guess who didn't want to buy a frame that would be the photo's actual size when there was a perfectly larger than needed one in my house

Have you ever wondered about the history of picture frames? Realistically speaking I'm probably the only person that's curious about this because by the 21st page of Google I still couldn't piece the history together. A few (more like 2 full days) hours later, I was finally be able to put together the quality tea that is the history of picture frames.

If we jump way back in time to ancient Egyptians and Greeks, frames existed as paint on the borders. Rather than being separate from the art, it was on the art. So being a 'Framer' as a profession was as simple as dipping a paint brush in gold and painting a box around the art itself. I say simple but now that I think of it, drawing a straight line is something I mess up even when I'm using a ruler.

In the 2nd Century AD a mummy portrait (y'know when the mummy was alive and stood for hours getting that on point selfie portrait) was discovered in an Egyptian tomb with not a golden line acting as a frame but! in a wooden frame! This mummy's painter must have been like the Ancient Egyptian James Bond for painting because no one knew about this new way, can you imagine if the village found out that someone was hiding a new way of framing a portrait? That painter would have been tomb buddies with the guy he just painted.

In the 12th and 13th century this was when hand carved wooden frames began to really shine.  The way frames were made was the ancient Egyptian and Greek technique in reverse. Rather than adding the frame at the very end, the frame was made first. The rundown of how a hand carver's day went a bit like this: They bought a block of wood, carved the frame into the wood at the edges and then handed it to the artist. Then the artist would paint the artwork in the center of the wood. So essentially, before the carver even carved they had to have a rough sketch from the artist of how much of a frame to indent into the wood for the artist to still have enough of a center to paint. At this point in time, artwork was mainly just something people saw in churches.

Then some individuals were like MAYBE I WANT ART IN MY HOUSE WITH A NICE FANCY FRAME. 

This is when framing went back under construction. Instead of the frame + artwork being on the same block of wood it was thought to be less costly and save a lot of time if the frame was separate from the artwork. Time is money so obviously anything that saved time AND money was the way to start living. So, the painting would be on one block of wood and the frame would be placed around the painting using nails and glue. VWALA - an easier route to framing was born in 16th century Europe!

Bonus fun fact about frames: 
Unlike paintings and everything else in this world, there is no copyright law on frames! So that means that there are a lot of similar looking frames all made by different people.

And there we have it! Picture Frames History explained! I find it so interesting how the frame evolved from a gold line, to being part of the art, and then finally to being something separate!
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I'm going to end this with a small lil note from someone who doesn't really have a blogging niche: 

Be true to yourself and write what makes you happy even if it isn't everyone's cup of tea. One of my favorite posts I've written is actually Crash Course: Paperclip. What I didn't know when I was writing it was that that precise post would lead to my first brand collaboration.  As long as you enjoy what you're writing, keep doing you & don't try to imitate anyone else.

I like writing history crash courses because I like making history fun. The articles I read when writing my crash courses are actually extremely boring. This is where my sarcastic humorous self comes in and sprinkles in some fun like salt bae. I'm sort of rambling but if you made it to the end of this post, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it!


At the end of August, if you've read my latest post, you'll have known that my sister and I decided to go on a tour of Greece. One thing I was really excited to see was the Ancient Olympic Stadium, however after a lot of maneuvering around the National Garden I ended up being right in front of a stadium I didn't realize existed: The Panethenaic Stadium. There was a massive track, which when I tell you how upset I was that I wasn't in my track clothes to run a few laps I'm not even joking.

Something that I've seen was mentioned in the book Strong: A Runner's Guide to Boosting Confidence and Becoming the Best Version of You by Kara Goucher (which I am still yet to get!) was to speak your dreams to other people. We often keep our dreams close to us as if it were a candle and telling others would blow it out. On this tour, I mentioned to the group - my fun fact was that I like to run - that I was training for the 5000M with an aim to make it to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. They were so interested in hearing about the dedication that I must put to this sport that I love so much and are looking forward to seeing where my running takes me.


It was then that I realized the importance of speaking your dreams to other people. I mention my dream of making it to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics for Team USA in the 5000M often on here - I'm pretty sure my regular readers may get a bit annoyed of me talking about it so often. I also mention it to my family when something is planned for the day, and I have to remind them that I have to get my run in earlier in the day for the plan to work. Because I'm training, the only rest days I take are when I feel my body needs one; that's not to say I run 24/7 until I feel like my body is about to collapse, I schedule 2 rest days in my schedule per week (but more like active rest because I like to walk around and not be a couch potato). I never really mentioned it to anyone outside of those two groups: Blog & Family. So, actually saying it to people in real life made it more real for me. In a way, I guess I have more people to hold me accountable. It made me excited because for once it wasn't just me believing in this dream of mine, it was others looking forward to seeing my dream become a reality.

