How Is It?

That I left corporate America and life is getting even more crazy hectic?  How did I fit it all in before?  I'm not sure, but I can tell you I like THIS pace much better as so much of it is being spent with my family.  Friday morning, I hopped on the torch and made these beads.

Before I shot this wedding.

Saturday morning, I drove up to Durham, North Carolina with my Mom to attend this wedding.

We drove home Sunday morning and had a surprise stop with LeAnn of Summers Studio.  I think we chatted and laughed for close to an hour and a half.  I was sad when we left.  I wanted to stay and talk and laugh the day away with LeAnn and her husband.  They were so lovely.  Just as wonderful as I had always imagined she would be in person.

This morning was spent cleaning up the kitchen, packing up beads and headpins to ship out around the country and then making a few pieces of jewelry.  And now it's just about time to meet my kids at the bus stop.  We will be working on homework, heading to the library and then testing for new color belts in Tae Kwon Do this evening.  Once they are in bed, I will be cozying (yes, cozying is a word) up with my laptop to start pouring through the 1500+ images I took at the Friday wedding.  I'm so excited.  I feel so fortunate to be following my dreams and know that I'm in the midst of big changes in the course of my life.

I will be back on the torch tomorrow and will be making more beads and headpins in preparation for a shop update this Thursday afternoon.  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend with perfect weather!

New Headpins & a Little Trip to St. Louis

Most importantly (because I won't make you scroll through a bunch of vacation pics you're not interested in seeing) are the headpins that are on my desk top.  I will be back on the torch Thursday night and hoping to make more then, but we'll see.  So far, I haven't had any time on the torch since last Tuesday.  These are on sterling silver, but I do have others made on copper.  I just need to get them photographed.  I really like the purple on the sunsetty-coral-ish base.

And now onto pics from our whirlwind trip to St. Louis and back.  We left town last Friday morning and saw beautiful trees turning every shade of autumn from the hills of Tennessee all the way up to the Show Me State.

We also saw many farms and silos.  I love silos.  And red barns.

I took the family to the Magic House in Kirkwood on Saturday morning.  Todd had thought I was scheming to go to St. Louis only for the Magic House and that the wedding was just an excuse (can you tell someone was a little miffed about missing a tennis match?).  But he soon realized how wonderful of a children's museum it really is.  The kids had fun using a rope and pulley to raise this hula hoop around themselves to create a ginormous bubble.

Owen was tall enough to touch the metal ball for static electricity to run through his body and make his hair stand on end.

But Chloe wasn't, so Todd touched the ball and held her hand while she shook her head to get her hair to stand up.

That afternoon we watched my Aunt Judy get married to her high school sweetheart.  It was a touching ceremony and I loved that her husband's son sang and played his guitar throughout the wedding.

Then we drove downtown to eat at Rigazzi's on the Hill.  I loved this green glazed brick on the front of the building.  Can you tell my little snip is more interested in telling her brother what to do in front of the camera than worrying about herself?  She does what she's good at ;)

After dinner, we headed back to the hotel for an early bedtime.  We were all beat.  Although I was up by 5:30am on Sunday, it was another hour before everyone else was up and somehow we didn't get on the road until after 8am.  Where does time go so quickly?

This little lake was behind a rest stop in Tennessee.  I don't think it was Lake Nickajack, but I don't remember for certain.  I just know that it was windy as all get out and the kids had a blast running around like wild things.  :)

We were 15 minutes from home at this point and I was loving the reflection of the sky in my rear-view mirror.  Todd's sister was already at our house and making us home-made pizza.  While that was baking, Chloe took a quick shower and then I cut eight inches off her hair (she has been begging me for two weeks to cut her hair).  She loves the new hair cut, but is still asking me to cut off more!

And if you have read this far, then you should know that I'm out of state again.  I flew to Orlando this morning for customer meetings and won't get home until late tonight.  It will be a long day, but I'm sure fun all around.  I love this customer and couldn't ask for better people to work with on a daily basis.

Hoping to have more pics of new headpins to share with you on Thursday.  And new pendant necklaces to show you on Friday similar to these.  

Don't forget, a shop update is coming Friday night at 8pm!

New Buttons

I have been totally slack this past week (or two) in responding to comments on the blog.  I'd like to take a moment to apologize to you all for that.  Work has been crazy hectic and I'm struggling to find balance right now with personal, professional and bead commitments I have made.  I told one customer last night I should just stop making commitments this week because I am keeping so few.  It makes me feel like crap.  :(  I don't like not following through on promises I have made and I need to better learn how to juggle all the different aspects of my life.

On the flip side, I am still convinced I have the best and most understanding and patient customers ever.  So thank you for that!

Since the custom buttons that were requested a coupla weeks ago have now been chosen and reserved (because I took a coupla weeks to actually make the aforementioned buttons), I have others that are now up for grabs.  I thought I should go ahead and list them since I have the pics all taken and ready to go. 

10,000 Leagues

Hot Mess

and

Blue Belt

All sales made before 8pm EDT tonight will get shipped out on Friday.  Anything purchased after that will be sent out on Monday, October 25th after I return from St. Louis.

I am so excited to go on another roadtrip so soon.  Can you tell?  Normally we wait months after the drive up to Minnesota and back in June/July.  So many good things (and not in any particular order) about this weekend!!!

Gooey Butter Cakes!

Seeing my Aunt Judy get married!

Jack In The Box tacos!

Seeing my Uncle Mike from Arizona!

Photographing my Aunt Judy get married!

Loading up on more Maul's barbecue sauce!

Taking my kids to the Magic House!

Driving for the better part of a day and seeing a vast amount of our countryside and farmland!

Spending time with my husband and kids for three solid days straight!

Getting a three day weekend and not worrying about work!

Are you tired of my exclamation points yet?!

:D

On another note, but equally exciting because I am so. very. thrilled. for my friend....  If you are a jewelry designer and you didn't already know, Lorelei and Erin Siegel landed their own book deal on leather, lace, cord and ribbon projects.  They have started a Flickr group and opened up a contest to decide upon another contributor (or two) to their upcoming book.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!  I am looking forward to sharing pics of MY weekend once I return.

Are You Ready For the Weekend?!

We made a very long drive from Atlanta to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina last night. Tomorrow I will walk down the aisle of a church before my best friend from the 8th grade walks down to exchange vows with the love of her life. My Chloe will be the flower girl.


It wasn't long before Mary and I were the best of friends after she moved two houses down the street from me right before 8th grade started. We were inseparable for years, sharing countless laughs and tears. We had fun reading books, listening/singing to music and watching movies together into the wee hours of many weekends. Mary will tell you I fell asleep before many of the movies ended.

Her family became my family. We went on family vacations together to Myrtle Beach in the summers. Stories of walking into sliding glass doors still bring tears to our eyes from laughing so hard 15+ years after the fact, even without replaying the video that caught at least the sound of it happening.

Mary helped me see who my real friends were, although that wasn't her intention at the time when we were in the middle of a fight that somehow touched dozens of our classmates in the 8th grade. She is my memory for so many things that happened between us, our families, with our friends or our teachers in school through the end of high school.

She keeps me honest and doesn't allow for pity parties, yet she is compassionate and forthright. She is a healer and helps many with her gifted hands. She is passionate. She loves her family and her dogs. And she loves Brandon with all her heart.

Mary, I wish you the best! I am honored to share in this special day with you.