Day Thirty-Nine -- And I Don't Need An Excuse, 'cause I'm Wearing My Brand New Shoes.

Tonight is going to be really short. I almost forgot to post tonight. Well, not exactly. I’ve been thinking about it, but I’ve also been so busy, kinda, preparing for tomorrow’s Silver Lake Market that I just kept putting it off.  Most of the evening has been busy doing a bit of shopping. I have a tea party to go to and Rob, me and his mom, went to a few places to find fancy hats for the tea party. Not one for Rob, of course. He’s not invited. It’s an all-girls/women thing. So Rob’s mom and I are going and it’s being hosted by Rob’s aunt and her daughters. I’m looking forward to it. We went to one before and it was pretty neat and fun to dress up for something. We went to Goodwill first, and found no hats but I got a (men's) jacket for $4.50 and I looked at its original tag that was in one of the pockets (I’m pretty sure it was a new jacket) and the original price was $75. I say that was a good deal and it’s pretty warm.  It’s been so cold lately, that I wanted to make sure that I don’t freeze my butt off tomorrow. So I’m going to wear more layers than found in a flaky biscuit!

After Goodwill, we went to Ross. There, I found a cute hat, nice shoes and a Sharper Image mandolin for ten bucks! I have wanted one of those forever but they usually cost too much. Rob bought himself a set of clippers for his beard and a pair of headphones, the big puffy kind that sit on the outside of the ears. They are pretty neat, but Rob spent most of the rest of the evening singing punk music rather loudly and I was having to text him to get his attention. His alerts vibrate so I knew he would feel it, because he certainly wasn’t hearing me yelling.

I’m going to end here because I need to go back to packing a few last minute things. I’m pretty nervous but then, I always am. I’m glad the weekend is here but at the same time, I can’t wait until tomorrow is over. Isn’t that weird? I love the opportunity to sell my wares but it’s also stressful because I want everyone to love everything and buy everything. It’s also almost like I’m putting myself up for show so I have to be presentable and be more comfortable “selling” myself and my work. I’m sure it’ll get easier the more that I do it.

Okay, so that was a bit longer than I thought, but most of my post are pretty stream-of-consciousness so that’s bound to happen.

Day Thirty-Eight -- Jai Guru Deva. Om

So this is what’s up.

There is a belly dance class going on just down the street for $120 for 8 weeks (one class per week). I think it would be fun, and it’s about time I went out and did something non-jewelry related that I know I would enjoy. And above all, it’s more exercise and the best exercise is that which is fun to take part in. I just need to be able to raise the money to go to it. Which means that I would have to have better sales than usual on Saturday so that I can pay for it while still having enough to pay back my generous benefactor, for without whom, I would not have the permanent booth this year at the Silver Lake Art, Craft and Vintage Market. She is an awesome person and not just for lending me the money. I haven’t mentioned her by name because I wouldn't want people to start wagging their open hands at her thinking that she throws money around everywhere. The transaction was well thought out and I plan to pay her back as soon as possible. Did I mention that she is awesome? Anyway, so, that’s just something I want to put out in the Universe, I’d really like to take that belly dance class.

Well, that’s it for today. It’s late and I have a lot of last minute prep for the market tomorrow. I thought I’d stay up late and do some tonight, but I’m really not feeling it. 

Since this was a short one, here’s a picture for your viewing pleasure:

I'm assuming that lumpy bit is it's face...

 This is Nembrotha cristata, a colourful sea-slug found in the tropical Indo-West Pacific Ocean. They grow to about 50mm in length and have black bodies with a strange luminous green "trim".

Like most nudibranches, they deliver a painful string. They do not produce the stinging cells themselves but incorporate them into their own tissues from their prey, stinging jellyfish.

Thanks to the I Fucking Love Science page on Facebook for that fabulous photo and info! (It turns out that the moderator of the page is obsessed with nudibranches. I, however, just think the name is funny:-D Oh, and excuse the spelling of "colourful". I think she's British. )

P.S. You are freaking AWESOME if you know what song the lyrics in this post's title is from. Or you're kinda neat if you bothered to Google it to figure it out.

Day Thirty-Seven -- Up Where We Belong

Funny thing happened tonight… Nala, our boxer, (well, technically, Rob’s parent’s dog) was lying on the floor and as I just hurt my back, I told her that if she wanted me to pet her, she would have to sit up. So I’m standing there going, “Up! Up! Up Nala! Get Up!” not angrily though. I said it in a friendly, high-pitched voice and with a hand gesture. She just sat there looking at me funny, which was weird because she usually gets up after only one or two “Up!”s. Then I circled my finger over her and said, “Wingardium Leviosa!” … and wouldn’t you know it, she got up. I love that kooky dog!

Day Thirty-Six -- It Takes Two Baby

So I got my M back. Of course it popped off from me trying to get spilled beads out of my keyboard. I get beads in the wackiest places. Today I got beads in the right place and made these:

They are called Bitty Beads, beads made from beads. I plan to use them to make earrings. I have other designs I want to make as well. I'll give more details about them another time, or where it belongs on the other blog. Right now, it's late and I want to go to bed... which is also the reason I didn't edit the photos, not that they really needed it. 

