Don't Eat the Paint: November 2009

First off: Still alive over here. My time has not been my own as of late, and other responsibilities have pushed blogging to the bottom of my list. I'm currently (at least of the next few weeks...no guarantees) in a position that is allowing me just enough time for blogging. My current supervisor told me to use the internet when I ran out things to do, so here it goes:

Way, way belated post here. Random photos from our extensive road trip and Breyerfest from Seattle to Kentucky. We made it in less than three days (not that I recommend it) and took our time on the way back.

The way there

Somewhere in Missouri?

Yup, that was the only photo we managed to take on the way there. We were in a hurry, drove day and night, and ended up arriving a day early. We collapsed somewhere between Lincoln and Kansas City and then drove straight through to Lexington.

In KY

Since we arrived a day early, we had an amazing opportunity tour Winstar--in the middle of the night. Photo conditions were not ideal.

Stallion Tiznow's Breeder's Cup Blanket

Winstar has, by far, the fattest barn cat I've ever seen. We got to tour the grounds and pet the full brother of this year's Dubai Cup winner, Well Armed. Sadly, he would not fit in the car on way back, so we decided against smuggling him out.

Of course, this was the night before Breyerfest Live. We got back from the farm just in time to pack the car (so much for sleep.) Lauren thought we were nuts. She's probably right.

After a minor metal break down from me (at this point, I'd been up for at least 24 hours straight and hadn't had a full 8 hours in weeks) we managed to make it to the live show...mostly alive.

The Hall of Sham

My "brilliant" plan for my collector's class set-up never came together and I was forced to improvise. Alas.

My flash conga will miss you

The reserve overall prize for this year. I have a theory that the cooler the prize, the less likely I am to win it. Glass half empty.

On the plus side, I got to see a few previous customs of mine! This guy was one of the last airbrush dapple greys I've done and the inspiration for the piece below:

"Susans in May" - Rachel Alexandra portrait

So I didn't come away completely empty handed. Given more time, I actually feel pretty good about how I did, but there was no telling that to me at that moment. By this point I'd been awake for 36 hours.

"I M FAM" by Tiffany Purdy

Can you believe this guy started life as a Family Arabian Mare? He was created by the super talented Tiffany Purdy, who was also generous enough to swap me my Indian Pony for her Idocus.

Friday evening memories are kinda blurry from here on. I passed out eventually, but not after hours of romping about the Hilton Inn North like a 3rd grader on a Pixy stix.

Gala!!!

After too many trips through the SR line, Lady Brooklyn aka Lauren Tapley aka My Hero managed to snag me a Gala! I would have never been able to afford him second-hand.

Upon receiving Gala, Heather and I finally crawled out of bed and returned to the land of the living. We pranced off to the Kentucky Horse Park and got a little snap happy: