A Tune Up, New Punch & Bling

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I knew Alyson Stanfield would find me after I posted about her the other day, as any good stat checker would.

Here's part of the comment she left:

For your mailing list, I think it's important to tell people that they're signing up for your mailing list. Tell them what they'll get and how often. Otherwise, people are reluctant to share their info for fear of being bombarded with stuff they don't want.

Excellent advice, I thought. Even though 'everyone does it' and I'm sure it would be obvious to most people what I was up to, truthfully, I was feeling a bit deceptive in my attempt to gather names for my mailing list. So I redesigned my free drawing slip, thusly:

Thank you Alyson - I'm feeling much better about it now.

~ ~ ~

Steve has been working really crazy hours this week. In fact his department has mandatory 50 hour work weeks right now, but he routinely puts in 50+ hours so I don't even want to think about how many he's worked the last couple of weeks alone.

In the perfect timing department, his friend invited him to go to a Buffalo Sabres hockey game last night. I told him under no circumstances was he to not go - he needs some down time to blow off some steam. And I swear, this was just a bonus, I had no ulterior motives - I was very productive in my Stefani Time last night.

I bought a new punch this week which works perfectly as a centerpiece to my Sticky Notes.

Here's one all blinged out with Swarovski crystals. I swear I do make them in colors other than turquoise but these seem to be the ones that leap into the scanner. It's not my fault.

So I have a full production weekend in store - no outside commitments, don't even plan to leave the house. Steve was planning to go into work today but I convinced him to do as much of the work as he can from home. So at least I'll get to enjoy the back of his head today. We had discussed cleaning the winter ick out of the garage, but I really wanted to do it after this next show. And now it's supposed to rain all weekend, so lawn mowing has become much less of a priority - so I guess it will be an inside productive weekend for us both.

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7 Habits & New Envelopes

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Yesterday at work we had a presentation of Stephen Covey's book, "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by one of our Buffalo employees, Carrie, who did an outstanding job. She's our event co-ordinator and a former teacher so this is her forte. She gave each of us a bag with little doodads to illustrate and remind us of the things we talked about. This photo shows us all wearing goofy glasses, representing the lenses or paradigms with which we view the world. That would be me in the red shirt, lower right, with the Groucho glasses. They made my nose sweat. It was a lot of fun - there were some funny people in the room.

I love self-help books. Sixteen people signed up for this one - I hope we can do more. Carrie is working on a new one now - I think it's one of these Fish books.

This morning I read my email newsletter from Judikins, which led me to Craft TV Weekly, a cool site I've visited before that hosts crafty webisodes. Judi demonstrated their envelope templates, which got me hook, line & sinker. I love making envelopes out of old calendar pages & wrapping paper, using plastic templates I've made myself from paper envelopes. But these templates she demonstrated are inexpensive and easier to use than mine so I bought a couple.

I also bought some adhesive I'd not heard of before, Trio. It's tape with a paper liner you can leave on until you use the envelope. I also like to give handcrafted envelopes away but have never found a satisfactory solution to the adhesive part. Heck, if all this works out, maybe I'll sell packs of handmade envelopes.

I just like to use them too. I don't mail that much stuff anymore but when I have time, I like to stamp all over an envelope - even, or especially, to places of business - like the credit union or a doctor's office. And I really like to fancy it up when I mail a craft show application - but I rarely have time to do that anymore. Oh! I just remembered a perfect application - I have a roll of wallpaper I bought on clearance years ago, for this very purpose. And I have been saving old calendars for a while.

Should be fun!

~ ~ ~

Grandma Hattie's Spring Open House & Gift Sale
At the Historic Osborne House
146 Maple Avenue, Victor, NY
Friday, May 11, 12:00-6:00
Saturday, May 12, 10:00-4:00

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All Turquoise, All the Time

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This card is for a birthday at work. Have I mentioned I love turquoise so much that a couple of years ago I painted our bedroom walls turquoise?

Remember that origami book I was so excited about? Amazon emailed me the other day that it's unavailable. I'm going to look around online a bit and see if I can find it elsewhere. Otherwise, I'll just wing it with ideas the cover of the book inspired. Meanwhile, Amazon shipped my other book, about selling in craft shows. With a $2.97 shipping charge. That would be the book I added to my origami book order to get free shipping.

Hey look what I just found - it's Dave Petty's website, the origami author's website! With 15 wreaths & rings I just downloaded - that didn't make the book, he says. I'll email him a photo once I use his wreaths in one of my mandalas. Cool!

