AM~Erica Dress & Talks the Part for Loot

So anyway...

Life has been a bit crazy the past several days, so I'm a little behind in showing you how our Talk Like a Pirate Day went this year. (because I know you've been waiting impatiently for the breakdown)

After a disappointing outing last year (reminder HERE), I was sure hoping this time around would be much better!

First up for the day had to be the morning grog, so got the coffee brewing. It was a perfect fall-like morning, so the back door was opened & coffee was enjoyed by the deck.

In a lot of rushing around, plans for the day, and with some family stuff that came up, it's amazing the adventures that got worked in!

I got myself together, got into my best pirate attire, perched my sidekick for the day, Pipsquawk, on my shoulder, and readied the Sea-Sick Crocodile for sailing the course of this wonderfully weird holiday.

Out of needed 3 items from each list, I covered 8/12 items for Krispy Kreme
and 6/10 for Long John Silvers. I'm an overachiever in this department.

On my shoulder is Pipsquawk. A "parrot on the shoulder" made both, Krispy Kreme & Long John Silver's,
lists of items needed to get free loot - so Pipsquawk is my pet parrot brooch.

I set sail for Krispy Kreme, first.
Now then, I was really thinking about this:
Krispy Kreme has no business getting themselves into the TLAP Day holiday. It makes no sense!! However, they were smart enough to run such a great promo to get in on the fun, they are now nearly synonymous with the holiday!

A few days before that, I came across a t-shirt of Lil Guy's that I did up for him to wear on TLAP Day last year...

          Me: Hey! Wonder if you can still wear this shirt for Saturday.

          LG: Why? What's Saturday?

          Me: Ummm...Talk Like a Pirate Day!

          LG: *GASP* Doughnuts?!?!?

So there you have it. Krispy Kreme has successfully put their mark on the treasure map of TLAP Day.

Anyhoo...
I headed there, first. When I pulled the Sea-Sick Crocodile into their port, there was an adult male pirate leaving the port. I don't know what the front of him looked like, but the outfit from the back was amazing!! The long coat, the cut off pants the boots, the hat...it was fantastic.

So when I went in, things were hopping! A few people were in there to get their free dozen of glazed doughnuts with the minimum amount of work - 3 of the 12 things from the list. Which is fine...good for them. Glad they got in the fun. Plus, it was time for the "HOT NOW" to be happening...so everyone was getting a warm, glazed doughnut when they came in...mmmmm....

I walked out of there with my 1 dozen FREE doughnuts. Which is great. But I was wanting to actually BUY a couple other things. However, they handed me my cardboard Talk Like a Pirate Day chest of golden-glazed rings along with a receipt for $0.00 (because...uh...FREE). They seemed to send me on my way, down the plank, without asking if there was anything else they could do for me, or if I would like anything else. Because I DID!! I was hoping to swing back by later, if there was time. So I'll get to that in a moment.

I brought home round 1 of treasure! The boys were very happy...until I told them we were saving it for dessert after dinner. Bwah-hahahaha!!!

Then my hubby had to run a few errands before some other adventures we had planned, so I got cleaned up (What? Pirates can get clean from time-to-time.) and threw my pirate garb back on. I planned on getting a free lunch on the way to a get-together...
The lunch thing didn't work out. By the time my hubby got back home, we were running a bit later than kind of hoped. Plus, he looked at me oddly. (Yeah! NOW he looks at me oddly.) He was waiting for ME to get ready and was filling time. When he, finally asked if I was going to get showered and ready, I looked at my attire, looked at him, and said, "But...I am ready."

He was confused. He thought I was only dressed like that to get doughnuts & not for our other endeavors of the day. D'oh! He was wrong.

Part of it was to get more free food. And I was told I could wear it to the 50th birthday party we were supposed to be attending...that was not pirate-themed...

*ahem*

During some of the downtime, I did enjoy one of our household staples: Pirate's Booty!!

