Baubles, Bangles, and Beads
It is that time of year--the end of semester crush, that is--so I'm sorry that I've been scarce lately, and will continue to be somewhat scarce for the next two weeks. I should probably also apologize in advance for the fact that my entries will more likely be memes and such for those two weeks, because... um. Procrastination. And because of the soothing, soothing mindlessness of internet memes.
I was more responsible this past weekend, and although I still went out a fair bit, I also wedged in Cleaning All The Things, exhausting food shopping in preparation for the Easter holidays (menu is dooooooone!), and Answering All The E-Mails, along with some beta-reading. (Which, really... that last is much too fun to be called anything like a chore, though it is a responsibility. Still.) So I felt quite pleased with myself and my efficiency at managing something like a work/fun balance.
As I said, though, I still had time for fun things, like good barbecue, beer, and electro-blues on Saturday night, and Sunday brunch with Younger Brother at my favorite local pancake house. (NOT IHOP. Never IHOP. Not when you can have Pancake Pantry instead!) I also started to assemble Easter baskets for the kidderoos, which I find to be ridiculously enjoyable. I like to throw in a mix of candy (enormous foil-wrapped chocolate eggs this year) and cool non-edible treats, like books and silly sunglasses and stuffed animals. This year, Goddaughter is getting colorful, kid-sized scarves and a cowboy hat, so she can dress like Auntie Bluey. Godson is getting a pirate hat and eye patch. Mini-Me, being a bit young yet, is getting a very cuddly little bunny.
Saturday morning was particularly fun, as it involved a trip to a little bead boutique that miiiiiight just be one of my new favorite places on earth. Of course, maybe I should have expected it to be just that cool, given that it's located at the intersection of Fleetwood and Mac(k). :D
The primary reason for Saturday's visit was that it was part of my present. I was given a Trollbeads bracelet recently as a gift, to celebrate my reaching a significant number in my weight loss. I absolutely love the bracelet, as well as the intent behind it. It's meant to be added to over time, with the owners adding beads that have personal or emotional significance... or, y'know, that just look pretty. The emphasis is on the customizable nature, and many of the beads are inspired by folklore, mythology, nature, literature, fairy tales, and the fantastic. (And Dicky, there's a Thor's Hammer bead! It made me think of you. &hearts)
So naturally, I love it, and I'm excited to watch it take shape. There are lots of pretty examples of color-coordinated, themed bracelets, but I'll be honest: I am far too much of a magpie nonconformist for that kind of careful matchy-matching, and I'm probably just going to add whatever shiny things interest me most or have the most personal meaning. *g*
In any case, it came with this lock already on it, along with the Pink Diamond bead, the Turquoise Armadillo bead, and the Sun Circle bead. (I love all of them.) It also came with a gift certificate from this boutique for a free bead of my choosing, and on Saturday, we went to go make the selection.
As I said, the store is at the corner of Fleetwood and Mack Avenue, so that endeared it to me from the very start. It's just a vibrant little wonderland of a store, and I could happily spend hours there. I've been in larger bead stores, but none that were as funky and offbeat and exuberant and cool. It looks, to be very honest, like what I imagine a corner of my mind tank to be. The walls are covered in strings of unusual beads, in every color, finish, and shape imaginable, from iridescent, irregular freshwater pearls to shards of turquoise and jade to chunky bit of plastic in lime green and purple. Naked dressmaker dummies are draped in chains and scarves and feather plumes, or studded with glittery vintage brooches and clockets. There are displays of purses with the artwork tattooed right into them. (Look away now, vegans.) The walls are lilac, and there are garlands of flowers raining down from the ceiling. The place is run by a woman in her early sixties with short pink hair, who was wearing skinny jeans and at least two more belts than were absolutely necessary. I knew in an instant that we'd get along famously.
And we did. Lisa is an incredibly fascinating woman, and if left to our own devices, we would probably still be there, jabbering away about Project Peacock and fashion and art and food and the Pacific Northwest. I think I fangirl her a bit, and I hope I'm even half as interesting when I'm her age. She's a sweetheart, too. As we chatted, she noticed my marble ring (she sells them as well) and offered me a huge bag of marbles for it, in just about every size and finish imaginable--for free. Just because she thought I'd make good use of them. How cool is that?
