CONTEST HAS ENDED AS OF JAN. 5TH AT NOON. I WILL ANNOUNCE THE WINNER ON MY BLOG TONIGHT!

THE WINNER IS DJGROZ! PLEASE EMAIL ME AT: THEROYALBEAD AT GMAIL.COM SO I CAN GET YOUR MAILING ADDRESS. CONGRATS!
EDITED TO ADD: CONTEST IS NOW OVER. ANY ADDED COMMENTS WILL NOT BE COUNTED IN THE CONTEST AT THIS POINT.

Contest ends Jan. 5 '09 at noon, and I will announce the winner that evening!
To ring in the new year, and spread the fun, I am giving away a pair of my hand crafted, sterling silver, stamped cupcake earrings like the ones shown. All you have to do to be entered in the drawing is to visit my Etsy store, and tell me which piece of jewelry is your favorite! Click here to visit my store, then come back and comment below. This give away is listed at http://www.online-sweepstakes.com

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone has a nice New Year's and stays safe. We are headed out to dinner, and might catch some early fireworks up the road in our housing development.
Have you made any resolutions?
I most definitely plan to lose 10-15 pounds that I gained this year. So far I have managed to go without a chocolate bar for a week, and have had salads every day for lunch. I stopped drinking juice. I am allowing myself dessert only on Saturdays when we go out to eat.
I want to spend time finding ways to better advertise my jewelry and increase my metal working skills.
I need to force myself to paint again. I have gotten really down about it, and am actually scared to pick up a brush. I have a closet full of empty canvases. They are sad and lonely in there.
Here's to 2009! Let's hope a lot of things improve in the lives of every one!

Some new jewelry eye candy as promised....

Kitty Cat Induced Insomnia...

OH MY GOSH. If I don't get a normal night's sleep in the next day or so, I may go postal. The past few nights, my black kitty Tiny has been waking me up at 3 or 4 am in the morning. Once I am awake, I can't go back to sleep. She tries to get in my window, behind the blinds and makes all sorts of ruckus. Then she walks across my pillow, narrowly missing my head. Lastly, she seems to think it is perfectly normal to take a very loud bath, while sitting at the foot of my bed. She is driving me batty.

I worked on some jewelry to try to relax after I got home from Church yesterday, so I will hopefully have some pictures to share today or tomorrow. I had my first day teaching the 7 yr. olds yesterday, and that was entertaining. I only had three of them, but my class will be much larger next week.

Well, I have a bunch of errands to run, including going to the grocery store....which I hate doing. Sometimes I wonder if I am the only person who loathes going there. I hate spending money on food, trying to avoid being hit by someone's cart, getting stuck in an aisle full of people pondering soup labels, and getting to the checkout and realizing I forgot one of the main ingredients in my recipe. I am not the type to make everyone behind me wait while I run to get it, so that usually means another trip to the store the next day. I just want to get the heck out of there. Yup, I am a freak. Does anyone else feel like this, or am I totally alone in my Freak-dom?

10% off After Christmas Sale!

Well, Christmas has come and gone...again. Everyone is having after Christmas sales, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. Today through Dec. 31st, all the items in my The Royal Bead jewelry store on Etsy are 10% off. CLICK HERE TO SEE WHAT'S FOR SALE!

I hope everyone had a safe, happy, and healthy Christmas. I ate pumpkin pie for breakfast this morning, so I don't know if I fit into the "healthy" category! LOL! Rob got me the Twilight soundtrack and a new CD of Alison Kraus and Robert Plant, so I will have some new music to listen to while I create. Have a happy New Year!

Christmas Eve is here....

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas.!

Merry Christmas Mr. Turtle!

My good deed today was saving the life of a neighborly turtle. I was leaving for the post office (heck, I should just put up a tent outside there, because I am there every day), and saw a huge, beautiful turtle trying to cross the road. He had freaked out and was just sitting there with his head in his shell. I wanted to stop right there, but there was no safe place to park the car (it was on a curve), so I went back into my housing edition, parked and took off running. He was a little further down the road than expected and I was tempted to slow down and walk. I kept running, and it was a good thing I did. He was trying to cross the other side of the median now, toward the pond...and there was a huge dump truck coming. I didn't reckon most dudes in dump trucks would break for a turtle, so I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me and approached the turtle. He of course pulled all of his legs and his head inside in fear. I told him not to bite me, and lifted him up. He was a heavy fella! I carried him across the road toward where he was going, and sat him gently in the grass by the edge of the pond that flows behind our house. The funny part is, as I was backing away( still keeping my eye on him to see if his head would pop out), another turtle that looked just like him surfaced in the water, and swam towards him. I would like to think that they were buddies and he was greeting him, and happy he made it across the big scary road. So, my turtle will hopefully spend Christmas swimming safely and happily with his turtle buddies in our backyard pond.
And then I had an asthma attack from all the running.
The End. : )

Cari...you will appreciate this....

Rob and I went bowling yesterday. No one lost anything, or had anything stolen. There was no screaming involved, except when I bowled 3 strikes in a row at the end of my second game. I managed to NOT throw my hip out this time. The game of bowling is not cursed for us after all! Yay!

Other than that, we went to see Seven Pounds. The acting was good, but there were things about the movie that really bothered me. If a movie is sad, that doesn't make it a "bad" movie to me. I just think that it kind of glorified suicide and tried to come up with a story that made it "okay."

Anyway, Rob got called to be Elder's Quorum President at church today, and I had my first day in Primary. I will be teaching the 7 yr. olds. Big changes! I am going to try to make some Christmas Cut Out Cookies (also known as Christmas Cuss-out Cookies...Mom, you are the only one who knows this joke) but I have once again lost the recipe from when I used it last year. So, I will be giving you a call tomorrow for the recipe again Mom! Since you gave me a recipe box when I visited, I will actually have a place to keep it. I just remembered tonight where my old recipe box, and all my recipes went. My friend Nicole had given it to me. I had it on a bottom shelf of our microwave cart when we lived in our first floor apartment when we first got married. When our apartment flooded, it all got wet and ruined.

Well, hope everyone had a nice weekend. I will try to catch up on phone calls this week. I tried to get all my packaging done tonight, so I can actually enjoy the day tomorrow.

It's getting closer!

Christmas, that is. Sorry I have been boring and mute this week, but after listing my store closing sale on Etsy, I have been so busy printing, labeling, sealing, packaging, and shipping, I haven't had much time to do anything else. I also redid my website, designed new business cards, and made new thank you stickers for my jewelry packages. If you want to check out my new look for The Royal Bead, CLICK HERE! Today is our play day, so we are off to see a movie, possibly go bowling, and eat some tasty food. The last time I bowled, I threw my hip out, so hopefully my body will hold up this time. LOL! Have a great weekend. I will check back in this week.

Embrace Bath & Body is closing....