So then we got ready to go, me still in my full-on-pirate gear, and headed to our good friend's 50th birthday party!

I was going to walk in like there was nothing out of the ordinary. I mean, c'mon: for me, this is not far out of the ordinary in my world. We were greeted at the door by a guy who just burst out laughing gleefully! No, I did not know this guy, but he obviously had to be there for my friend's day. He told us to come in, another lady joined him, plus a photographer that looked so much like our friend's mom, it was crazy!
The guy, thru this gleeful laughter, said he hoped I'd show up like that.
Wait...what?? And who are you, again??
But apparently our friend showed my earlier pics (above), and said he hoped I would still have it on for the party. Well, I guess I didn't disappoint then.
Then the photographer jumped right in to say she had to get a photo! Then she introduced herself as our friend's aunt. I totally believed it, too. She looks SO much like her sister!

Anyway...she took our pic as we came in:

See, my friend approached me to let me know the kiddos could come if we wanted them to. I informed him that I might be dressed like a pirate since it was being held on TLAP Day. He said he hoped I really would & that pictures may just happen. This is not a problem for me.

We went and looked at some amazing food laid out on the table. Then we went to track down our friend. He was in the backyard with a slew of other folks celebrating our awesome friend. And for some reason, no one else was dressed like a pirate. Hmmm....

It was a beautiful day to celebrate his 50th, and so glad I could be a moment of party entertainment.

See, honey? I told you I could go to the party dressed like a pirate!!

(Don't worry, people. We already had this conversation.)

We, sadly, couldn't stay very long - my hubby had another thing on his plate he had to get to. So, off we went...with some cake in hand.

*Wave to Presten, everyone! Wish him Happy Birthday (which is actually TODAY)*

(Presten's Aunt Cheryl [sp?] took these great pics)

When we got back home, we had a small bit of downtime, then my hubby was off for a couple of hours. I had some plans, myself...

I prepared the Sea-Sick Crocodile to set sail for some more piratey fun.

Still in my garb, I headed off to the port of Long John Silver's! I was so excited they were taking part again, finally! I went in a pre-dinner timeframe, so not many people were in there. No signage was up to say they were participating...but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. I know one patron was overly-amused by my entrance. I was so glad he was so entertained. I stepped up, and the girl just looked at me, like any other day, and said, "Is this for here or to go?" So I semi-piratey, almost-defeatedly asked, "Arrrre ya doing the whole pirate promo thing?" She just looked at me & told me yes. I was SO relieved! I, then, joyfully got my free meal, to go, with 2 pieces of fish, 2 hushpuppies & some fries! A couple people were intrigued by my look, I was complimented on my outfit choice, and that one dude was still overly-tickled that he was seeing a pirate IN Long John Silver's!

I got my food & headed out to board the Sea-Sick Crocodile for another port: back to the Krispy Kreme!

Some of you may be disappointed to find out that I was a well-behaved pirate. I went in & told them I had already gotten my dozen doughnuts. I didn't want to tempt my kiddos with more! But I did tell the employees that I just wanted a drink (in the TLAP souvenir cup) & 2 of their fantastic pirate coffee mugs.

All of this seemed to be an issue with the afternoon employees. All I wanted was an iced PSL in the souvenir cup & 2 of their mugs. They could not seem to get a grasp of what was going on...

FINALLY, a manager came to help with the ICED pumpkin spice latte to put in the adorable cup, and then one of the employees was confused as whether or not he should "mess with the display" of cups so I could get a couple of mugs. *face palm*

Back at the Krispy Kreme hoping they get my stuff right

While I waited, a (non-pirate) couple were just staring at my outfit. I told them that if you're gonna do it, you gotta go all out. They just said, "Well, you went all out."

Awww! Thank you, nice non-pirate couple!

So I finally got my mugs when the guy figured out you can sell the mugs on the case...

Then I finally got my cup with the iced PSL...