She pulled out trays and trays of Trollbeads for me and let me poke around, mixing and matching and hemming and hawing and pondering. They're all beautiful in person, more than any picture can capture, and the decision was difficult. I finally settled on the Black Spot bead, because it balances out the brighter colors and makes a nice, striking contrast to the other beads--and just because it's spotty and irregular and cute, like a dalmatian. But I am a very lucky (and spoiled) person, because Gift Giver is a sweet and generous soul and bought me my second choice as well: the Bead of Fortune, which features a skull. It's an interactive bead in two parts, and supposedly the way the halves come together is meant to tell your fortune. If the hand grasps the heart, love is in your future. If it's the clover, you'll be lucky, and if it's stars, you'll find fame (or magic). If it's the frog, that's fertility/creation. The skull indicates something serious, though not necessarily bad. And if one hand meets the other hand, friendship is apparently headed your way.
It landed on the stars for me. We'll see what comes of that. *g*
In any case, I will definitely be going back to visit Lisa and the store. I was actually quite restrained while I was there, because there were at least three scarves that I wanted, badly. One was hot pink with leopard trim and ruffles, the second was shades of pale pink and blue, with all sort of crochet bits and fringe, and the third was in vibrant shades of green and blue, with sequins in a design that definitely reminded me of peacock feathers. There was also an actual peacock-inspired purse, which was gorgeous and amazing and even came with a matching peacock hand mirror--but alas, they only have one in right now, and it's already spoken for. But Lisa has promised me that if they get in more, there will be one with my name on it. ~crosses fingers~
And I found some lovely potential presents for Mother's Day, as well, especially now that my mother has also taken an interest in wearing scarves. I'm teaching her how to accessorize. Tis fun. :D
Before I left, Lisa also gave me a pocket token, for good luck. They're each inscribed with something different. Mine says "love." It's a good thing to be mindful of in any case, don't you think? :-)
In other news, in my spare time, I am chip chip chipping away at my Boosh Bang story, and I can feel it starting to come together. It's exciting. I remember this feeling, knowing that it's all linking up and that it's just a matter of keeping going and having faith in the finished product. It will all work out. But oh, sometimes I do wish I could be a conventional, workman-like writer and write things on demand, working in sequential order. Instead, I'm writing where inspiration grabs me, flitting from section to section, time period to time period, depending on whichever mood or image has grabbed me, vainly hoping that in the end I'll be able to assemble all these disparate interludes into something like whole cloth. Or maybe a tapestry. Or a quilt. With squares of sturdy brown corduroy and Hawaiian print next to squares of silver pleather and iridescent sequins. ;-)
I was more responsible this past weekend, and although I still went out a fair bit, I also wedged in Cleaning All The Things, exhausting food shopping in preparation for the Easter holidays (menu is dooooooone!), and Answering All The E-Mails, along with some beta-reading. (Which, really... that last is much too fun to be called anything like a chore, though it is a responsibility. Still.) So I felt quite pleased with myself and my efficiency at managing something like a work/fun balance.
As I said, though, I still had time for fun things, like good barbecue, beer, and electro-blues on Saturday night, and Sunday brunch with Younger Brother at my favorite local pancake house. (NOT IHOP. Never IHOP. Not when you can have Pancake Pantry instead!) I also started to assemble Easter baskets for the kidderoos, which I find to be ridiculously enjoyable. I like to throw in a mix of candy (enormous foil-wrapped chocolate eggs this year) and cool non-edible treats, like books and silly sunglasses and stuffed animals. This year, Goddaughter is getting colorful, kid-sized scarves and a cowboy hat, so she can dress like Auntie Bluey. Godson is getting a pirate hat and eye patch. Mini-Me, being a bit young yet, is getting a very cuddly little bunny.
Saturday morning was particularly fun, as it involved a trip to a little bead boutique that miiiiiight just be one of my new favorite places on earth. Of course, maybe I should have expected it to be just that cool, given that it's located at the intersection of Fleetwood and Mac(k). :D
The primary reason for Saturday's visit was that it was part of my present. I was given a Trollbeads bracelet recently as a gift, to celebrate my reaching a significant number in my weight loss. I absolutely love the bracelet, as well as the intent behind it. It's meant to be added to over time, with the owners adding beads that have personal or emotional significance... or, y'know, that just look pretty. The emphasis is on the customizable nature, and many of the beads are inspired by folklore, mythology, nature, literature, fairy tales, and the fantastic. (And Dicky, there's a Thor's Hammer bead! It made me think of you. &hearts)
So naturally, I love it, and I'm excited to watch it take shape. There are lots of pretty examples of color-coordinated, themed bracelets, but I'll be honest: I am far too much of a magpie nonconformist for that kind of careful matchy-matching, and I'm probably just going to add whatever shiny things interest me most or have the most personal meaning. *g*
In any case, it came with this lock already on it, along with the Pink Diamond bead, the Turquoise Armadillo bead, and the Sun Circle bead. (I love all of them.) It also came with a gift certificate from this boutique for a free bead of my choosing, and on Saturday, we went to go make the selection.