Sadly, due to the economy, time constraints and a few other variables, I have decided to close up my Embrace Bath & Body shop on Etsy. I am grateful to my customers and am sorry to those who hoped to continue to buy their favorite products from me. I have just reduced the prices by around 50% on everything in the store, and hope to close up shop by the end of December. So, if there is something you really loved or wanted to try, now is the time. Thanks for accompanying me on my journey. It has been fun!
Click here to visit the final clearance sale!

Universal Studios Orlando pics

Well, I promised some pics of us at Universal, and these are the 3 I am "willing" to share. I was making horrid faces or looked fat in the other ones. LOL. Seriously.
The Christmas tree was inside the Mall at Millenia and was gargantuan. I have never seen one so big and I have no idea how they got it in there, let alone, decorated it! The other is out side the Revenge of the Mummy ride with some pharoh guy on stilts (who never smiled and had very creepy contacts in that made his eyes look black). The last one is Rob doing his best to look horrified. I think he did a pretty good job. The Jaws ride was kinda stupid, but like the girl that I am...I screamed anyways. I was probably more afraid of being on a boat than I was of the fake bloody mouthed shark that kept attacking the boat! I hate being on boats!

You know you're getting old when...

you need a vacation after your vacation! We had a busy weekend in Orlando, and a very enjoyable time. We visited a dental practice on Friday, then looked at some suburbs. I went to what turned out to be a very boring bead show (though I did find some goodies) , then checked into our hotel. Unfortunately, I don't usually sleep well in hotels, and this was again the case. I was practically a zombie Sat. morning. That changed when we went to Universal Studios. We rode all the rides with the exception of one. Mainly because I crashed around 3 pm and wanted to just go to bed. Our favorite ride was The Revenge of the Mummy. We didn't realize it was like a roller coaster, and we screamed ourselves silly. The Simpsons ride was fun too. We ate at too many buffets, and I think I had my year's worth of bacon in one weekend. I will post a few pics tomorrow. Nothing too exciting, as you aren't allowed to take pics while on the rides. Christmas is coming soooo fast! Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I will check back in tomorrow. ~ Lori

More jewelry in my Etsy store!

I will be out of town this weekend, so all orders placed starting Thursday afternoon will ship out on Monday. We are headed for Orlando. Anyhoo, here are some pics of my new Cha-Cha rings, and my Vampire Princess necklace (yup, inspired after listening to the same Twlight soundtrack songs over, and over, and over....)

All done!

I finally finished The Host last night. I really enjoyed it, and look forward to more of Stephanie Meyer's books. I am trying to get Rob to read it, but he is always in the middle of about 4 books at once, so that may not happen.

I still haven't sent out my Christmas cards yet, but at least went and bought them at Target tonight. I am going to force myself to stay up and get them done tonight. No one sends out cards on Rob's side of the family, so I don't have a huge amount to send at least. I think I don't like to do all the writing because I am usually working with my hands most of the day and it hurts to write sometimes. I have been doing more wire work pieces of jewelry lately, and my two index fingers are starting to look pretty hideous.

I will try to post pics of my new jewelry tomorrow. We are headed for Orlando on Friday morning and will be looking at a dental office for sale there, and checking out the suburbs. I am going to a wholesale bead show also. I haven't been to this one before, so I am hoping it will be a nice one. I haven't been to one in ages. Well, have a good night, and thanks for stopping by. Hope everyone is well!

Welcome, Tuesday! How nice of you to stop by....

Tuesday was welcomed and boy did it go by fast. I shipped some things, emailed people, took jewelry pics, listed some new stuff in my NEW LOLLISHOPS STORE, and made some soap for gifts and orders. Oh, and of course, continued listening to more songs from the Twilight CD. I hinted to Rob that he should get that for me for Christmas since I just keep playing them on YouTube over an over. I listened to some more songs by Iron and Wine, and I really like them. Anyway, here's a pic of a necklace I finished over the weekend and a link to my Lollishop. I will be listing my jewelry in both my Etsy store and Lollishops. I do offer free shipping in my Lollishop store though!

Thank goodness Monday is over....

Mondays are never my favorite days, and I am glad tomorrow will be another day. I have only 100 pages left of "The Host" but I heard it had an ending that will make me cry, so I will hold off on that for now. I was already in a crying mood today. There are a few people I know right now who are going through some very difficult times. Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed that I can't do much to help. The news is depressing, so I have stopped watching it. I am tired of hearing about the economy.
So, with all this on my mind, I sat on my back screened in porch tonight...in the dark, and listened to these two songs over and over again....and cried a little. They are from the new Twilight soundtrack and I adore them. Hopefully I will get over the crying thing when I listen to them though. Here they are...enjoy...

I finally saw the Twilight movie tonight....

It actually came out the night before I was supposed to fly to my parents, and I didn't want to go then because I was too busy packing and cleaning the house. Rob was a doll and went with me. He kept checking his watch and asking questions. I could tell he was totally bored. It wasn't the best movie I have seen, but I really liked seeing the characters come to life. Like many other readers, after reading the books, it seems in your mind like these people actually exist. You sort of WANT them to. I tried explaining the whole "Edward" mania thing to my husband who was telling me a 30 something married coworker had read the first book 6 times. I told him, that the books are so loved by women because Edward somehow encompasses the perfect man from a woman's point of view. I then told him that if men would read the books and take some lessons from them, they would get along a LOT better with the ladies. LOL!
We both agreed that Robert Pattinson's acting was great, but weren't really happy with Kristen Stewart's acting. I really wanted to focus on the movie, but needed to go to the bathroom about half way through, and didn't want to miss anything. When Edward jumped onto the side of her moving truck, I almost peed myself. I am such a dork. Rob kept saying, " Just go to the bathroom! You already know what happens." But I couldn't do it. I might miss something.
I will look forward to the sequels. I also liked Robert Pattinson's music in the film. Right now I am half way through The Host by Stephanie Meyer and while it was a bit slow in the beginning, I am now enthralled in it. Keep in mind that I don't like reading. I would usually rather be making something with my hands. Stephanie, thanks for making reading enjoyable again for someone who gave up on it a long time ago. And thanks for keeping things clean, if you know what I mean.

New jewelry just listed! Sale still going on!

I just listed some new jewelry on Etsy this morning, and here is a sample....
Remember, all jewelry is 10% off with free shipping right now.

I finally got our house all decorated for Christmas. Didn't take long since we have very few decorations. That's what happens when you keep moving all the time. We finally got a tree this year. In an attempt to thwart a sure destruction by the two resident felines, I opted for a small potted, pre-lit tree that I can display on a pedestal. So far so good.

Sale at both my Etsy stores Dec 1-8!

Starting Monday, Dec. 1st through Monday Dec. 8th, everything in my jewelry in my Etsy store will be on sale for 10% off! I am also offering free shipping!