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Multi-Tasking

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While awaiting Gretchen's approval on the tree for the book covers, I've been working on new Sticky Notes. (These aren't on the website yet. I have tons more in stock than are on the website.)

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A Tree and the Ocean

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This is one of the things I worked on today - book covers for a project that Gretchen is working on. If she approves it, I'll make 3 more, then layer them a couple of times and mount them on leafy paper covered books I'll make.

I also had 2 custom projects come up today. One was an email inquiry for Sticky Notes in the shape of flip-flops. (Hi Kathy!) I played around today a bit without much success, then ended up ordering 30 flip-flop die cuts from eBay and also a QuicKutz flip flop die to cut my own. I have visions. Stay tuned.

Then I heard from my artist friend Becky (Hi Becky!) who asked me to make a framed mandala for her new art studio in her home. I'm totally honored. We met, I don't know, 10 years ago, maybe more, when our kids were in the same class. I just love her - she's so damn funny. And talented. And nice. We don't connect that often any more but when we do, it makes me very happy.

I went to see Gem of the Ocean at Geva Theatre Saturday night with Lynn & Linda, with whom I have season tickets. I was really looking forward to this, not sure why. The play is set in 1904, which isn't usually my cup of tea - I usually like more current stuff. Maybe it was in reaction to the last play we saw, Our Town, which is not my thing at all. Anyway, I just loved Gem of the Ocean! I cried, even! It was intense and powerful and so well done. Two thumbs way up.

The temperature was in the 80s here today. One week ago, it was snowing slush. Steve and I went to Home Depot this morning to pick up a few things. Along with 8 million other people! I don't think I've ever seen the store that crowded. After (potentially) 6 months of winter (Nov-April), when nice weather finally gets here, we Rochesterians are ready to par-tay!

Happy Earth Day!

The next morning, edited to add: In the shower this morning I remembered what Ann taught me about floating things so I added the ground to anchor the tree. She's right, looks more balanced too.

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Who Doesn't Love Free?

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Everyday at lunch, I listen to CraftCast on my iPod Shuffle while I stitch new pieces for Pine Tree Designs. Allison Lee interviews a variety of crafters, lots of whom I've seen on DIY or HGTV. I think she's in her 2nd year of podcasting so I have some catching up to do.

From there, I learned about Alyson Stanfield, from ArtBizCoach.com. I subscribe to her newsletter, read her blog and can't wait to get into it deeper. I know I'll buy some of her teleseminars too. I feel like I've only scratched the surface here but one of the messages I've heard loud and clear is how important it is to have a current, active mailing list.

I've been building mine slowly but surely. I send postcards to the list before each show or group of shows. Here's my new idea to beef up my mailing list.

The little slips of paper request a person's name, address, phone and email address. (I'll have pens there too.) The gift set is valued at $11, which I'm now thinking I should state on the sign too. Maybe not. Free is all people need to read.

How cute is this sign with the little ladybug? If I switch to a different gift set, I make a new sign - easy!

I'll try it at my next show, May 11 & 12 and report my findings.

In other craft show news, I received my application to Webster Village Days. (Hi Ida!) That will be my first outdoor show which means I need to kick the tent purchase into high gear. I told Steve we'll need to practice setting it up on grass and asphalt because I'll encounter both conditions.

Grandma Hattie's Spring Open House & Gift Sale
At the Historic Osborne House
146 Maple Avenue, Victor, NY
Friday, May 11, 12:00-6:00
Saturday, May 12, 10:00-4:00

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Origami Wreaths

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Those people at Amazon are marketing geniuses, you know. They got me, yet again. I went online this morning to add a book to my Wish List because that's where I track what I want to read. Up pop a bunch of books I might like, based on previous visits to Amazon. Genius!

This is the first thing that catches my eye. Cool, huh? So I added that - and 3 other Origami books to my Wish List. So far so good.

What's this?? Origami Wreaths and Rings?? Who knew?? This has my name all over it - these things are perfect for my mandalas! Click - into the shopping cart.

More marketing genius - for just $5 more in purchases, I can get free shipping!

I think I might be somewhat rare in the art field, from what I read. I think I'm fairly evenly left brained (business side) & right brained (creative side). So I love reading both kinds of books. So I search 'craft business' books and find a bunch, some I own, some by authors I recognize.

Perfect! I'm all about craft shows these days. Good reviews. Written in 2000, so not too out of date. So what if I spent $13.95 on a new book when used books are available for $4.86? I got free shipping! (I'm actually a big fan of used books, by the way - have bought a number of them.)