Not a whole lot went on today besides doing some work and a LOT of cleaning and organizing. I decided that I will take charge of my space. I’m getting rid of some things, basically taking them back to storage for now. I’ve also decided that I’d like to sell my old bead storage containers, the stuff that’s no longer working for me. Most of it is perfectly good and should go to someone who could use them. I only did some preliminary work today, even though it was a lot, but the bulk of it will be done next week because right now, I have to prepare for the Silver Lake Art, Craft and Vintage Market this Saturday... The first one of the year. 

Day Thirty-Five -- She Comes In Colors

Today's blog post is going to be brief in the writing department but chockablock with pictures. The main reason the typing bit is short is because my "m" has run away. All the m's in this post is copied and pasted. trying to remember to hit Ctrl+V every time I need an m is a bit cumbersome... I suppose I could've used a word that used less m's there... silly me.

Today's activities ranged from cleaning, goofing off on the computer and dying my hair. I did what I said I was going to do by lightening it and then putting in the purple dye.  talk about fading fast... All I did was do a conditioning treatment after rinsing out the dye and a lot of the purple came out leaving me with what I have now... a weird combo of red and purple.

I kinda like it though.

You can definitely see the purple better than before when I didn't lighten it first.

With it pulled back you can really see the red bits.

This one was added just for laughs. I think I will use it as my Facebook profile picture.

Day Thirty-Four -- She Wants Revenge

Okay, technically, She Wants Revenge is a band name, not song lyrics, but I'm sure someone used them as lyrics somewhere. Still it's a musical reference so the title works for me. But I digress...

I had to post this conversation between Rob and me because I thought it was pretty funny (kinda paraphrased because it happened hours ago but this is the gist of it):

Me: My new rock band name is Black Jellybean Revenge. (I often come up with phrases that I think would make good rock band names.)

Rob: (laughing) Oh, so you found another one?

Me: No

Rob: You will…

Me: I didn't find another one, but you took it to another level and therefore, I must annihilate you.

Rob: As well you should.

…Laughter ensues.

This is the kind of wackiness that goes on between us all the time, almost every day.

Here’s another example:

While at IHOP where Rob and I had a lovely breakfast, even though it was well after 12, Rob had left over mashed potatoes from the side that he ordered. I started shaping it with my fork. Rob laughs and says, “I already know what you are doing and we both laughed as I continued. After a bit of laughter and discussion, we came up with a plan:

One day, when we’re at a restaurant, we are going to order two sides of mashed potatoes not meant to be eaten. We will form it into the shape of Devil’s Tower and on a napkin one of us will write, “THIS MEANS SOMETHING”,  have it sticking out from under the table, and then leave. Rob’s idea is that we place the tip on top of it so they see the quote after they remove the tip, but I don’t know. What if they grab everything and not really see the quote because they grabbed it up with the tip, later to find a napkin in their pocket saying, “THIS MEANS SOMETHING” and not know what it’s referring to. Rob also says it would be great if we had green garnish so that we can make the greenery at the base of the mountain. I said that it would be great to have broccoli to really do it up right. When choosing a mate (yeah, like it’s THAT easy!) make sure you find someone who matches your sense of humor. It’s awesome!

It’s also awesome to be able to share your goofiness with friends. We spent the evening at Kristine and Dennis’ place, Liz was there as well. We riffed on a really bad cartoon and then watched some old Doctor Who. It was a special called, “The Five Doctors” I hadn't seen it before and really enjoyed it. What I also enjoyed, as well as everyone else, was the dinner that Dennis made: Arroz con pollo, refried beans and corn cake. It was fantastic. 

All in all, it was a great day today and the weather was simply gorgeous. 

Day Thirty-Three -- Everything In It's Right Place

Today was pretty cool. We went to have lunch at Coco’s with some of the clients that Rob works with, and then we went to Harbor Freight! There, I bought 5 storage containers. Four of them are for at home bead storage and one for travel. I am very excited to start organizing my beads with them. The boxes each have 24 smaller boxes inside that hold the same amount, plus a little more, as a bead tube that I’ve been having problems with. Now that I’ve pretty much filled them up, I want to get some more. They are so neat, and I mean that both ways. They’re cool and they’re tidy! If I were just to get more for my seed beads, I’d say I need 2 more, 3 at the most. But I’m seriously considering them for most of my other beads as well, except for the ones where the quantities are just so low. Now I feel like I’m going to actually have a nice organized stash that will make it easier for me to use my supplies.

After a quick trip to Joann’s, we went to Starbucks where they were playing old Ozzy-led Black Sabbath. It was awesome. It also makes me want to go buy some. Rob said he’ll probably just get it off the Play Store on his tablet. Once we got back home, I’ve spent the rest of the night putting beads in my new containers as well as watching some old, and I mean OLD, Doctor Who episodes and  also some Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes. Tomorrow is going to be a work day, or at least most of it will be if I decide to go back to Harbor Freight tomorrow for more storage boxes. That place is really neat! Geez, I use “neat” a lot. Maybe one day I’ll do a blog with pictures once I have everything organized. I can’t wait for that day. I’m gonna be SOOOO productive!