My Embrace Bath & Body store is 20% off your total. Please wait for a revised total before checking out. If you forget, I will just refund the difference via Paypal. Happy shopping! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

I'm Back!

We got back late last night from our trip to Wisconsin/Minnesota. Boy...after 3 hours of driving, 3 hrs of flying, and another 2 hours of driving, we were pretty worn out. We had such a nice time, and we were sad to go. Mom's cooking was so good, we were tempted to fill a suitcase with some leftovers and bring it home with us! LOL!
What I did bring home with me is a cold, and on top of that, I have a weeks worth of laundry to do and need to clean the whole house thoroughly. So, if I don't respond right away to emails, I will do my best....but I am in complete germaphobe OCD cleaning mode right now. I will be opening up both of my Etsy stores today (taking them off of vacation mode) and starting a Cyber Monday Christmas Sale tomorrow. Stop by to check out what kind of deals you can get while doing your Christmas shopping done online! Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Oh, and for any family and friends we may have forgotten to tell, we are disconnecting our landline tomorrow and going strictly cell. So, if you need to reach us, remember to our cells instead. In the end, it will save us $300 a year!

There's no place like home...

I survived my first ever plane flight by myself, and for someone with anxiety disorder, am quite proud of it! My flight was fine, with the exception of the lady behind me who threw up twice. I immersed myself in Stephanie Meyer's new book " The Host" and tried to ignore the barfing and the turbulence. I got my baggage on my own, rented a car on my own, then drove to our friends Geoff & Molly's to crash there for the night. It was very kind of them to let me do so, and thanks again guys! It was lovely seeing them again and getting caught up on all the former friends and acquaintances we hadn't heard about. Their two girls are adorable!
The next morning, I drove to Marshfield, and the official body count on the drive was: 3 dead dear, 1 live one, 2 dead racoons, and one cat. I luckily didn't have any dear run directly in front of me. It is hunting season here, so you really have to keep your eyes peeled. The drive was beautiful, especially through Taylors Falls.
My parents informed me upon my arrival that there had been a small plane crash two streets back, that landed in someone back yard, burning their deck and exploding into flames. There were 3 people on board, and they haven't released their names yet. They didn't survive. We went and looked at the wreckage yesterday, and it was a horrible sight. They will probably release the names within the next day. My mother has always worried about the possibility of a plane crash because they are so close to the airport here, and people with small planes come over all the time.
Well, we are off to do some shopping today. There is a thin blanket of snow on the ground, and my car. I haven't seen snow in 3 yrs. It's weird. At least it actually FEELS like the holidays here. In Florida, the holidays are weird. Feels like Easter instead. Well, take care! I will update later. Have a great Thanksgiving!

On Vacation.....

I am officially declaring the start of my vacation as of midnight tonight. I went ahead and put both my Etsy stores in "vacation mode." That means no one can purchase anything during this time, and any convos sent will get an automated response. I won't be checking my emails or forums much during the next week, so if you try getting ahold of me and don't hear back right away...don't fret. I am looking forward to spending time with my parents and pigging out on pumpkin pie and turkey! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! I will check back in after the 30th. Take care!

It's cold outside!

Here in Florida...believe it or not! We actually have a wind chill warning out tonight. With the temps and the windchill it will feel like a whopping 30 degrees. They warned us of hypothermia. Heck, 30 degrees is pretty warm in MN this time of year. Yup, we Floridans are a bunch of pansies.

I have been busy making jewelry, and plan to post it to Etsy tomorrow. I still have some more pieces to finish too. It helps me relax at least. I had more stress dreams last night. I have now started having the "teeth falling out and crumbling" dream. The funny thing was that all my molars were falling out and Rob was telling me they would all need crowns and gum surgery. I yelled out, "But I won't be able to eat Thanksgiving dinner!" Leave it to me to be worrying about my next meal in my sleep. What can I say...I love food. I think it loves me too...especially my thighs. Sigh.

Molly, I got your blog comment and may take you up on it. If you haven't read my response yet, it's there. I don't have your email, but I can either get Geoff's from Rob or you can contact me via my website www.theroyalbead.com . I can check with Rob to see if he has your phone number. Unfortunately, it looks like we will be in for some snow toward the end of our stay. Hope it doesn't delay our flight home. My poor kitties will be missing their momma by then!
Well, stay warm! I will check back tomorrow!

Stress Dreams...

Well, I had another flying dream last night, but this one wasn't very pleasant, compared to the one I had last week. This time, in order to fly, I had this weird red balloon-like thing. It sort of resembled a parachute. I had to run really fast, jump into the air while getting wind under the red thing, and then kick my legs a bunch. I kept falling out of the sky, and it was very cloudy a spooky looking. After that dream, I dreamed about my upcoming trip. First, I forgot my plane ticket (completely forgot to check in when I got there) then couldn't find the plane. We stopped to check on the type of rental car I would have, and it was a humongous van that I was terrified to drive. After testing out the van (in which I couldn't even reach the pedals and crashed into something) I realized I had missed my plane altogether. I woke up at 8 am....tired.

Hopefully I will be able to relax a bit today. We are headed to the Pineapple Festival in Jensen Beach. We haven't been there before, so don't know what to expect. At least there will be some yummy fried food on hand. I feel an elephant ear craving coming on! I am also going to stop in at Barnes & Noble to get something to read on the plane.

I am getting released from my calling working as the secretary and personal progress person in Young Women's at church tomorrow. The bishop called last night to tell me. The are reorganizing everything, and I don't know if there will be something else they will call me to or not. With all the craziness that comes along with the holidays, I am a bit relieved. I will miss working with the gals though. It has been fun. Well, off to enjoy my Saturday. Hope you enjoy yours!

Just checkin' in...

Sorry for the silence this week. A close family member has been going through a very difficult time and thus, blogging has been a very low priority. I am preparing for my trip up north next weekend to visit my parents and it will be my first time ever flying by myself. I wish there was a book out there as good as the Twilight series that would take my mind off the flight. Nothing scary or depressing. I need something lighthearted. Of course, the last time I flew, I had so much anxiety that I couldn't even concentrate on looking at a beading magazine. The slightest bit of turbulence sends me into a state of "we are all going to die" panic. After the flight, I have to rent a car and drive 3 hrs. to my parents. I have already decided that if it is snowing, there is no way in Hades that I am driving that night. I will have to get a hotel. It is supposed to be in the 30's when I get there. I haven't experienced much colder than 45 in a very long time, so that will be weird. I am shivering just thinking about it!
I will be closing both of my Etsy stores (putting them into vacation mode) while I am gone so that I don't have to worry about people not reading that I am out of town. So, if you REALLY need something, do so before the 22nd. I will not be back till late on the 30th.

New Jewelry! Cupcake and Pea pod necklaces!

Here are three of the new pieces I just listed in my Etsy store. I am a bit attached to the large sterling disc one, but alas...it must find a home! Hope you enjoy them!

Sale is over....

