Armed and handy

I've been trying to get organized for the upcoming jewelry show. It's hard to believe it is little more than one week away! After months of procrastinating, I'm starting to feel the heat now. I have enough inventory as far as the jewelry goes. Too much. Hence the show. Now I'm concentrating on my set-up: how to display the pieces, how to dress up the table, business cards, mirrors, baggies, Zzzzz.

A couple weeks ago, I decided that I had to come up with a new way to display my jewelry--so I put the BF to work. It was swelteringly hot that day in the south bay--perfect time for some manual labor! With A LOT of help from the BF's fam, I was able to use some flea market frames and turn them into padded displays to hang jewelry off of. Here are some before, during, and after shots. Not bad for $30 and a liter of sweat. Thanks to the fam for the hard work, power tools, and brave faces when I was wielding the staple gun!



1. Ply wood and a flea market frame. 2. Cutting out the batting and linen. 3. Watch those fingers. 4. The fruits of our labor!

Just another day in paradise

Oh boy. It's been WEEKS since my last posting. So I have a lot of catching up to do. A few weeks ago, the BF and I spent 4-5 days in San Diego. It was awesome seeing old friends, soaking in the sun, and visiting our old stomping grounds/watering holes. All that sun! I loved it. Just a few hours on the hotel patio and I was golden. The BF on the other hand... well, I think he managed to tone down his San Francisco glow without too much sunburn!

Now onto the REAL highlights (according to the BF anyway):


I mean, the sun, the beach, our friends...yeah they're all right too! But sadly one of the perks about going back to SD is the Mexican food. SF has the Mission and all, but the Mex food we've found up here really can't even compete with San Diego's. Perhaps food just tastes better on the beach and with old friends. Some gutbustin' good times from our trip include Pizza Port, Porkyland, Point Loma Seafoods, breakfast burritos from Taco Surf, and beers (lotsa beers) at Cass St. with our old regular crew of crusty alcoholics. See how happy it makes the BF?! At least Hefeweizen is served with a slice of lemon--a great source of Vitamin C. That night we easily got 100% of the RDA of Vitamin C...

Plagued

For the past week, I've been out of commission with the flu. It all started Sunday when I felt like I was hit by a truck. Fevers, chills, hacking cough, body aches, oh my! Everything seems to take a Herculean amount of effort. I haven't been this sick EVER. And I even got a flu shot this year. Made me really wish I had one of these contraptions:

So I've been laid up in bed, missing work (Well, I wouldn't say I've been "missing" it, Bob.), and in general being a miserable slug. The worst is the cough, or the side effects of it. My rib cage feels completely sore on the inside and the muscles around it are sore, so every cough feels like someone is punching a bruise. Oh, the BF also noticed a funny symptom of this particular strain of flu: Whining. Ok I'll admit, I'm not the easiest patient to care for... Finally had the strength yesterday to go to the doctor, who didn't really do a whole lot but prescribe cough syrup with codeine. Nite nite!

Earrings for night owls

I just made these tonight. It's almost 1 a.m., and I don't know why the hell I'm still up. But I am so I thought I'd snap some quick pix and share. I went to a bead faire (yes, with an e!) this past weekend, and since then it's been beadle mania. I got some 20-gauge gold-fill wire to experiment with. That's what makes up the main teardrop shape here. The stones are amethyst and green aventurine. I'm into this loopy wire-wrapping nowadays. If I end up doing a whole series of these, I guess that's what designers might define as a "collection." The Loopy Collection? Hmm, there's gotta be a better name out there. Anyhow, I like the overall look of it, but man does it destroy my fingers. All this is in preparation for my upcoming jewelry show in May. More on that later. Maybe when I'm not so sleepy.

DJ Buddha baby

Our friends Pieter and Catarina are expecting their first baby in a few weeks. So you know what that means: more onesies! Pieter and Cat are fun, magnetic people. They love good times, good friends, and awesome music (Pieter's a House DJ during the wee hours). And they have this whole spiritual-vibe-thing going on, too, that's really warm and welcoming. So I wanted these onesies to reflect a little bit about both of them, their passions and hobbies, and just how cool they are and will be as parents.

Turntable and Buddha onesies shown in stages: 1. Ironing on the cut-out stencils; 2. Filling it in with paint; 3. Revealing the finished product!

Spa day

Life as a GP can be tough. There's hay and pellets to eat, not to mention mounds of farmer's market veggies to munch on. And there's all the tunnels a pig needs to run through every day. And don't forget all the napping! That takes up a lot of time. And if ever the BF leaves his cookbooks lying on the floor, well, a pig has to eat them too.

With such a busy agenda, a pig deserves a little pampering once in a while, don't you think? Rusty got his first bath recently, and to top it off, he also got a mani/pedi! Sounds like a relaxing way to spend a Saturday morning, huh? Not to Russ. He complained and struggled throughout the whole ordeal. Poor boy! It ain't easy lookin' this good.

BBQ pigeon

Boris and Doris are back! I've read that pigeons, having that built-in homing device, return to the same place to make their nest, laying one to two eggs. This is the third time Boris and Doris have tried to build a nest on our balcony. They always pick the same spot--IN our gas bbq. It's actually a pretty good place in San Francisco to build a nest: it's covered so at least it is partially protected from the wind, rain and predators. The BF, on the other hand, does not think it is such a good place, as he has just filled up the propane tank and was looking forward to bbq season. Uh oh, better luck next year babe!

Unfortunately, we've never had a hatchling. Part of the problem is that Boris and Doris are really crappy at building nests. This year is another winner. As you can see from this picture, all the twigs they've gathered have fallen thru the slats. Now Boris is just sitting there on an egg with no nest. We'll see how it goes.

Boris? On the nest, you ask? Yes, being a monogamous couple (at least during mating season) Boris and Doris take turns sitting on the egg. As far as I can tell, Doris sits during the day and does her food-finding at night. There is a Changing of the Guard each day around 4pm. OK I think I've gone on long enough about pigeons and their breeding habits. See what a little observation and a lot of Internet on a slow day at work can get ya?