Bummer, just checked my order - the books won't ship until end of May. That stinks. Oh well. I will have forgotten about them by then - what a pleasant surprise I'll be in for in another month! One of the few advantages of middle age mind-slip.

Before starting this entry, I Googled "origami wreath" to see what I could find. I had only been thinking of making wreaths in terms of my flat framed pieces. Isn't that a cool 3 dimensional wreath?

Here's the close up, from Creased.com.

Nothing like a couple of new books to cheer a girl up.

In other good news - today I received a call from a massage therapist who was given one of my framed massage mandalas as a gift from my massage therapist. Now she wants to buy one for another friend. She's going to come to the May 11 & 12 show in Victor and see what I have - or maybe order something custom. And I immediately emailed Mary, my massage therapist, telling her she rocks!

In even more good news, today's mail brought me the application for the Gro-Moore Farms Craft Show in November. I had spoken with the organizer months ago. She said after they give previous vendors first shot at the spaces, if there are any left, they send out a mailing to new vendors. That was supposed to be the end of March so I was getting nervous about not receiving anything or getting a response to my email. The deadline for this 2nd round of applications is May 1, but my check is written and I'm mailing it on my way to work tomorrow morning. I'm hoping the unique-ness of my work buys me a little edge.

So the day job is still kind of boring this week but these other events in the more important side of my life certainly put a little spring in my step today.

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Finally, Some Sun

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I've been feeling a bit down this week. As usual, it's probably attributable to several factors. I just finished 7 sales tax returns at work and now I'm going through lists of tedious stuff for the New York State sales tax auditor's return next week. This crap is so boring and unfulfilling, I'm surprised I can stay awake. This audit was started last year but that auditor, whom I liked, was reassigned. This new one had his first visit while I was on vacation. My boss paints a grim picture of him so I'll be interested to get my own take on him.

Meanwhile, it's boring and tedious work. But - it won't last forever. (Just feels like it will, right?)

The bake sale I organized to raise money for one of our company projects, The American Heart Association, was today. We raised about $50, which isn't bad, isn't great. We'll put the leftover baked goods out tomorrow so we'll probably raise a bit more. I tried to spice it up this year by holding a contest within the bake sale. Each item costs $1, which buys you one ballot so you can vote for Most Delicious and/or Most Creative. I have to say it did raise the bar on the few baked goods that people brought in. I made peanut butter cookies with one half dipped in dark chocolate, then dipped in chopped peanuts.

Our office is pretty apathetic, always has been, but it's gotten worse lately. That's okay though, because that's how I feel too. I believe in being philanthropic, but we're all adults and can give when and how we choose without some organized thing at work. This is my last fundraiser activity. It's no fun anymore. Never say never, but time to give it a rest.

On a happier note, I will say that our company raised close to $5000 to help that Buffalo employee with the sick daughter, Grace. I posted about the quilt signing and purple ribbon sale here. We have about 50 people in our office and the turnout was actually better than I expected, considering very few of us have met this employee. He's fairly new and being a field engineer, our paths just don't cross. So clearly, our Buffalo office was very successful since they raised the vast majority of that $5000. I'm happy about that.

Another factor for my blues is this is my icky, bloated, lethargic week of the month, which is just how I feel. Blah.

But after a few inches of unseasonable snow earlier this week, I'm happy to report the sun shone brightly today. It was a balmy 45 degrees, I think, with promises to reach almost 60 degrees this weekend. I was working in my studio tonight, admiring our new pond so I took a picture to show you. As you know we live surrounded by a Christmas tree farm. As beautiful as that sight above is, it's not really a pond, just a low spot, more flooded than I've ever seen in our 7 years in this house. I'm glad we live on higher ground.

Last night I was taking my dinner dishes into the kitchen and looked out the window to admire the pond and saw 4 deer running towards our yard. We see deer in the fields on our street all the time but rarely in the pines. I think those four were so freaked out about that new pond, they were disoriented. I don't know. But I just loved the timing that I happened to be looking out the window when they ran by. Reggi saw them too but knew they were beyond the Invisible Fence line and way bigger than she wanted to tangle with anyway. She didn't even ask to go outside. She was content to stare intently from inside the house.

I love my new camera, as I've said, so I was wishing for more interesting stuff to photograph. Instead I found this. These chairs are on our lower deck and quite often Steve and I sit here in our big fluffy robes after we've soaked in the hot tub. Not when there is snow on the deck but other times, even when it's in the 30s. We sat here just last Saturday morning, before that heavy set snow settled in.