The Pre- Holiday sale in my Embrace Bath & Body shop on Etsy is now over. Thanks to those who shopped with me over the last week. Hope everyone loves their goodies! I will be posting some new jewelry today...FINALLY! Check back in an itty bitty bit!

Sale Extended a few hours....read below..

My Holiday Sale ends Monday, or until I change the prices back on Tuesday morning! LOL. I was going to stay up till midnight to change everything, but I am too tired. So...the prices will go back up Tuesday morning once I am fully awake and have had my hot chocolate. ( : Happy Shopping!

If you have been procrastinating putting in your order, today is the last day to get your 30% off! The sale ends at midnight, so you better hurry! Hope everyone has a great week!
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE SALE!

I will also be listing new jewelry this week! I will give a sneak preview here!

My Eyes, My Eyes!

Well, as of yesterday, I have developed yet another lovely allergy....to my mascara. I have noticed some slight puffiness and itchiness the past week or so, and chalked it up to my normal hayfever which never seems to go away here in Florida. Too many things blooming all the time here. Go figure. My eyelash line itched a few days ago, but I had forgotten about that. Then yesterday evening, I got a hive on one eyelid right at bedtime, which turned into a swollen eyelid. As I started to remove my mascara, it started immediately on the other eye, even worse. I took a Zyrtec, and after an hour, there were getting worse. Rob is out of town and I thought for sure I was going to be stuck by myself in the house with my eyes swollen shut. I took a Benadryl and it helped more. They are still swollen this morning, but not as badly as last night. I will have to go sans eye makeup for a few days (GASP!) and will be searching for two brands I found online that are supposed to be okay for people with mascara allergies. I use waterproof usually, and have read that it may be an adhesive, colorant, or paraben that is causing it. Seeing as I also developed an allergy to bandaid adhesive this year, I am guessing it to be the adhesive in the mascara. The two brands I am on the look out for are Jane Iredale Pure Lash and Suncoat Natural Mascara. At least I know they sell Pure Lash at my dermatologist office. The price will be an issue I am sure. Darn my thin blonde, mishapen lashes! Darn them!

Lucid flying dreams.....

Every once in a great while, I have a flying dream. They happen maybe once a year if I am lucky, and mine occurred last night. It was so realistic, that when I woke up around 3 am to use the bathroom, I still believed I could fly. The funny thing was, in my dream, there was a secret phrase I had to say in my mind in order for me to take off. Only certain people knew the phrase. So, here it is, 3 am, and I am walking down the dark hallway to the bathroom, saying this phrase over and over in my head so I don't forget it. I was convinced that if I remembered it, I could fly when I woke up in the morning. How funny is that! I was quite sad when I awoke this morning to find that it was all a delusion. I always tell Rob that when I die, and pass to the other side, I hope that I can fly. If I could pick any cool new super power, that would be it. I mean, think of all the gas money I could save!

LASTLY, DON'T FORGET THE EMBRACE BATH & BODY ETSY SALE ENDS MONDAY AT MIDNIGHT!

Embrace Bath & Body Holiday Sale!!!!

Sale starts Nov. 3rd and ends at midnight on

Nov.10th...you have a WHOLE week!

Just what you have been waiting for! It is time to get a jump start on your holiday shopping, and Embrace Bath & Body is stocked and ready to supply you with great products that are a joy to give and receive. I will be out of town near the end of the month around Thanksgiving time, so I thought I would have the sale early. Some items I have more of, so if you need more than listed, just send me a convo via my store and let me know. I will check my inventory and add to it if needed. Thanks, and happy shopping!

Shoes, what shoes?

I got my shoes from Zappos.com yesterday and I think Pudgie thought the package was for her. She squeezed her large self into the box as soon as I emptied it, and spent the rest of the afternoon in it. Tiny, on the other hand, was busy sleeping the afternoon away on top of our new patio bistro table. Ugh. I swear, this cat purposefully sleeps exactly where she is not supposed to. I even predicted this one.
Today is Tiny's birthday. Yup, she is a black cat and when we got her, we were told she was born right around Halloween. We got our other kitty, Pudgie, around Halloween last year too. They are both 4 yrs. old today.
Well, enjoy the pics...and Happy Halloween!

New Sterling Silver Cupcake Earrings...

In case anyone missed out on the last pair, I just listed 2 new pairs of cupcake earrings in my Etsy store today. I finally finished my large wholesale order as of 6:30 pm tonight, so now I will move on to taking care of more pieces for my store, and working on lip balms and tints that are low on stock. I can't believe tomorrow is Halloween already. I have a really hideous witch wig around here somewhere, and I teased Rob that I was going to wear it out to eat tomorrow night. Instead of looking like a witch though, I am would probably look like that girl from The Ring, since I am so short. LOL!
Well, have fun tomorrow. Be watchful for children running around in the dark, and don't eat too much candy! ....yeah right, huh?

Ladies and Gentlemen...

I just turned the heat on in our house! I have been waiting for this day to come. It was in the low 50'2 when I got up this morning. I took the garbage out as Rob was leaving for work and exclaimed with joy, "It feels like Minnesota! No more sweat! Yay!"

Keep in mind it was 90 degrees here on Sat. I let the kitties out on the screen porch like I do every morning, and they came back in after a short time. Apparently, their fur coats were not helping much. The house got cool last night and I woke up in a kitty sandwich. I had one cat on each side of me, laying nearly on top of me.

I am preparing for my trip up north next month and bought some gloves yesterday. I really need to get some socks and winter weather shoes. I can't really show up wearing sandals. Luckily, I kept my winter coat, and so did Rob.

Well, I have a busy day ahead working on a jewelry order and taking pics of new products. Have a super week!

Mom, you will appreciate this one...

Adios Elephant!

Whew! Thanks goodness I no longer have that elephant on my back. Friday it rained so I didn't go to the farmer's market in Vero, and Sat. was one of the most hellish days I have had in a long time. If I hadn't have had one of the gals from church helping me, I would probably lost my mind shortly before collapsing from heat exhaustion. It is supposed to be cooler this time of year, but instead, it was so humid my hair curled up like Shirley Temple, and I probably sweat a few buckets. It had to be at least 90 degrees. I am sure the heat index was higher. It was sunny, then it would rain. We kept having to cover the table. The other sellers were down right rude to me and made horrible comments like I didn't belong there. Apparantly, my packaging is TOO nice and they didn't think I hand made my stuff. I had a lot of grumpy old women who just didn't understand why anyone would want to smell like vanilla. Some of them didn't even know what a nail salve was, and one lady even asked where she was supposed to put perfume. As I kindly explained to her, I could tell she was one that would come up with as many negative comments as possible, as she was just a miserable person. I had one wonderful customer who was in her 20's who was very interested in my products and purchased our facial bar and a lemon cupcake scented perfume.
So, I am not going to be doing the farmer's markets. I think the area, the age group that attends, and the mean sellers just about did me in. I will concentrate on my Etsy shop. I will be adding the new perfumes over the next few days, along with some other new items, and restocking old favorites.
I am thinking I may have to recover by embarking on another cupcake binge. LOL!

