super light weight (at 2.5 ounces, I barely knew it was there), functional, and matched my costume to boot!

A lot of the characters made comments about the book prop, but Gaston's response was my favorite. He took it from me and told his cast member handler to "toss it in the fire"! 

Having the prop really added a lot to my race experience and I'm so glad I decided on the last minute add-in!