A beautiful morning for a brisk 8K run through downtown Chicago. Chilly with a bit of a breeze, but with the right layers it was quite nice for me and 23,500 of my fellow runners. What a difference a day makes… can you even imagine if the run was during yesterday’s crazy blizzard conditions?!

The toughest part is deciding what clothes to wear… and how many layers you can take off and pack away into Gear Check. The morning is cold. The breeze is chilling. You know you’re going to warm up when you start running. But you also know you have at least a half hour to stand out there and wait. At this point, Tracy and I were pretty sure we had made the right decisions.

Here’s the view of the Starting Line as we wait for our turn to start. I was in the second wave, Corral G… which means we had plenty of time to wait.

My friend Kristin was doing her first “official” run… we’ve been “training” at Spin Class together. So it was fun to see her there in my same Corral. We ran the last half of the race together which was a lot of fun. She did a GREAT job today!!!

And THIS is what you get when you ask someone to take your picture at the Finish Line… apparently the nice lady had extremely large thumbs?!!!

Such a difference a day makes… clear skies and NO SNOW!!!

Some of the Shamrock Shuffle “swag” back at my lace…. some sweatier than others!!!

On my way home, I stopped off at Ann Sather’s for some I-deserve-these  “reward” cinnamon rolls!!! Always fun when you know you’ve already burned off those calories!!!

A sneak peek at the new Ferris Wheel being built at Navy Pier.
It’s coming together nicely… opening Memorial Day Weekend.

By now everyone should have gotten their latest copy of POTTERY MAKING ILLUSTRATED. So here’s the challenge… send me a Selfie of you and your magazine!!! I’d love to see how far this magazine has traveled. Send your Selfie to gary@firewhenreadypottery.com. Thanks in advance… and let the games begin!!!

By now I’m sure you’ve figured out that I was recently published in POTTERY MAKING ILLUSTRATED. I was lucky enough to get the full center spread in the March/April issue. Pretty exciting… my first time in their magazine!

Huge thanks to the fine folks at POTTERY MAKING ILLUSTRATED for recruiting me for their publication. It has been such a fun project for me to work on, and to share my work with a wider audience. Hopefully the magazine with inspire some people to throw some clay on THEIR walls… and then send me some photos of the result!!!

Click here to go to the POTTERY MAKING ILLUSTRATED website.
It’s full of wonderful tips, techniques & tricks for potters of all experience levels. Great ideas being shared by a lot of gifted & giving potters. It’s a great online resource for potters of all levels.

Or you can click here to go to MY article in the magazine!
Because you know this little blog is really all about ME after all… tee-hee.

Or you can just read my article here... so many options…

Originally published in Pottery Making Illustrated, Mar/Apr, 2016. http://potterymaking.org. Copyright, The American Ceramic Society. Reprinted with permission.

One of my biggest fans with the latest issue of POTTERY MAKING ILLUSTRATED. Looks like she’s found something fun to add to her “pottery wish list.” Methinks I might need to be making more of these textured wall pillows?! And quick…

So excited to see my article finally in print. So thankful to be recruited by the fine folks at POTTERY MAKING ILLUSTRATED magazine to write a “how-to” article for them. Pretty cool to see my work, my words and my photos in their magazine… and knowing that it is just now arriving in potter’s homes around the world. Kinda crazy, right???

Hey wait… that looks like my Living Room wall?!!! I would recognize that orange paint finish wall anywhere. Especially with a constellation of my textured wall pillows on it? Pretty slick, huh???

Just fanning through some slick pages in the mystery box. Good to see it all came together nicely. I’ve very excited, and very pleased. I love it. Can’t wait for everyone to see!!! Oh wait… maybe you’ve already seen it by now???

Sure, the “sneak peek” envelope was nice… but a box full is so much better.
Can’t wait to show everyone what I’ve been up to!!! Coming soon…

I love when a plan comes together. I’ve been working on a little “project” for awhile now… and soon enough there’s going to be a “Big Reveal.” I got a a nice envelope in the mail today with a little sneak peek.