Pardon me, is that an elephant sitting on your back?

I am still swamped with things to do, and my to do list is still looking scary. The farmer's market is tomorrow, and I will need to label a bunch of stuff and get everything packed up and ready to go. The bad part is....it may just rain the whole weekend. I will make the call on whether to cancel or not early tomorrow morning. It was supposed to storm today, and it has sprinkled a bit and then the sun came out. Florida weather is SO unpredictable.

Well, back to work. Hopefully after this weekend, this stupid elephant will get off my back and I will be able to BREATHE. Have a super weekend! Lori

Still pluggin' away!

It is nearly 11 PM, and I am still working. I now have 6 days to prepare for the two new Farmer's Markets I will be doing. The first is on Friday from 9-2 in Vero Beach at the Heritage Center, and the second is the one in Ft. Pierce. I had to really work on increasing my stock, so not only am I making a ton of stuff, but I am also busy making new labels, adding some new products, and getting my displays ready. I am also working on my two jewelry orders at the same time. Monday I will be working on some perfumes, and I am really excited about that. The bottles I found are absolutely adorable. I can't wait to reveal them!
So, in other words, like I said below...you probably still won't hear from me much for a while more as I am still suffering from "way too much to do" syndrome!

Oh, I almost forgot...I have been accepted to sell my jewelry and bath & body line on a new juried website launching next month called Lollishops! I am very excited. I still need to swing on over there and do a lot of reading and learning. It looks like a great marketplace.

Hope you all have a nice weekend. I will be busy labeling tomorrow. Exciting, huh?

If you don't hear from me for a while....

...it is because I am super busy. I am preparing for 2 back to back farmer's markets, and just got two large wholesale orders for my jewelry. There has not seemed to be enough time in the day lately to accomplish my to do list, and I will probably not be emailing or calling to chat till after all the craziness is over. So, I am not ignoring you if I haven't called or emailed. I am just feeling a bit like this Busy Bee.

Ny new "DO"

The humidity, hard water, and busy lifestyle I have been up against have taken a toll on my hair, so I broke down and went and got it cut today. I was growing it out, but the ends got to looking so disgusting. Long hair with frizzy split ends is not very nice looking, and I would rather have short, healthy looking hair. I told the lady I wanted it similar to Victoria Beckham's newest bob hair cut, except not as layered in the front. So, if you imagine this haircut, with no "bangs" or shorter wisps in the front, this is what it looks like. My hair is dark blonde/light brown though. I am going to be selling at the farmer's market in Ft. Pierce and Vero Beach, and seriously didn't want to deal with bad hair. I have to get up very early to do the market and need a streamlined morning. Maybe I will snap some pics of my own hair tomorrow.

I am a slacker...

I have been a blog slacker this week, but at least I wasn't a slacker in other areas. It's been busy at our house, and I have been doing inventory and making lists of stuff I need to buy for my businesses. On top of that there has been church stuff, house cleaning, and multiple long phone calls to my health insurance company, trying to figure out why their heads seem to be stuck up their behinds. Honestly, I am sure you have all had wacky insurance claims and know where I am coming from. Next week, there is a big bead show in Orlando I am hoping to go to. Well, I have the house builders coming this morning to go over any one year warranty repairs with me, since the landlord is out of town. I found out late last night and have been frantic getting the house straightened. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

The Halloween cupcakes I couldn't get enough of...

Finally, here is a pic of the cupcakes that probably added some extra love to my waistline. I didn't get too fancy schmancy with the frosting this time. I wish I had the time to do so. I saw some really cute ideas in some magazines. Here they are...Dark Chocolate Spice Cupcakes.

I just ate shark....

It is with great sadness, that I report that all the the addictive chocolate cake is gone. Rob and I both polished it off for breakfast this morning. Healthy, eh? I always tell the teens at church that being an adult is stressful and requires a lot of responsibility, but the best part is...I can eat cake for breakfast. No one can tell me not to!

So, tonight we tried something new. Shark was on sale at the grocery this week ($4.99 a pound), so after much discussion and a little bit of arguing and face making, Rob talked me into it. I prepared it tonight. I am not hugely into seafood, but have been known to enjoy a little haddock or deep fried calamari from time to time. Shark was uncharted territory. As I was frying it up in the skillet, it occurred to me that there was a slim possibility that this shark I was eating could have eaten a human. I gagged a little. It actually looked really yummy after I fried it. I served it with some mashed sweet potatoes, which ended up becoming our main dish. Unfortunately, the shark just didn't taste good. It looked like chicken, but was sort of rubbery. It didn't really taste like fish, more like bitter chicken. We tried putting mayonnaise on it to hide the taste. It didn't work. Next we tried lemon juice. Nada. Finally, Rob...who eats just about anything, conceded that it was just too gross to eat, and we should never bother with it again.

Thank goodness! It had become disgusting for me as soon as the thought of me eating something that could have eaten a person crept into my mind. Far fetched...I know. Sometimes I really have to try my hardest to not think about what I am eating...unless its chocolate cake!

Too much cake syndrome

Oh, if only the sweet tooth really did exist! I would have my husband (who just so happens to be a dentist) pull the dang thing right out of my mouth! Seriously, I have a serious sugar problem. I am finally over my illness from last night which resulted from eating too much chocolate cake, which led to a not so happy belly, and a night of insomnia. I even had one of those fun episodes where you are half asleep and you can't move your body or mouth. I laid in bed for what seemed like minutes trying to yell Rob's name, and all that came out was a gurgle. It was pretty terrifying. My kitty heard me and came to the rescue. LOL!

I didn't get a chance to post pictures of the offending cupcakes, but I will in a day or so. In the meantime, here is the recipe I used and it was the best cake I have made so far (not completely from scratch, mind you).
1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix ( I found one that was made with Splenda instead of sugar, and it was great)
Follow the normal instructions to add the Eggs (I used egg beaters), oil, and water.
I then added 1 heaping tablespoon of Hershey's Dark Cocoa Powder to the mix and
4 teaspoons of McCormick Pumpkin Pie Spice.
I mixed as instructed on the box, then folded in half a bag of Nestle Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips.
You can use whatever kind of icing you want, but I chose a whipped vanilla and topped them with Halloween sprinkles : Purple sugar sprinkles with Black & Orange little "ball" sprinkles on top.

Just don't do what I did and eat your self sick. There is still some sitting in the kitchen right now calling my name. Stupid cake.

Oh dearest belly...I apologize!

All I can say is this: I ate too much cake. If anyone sees me near any cake again, please restrain me!

Whoosh!

