Bead show temptation and a little politicking

Yesterday was the Northern Virginia Bead Society bead show -- oy! Temptations galore! I stuck mainly with silver from the beautiful wares of Naborow and some great ethnic and vintage stuff. Well, okay, some gemstones, too. The great thing about spending too much money at a bead show is you can still come home with everything in your purse. It's inconspicuous! Got home and immediately saw the gourd possibilities in these fabulous opaque glass beads. Added one of the new organic beadcaps from Naborow and . . . these look like they were just picked from my garden!

Other recent events included helping with pro-Obama party -- here I am with the candidate, enjoying a glass of wine and some great small talk!

Partners in Crime

Celebrating my dear friend's birthday . . . we are usually partners in crime . . . loving every minute of it. Here we are after some great food and wine in her backyard by her firepit . . . a delightful evening with smoke halos for all. I'm on the left and Paula on the right.

Reunions shortlived are tough

Last post, I revealed that my DH had been deployed for 10 months -- no easy task for all of us. He finally came home last Thursday night -- and we had a fabulous weekend where each of us got to have some great one-on-one time with him . . . the three kids were over the moon all weekend (even our blase teenager). We toddled out late Saturday night for wine at our local wine bar and some more wine at a great local brasserie (and some oysters for good measure). Of course during these halcyon days I made not a thing for Etsy. But reality hit when Monday early a.m., he had to return to the location he will be working from (4 a.m. drive to the airport included). He'll be back again this weekend. I got right back to work -- creative outlets being the best therapy and voila! completed this necklace I had been imagining since these terrific chalcedony gemstones came my way. I love black and yellow together -- the bee pallete -- if you like it (or not) please comment!