After setting sail from this time at the port of Krispy Kreme, I needed to make one more stop - the port of Wally World.

See, a pirate really can't get thru the day properly without having at least a splash of rum. Well, we'd already finished the stash we had at the home port, so I did as any other pirate would do: Go to Walmart & get some more!

I may end up on People of Walmart, but I don't care! It got me free food & awesome stuff! So I just removed my tricorn & eyepatch (that I used as a loose choker) to semi-tone down my look. I still got a lot of looks, but I pretended this is nothing out of the ordinary...

Move along, people. Nothing to see here. Just another pirate stopping by the Wally World to get their rum. Like any other day.

Yet I was still getting the stares & stuff. I could feel them. But I just went about my business. I did wave at a couple of kids, though. You know...give THEM that experience of getting noticed by a pirate at Walmart. Amm-i-rite?

I took my stuff up to a speedy check out. I placed my items on the conveyor belt. There was an older gentleman who was that lane's cashier at this point. He never even flinched. He just ran my items over the scanner like any other customer was standing there. He's probably seen a lot at Walmart in his time, so I was probably not a shock for him. He scanned my coconut rum, glanced at me, decided to not ID me (pshhh - whatever) and bagged it without a question. However, when he came to my bottle of Captain, he mentioned, "Well, this is fitting." I laughed a bit, and said, "Well, that's by design."

He asked if I worked in a costume shop or something, so I explained TLAP Day & how I'd already gotten free food. He seemed impressed. And I went about my way.

So, back into the Sea-Sick Crocodile I went, with Pipsquawk still perched upon my shoulder, and it was off to the home port to prepare the evening grub. But not before I saw the overly-amused guy from Long John Silver's going into Wally World as I left...and he was, once again, overly amused. I waved at him.

As per the past couple of years, Cedar Planked Lemon Pepper TiLAPia was on the menu (with Chicken Planks for the kiddos), Golden Lemon Butter Potato Medallions, Pirate's Booty brand shells (aged white cheddar) & cheese with anchors & (aged white cheddar) cheese, plus some greens (for seaweed salad) with some citrus dressing.

Then, we had to have the rum. For pirate day. Amm-i-rite?

So I made a Captain Arnold Palmer! Mmmmmm.....

Then we finally finished off the night with some delicious Krispy Kremes. Mmmm.....

All in all - it was a great & successful day of loot, booty & treasure! SO worth being dressed all over-achiever-like for it.