As I said, the store is at the corner of Fleetwood and Mack Avenue, so that endeared it to me from the very start. It's just a vibrant little wonderland of a store, and I could happily spend hours there. I've been in larger bead stores, but none that were as funky and offbeat and exuberant and cool. It looks, to be very honest, like what I imagine a corner of my mind tank to be. The walls are covered in strings of unusual beads, in every color, finish, and shape imaginable, from iridescent, irregular freshwater pearls to shards of turquoise and jade to chunky bit of plastic in lime green and purple. Naked dressmaker dummies are draped in chains and scarves and feather plumes, or studded with glittery vintage brooches and clockets. There are displays of purses with the artwork tattooed right into them. (Look away now, vegans.) The walls are lilac, and there are garlands of flowers raining down from the ceiling. The place is run by a woman in her early sixties with short pink hair, who was wearing skinny jeans and at least two more belts than were absolutely necessary. I knew in an instant that we'd get along famously.
And we did. Lisa is an incredibly fascinating woman, and if left to our own devices, we would probably still be there, jabbering away about Project Peacock and fashion and art and food and the Pacific Northwest. I think I fangirl her a bit, and I hope I'm even half as interesting when I'm her age. She's a sweetheart, too. As we chatted, she noticed my marble ring (she sells them as well) and offered me a huge bag of marbles for it, in just about every size and finish imaginable--for free. Just because she thought I'd make good use of them. How cool is that?
She pulled out trays and trays of Trollbeads for me and let me poke around, mixing and matching and hemming and hawing and pondering. They're all beautiful in person, more than any picture can capture, and the decision was difficult. I finally settled on the Black Spot bead, because it balances out the brighter colors and makes a nice, striking contrast to the other beads--and just because it's spotty and irregular and cute, like a dalmatian. But I am a very lucky (and spoiled) person, because Gift Giver is a sweet and generous soul and bought me my second choice as well: the Bead of Fortune, which features a skull. It's an interactive bead in two parts, and supposedly the way the halves come together is meant to tell your fortune. If the hand grasps the heart, love is in your future. If it's the clover, you'll be lucky, and if it's stars, you'll find fame (or magic). If it's the frog, that's fertility/creation. The skull indicates something serious, though not necessarily bad. And if one hand meets the other hand, friendship is apparently headed your way.
It landed on the stars for me. We'll see what comes of that. *g*
In any case, I will definitely be going back to visit Lisa and the store. I was actually quite restrained while I was there, because there were at least three scarves that I wanted, badly. One was hot pink with leopard trim and ruffles, the second was shades of pale pink and blue, with all sort of crochet bits and fringe, and the third was in vibrant shades of green and blue, with sequins in a design that definitely reminded me of peacock feathers. There was also an actual peacock-inspired purse, which was gorgeous and amazing and even came with a matching peacock hand mirror--but alas, they only have one in right now, and it's already spoken for. But Lisa has promised me that if they get in more, there will be one with my name on it. ~crosses fingers~
And I found some lovely potential presents for Mother's Day, as well, especially now that my mother has also taken an interest in wearing scarves. I'm teaching her how to accessorize. Tis fun. :D
Before I left, Lisa also gave me a pocket token, for good luck. They're each inscribed with something different. Mine says "love." It's a good thing to be mindful of in any case, don't you think? :-)
In other news, in my spare time, I am chip chip chipping away at my Boosh Bang story, and I can feel it starting to come together. It's exciting. I remember this feeling, knowing that it's all linking up and that it's just a matter of keeping going and having faith in the finished product. It will all work out. But oh, sometimes I do wish I could be a conventional, workman-like writer and write things on demand, working in sequential order. Instead, I'm writing where inspiration grabs me, flitting from section to section, time period to time period, depending on whichever mood or image has grabbed me, vainly hoping that in the end I'll be able to assemble all these disparate interludes into something like whole cloth. Or maybe a tapestry. Or a quilt. With squares of sturdy brown corduroy and Hawaiian print next to squares of silver pleather and iridescent sequins. ;-)