Just a quick fly by posting of some of my new jewelry on Etsy! I have been a busy bee today and am still not to the bottom of my To-Do List for the day. Tomorrow is cupcake making day! I am going to add some pumpkin pie spice to a yellow cake mix and decorate them in Halloween sprinkles. I will try to take some pics!

I made a funny...

I just finished these key chains yesterday, along with some jewelry. I will post the jewelry tomorrow!

Ouch!

My knee hurt pretty badly when I woke up this morning. Not only did I scrape off the top layer of skin, but I now have swelling. I didn't notice it yesterday, but apparently I also twisted my other ankle and thumped my arm pretty good too. I am such a dork.

I have been working on some more jewelry this afternoon, and have some autumn scents and lip balm flavors on the way for Embrace. So, this is a short one for today. I will check in later, when life gets a little bit more exciting....in a good way.

Slip Sliding Away...

Heck, after today, I don't know if this clutz should even THINK about riding a bike. Today was an off day. We all have those. You know...the kind where you just should have stayed in bed. I got 7 hours of sleep last night, but as is the case with my strange undiagnosed fatigue, I was still really tired when I woke up. I felt groggy on the way to church and then got really upset when I saw some cops cleaning up road kill and realized they were kittens. By the time I was to church, I was already holding back tears. I was listening to my Paul Simon CD, and the song "Slip Slidin' Away" was playing as I turned the car off. I slung my purse over my shoulder, picked up my scriptures, and stepped out of the car. I don't really know what happened next, but somehow, I just fell. I was parked next to the curb and sidewalk on the driver's side, so I hit the pavement first, then landed in the grass. I landed on my knee, which was all scraped up and bleeding. Someone pulling into the parking lot immediately asked if I was okay. Then the tears came. I got bandaged up when I went inside and stayed until church was over. It wasn't till I turned on my car that I heard what had been playing right before I had stepped out of the car and fell. I busted out laughing. I needed a good laugh. So, after eating lunch I went back to bed for a long nap in hopes I would be less "out of it" when I woke up. I hope everyone has a safe week. I will pay more attention to where my feet are going tomorrow!

On a scale of 1 to 10, how geeky is this bike?

So, last night, we had a mechanic come and fix the Neon. Then this morning, we notice there is a tiny amount of oil that leaked from the Civic. Good grief. It must have been jealous of the Neon getting so much attention. We just had the oil changed a few days ago, and they didn't notice anything. So, I went back to looking at the bikes on Craigslist. All of the stores I normally go to (Target, Grocery, Michaels, Office Max...and more) are 2 miles down the road. So, if I get a bike with a big 'ole basket in the back, I can just ride it down the street, do my shopping, and tote it back. I found this bike on Craigslist, and part of me really wants it. It would be perfect. However, another part of me would feel like a total geek riding around on this thing. What do you think? Seriously!

New Wire Wrapped Necklaces!

I finally was able to take pics today. Boy did it rain yesterday! Here are the pieces I have been working on over the past 2 weeks. Let me just say that wire wrapping is a tedious and painful process!
Hope you like them!

Reoccuring dreams....

For some odd reason, lately I keep having dreams...er...nightmares that I have to go back to college and stay in a dorm. I had it again last night, and my dorm was filthy, and I had forgotten to sign up for any financial aid. I had no books, no bed, nothing. They usually end with me realizing that I have my cats with me, and I can't have them there. Silly, huh?

I finished some new jewelry pieces and I had hoped to get some photos taken to share with you, but yesterday it started raining when I went outside to take pics, then my battery went dead. Today, it has rained most of the day, and has been so windy that a few of the trees in the neighborhood actually blew over. I had to get out of my car and remove a large piece of palm tree bark (about 4 ft long) to even get out of our housing edition. Not good picture taking weather. Hopefully I will be able to do so tomorrow.

I had to laugh when I went to the new "10 minute oils change" down the road with the Civic today. If you have ever been to South Florida or lived here, you will totally get where I am coming from. My 10 minute oil change turned into a 30 minute one (which is still short at least). You see, the odd thing about South Florida (and maybe the whole state) is that when it comes to customer service, everything is S...L...O...W. When it comes to driving however, everyone is FAST. My neighbor (who is from Wisconsin) said she was flipped off by an 80 yr. old man last week because she didn't immediately take off when the light turned green. She followed him into the Home Depot parking lot and asked him why. She then told him he should be ashamed of himself. She said he acted very embarrassed and quickly left the scene. I have been flipped off by an old man too, and I did nothing to warrant that. I shook my head like I was ashamed of him and his wife hid her face. Glad I'm not married to that guy!

I got derailed....

I tried my hardest to get everything on my to do list done today, but alas....I was derailed. A neighbor I had never met stopped to talk to me for quite a while when I was leaving this morning, Rob's wallet was located and I had to go pick it up (this was one of the few good things that happened today), the Honda dealership wouldn't make an extra key for me (Rob lost his) because I am not listed on the title, then when I asked them to check why our SRS light was on, they said it needs a $300 repair to fix something affecting the airbag system. So, my quick 1o minute planned key making pit stop turned into an hour. I never got lunch. I finally got home and exchanged cars and went to Tire Kingdom with the Neon, and they refused to touch it. I won't even go into that. So, the Neon is still "broken" and the Honda needs repairs. If only I had a pair of sparkly red shoes I could click together and go wherever I needed.....that would be perfect. They wouldn't require gas, deplete the ozone, or result in expensive repairs. There is a possibility I could upset a nasty witch, or end up on What Not to Wear. Now THAT would be a tough decision....a new $5000 wardrobe, or my currently small and depressing one but I would keep my sparkly traveling shoes. I think I would pick the shoes....

Look out! Monday's around the corner waiting to pounce!

I am hitting the sack early tonight. I usually stay up until at least 11 and surf Etsy, catch up on blogs, and read the news. Tomorrow is going to be a bit more action packed than this gal likes, so I will need all the energy I can get. It will be a "How many errands can we cram into one day" kinda day. A traveling mechanic came to the house today after church and took a look at the Neon. He thinks it isn't the pump at all....it is the oil light/switch. He said if it had been the pump, I would have fried the engine driving home the other day. The engine revs just fine. So, he made a list of the product and a funny little drawing of what I need to go get at Auto Zone, and he will install it. That is just one of the things to do. I sure hope this guy knows what he is doing. Rob really wanted a second opinion. So, if this works, we won't have to get a new car just yet, but we will probably need to in the not so distant future. I refuse to drive that thing. It scares me.
I am working on some jewelry pieces, but it honestly has been so crazy that I haven't been able to finish them. Everyday I plan to, and everyday something else sneaks in and takes up my "creative time."
I found my dream job in the paper today. Ah....if only I had gone to school to be a writer, I might actually have a chance. Other than blogging, I have no experience. The local newspaper is looking for a food critic to write for their paper and online reports. Rob and I always joke around that the perfect job would be a food critic. We LOVE going out to eat, and always make note of different things about each restaurant. We have been attempting to go to different restaurants in the area since we got here...although we do sometimes get sidetracked by our favorites. I will pretty much drop everything to go to Olive Garden. We also finally found a Chinese restaurant just down the road that fills my never ending craving for Happy Family Lo Mein. They give you such HUGE portions, that I always have lunch for the next day. Amazingly, it tastes even better on day two!
Well, hope everyone has a great week....I will check back in when my colossal list of to do's is done.