Even Teen Girl got into the act - we had matching shirts & near-matching boots. The Sea-Sick Crocodile wench is pretty much my mini-me.

~~~~~~~~~~

Leading up to this, I knew that Long John Silver's was up to great things this year when I flagged people down on twitter to get ready for TLAP Day. Then, this went down:

That's right - they were fighting to give me a pirate name! How awesome is this??

Of course, I was sharing my adventures on social media...and I forgot that LJS actually had a social media contest going. Well imagine my shock when they flagged me down on Instagram with this photo...

...to tell me that I could get a voucher for more free food since they picked me as one of their winners!!! (If you follow me on Instagram, you can go see it!)

** By the way, since dinner was covered, I enjoyed the free fish & hushpuppies the next day, while my boys enjoyed the fries - the kiddos aren't seafood fans & my hubby hadn't been feeling too well.

This year definitely made up for a disappointing TLAP Day last year. And I was SO happy to see LJS back on board, along with the fun liquid holders from Krispy Kreme!

I certainly hope more businesses & brands really hop on the promotion board next year. People get the free food...they post it all over social media AND while they are out & about, so it's free advertising for the day.

And you know I have ideas....

So...tell me - how was your TLAP Day?

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

So...AM~Erica Did a 5k

So anyway...

With all my butterflies racing last night (reminder HERE), I was a wreck this morning.

My jitters were rampant! I was trying to eat my breakfast fuel...but my belly was not having it. I only ate about 1/3 of my peanut butter, honey, pumpkin pie spice & almond on whole wheat toast.

I was getting hydrated & brewing the coffee...because this was not, I repeat - NOT, going to happen without some coffee.

So I drank water, had some coffee, put together some pre-race fuel (cheese stick & banana) along with bringing some coffee & more water, got my bib number attached, my camo & orange outfit on, topped off with the tutu so I could get ready to head out the door.

My running costutume for a the 5k around Bass Pro: camo & orange

So I headed over with Teen Boy (who was there to support me as Lil Guy had badly timed flag football games around the same time) so he could try to capture a bit of my first 5k.

I fueled up with my cheese, banana, water...and coffee...made sure my tutu was in place & then secured my timing chip to my shoe.

I then headed over to the starting line area to look for some of my peeps I knew would be there!

Found my baby sistah from another mistah before the race. YEA!

Then found my future sis-n-law doing the volunteer thing before she participated! Woo Hoo!

And time was getting close to begin the race. So I looked over at the sun rising & several runners beginning to gather at the start line.

So I took a moment to compose & begin to head over to the start line, too...

We found out the race was delayed by 10 minutes due to the traffic back up! There were over 1700 registered to be a part of this Park Trot 5k! That's a lot of people's folks!

I'm somewhere in that mob, folks. Lots. Of. People.

And after my niceties & excitement & nervousness...my girl, Beqi (the baby sistah from another mistah) & I decided we would quit talking to each other & just hoped for finishing...no matter who did it first. And the same for Angel, my future sis-n-law.
And...we were OFF!

I squealed in nervous excitement that we were starting...

And I ran...
And I ran...
And I ran...
...
     ...

          .....

I was focussed on getting to the next opening of people! And, as I did, I looked at my phone app to see that I was going at a MUCH faster pace than usual!
I usually do my 5k outings in about 35-36 minutes. My hubby predicted I would finish in 35:35! *GULP* No pressure!

However, I think in the power of the tutu (and since I was the only one wearing a tutu) made me run faster! I'm usually running about an 11:something pace. I was running just over 10 minutes per mile. wha-WHA??

I wanted to begin walking at one point, but I saw I was at the 3-mile marker...I couldn't give up NOW! So...I ran. I ran to the end...

And...I was exhausted. Smiling I finished & accomplished...but I was BEAT!

But I got to find my buddies & some others, too, after the race!

Beqi & I survived! *SMILING*

The Beems! Great family to run into! And...Kate (far R) is the one cheering me on as I cross the finish line

 Found Angel (future sis-n-law) after she crossed the finish line!

Found this lovely lady, Aimee, on the way to my car! So glad I got to see her!

OK, remember the large crowd? There was no line by the table to get your official time. There was just a mob of people! And I needed to get out of there. So I didn't take much with me when I left. I will look it up online later. However...here is my unofficial Runtastic results:

Can hardly believe I did it. But I did it. And I thought I'd be way more emotional...but I was totally elated...and exhausted. But really elated!

And then, Teen Boy & I got ourselves to the car, had a lot of issues getting out of our parking spot, so I got to finish some water, get down some dry roasted edamame & a granola bar, and take a couple of swigs of Gatorade before a very nice man, who was a race participant, figured out I wanted out & made sure I got to leave. God, bless that guy 100 fold for being aware of us trying to get out of a very busy place!

Now...I rest. And hydrate...and rest. That took a lot out of me! The full-out run & the stress behind it really took a lot out of me!

But you know what? I have tried to work really hard...but it has been the extra encouragement from my friends & family! I know it was funny when I started out. Who woulda thunk it? But here I am...and I cannot thank enough those of you who have inspired & encouraged me!

OK...now I'm gonna find some chocolate. Like a Cadbury Egg. Yeah...I deserve that.

Because I ran an entire, officially timed, 5k today. I will get the official results soon...I hope.

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica