awesomeness

I was just about to go to bed but I clicked on one link before shutting down and oh boy, I fell in love.  My Parents Were Awesome.  Here's three out of so many that I loved:

I am so very unphotogenic that I have skillfully avoided the camera for decades.  After seeing this site, I tearfully regret it because I realize that my kids will have hardly any photos of me from my 20s and 30s to look at (and submit to this site!!).  So, I vow now to just get over myself and allow my photo to be taken.  I'm the only Mom they've got (and can be very awesome at times) so I might as well document what I can!

Click and prepare to lose all track of time lost in thick mustaches, hippies, crown royal bottles, afros, shag carpeting and when you're done, take a few self-portraits for your kids to enjoy later, too.  Vanity be damned.

young hearts be free tonight

I'm really really really a horrible blogger and am sort of regretting trying to do this again.  I think I'll probably start one just for my kids, kind of like an open letter.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Who knows.  One person reads this thing and she probably gets enough of me on Facebook.  =)

I've had lots of good days lately and I am so thankful for each and every one of them.     Last week before The Handmade Market was rough physically (therefore emotionally) but taking the week off from soldering, setting up a new space for it AND getting a kick ass massage has done me right.  So there's good thing #1.  Good thing #2 is that I finally committed to a studio space that I've wanted for a few months and luckily the space is being moved to a different building where there is more room so I don't have to wait for someone to leave anymore.  HURRAY!  I'm so ready to have my house back and have co-workers, so to speak.  Good thing #3 is that I've been getting more new stores than I can handle.  Wait, is that a good thing or not?  I'm only one girl so it is tough but paying bills is grrrrrreat!  There's more good things but I'm not sharing those just yet.

I have some new jewelry ideas bubbling just below the surface and I expect that when the kids are with their Dad next week the designs will explode and I won't get much sleep but I'll be immersed and content.  I also have a playdate with one of my most talented friends, Ndidi, to work on a new Luxe Storybook Charm line.  Ooooooooooh......intrigued, yes?

My son got a kiss from his girlfriend today.  Granted, they are in 2nd grade and the kiss was on his arm BUT I could see that he was floating and distracted from it all afternoon and evening.  I'm not ready for young love but I do love seeing him radiate.  He also learned a new word today:  ass.   And yes, I gave him all the definitions of it that I know.  I know he won't use it improperly.  Yet.

Life is good.  Yes, yes it is.

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

I'm 40.  Well, as of this posting I'm still technically 39 but who's counting?  I'm not that phased by the number really.  I'm so glad to still be here and to have these beautiful children to be with that I'm welcoming each new year.  However, that does not mean that I can't lament my youth gone by.  Today has been unbelievably unexciting.  No black balloons, no "lordy lordy kristen's 40" (thank you), no party, not one piece of cake, no drinks.  I'm a bit short on cash so today was just another day really.  But now that I'm at the end of the day and having time to think, I'm kind of bummed!  Mainly because the kids were heartbroken when they found out that we weren't having the karaoke party like we had discussed and oh my gosh, no cake???!!!  They were incredulous.

My mom made my birthday a big deal when I was growing up so I blame her for my birthday ego but I carried it into my adulthood with joy.  For the past 3 years I've sadly done nothing (either too broke or too depressed or both) but before that there was always always always a pumpkin carving party, or a potluck with a keg, or a huge pot of hot cider and rum and even costumes on some years.  Next year will be better financially than the past two and I hope I won't be as blah as I have been in the past but next year....look out 41.  My birthday will be on a Saturday and there will be 3 years of absence for which to make up.  This year is a wash but next year will be epic.  I'm already planning the guest list.

out with the old, in with more old but different

I'm home today with a sick little girl and I'm taking the day off from Mood Swing (ah, a rarity).  I've been thinking about my designs and how much I've changed in a few short months.  You might have noticed that I don't really do the whole recycled vintage jewelry thing anymore.  The market got absolutely saturated with it and it all looks the same to me.  Same components, same designs, blah.  I still love vintage and will continue to use it but I can't stand looking like everyone else.   There are a few standouts like Reverie, Subversive, Kay Adams (who gets ripped off a lot by a few Etsy artists) and my friend Wendy (who also gets ripped off by a few of the same folks on Etsy) but the rest just seem to make the same thing.

I'm rather proud of my newest creations (and in need of a copyright), Lost & Found that incorporate vintage and new found pieces inside their own glass capsule.  I have a whole lot lined up to make for next week's Handmade Market (shameless plug) and can't wait to crank up the soldering iron tomorrow.   Until then, I'll keep trying to stay ahead and different from the masses and go cuddle with a cute and very cough-laden little girl and watch Phineas & Ferb.  Life could certainly be worse!

tmi

"Misfortune, and recited misfortune especially, can be prolonged to the point where it ceases to excite pity and arouses only irritation."
— Dorothy Parker


I deleted a recent post b/c I realize that sometimes I just need to shut up and not say everything that is on my mind.  (thank you for your comment, Erin ❤)

picture pages, picture pages!

Just to prove I'm not always a Debbie Downer, here are some photos and a happy little list!!

WHY I LOVE OCTOBER

1: emailing my Mom on the 1st to say HAPPY OCTOBER
2: Pumpkin Cheesecake, hot damn!
3: picking out pumpkins at the Farmers Market (lumina is my fave)
4: Scotch drinking weather
5: big fat acorns
6: pumpkin patches
7: getting darker earlier (still fools the kids into an early bedtime)
8: sweaters
9: my Mom's birthday; so glad she's still here
10: nesting
11: planning costumes
12: cool, crisp air
13: my favorite Naot boots
14: going to the State Fair with the kids
15: going to see U2---for the first time and courtesy of cathy and paul ❤
16: flannel sheets
17: Fall Festivals galore
18: my favorite turquoise coat
19: my favorite orange scarf made by Robin (who never got her ring)
20: Halloween decorations popping up in yards
21: warm cider and captain morgans
22: wearing patterned tights and big clunky shoes
23: pumpkin choco chip cookies from Whole Foods
24: hot chocolate on the porch at dusk with the kids
25: homemade soup with warm grainy crunchy bread
26: pomegranates and wishing Dad was still here to share them with me
27: Martha Stewart's Fall & Halloween themed magazines
28: fall color palette
29: carving pumpkins
30: my birthday, so glad I'm still here
31: Halloween, duh.

(((#15 didn't happen but I still appreciate the gesture of the ticket.))))

Mama Tried

So I'm starting the blog up again.  This may be my 4th or 5th incarnation of it.  I tend to dive right in, get excited about decorating the sidebar and the headers and what not and then after a while I get real tired of hearing myself talk about myself and delete the whole damn thing.  But this time it is different.  This time it is for my kids and so they'll have something to hold on to, just in case.  I've had some health issues over the past few years, mostly due to stress, some due to a really nasty blood pressure medicine and have finally realized as I sneak up to age 40 that life is short and you better make it sweet.  I have never kept baby books for the kids and that is something I'll regret forever.  My Dad threw all of my baby keepsakes out (out of ignorance I'm sure) a while after my parents split so I don't have anything really to document my beginnings, my firsts, etc.  My Mom did what she could but she was a single Mom doing her best and I certainly don't hold it against her.  She spoiled me even though we didn't have much.  She went back to college when I was 7 or so (I think) and focused on school and claims that I raised myself.  She apologizes for that often.  I think I turned out okay despite what she might say.  =)  And here I am, following in her footsteps...single parenting at 39 and absolutely immersed in running my business while it runs me into the ground.  But here's where the path stops.  I'm tired of feeling bad, mentally and physically and I do not want to follow her path.  She worked herself right into a nervous breakdown in '84 and has never fully recovered and I see now (hindsight is 20/20) that I've been doing the same thing.  So as I try and turn my life and health around, I will document my days and the kids days and everything general so the sweet babies can have this documentation.  And although a book with my handwriting and carefully scrapbooked pages would be more aesthetically pleasing, let's face it, this is faster and easier.  So here you go, let's get all up in my bizness.