Pretty Pretty Bang Bang

The coordinator of WinterFest called me and I’m in now! Originally, I didn’t make the cut and was bummed, but figured I’d try again next year. Apparently, I was the first alternate and was offered a spot. I’m on the top floor, which seems bad but it’s actually a great place. Last year, I had an amazing weekend. Sales were through the roof! Plus, being on the top floor means it’s quieter, the crowds don’t block pathways while they’re chatting and you can look down on all the other vendors! Fun!

You’ve just been given a gift of $10,000. You can’t invest it, pay off credit cards, remodel your house, or do anything else sensible with it. So, how do you spend it?

I’d finally get a passport and go to Holland and Italy. Holland to see where my family is from and Italy to buy shoes!

What would you do?

My friend Cindy has a wonderful [blog](http://herethereandback.blogspot.com/) and her posting today was especially insightful. She made a list of interesting things about herself so, since imitation is the best form of flattery, I thought I’d do the same. Cindy, I hope you don’t mind.

* I’m 40 years old, but feel like I’m 27.
* If I’d had a kid when my mom had me, I’d have a 20 year-old right now.
* The thought of having children scares the hell out of me.
* I always thought I’d be a bad mom.
* I’m bad with money.
* I don’t think about retirement.
* I never thought I’d be a metalsmith.
* Sometimes, I look at my work and can’t believe I made it.
* I’m really proud of what I do but rarely compliment myself.
* Sometimes I feel like a hack.
* I obsess about my weight and have for years.
* The night of our first date, my husband told his roommate he was going to marry me.
* I was standing there when he said it.
* I thought he was joking.
* Marrying him was one of the first times in my life I followed my gut instincts.
* Guess I was right. We’ve been married 10 years.
* My sister is one of my best friends.
* I used to hate her. She was an annoying pest.
* Most of my closest friends are people I disliked the first time I met them.
* I haven’t talked to my in-laws in almost three years.
* I don’t miss them.
* Sometimes that feeling makes me feel guilty, but I get over it.
* I’ve known my friend Mary since we were 9.
* She knows more about me than I probably know.
* I love her like a sister.
* In my life I’ve wanted to be a DJ, a hairstylist, a comedienne, a florist and an English teacher.
* I’ve been a DJ. It was for an internship.
* I’m actually proud of the fact I got kicked out of my college sorority.
* I have a major weakness for shoes and accessories.
* This summer I quit drinking red wine and started drinking white again.
* I’m a beer snob.
* I miss having a real job only for the social aspects.
* I have over 75 bottles of nail polish yet my fingernails are bare right now.
* When Steve’s late and I can’t get a hold of him, I sometimes worry that he’s dead.
* Then I wonder if I have to invite his parents to the funeral.
* I miss my grandparents.
* I still remember the phone number of my nana and papa who lived in Springfield.
* I don’t attend church, but consider myself a spiritual person.
* I think organized religion has too many problems.
* I don’t like eating a chain restaurants.
* Except Diet Cokes at McDonald’s.
* If I didn’t have to work out, I never would. At my core, I’m quite lazy.
* This summer I learned belly dancing.
* I’m not very good at it, but it makes me feel good about my body.
* Except it’s the one time I wish I had bigger hips.
* I wouldn’t be who I am today without going through all the crap I went through in my past. For that, I’m grateful.
* I still sometimes think about times I hurt people and wish I never had.
* I’m too sensitive at times and that irritates me.
* I get really mean and angry when I’m sick.

Enough about me. What about you? Care to share anything interesting?

Let’s salute Glamour magazine today for providing us 67 years of fashionable Dos and Don’ts. With this in mind, it’s time to revise some of the old rules.

• Shoes and handbags do not need to match. Coordinate them, but don’t worry about color matching
• Black is an acceptable color to wear to a wedding. Especially an evening or formal affair.
• Unless your office rules say otherwise, skip pantyhose with your skirts. The look is very dated.
• White can be worn all year, however, summer or winter fabrics should be reserved for that season. Also, if wearing white in the winter, wear closed toed shoes.