I did this jumping pose at all major places and I can confirm my arms were extremely sore and about to fall off by the end of the trip

In the beginning, when I mentioned it to my family, it was something they semi-brushed off but I don't think they did it intentionally. My mom is a pretty huge supporter of me, anything is possible is kind of her mantra, that and life is easy, breathe. I mentioned to my sibling that there was another girl who was a runner, like me on this tour. My sibling responded with like you but in a way that's like you're not serious type of way. I know my sibling probably didn't meant to say it like that, or maybe they did, but reiterating my dreams to others on my tour of Greece really solidified my dream in my mind. I was on cloud nine and not even a ~comment~ like that was going to bother me. Well, I guess if it didn't bother me it wouldn't really be an anecdote in this blog post.


This stadium had a place where the King and Queen sat (y'know when there was a Greek Monarchy) which actually looked pretty cool and roomy to sit in. Here's a bit of quick history you probably didn't wonder about but I'm going to tell you about anyway: Did you know that all Olympic Torches & Posters used to promote the Games (Summer and Winter) return to this stadium? Also, the Altar - where the High Priestess lights the Olympic Flame for its journey to the city that organizes the Olympic Game is here, which is below!


Now, a mini spam of the Posters for the Games & Torches through the years:



Here we have London 1948 - I'm really curious on the history on this Torch design because clearly it's who I am as a person to want to know everything about history.



Fast forward London 2012 - what a different look right? It was pretty hard for me to get the photo of the poster & torch hence why I took 2 separate photos!



Canada aka. good ol' friend (well, when a certain president behaves) hosted the Games in 1976 - I really love the classic look of this one. I actually took these photos to show it to a friend of mine but thought I'd include it anyways!



Beijing in 2008! I love how detailed the pattern is on this Torch!



Rio Olympics 2016! I remember watching this abroad and all I'm going to say is Simone Biles. That is all. If you don't know who that is, look up Simone Biles Rio Routine, you'll thank me later!



You thought I was done with the 1900's NOPE- here we have Helsinki, Finland 1952 and can I just say wow. I just love this Torch a lot. It just has that look that makes you do a double take (or maybe that's just me!)

Everywhere I looked there was a bit of history from all over the world on the walls. The Olympics brings countries together and it was interesting to walk through history that is shared with other countries. This is also where I learned that Los Angeles, California hosted the Olympic Games in 1984.




I also wasn't sure I'd see the most the most recent one from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang but! It was here!



Ok I promise I'm done with my fascination of the Olympic torches through the years I could have stayed there all day, my camera roll has more torches & posters.

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That right there in the back is my mom in the future 

I did run on the track in my regular clothes, and I was just so happy & content. I made my sister take a photo of me preparing to run (granted my leg is probably too bent in this photo but I was too excited so forgive me track people that are reading this) and hilariously a guy photobombed my photo. When I looked back at it I thought to myself, this is what I want for my future to be in 2020. I am so excited with the thought that that's going to be my mom one day, cheering me on in Tokyo 2020 if I make the team (please legs love me and move fast for the Olympic Trials xo).

Dreams don't work unless you put in the effort and as I was just coming back from injury, my motivation took some dips and dives but this Stadium brought me back up again. I remind myself that for every workout I do, even the ones that have me contemplating if I should go out in the rain for a run, I get stronger. Every workout makes me stronger and more capable of achieving my dreams. There are days where I think to myself can I do this? Is this in my future? When I catch myself thinking this, which happens a lot more than I'd like to admit, I drain out all the negative thoughts & doubts that enter my mind and replace them with You Dreamt it. You can. You will.

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If you are interested in seeing what I got up to in Greece fitness wise - clips of me running on the Panathenaic Stadium, Cliff Jumping off a 32 foot cliff, hiking for amazing views etc. You can check out my latest Youtube Video; if you have the time to watch it, I'd love to know what you think!


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What are your dreams & aspirations? Has anyone ever told you you're dreaming too high when you told them?

ps. As I mentioned above, running in the rain is not my ideal running weather. Do any runners know of the best way to prepare? What to wear? How do I make it a comfy run?






At the end of August, my sister and I went on a tour of Greece with EF Tours Ultimate Break . We've both used EF Tours in our high school days -  she went with her English class to the U.K + Paris while I went to Spain with my Spanish class, so we had a feel for how EF Tours worked!

Although most days were pretty jammed packed, there was also a good portion of free time. While we were in Athens, the one thing that was at the top of my the list was to see the Olympic Stadium. At the time, I didn't know there was there was The Ancient Stadium, Panathenaic Stadium (First modern Olympic Stadium used in 1896), and the Olympic Stadium (2004). In my mind there was only The Ancient Stadium & Olympic Stadium (2004) - no middle man there.

My sister took a lot of convincing to go, she isn't as Olympic invested as I am (which I guess is how normal people react to Olympic related things) but! finally my pestering paid off. We asked our Tour Guide for the trip what stop on the metro we needed to get off at and thankfully the metro station was actually pretty easy to understand. 

