Road Trip Day 3

Today was a short day.  We left Dallas at 9:30 a.m. and did a leisurely drive to Little Rock, Arkansas.  We had planned to meet my nephew (Fran's son) for lunch in Little Rock tomorrow so we didn't have any reason to hurry.  Fran's son, Kevin, is a travel writer and is working on a project for Lonely Planet.  He is traveling the southern US right now.  We are meeting for lunch tomorrow at Acadia  www.acadiahillcrest.com.  The menu looks pretty good.  


We had planned to visit 2 bead stores here in Little Rock.  However, once we arrived here this afternoon, I discovered that both of them closed at 5:00.  Unfortunately, neither of them opens again until 11:00 and 12:00 tomorrow.  We can't stay here long enough to visit them because we have to meet another nephew (my sister Susie's son Scott) for dinner tomorrow evening in Nashville.


We just hung out at the hotel this afternoon and then had dinner at Outback.  Not very exciting, I know, but Outback is always good.  Now we are back in the room reading and hanging out until we can go to bed.  We are so old.


Tomorrow after lunch we'll head to Nashville where we will be spending the night tomorrow.  I'll try to remember to take some pictures for you.


Hopefully, we'll be able to find and actually visit a cool bead store or two in Nashville before we head to Ft. Thomas.  Wish us luck.

Road Trip Day 2

Up at 6:30 after a sleepless night tossing and turning.  I guzzled a large coffee and grabbed a quick shower.  Then hit the road at 7:30.  It was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining brightly and it was 48 degrees when I climbed in the car.  I walked through the breakfast room at the hotel (breakfast was included) but I didn't see anything that struck my fancy.  I got another cup of coffee to go and headed out.

The day actually went pretty well.  First I listened to 6 CDs while I headed towards Amarillo, TX.  The scenery was interesting, if not what I would call beautiful.  Lots of rolling hills and empty spaces.  When I stopped to get gas,  I thought I would be getting hungry soon so I picked up a pay day.  I can't remember when I last had one.

When I got back in the car, I put a audio book on and drove on.  The book was "Shit my Dad Says."  It was fairly entertaining and before I knew it, I was getting to Dallas.  Fran was going to leave her car at her daughter's house so when she flys back on the 14th, she can drive herself home.   So, I met Fran at Tracy's house.  We spent a couple hours there just catching up before heading over to Fran's.  Unfortunately, it wasn't too long after we left Tracy's place when Fran said "I don't have the key to my apartment."  We had to turn around and go back to Tracy's to get her keys.

I guess it could have been worse.  It will be bedtime soon and then tomorrow we are heading to Little Rock.  I think we'll get there early enough to go bead shopping,  Two possibilities to check out...
Argenta Bead Company and Kitties Kreations.  If anyone knows anything about either of these shops or knows of another one in or around Little Rock, leave me a comment and we'll check it out too.

Road Trip Day 1

So, 600 miles later, I'm in a Hampton Inn in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.  The first day of the trip was uneventful.  I didn't leave Phoenix until about 10:30 because of my manicure so it was a late start.  I was dressed in shorts, sandals and a short sleeve shirt and when I stopped in Flagstaff to put gas in the car, I about froze to death.  It was about 50 and windy.  The rest of the day, the temp ranged from 46 to 54.  I wonder why I didn't realize that it would be so much chillier.

I stopped in albuquerque at a Cracker Barrel for dinner and then on to Santa Rosa.  I stopped here because it was getting dark and I don't like to drive after dark, especially when I don't know where I'm going.

Northern Arizona and western New Mexico are beautiful places.  I saw mountains, canyons, mesas, bluffs and a lot of tumbleweed.  For awhile, it looked like I was driving on the surface of another planet.  What was really amazing was the wide open spaces.  Mile after mile of undeveloped land.

I guess I'll get a few hours of sleep and then do it all over again.  Tomorrow's goal is Dallas.

On the Eve of the Road Trip

So, my apartment in Scottsdale is all packed in the back of my SUV.  There is just enough room in my car for me, my sister and our suitcases.  Oh, yeah and a box of window treatments that Fran made that I'm picking up in Dallas.  One set goes to my granddaughter's room in Ft. Thomas, KY and the other set gets installed in my living room in Baltimore.  There isn't an inch of extra space.  Marty and I had planned to ship a couple of boxes of clothes but we ended up shipping 8 boxes.  We had 5 of those boxes in the car but the passenger seat was all the way forward and I couldn't live with putting my 70 year old sister in that cramped space for 4 or 5 days of driving.  Also, when I sat in the driver's seat, my knees were hitting the steering column and I couldn't see out the back window at all.  I threw a little fit and got Marty to take out a bunch of stuff and take it to Fed Ex.  Now, Fran can be comfy and I can see out the back window.