Why did we leave the house today?

So, the saga with our crappy Neon continues. Rob took it into our mechanic (who is wonderful...open on Sat, squeezed us in, and only charged $10 to look at it). He said we need a new oil pump, and since that costs $425 or more, he suggested to Rob that maybe it was time to just get rid of the car and get a new one. Not exactly an expense we were planning on. Business has been slow at Rob's dental office because of the economy, and my sales have slowed too. So, then, we got the bill for my skin surgeries from this summer, which was a whopping $930. Yikes. My insurance stinks. So, we head out to eat at our favorite Indian food restaurant, and while we are there, Rob leaves his wallet in the booth, and by the time we go back to check, the owner swears no one there saw it. We know for sure he lost it there, so either some people after us found it and kept it, or the owner or his employees are not being honest. Rob lost all his keys, his cards, and driver's license. We canceled the cards and there were no charges on them. We decided on the way home that maybe we should just stay at home on Saturdays. We always seem to have bad luck. Anyone got a nice used car for sale?

How many times have you called 911?

In most of the places I have lived, you still have to call 911 even for non-emergency things like wandering animals. I had to call in again this morning on the way home from visiting teaching someone from church. I had a male pit bull (who also happened to not be neutered) and a cute Chihuahua mix run out in front of my car. They both had tags, so they belonged to someone. I pulled over and they came up to the car. You could tell they were buddies. I would have called their owners had it not been for the pit bull. The chihuahua looked harmless. So, I called the police and gave their descriptions and location while they rolled in someones trash. This is one of the reasons I don't like to go for walks by myself anymore. I worry someone's large dog (Florida is brimming with pit bulls) will maul me. There are too many irresponsible pet owners out there.
After I called the cops, I noticed that the oil light had come on in the car I was driving (Rob's car that has given us nothing but trouble since we got it) and luckily I made it home. I already spent a lot of money and time dealing with the tires on the other car this week. Our mechanic is about 30 minutes away, so I have no idea if it is safe to drive over there. Man, if SUV's are called gas guzzlers, they should call Dodge Neons money guzzlers. We have put more money into that car than the purchase price. All the seals leaked last year and Rob's car smelled like the worst funk for a long time. I had to caulk all the windows on the car. It has always had oil problems. It is always leaking out of somewhere. The steering wheel is always crooked and the car shakes like it is about to fall apart if you drive over 65 mph.
So, it looks like a wonderful start to the weekend. I planned on finally working on some jewelry today, but now I am in an awful mood. Hope everyone's day is going better than mine.

The shadow person who lives in our house...

Okay, so ya'll might think I am crazy, but when we first moved into this house, I kept seeing what appeared to be a person walking by out of the corner of my eye. It was shadowy and happened once or twice a week. It increased, and I didn't say anything to Rob about it because I thought he would think I was nutty. I have never really believed in "ghosts." Then one night, I woke up, sat straight up in bed (was completely awake) and gasped when I saw a dark shadowy figure sitting at the foot of my bed. My heart stopped, and I nearly screamed. As soon as I gasped, the "figure" seemed to float up and away into the ceiling and disappeared. I couldn't go back to sleep, and finally told Rob about it the next morning. He actually didn't think I was completely wacky. We haven't really had anything else go on much since then. Until last night....
We had an incident with our shadow friend again. It was around 11:30 and I was coming out of the bathroom on the far end of the house. What looked like a figure went rushing by me, towards the living room (which is on the way to the master bedroom where Rob was sleeping) and I literally almost lost my balance because I stopped so fast. I thought for sure there was a person in the house, but no one could run that fast. It made a rustling noise too. The cats were both in my computer room at the time, and the "shadowy thing" was tall like a person anyway. Well, after recovering from my freak out, I went back to the computer. A short time later, my husband started yelling "hey, Hey, HEY!" from the bedroom. He has a tendency to talk and yell in his sleep anyway, so I didn't think anything of it, except that he actually sounded lucid and awake. This morning he asked if I heard him, and I said yes. He then told me that he was yelling because he had woken up and saw someone in the room walking towards him. His eyes were open and he kept repeating it as the person got closer, and eventually disappeared. After I told him that my shadow person had ran past me in the hallway (in the direction of his room) right before he started yelling, we were both a little weirded out!

Hey chicken head!

Cari, this is your fault, just so you know. After I saw your pics last year for your chigwen in funny hats from Target, I couldn't resist when I found this one at Target in the Halloween pet section. So, without much ado, here is Tiny in her chicken head costume. She wasn't too happy when it was on her, and then proceeded to attack the chicken head once it was removed. Now she thinks it is a game. I try to put chicken head on her and she tries to bite it and take off with it. I tried to put it on Pudgie, but she is just too tenderhearted and got her feelings hurt. She also got the hiccups afterward. No more chicken head for her.

Sale is over....

Well, our TGIF sale is over, but we will have one again in the future if you missed it. Hope everyone has a nice weekend. I am out the door to go chaperone a youth volleyball tournament at church. Unfortunately, I think I am also coming down with a cold. My allergy pills aren't touching it, and I started to get it last night. I woke up with it this morning. Yay. I will check in on Monday! Bye!

Don't forget....

TGIF Sale starts Friday!

OUR TGIF SALE IN MY EMBRACE BATH & BODY STORE ON ETSY.COM STARTS FRIDAY AND ENDS AT MIDNIGHT! I WILL TAKE 25% OFF YOU ITEM TOTAL (NOT INCLUDING SHIPPING AND EXCLUDES GIFT CERTIFICATES)! ALL ORDERS OVER $20 WILL RECEIVE A FREE LIP GLOSS SAMPLE! PLEASE WAIT FOR A REVISED INVOICE BEFORE PAYING VIA PAYPAL. HAVE FUN SHOPPING!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE SALE!

What's cookin' hot stuff?

EDITED TO ADD: The dish turned out lovely. I adjusted the amount of curry and apple juice for the recipe below. We served it over egg noodles and it was yummy. The meat was soooo tender. I think I am in love with my new crock pot!

Rob bought a crock pot last weekend. I have never cooked with a crock pot, mainly because I don't like to leave my house with appliances (especially heated ones) running. I am one of those people who is always worried I have forgotten to turn off a burner on the stove when I leave the house. I usually have to run back in and check. I used to do the same thing with my mother in high school. I would call home often to see if I had left my curling iron on. I think I did once, and after that always worried about it. So, I agreed to the occasional crock pot meal, but it would have to be a day when I would be home all day. So, I have my first effort cooking right now. It is 10am and it should be done by 6pm. I will let you know how it turns out. Here is the recipe I used, if you would like to try it yourself! Feel free to change the amount of curry to your liking. We eat curry regularly and like a lot in our food!