When we got to our stop, I pulled out the map I was given at the start of the trip and began navigating. We both didn't have data outside, we usually had to rely on cafe's for Free WiFi, which meant Google Maps was not at our disposal. Now, I'm not even joking here, I looked the proper tourist part: Arms outstretched with a map, bag in front of me with my phone because ya girl is not about to get pick-pocketed, paired with me walking a few steps and looking up from my map every once in a while to make sure I didn't hit a tree.

Does Hawaii want its trees back?

When we asked someone to make sure we were headed in the right direction, we were directed to The National Garden - they said that if we walk straight through The National Garden then when we exit, the Stadium will be right in front of us. Now, this seemed simple enough in theory. 

We walked through The National Garden and all was going well for .5 seconds until the path split into two - left or right. There went the theory that this was going to be simple straight line. I looked back at my map and it didn't really go in depth with the ways of the garden, it just showed a whole lot of greenery with the label.

We maneuvered our way deeper into the maze-like garden and realized that this wasn't really just a garden. There was a zoo, bridge and, according to the pointing arrows, there was a cafe too. My sister was complaining that we were lost and that this was a waste of time if we didn't know where we were going. But I DID NOT make it this far into the Garden to turn back around because:

A. This garden was a maze and going back meant I had to actually have some idea of how to get back.

B. The birth place of the Olympic Games was so close (but actually far at the same time) and I was NOT about to abandon ship just because I had no idea which way was North.

The people we asked inside the garden were also tourists, so no luck there. I decided we were going to follow the arrows to the cafe. Where there is a cafe, there are waiters - waiters who can direct me through the maze that is this Garden. 

When we finally made it to the cafe, I pointed to my map asking how do I get there?. Not mentioning that 'there' was the stadium because I guessed that was obvious. I was holding the map right side up and the waiter hilariously said okay first, you're holding the map the wrong way. And then proceeded to tilt the map into a landscape. Turns out, walking to the cafe was the right thing to do (you can best believe I gave my sister THE LOOK like AHA I sort of knew where I was going). When the waiter tilted the map, he then pointed to the path I needed to take - a straight line. The cafe in the garden opened up to the main road, all we had to do was walk straight down and the birth place of the Olympics would be right in front. 

As I said my thank you's, the waiter then asked if I knew that what I pointed at was the Stadium and yes yes I did waiter, it's what I've been waiting to see since since I landed in Athens.

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gotta love panoramic making the sidewalk have a weird U shape

It was through this whole maze that I realized how much easier it was to read a map than to navigate with Google Maps. Granted, the map didn't show the garden in depth, but! I made it to the cafe by looking up at the trail markings. If you've used Google Maps before, you already know I would have spent a good portion of my time trying to see if I was going in the direction of the blue line.

By using a map, I was forced to absorb by surroundings, think for myself which way was East and West, and actually talk to people. When I made it to the cafe, all the waiter did was point to the map and tell me to follow a straight line. I knew where I was going because I looked at street signs, and saw that this was the same street that the waiter pointed to on the map.

Most of the time, our phones do all of the thinking for us: Make a right in 20 feet and the destination will be on your left. It's easy to just blindly follow the GPS navigation and not pay attention to what is actually around you; I do this pretty much anytime I'm in an area I don't know.

By using the map, it's almost as though part of my brain was waking up. I mentioned a while back on a post about digital clocks vs old fashioned ones that the more technology advances, the less work our brain does. And this is where I really saw it come to play. Maps are pretty easy to understand once you're holding it the right way. Sure, it's not as  ~easy~ as Google Maps and there's a lot more thinking involved because instead of the GPS telling you to make a left in 100feet/meters, it's your brain looking at the street name on the map and looking up to see where the coordinating one is in real life. A lot of the trust was placed on me rather than my smartphone, which was new. Usually, we trust our phones with our lives not ourselves.

To every Island we went to in Greece, I became known as the map person because as long as I had a map, there was a 98% chance I wasn't going to be a completely lost soul in a foreign country. To be fair, using a map made every day an adventure for me. Sure, it was a tiny bit frustrating when I ended up on several detours to get from Point A to Point B but, I can confirm that this made the days in Greece a lot more fun. Most of the time I had to make sure I wasn't holding the map the wrong way, which as I mentioned above with the waiter, happened a lot.

How long has it been since you used a map? Do you prefer using an actual map or Google Maps?

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I will be putting a whole post together of the Panathenaic Olympic Stadium because it was actually magical - I didn't want to leave but I ran out of water and the sun was shinning pretty high up in the sky.

 I will have a new video up on my channel Running Diary: Ep 2 which will include a few clips of me running on the FIRST modern Olympic Stadium used in 1896 (!!!!!) & some scenery as well! If you'd like to subscribe: SUBSCRIBE HERE