One thing I've loved about being in Scottsdale these last few years is the Lamar Spa.  It is a great spa and competes with all the fancy big resort spas here but doesn't cost an arm and a leg.  I dig there pedicures.  I've also found the perfect person to do my nails.  I have been getting a manicure every other week for the last couple of years.  My nails have looked great.  In fact, I have one last appointment tomorrow morning at 9:15 to get them done one final time.  Then, I'm going to hit the road.

When I drove my car out here a few years ago, I dropped my sister off in Dallas and then drove to El Paso and spent the night before driving the rest of the way to Scottsdale.  Texas is one big ass state!  This time I've decided to head northeast (for El Paso, I would be heading southeast) and spend tomorrow driving through New Mexico.  I don't know if the drive will be any prettier but I do know that it cannot be worse than driving through southern Texas.

I don't know where I'm going to be staying yet but I'll see how far I get before I get tired.  I woud like to get as far as possible so that I can arrive at my sister's in Plano by mid to late afternoon.  We'll see.    Looking at the map, I may be staying in Santa Rosa, NM tomorrow night.  Or, if I get to cruising, I may make it all the way to Amarillo, TX.

Yesterday, Marty and I took a break from the packing and took a trip to my favorite bead store in Scottsdale, Scottsdale Bead Supply.  It was my last visit until I don't know when.  I bought some lovely beads  (red backed abalone and green jasper).  I'm sad to be leaving such a great store behind.  Perhaps, I'll be able to visit them again when I come back next year for the Tucson Gem and Jewelry Show.

I'll let you know how the drive goes tomorrow.

Road Trip

For the last three and one half years, I've been commuting from Boston and then Baltimore to Scottsdale, Arizona for my real job.  I rented a two bedroom furnished condo in Scottsdale and split my time evenly between the two locations.  I usually fly from Baltimore to Phoenix on Sunday and then fly home the following Friday.  I spend one week at home and return to Phoenix the next Sunday.  In addition to racking up a bunch of frequent flyer miles, I  was often exhausted from the travel.  I have decided that as of June 30, 2011, I am leaving my job to pursue something closer to home.

In order to do that, I have to fly to Phoenix (which I'm doing the day after tomorrow) and drive my car back to Baltimore.  Hence, the road trip.  This trip is approximately 2500 miles.  In other words, I'm not just running out to the grocery store.  Even if I take 5 days to make the trip, it will still require me to drive 500 miles every day.  Arrrgh!

It isn't all bad, however.  I've asked my oldest sister, Fran, who lives in Dallas if she would make the trip with me.  She said yes so now I have a partner.  At least I'll have someone to talk to while I drive.  She isn't going to be much help with the driving because she isn't comfortable driving my car.  I drive a Lexus SUV and she is tiny.  I don't just mean short.  She is really tiny and just can't see well in my car.  I am, however, grateful for the company.

We have planned our route so that we can stop and visit some folks along the way.  Of course, before we can start that, I have to get to Dallas to pick her up.  From Phoenix to Dallas, is approximately 1200 miles.  I've planned two days for that part of the trip.  I'm leaving Phoenix on Monday morning so I should be arriving in Dallas sometime late Tuesday afternoon.  I'll spend the night at Fran's and we'll head out together on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday, we plan on driving to Little Rock, AR or Memphis, TN, depending on how far we get.  We'll spend the night in one of those cities and drive to Ft. Thomas, KY on Thursday,  This will be one of our best stops because we are stopping to see my son, his lovely wife and all three of my grandkids.  I think we'll be in Ft. Thomas until Monday or Tuesday morning.  I'm not sure yet.  While we're in Ft. Thomas, we are planning to head over to New Albany to visit our dad's brother and sister that neither of us have seen in the last 30 years.  I'm also hoping we can take a grandkid or two to meet them.

Then on either Monday or Tuesday, we will drive from Ft. Thomas to Baltimore which takes about 8 hours.  My sister will stay at my house for a day or two and then fly back to Dallas.

I'm busily looking up bead stores along our route.  I thought it might be really fun to visit a different store wherever we stay.  When I started looking for bead stores, I realized we are only staying in one hotel on the trip from Dallas to Baltimore.  It didn't seem like much fun to just visit a store in Little Rock or Memphis.   Now I'm thinking we need to visit any interesting bead stores that we can find along the way.  This should certainly help break up the drive.