Curried Beef Stew Crock Pot Recipe:
1 cup small whole onions (I substituted sliced green onions, as regular ones make my belly very upset)
1 cup fresh baby carrots
10-12 red potatoes cut into quarters
2 pounds boneless beef chuck steak, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup apple juice
3 heaping tablespoons of curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Dash of garlic powder (or use some fresh garlic)

In 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker/crock pot, layer potatoes, onions, and carrots. Place beef over vegetables. In medium bowl, combine all remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour over the beef. Cover, and cook on low setting for 8-10 hours.

My new favorite Lip Tint Color...Inspired by Twilight!

Vamp: A sexy cool toned red with a hint of wine that was inspired by my favorite book series at the moment...Twilight! One of my favorites colors yet! ** See the pic of it on my lips for an example. I am fair with warm skin tones, and blonde hair, unlike Bella. LOL!**

I seem to be behind again this week. Yesterday I spent most of the day cleaning and preparing for dinner guests that canceled last minute, then wasn't feeling well and conked out on the couch around 7:30 and didn't wake up till almost 9. Went to bed. This morning I spent taking pics, then got derailed by a flat tire when I went to run errands. Hopefully tomorrow will be more productive. Thanks for stopping by...make sure to check out my Embrace Bath & Body Etsy store to see the two new lip tints! I also added some lemon cream Whipped Body Frosting.

The ideas are piling up...

I have Stick It notes all over my computer desk right now, with jewelry design sketches on them. My muse was gone for a while, and now that she( or maybe it is a he....) has returned, I don't have the time. I did order some beads online last night and hope I have time to get to them once they arrive. I spent yesterday coming up with two new Lip Tint shades and part of today taking pics of them. I need to take pics of the product itself and the swatch. I took pics of them on my own lips today. Do you have any idea how hard it is to take pictures of your own face? I felt like a dork. I need to find myself a real model....someone who has nicer lips than me. So the new shades should finally arrive in our Etsy store any day now. They will also be added to our wholesale line.

The rest of the day I spent cleaning. Rob informed me last night that were are having company tonight, so I had to quickly come up with a menu and start making the house look more presentable.

Anyway, here is a pic of one of the pendant bead I ordered that I intend to wire wrap into a super cool necklace!

Another good reason to move back up north...

In Florida, it is too dang hot to wear cute hats! I miss looking for cute hats to wear when it was cold, or if I was having a bad hair day. I have been meaning to share this gals hats, and finally remembered. My favorite one was sold the other day, but here is another cute one. You can visit her shop on Etsy by clicking the picture.
Melissa Happy Stuff

Ike took a Hike

Thank goodness! We keep having these super scary looking hurricanes that appear to be headed for us over and over again, and amazingly another one has been steered in another direction. Supposedly, Josephine was right behind Ike, but she seems to have disappeared or fizzled out. We have actually had some nice weather, and little rain for this time of year. Still hot and muggy though. This weekend wasn't anything spectacular. Rob had a bunch of church stuff to catch up on, so he spent all morning and up till about 2pm working on that. We then went and had a late lunch, early dinner at Olive Garden and went to a movie after that. I had a church lesson to prepare so I worked some more on that when we got home and then watched some TV. I did manage to clean the whole house Sat. morning though.

Yesterday after church we went to one of Rob's co-worker's house for dinner. They are from Romania, so we got to sample some traditional Romanian food. I have to admit, I was a bit terrified. When I looked up dishes online, some included pickled fish (which I know my mother is allergic to..so I probably am too), Cow tongue, intestines, and pork "jelly." Thankfully, they didn't fix anything really odd. In fact, it was really good. I don't remember the name of it, and even if I could, I wouldn't be able to pronounce it correctly.

I have a lot of business stuff to catch up on that I am behind on, so hopefully I will get some stuff done today. Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

I have Goth toes....

So...yesterday I bought this nail polish that said Mocha Brown on the bottle. Under the lights in Target, it appeared to be a dark brown, like I wanted. I bought it and put it on yesterday, and after two coats, I now have "Goth toes." Rather than looking brown, it looks like I am wearing black nail polish. I know that is all the "rage" with the teens right now, and I have avoided it like the plague. Now, I am too lazy and/or busy to take it off, so it looks like I will have this look for at least a week. If by some accident, I die during this time, I ask that someone PLEASE fix it. I wouldn't want to be buried with black toe nails.
I had a good time playing volleyball with the teenage youth at church last night. They have a tournament coming up in a few weeks, and didn't have very many people there to practice, so I hopped in and joined a side. I haven't played volley ball for a very long time. I was surprised that I actually hadn't forgotten how to serve the ball, and managed to score a few points for the team. The funny thing is that I don't really remember most of the rules, and could never concentrate on playing AND keeping score.
We have yet another hurricane that may be headed our way. We have been spared the last two, so we are lucky. Now Ike is plowing across the ocean and is gaining strength. I told Rob this morning that we need to be prepared to get the heck out of here this time if it comes. It is already a catagory 4. Not good.
Well, I have to make yet another trip to Office Max. Take care everyone, and stay safe!

New Jewelry Pieces Listed....including PEA POD AND CUPCAKES!

For some odd reason, I have noticed a lot of google searches for Pea Pod jewelry leading to my blog lately, so if you came here for that, I have one available on Etsy right now. This weekend, I felt icky, and spent it at home, making jewelry, sleeping, and eating ice cream. My sore throat is gone for now, so my home "remedy" must have worked! LOL!

Here are the pieces I finished. Hope you like them! The stamped sterling silver cupcake earrings are a favorite! Please give them a home! I don't have pierced ears, and looking at them is making me sad. : (

I have a funny!

I found this online and had to share. This is totally me to a "T."

Question:
How many women with PMS does it take to change a light bulb?

Woman's Answer:
One!
ONLY ONE!!!! And do you know WHY? Because no one else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb! They don't even know that the bulb is BURNED OUT!! They would sit in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it out.
And, once they figured it out, they wouldn't be able to find the #&%!* light bulbs despite the fact that they've been in the SAME CABINET for the past 17 YEARS! But if they did, by some miracle of God, actually find them, 2 DAYS LATER, the chair they dragged to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!! AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE WRAPPER
THE FREAKING LIGHT BULBS CAME IN!!! BECAUSE NO ONE EVER PICKS UP OR CARRIES
OUT THE GARBAGE!!!! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF GARBAGE THAT ARE A FOOT DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE!!
IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS PLACE! AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON WHO CHANGES THE TOILET PAPER ROLL !!

I'm sorry. What was the question?