Day 3 & 4 - Southwest Road Trip

We got up early on day three and ate a yummy breakfast at Pasqual’s in Santa Fe. My huevos muerllitos (sp) had peas and fried bananas on them. It was surprisingly good!

In the afternoon Adam and Victoria arrived and we met up with them in the plaza. We picked up some groceries and headed up to the mountain cabin. Wow! It was so beautiful up there! The first night we made baked potatoes and veggie chili for dinner. After dinner we played Outburst which was pretty hilarious. Girls against guys. The girls won the first night but the guys won the second night so it ended up in a tie. There was a lot of smack talk.

After the game we all went out to look the stars. James turned all the lights off in the house so it was completely dark. The sky was littered in stars. I could barely make out some of my favorite constellations because there were so many little stars around them. It was so quiet and peaceful up on top of the mountain.

On day four we made breakfast tacos and then got ready to go out. We walked up to the top of the hill and saw some buffalo and yak. There are tons of little mountain towns up near Truchas. The houses all look dug into the snow and there a lots of art galleries and studios. We didn’t have time to go to many galleries but we did get to see the Sanctuary of Chimayo which was beautiful and primitive. Victoria told me that people visit the sanctuary from all over the world because it’s supposed to have healing powers.

I am so glad that we got to spend the time in the mountain cabin. It was such an amazing experience!

Day Two - Carlsbad Caverns and Santa Fe

We took the long walk through Carlsbad Caverns. It was just one of those times when you find yourself truly in the moment. It was so beautiful. And big. It is crazy that the entire cavern was formed from just a little bit of acid! The formations were lovely. It's nice thinking of a cave as a living thing. Water dripped on us and we felt the cave actually breathing.

In the evening we drove to Santa Fe and watched the temperature drop to 16 degrees. We splurged on a nice hotel near the plaza. James and I took a late night walk through the streets of Santa Fe. There were people passing us who were having so much fun, talking loud and laughing. It is so lovely here and the air smells like pinon wood burning. I think it really amazed Forest!

I am so glad that Forest and Jessica came with us on this trip. We have had lots of laughs! I enjoy exposing Forest to new things and broadening his experience in life. I think the road trips I took with my family growing up were pretty formative so I am happy to give Forest that experience as well.

Day One - Southwest Road Trip

Today we drove through West Texas. We saw wind turbines, a cotton field, a dust storm and a bad accident. I was such a typical mom in the car pointing out interesting sites to the kids in the back seat.

It was a pleasant drive but I was a little antsy, having lost my phone at my parents house. I felt so disconnected. Also, after working so hard to get ready for the trip, it's hard sometimes to slow down and just start enjoying everything. That's okay though, I think I am on track now!

Christmas DIY

Christmas day has been awesome so far. We excitedly woke up to open presents only to discover we were completely out of coffee beans and with no grocery stores open. Panic! We got by on hot tea until a starbucks opened at noon. That's a pretty crazy circumstance for me considering I can't really think until I have coffee in the morning.

We were all super happy with our gifts. My favorite gifts from James were a couple of books on vintage jewelry. I have been wanting them for a while now. Forest was happy because he got a new Ipod to replace the last one that was stolen.

I spent the rest of the day hanging new shelves in my studio. I am proud because I installed them all by myself. The guy at the store gave me a tutorial on how to do it. I used the elfa system from container store. The shelf also has a desk part which will come in super handy. I still need to get a few more shelves to finish it out. The original plan didn't fit the room quite right so I had to make a few adjustments. Can't wait to get all my supplies organized after our trip.

Speaking of which, it's time to start packing!

Happy Holidays

The folks who make a big deal over whether you say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays are driving me crazy. No matter which sentiment you use, it's a nice thing to say to another person.

It's been such a busy week with last minute orders and keeping Parts & Labour and Blue Genie stocked. It has been such an amazing year for Ornamental Things. This little business has really grown.

I have been working so hard this week that I've not done anything new or exciting. I am saving "new and exciting" for my trip, I guess! Speaking of my trip, I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes well. Forest and his friend Jessica are going with us on the trip. Can you imagine the four of us crammed into the little hybrid? I hope we all still like each other after 10 days!

James is learning Christmas songs on the guitar right now!

Happy Holidays, ya'll! (no offense)

Adorable!

Ready for a break!

I am so ready for vacation! January is going to be a busy month, getting ready for a big show but I think it's going to be nice to have a little time off to recharge my mental battery. It kind of freaks me out though - the thought of not getting to make jewelry for such a long period of time. Maybe it will be a good thing and I will come up with some totally new ideas on the road! I am hoping to be inspired on my upcoming road trip.

