Cat on a Chair, by Théophile Steinlen
Oil on canvas, 1880
From a bear in a boat to a cat in a chair! At least cats in chairs makes sense, though. (I can think of three cats in my house right now who are asleep in chairs.) I once had a cat who looked just like the cat in this painting. His name was Ziggy, and he was our barn cat; he was a total jerk to other cats but liked people well enough. We had to put him down last summer after he was injured pretty badly, but we still have his sister, Zoe. She's super neurotic and very small. Our neighbour found them together on the side of the road when they were still quite young (maybe a couple of months old) and she brought them to us because her dogs are not cat dogs. They actually got loose and attacked another one of our cats, Pita, who is the mother of Lucky, our extremely obese orange tabby who came with the property and rules the roost. And he's one of the cats that is currently asleep on a chair.
Cat lady moment OVER. If you want to take part in this week's SIA, email Salazar photos of your outfit by Monday, June 29th! This one's for the cat ladies out there, so enjoy :)
It's been a hell of a week, and is going to continue into the weekend. I finally--FINALLY--have wifi, though, so here (a grossly embarrassing four days late) is this week's Style Imitating Art! This week's inspiration was Bear in Boat by Joyce Koskenmaki.
First up is Stephanie. She wanted to include her dog, but she couldn't find a boat suitable for this week. I still think she rocked it! The green of her shirt matches the corners of the painting very well.
Next is Alison from Nouveau North Westerners. She's newish ti SIA but she looks like a pro! Her scarf adds the perfect amount of whimsy to match the painting.
Karen from She Thought She Could is doing SIA for the first time, and she looks awesome too! I never would have thought to pick a tan vest and it looks amazing!
I believe Kezzie recently suggested we use something other than "adorable" to describe her submissions. So...awesome? Does that work? The dress is a great colour and I love the pop of black underneath! It's a little feisty!
Jen of Librarian for Life and Style is crushing the shirtdress game right now, and I have major envy--I wish I could wear one that well! I love the pattern too, it's so eyecatching.
My SIA cocreator Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey ain't happy with this outfit, but I think she looks chill. I like the plaid, and that cat looks quite similar to another animal involved in this post...
And last but maybe not least is me! This is actually an old photo but this is exactly the outfit I was going to photograph...except I can't find the top anywhere. It is GONE. Just another thing to tack onto this week, I guess!
Thank you all for participating, and I apologise for being so late getting this post up. It's been a very long and trying week at work, my boyfriend bought a house on June 12th, and our wifi has been down since Sunday. I also can't find one half of my favourite pair of shoes. Like I said, it's been a week! Thanks for being patient with me while my little world tries to hop back on its axis. XO!
I'm really lucky to have a great coworker who is highly tolerant of me and willing to make a fool of herself. S., a thirtysomething mother of two, was hired into my department (for a second time) about three months after I joined the staff there, and somehow we ended up bonding. She's quietly hilarious and walks really fast, so why not ask her to do the Color Run with me?
I've been wanting a goal for a while, just something that I could work toward, and I figured the Color Run would be a good option. It's extremely laid back as far as 5K races go--it isn't timed, and all ages are welcome, from strollers to wheelchairs. So I trained--I used the Nike+ Running app's Coach program, which I recommend--and thought I'd be ready to go. S. didn't train quite as much, but she's generally in better shape than I am.
We arrived in Charlotte on May 30th, and picked up our packets. My first pinny! My first run shirt! My first...sweatband! Woo! We lined up and off we went, with the moral support of my boyfriend, who would soon be joined by one of my best friends from college. As S. and I entered the zMax Dragway where the run took place, we started off at a jog, but it didn't take long for me to slow. We alternated jogging and walking, and jogged through every colour station. I got soaked with blue water at our first station (it's like they saw a tall person and said GET 'ER), and S. was doused with pink powder at the next. I was keeping track of everything on my Nike+ Running app, and at the halfway point of the Dragway course, I looked at my phone to see how far we'd gone, then looked at S.
We had already gone 2.5 miles.
Now, a 5k is 3.1 miles. Even at 8am, which is when we started, it was pretty hot. I mean, we live in the deep south. Of course it was hot. And it was getting hotter, and the drag strip pointed directly at the sun. So we had a long way to go.
But! We were pushed forward by the hundreds of others around us who were excited about everything that was going on, and we had so much fun. By the last station, which was half mica, half glitter, we were covered in colours and drenched in sweat, but we ran roughly the last three tenths of a mile, bolstered by the cheers of my college friend E., who was chasing us to get pictures and screaming our names. (She's the best.) Getting to the end of 4.5 miles--taking that medal, grabbing a bottle of water, air hugging my friend and boyfriend, high fiving S.--was such an awesome feeling. Even though I was a mess, both literally and figuratively, I felt so relieved to have made it. I didn't have any false hopes for how well I could have done, and I just wanted to make it to the end. And I did! And it felt awesome.
I've seen a lot of "real" runners online denounce the Color Run because it isn't a "real" 5K. And I mean DUH, of course it isn't. It isn't even timed. But think about the tens of thousands of people it's motivated to come out and run, or at least walk, and the way it's changed how people think about running. Hell, I never would have run a regular timed 5K; I would have been totally intimidated. Having such a positive first race experience--even though it was an additional 2k over what I expected--makes me so much more ready to tackle the next race. I'm not sure exactly when that will be, because I lost a week of training from an ouchy knee post-Color Run, but I'm back to exercising and confident about what comes next!
Bear in Boat, by Joyce Koskenmaki
Oil on linen, 2009
A black bear recently took up shack in a tree in the most urban area of Cardiganland. So that was weird and exciting! But it reminded me of this charming little painting I found on Pinterest ages ago, and I thought it would be fun to do a piece with lighter substance for this week's SIA. If you want to take part, please send me your photos by Monday, June 15th! Have fun with this one--it's cute, but there are lots of ways to interpret that little bear in a boat!