I'll try to post along the way but obviously, my business will be taking a few days off next week while I move home and get settled.

Let me know if you know of any interesting bead stores between Phoenix and Baltimore!

From Parts to Pieces (Jewelry Pieces that is).

I've had a few days to mess with some of the parts that I bought a couple of weeks ago at the Bead Fest show.  I think I also showed you a picture of my purchases the last time I was able to go to Scottsdale Bead Supply.  Some of the parts from both of those trips have now made it into  pieces of jewelry.

When at Bead Fest, I found a charming clay heart pendant with lustrous colors of copper, green and just a bit of blue.  I also found some beautiful square lampwork beads that are crystal clear on the outside but the inside is swirled with copper, green and, of course, blue.  In addition, after I had purchased the pendant and the lampwork beads (still not sure of what I was going to do with them), I continued to wander around the show looking at everything.

When I look at things at a bead show or sale, I don't just look with my eyes.  I also look with my fingers.  I'm forever picking up things and feeling their weight and texture.  There is just something about having these components in my hands that makes me know what to do with them.  I do order components on line sometimes but when I do, I really struggle to know if they'll work for me.  It is almost like if I can't touch them, I can't really see them.

Anyway, during my wandering, I found some lovely fire polished Czech beads in a shade of green that complimented the other beads I had already purchased that day.  Of course, they went into my bag of goodies too.  At this point, I knew I was going to make a necklace that utilized the clay heart pendant, the lampwork beads and the green fire polished beads.  I wasn't yet sure of what it would look like.  Often, when I'm buying beads or stones, I pick out colors that I like and that compliment each other but I don't really know what I will be making out of my purchases.  That usually comes later when I'm sitting in my studio playing with my purchases.

Now I was back at home and ready to begin the creative process.  I got out all of my recent purchases and began to play with them, laying them out on my work table and adding accent pieces that I already owned.  I usually play around until I know what it is that I want to create.  In this case, the first thing I wanted to work with was the lampwork beads described above.

This is what I ended up with:

The next step is to polish it up and get it listed on Etsy and Artfire, which I am hoping to do this evening.

As you can see from the pictures of my stuff, I have a lot of other beads and findings that I've purchased recently.  I tend to end up making about 90 - 95% of what I buy into jewelry right away.  There are always a few things that I love but don't quite know what to do with.  These just go into my stash (which is unbelievably large, some say large enough to open my own bead store) and get pulled out each time I come home with new beads or stones.  I've made several other items from this collection of stuff which I'll get up on the blog as soon as I can.

How do you shop for beads, stones and components?  Do you know what you are going to make before you choose your supplies?

Mother's Day

Well, another Mother's Day is coming up soon.  It used to be a holiday to which I paid very little attention.  For years, I would pick up the phone and tell my mom "Happy Mother's Day" on the big day.  Some years, I would actually buy her a present or send her a card.  We were not big on celebrating these little holidays.  I think I always spoke to her on Mother's Day but we usually lived far apart and there was no stopping by to bring her a small gift or a smile on that day.  I guess I wasn't always such a good daughter.  My life was busy, I had kids and a job of my own, and it was just another day, right?  At least I thought so.  Of course, I always thought that my mom would be around forever.  And, if not forever, at least for a very long time.  But I was wrong.

Now, Mother's Day has a different effect on me.  I don't have anyone that I can say "Happy Mother's Day" to.  I can't give her a call and chat about what is going on in our lives.  I can't send her a small gift to let her know how much she means to me.  I can't even send her a card.  She has been gone for a long time, 20 years.  How can it be possible that I've lived for 20 years without hearing her voice or seeing her smile?

Now, Mother's Day is a day like any other for me.   I always get a call from my kids and their families,  and it's great to hear from them.  But mostly  I spend the day missing my mother, who by the way, was the most irritating person I've ever known.  She was also the smartest, silliest and most loving person I've known.  She was as far from the perfect mother as I was from the perfect daughter.  However, we managed to muddle through.

I don't just miss my mom on Mother's Day.  I miss her every day and still, even after 20 years, when something good or bad happens to me, I always think I'll pick up the phone and speak to her.  She always knew exactly what to say to me.  But I always miss her more on Mother's Day, a day we all set aside to show our mother's how much we appreciate everything they cheerfully do for us.

So, if you're able to this Mother's Day, share the day with your mother.  Tell her what she means to you and make some memories to sustain you through the long years you'll be apart.