Some rules never go out of style and the most important one is to never have VPLs (visible panty lines). So go out there and have a glamorous day!

It’s planishing time in the studio! Today I finally declared my piece formed which means I have hours and hours of planishing ahead of me. Planishing is a technique of lightly hammering the piece with a planishing hammer (duh) to give it a nice smooth, shiny appearance. Once the planishing is done, the piece will be smooth and shiny on the inside and have a softly textured outside appearance. Below is an example of what I did today. This is three rounds of planishing and I really haven’t even begun. It looks cool now, but wait until you see it finished! The piece measures about 3 1/2 inches tall and 3 1/4 at it’s widest point.

Our local mall is undergoing renovations and it’s been interesting to see what they’re doing. First, we’re getting some new stores (Banana Republic – yawn, J. Bucks – whatever, and maybe Pottery Barn – yawn again). The outside is undergoing a complete overhaul and the inside is getting a nice facelift with new tile, skylights, benches and a play area. Today, I noticed that in tearing up the old floor, they had exposed the original floor. I’ve been a Mall Rat since birth so it was fun to see the old brick that used to be there. I had forgotten it had blue in it! Ah, the days when our mall had only three department stores (Dillard’s, JC Penney and Montgomery Wards), a Woolworths, The Redbud Tree Gift Shop, Hot Sam’s Pretzels, A & W, to name a few. I remember the wonderful fountain that was in front of JC Penney. It was so cool to see it as a kid.

Man, I sound like an old fart.

With a new season of fashion awaiting us, I thought this week’s topic should involve our wardrobes. So, with all the crazy trends we’ve embraced over the years, what’s the craziest outfit you ever wore? One that you LOVED at the time and can’t believe you ever owned it.

This is a hard one for me to answer because I’ve worn so many awful things. I was a child of the 80s – ’nuff said there. I guess one of my worst outfits was made by my mom (sorry mom) but I was the one who chose the pattern and material. It was a one piece jumper out of chambray blue with white polka dots, a huge pink and white collar, and, wait for it, porcelain cow-shaped buttons. I completed this ensemble with pink flats and white hose. Eeek!

Another day, another opportunity to hammer metal. I’m on my second week of school and am trying to get this damned bowl raised! I’m supposed to have the shape raised and ready for planishing (a type of polishing with a hammer) by this weekend. Here’s a pic of how things are going so far. I have about another inch to raise and, at the rate I’m going, it’s going to take the rest of the week to accomplish this.

I’m so tired!

Encouraged by Suzanne, I took the plunge and ordered a rolling mill. I’ve put it off because I was being snobby about buying a really good one and they run about $1,200. I found a small one at [Harbor Freight Tools](http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=4832) and the cost with shipping was only around $200 so I figured it would be worth the investment. If it’s something I use all the time and need an upgrade in the future, I can invest in the Durston mill.

So, you’re probably wondering what in the world I would do with a rolling mill – besides smash metal. I can imprint patterns on metal and roll wire to different thicknesses. These are things that can’t be done with the equipment I have. I’m sure I’ll be discovering more in the coming months as I play with it and get to know it. Look for new, fun jewelry soon!

Sometimes I feel so white. I don’t come from an interesting cultural background and there’s no real ethnicity in my family. We’re white, plain and simple. Now, I did have a Dutch great-grandmother, and I’ve heard rumors of Indian and Scottish blood in my family, but I sometimes wish we actually celebrated our heritage. Case in point: last night I attended a girl party hosted by Yasmine who teaches my belly dancing classes. I arrived late, but just in time to see all the wonderful dancing demonstrations. Several advanced students performed and then special guest, Yolanda Lorge, did a traditional Flamenco dance. I was mesmerized. I swear, I’d almost give up belly dancing to do what she did last night. She danced to a selection from Carmen and it was so beautiful. I asked her afterwards if she taught dancing and she replied, “no.” She didn’t know of anyone in the area who taught it.

So I think it just might be my duty to research some of my family history and find something colorful and interesting to celebrate.