I have just about got all my Christmas shopping finished. Husbands are kind of hard to buy for - all the things my husband wants are kind of technical and specific. So, I am going to get him a gift certificate to a music store along with a couple of other little things that I thought he might like. It is so fun to get him something he wants but didn't ask for and then watch him shake it and wonder what it is. That's a fun part of Christmas - surprising him. I hate to make the other gift so impersonal but he wants some things like a harmonica and the thing you hold it on your neck with, and a capo (sp) and other stuff that I am pretty sure I would pick out the wrong one. By the way, he doesn't read this blog so I don't have to worry about spoiling it - I always kid him "you are one of the star players on a blog you don't even read."

Since there aren't many flea markets in December, I have been playing ebay for the past few days. Omg, it is so addictive. It's like crack. I can't quit it. Please somebody form an intervention. Oops, I have got an auction ending soon. I've gotta go snipe some stuff! heh.

Natural Household Cleaners

I have been watching that PBS thing with Dr. Dyer about the Tao de Ching. It's kind of cheesy in parts but I have heard some really cool things as well. I really like Eastern philosophy. So anyway, one of the things was about finding happiness in your work. I was thinking that it's hard to find happiness in house cleaning but then I remembered that recently I discovered vinegar as a cleaner and the squeakiness on my clean floor actually brought me happiness.

I have been trying to incorporate more natural cleaners into our household and less weird chemicals. So I found this website that had recipes for household cleaners. All it takes is one cup of vinegar to one gallon of water. The website said that vinegar actually dissolves dirt. It is so cool to find such a simple solution.

100 Breaths

So last week when I was feeling a little crazy with too many things on my plate I decided to start my day out with some straight up meditation. I have meditated in yoga class before but it's always pretty short and never really just meditation. By the way I keep accidentally typing medication, which seems about right. Anyway, I decided to try and clear my mind and listen to myself breathe 100 times. You can't believe how long it takes to take 100 breaths. I just sat there in my dark room trying not to think about anything. Everytime a thought entered my head I re-focused on my breath. It felt great. By the end of the meditation I was feeling much more calm. I went through the rest of the day a lot more slowly and deliberately, focused on just doing one thing at a time. While I was doing each task I didn't allow myself to think about any of the other tasks I had to complete. It was one of the best and clearest days I have had in a while. 100 Breaths!!! I have got to do that more often.

Holidays, Forest's Birthday and Cherrywood

Wow, this is such a crazy time of year. I really thought I would be more calm this year because I had a lot of work ready for shows and felt pretty caught up but in the end I just ended up worrying over other stuff like that there is something I forgot to do. Maybe there is just no way to escape a little stress in December. Or maybe it's contagious because everyone else is so worried! Anyway, the only thing I can do is just make a list to make sure I have everything covered. I think I am starting to feel a little more calm now that I am just about done with shows for the season. Cherrywood was last weekend and now I only have Blue Genie for the next couple of weeks. I have had a record number of orders on the website this year which is exciting!

My son turned 17 on Friday. It blows me away! People always express astonishment that I have a teenager. He was born when I was 18, plus I look about 10 years younger than I am so when we are together in public folks assume he is my little brother. Even his new doctor verified recently that I am, in fact, his mother. Forest is excited about being 17. I think he is enjoying his teenage years. We had a nice evening. His girlfriend, Jessica, came over and we watched the video of our Greece trip when Forest was 10 which contains some pretty hilarious dance sequences by Forest. Then we decorated the Christmas tree. It was a nice evening! He wanted new clothes for his birthday so we gave him a gift card to the mall. The boy loves shoes! He bought himself two new pairs of shoes and a few other things.



Cherrywood Art Fair was great this year. There were more attendees than ever before. It was my fourth year to do this show. It is held in an elementary school where Forest attended 2nd - 4th grade. The show has such a great community feeling to it and it is nice to see so many friends from the old neighborhood as well as other artists. This year there was an article in the paper ranking Cherrywood as one of the top three shows in Austin along with Blue Genie and Armadillo. Pretty exciting to be a part of that.

I am really looking forward to our road trip!

Spree Dallas Show

Just got back from doing the Spree Dallas show and it was awesome! The new venue was amazing. It's called The Apartment and the interior is really posh with white and silver decor. I posted a bunch of pictures on flickr. My friend Victoria also did the show and we had fun driving up together. Thought I would have laryngitis by the time we got there from all the great conversation!

The show was terrific. Saw a bunch of customers from previous years and met a lot of new ones who seriously depleted my stock of jewelry. That always makes me happy.

This week I am getting ready for Cherrywood over the weekend and Blue Genie which goes all month. Blue Genie is also in a new location this year. Turns out it is in the exact location of a movie theater where I worked in the early nineties. Is that crazy or what? In fact, it's the same place where I met my husband, he was a manager there! So funny to be back in that same building, brings back a lot of memories. Back then I was just starting to make jewelry as a hobby. I could have never imagined that 15 years later I would be selling my work! Of course I always hoped...

For more info on upcoming shows see the Upcoming Events page.