Steve is the King of Gadgets. He loves all those silly catalogs. Silly, until I thumb through them and see all the neat things that I certainly don't need but sure look like fun. This is his most recent purchase - a cat fountain. As you can see, the water squirts out and hits that little platform. I tried it on the floor first, to serve the dog and the two cats. Well, Reggi would just about lap that thing dry in one sitting. So we put it up on the shelf where we feed the cats. I still see Verona drinking out of the bigger Reggi bowl of water. Needless to say, Steve is more intrigued with gadgets than the cats are.

That goes for the dog too. Steve's previous gadget purchase was a bottle you fill with water to take with you to give your dog a drink after a walk. It has a little bowl attached to it that you fill with the bottle. We tried it once and cracked up because Reggi wanted nothing to do with it. We started making up 'thought balloons' for Reggi. "Oh Christ, Steve's been ordering from those damn catalogs again." Or "Oh pulllease, get that cheap piece of crap out of here!" So now it hangs in the hallway, by Reggi's leash, mocking Steve.

It sounds like Steve's obsessed with watering the pets, but it just happens that those are his last two purchases. I know he's found some good things. If I think of what they are, I'll show you those sometime. Yeah, that's it, I'll get back to you on that.

Wow. I'm even boring myself with this entry.

Time for bed. Which will bring us to Thursday, one day closer to the weekend. Yay.

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Remembering

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(From Susan Reynolds)


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Quilt for Grace

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We have an employee in our Buffalo office with a very sick 5 year old child, Grace. Her grandparents are throwing a benefit to help offset medical costs not covered by insurance and our company decided to get into the action. I'm the co-ordinator of this effort in our Rochester office. We're selling purple ribbons for a $5 or more donation. The woman heading up this project bought this quilt and fabric pens and we're all signing the quilt to give to Grace. Purple is her favorite color, as you might have guessed. We're also putting together gift baskets that will be auctioned off at the fundraiser. I'm donating a framed paper quilt with matching card, a bookmark, a Sticky Notes pad (in purple!) and a pin & Sticky Notes gift set.

It's been fun working on this - something that doesn't require a committee, numerous meetings, long-awaited decisions by Management and 42 people telling me why it won't work. I just emailed the woman leading the project, "Want some help?" Fun, easy & meaningful. Just like life should be.
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Grandma Hattie's Tea Party

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The afternoon before we left on vacation, I received a call from Kathy, a fellow crafter with whom I've done a couple of shows. She invited me to participate in her spring craft show! She makes things from old china. She turns platters into mirrors and teacups & saucers into garden stakes with live plants, for example. Very nice stuff. She also offers tea parties by appointment in a historic house in Victor, which is where the craft show is being held.

I stopped by yesterday to see the place, to get an idea of how much space I'll have. There are about 15 artists participating. I know about 4 or 5 of them and can vouch for their high quality. We'll be set up in the parlor, foyer, front porch and hopefully one other room she showed me. She'll have tea tastings and desserts available too. Should be fun!

It's an ideal location - right on Maple Avenue, which is the road leading from Victor towards Holcomb & Bloomfield. And it's the weekend before Mother's Day. Even in Rochester, NY, we should be done with this crazy snow by then!

I'll be sending a postcard mailing out shortly. And stitching like crazy! I sold 56 Sticky Notes at the last show - still my best seller. I have new designs coming too - both in thread color combinations and design.

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Two Cards

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In cleaning off my desk, I found these two cards I wanted to show you.

My friend Kathy gave me this one. She's into horses big-time. How simple, how charming this is!

This is the birthday card Jen made for me that everyone in the department signed. I love it!

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Las Vegas - Days Four & Five

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Remember my talk yesterday about my fear of water? Today I (kinda) saved two kids from drowning. Okay, that's way overly dramatic but check this out.

We were in our now usual spots in our chairs by the Lazy River and a mom with two little kids settled into the chairs next to us, also in front of the stairs into the water. The little girl looked to be about 5 and the little boy about 3, I'm guessing. The mom told them to wait for her on the stairs while she got something.

The little boy got a little too close to the current and went under. I'm ashamed to say I waited a beat because I was afraid I was over-reacting because of how I am but he bobbed under again and the current was starting to carry him away from the stairs area. I jumped out of my chair, heading for the stairs, calling, "Steve, get that little boy! Get that little boy!" Steve was deep in his book, no glasses and obviously disoriented to what I was saying. By then the little boy managed to grab hold to the side and his mom pulled him out. I know I would have gone in and gotten him but I also somehow don't trust myself, which is why I called to Steve for support. I'm not sure if the mom reacted on her own or because she heard me.

(Yes, there's a lifeguard stand a few feet from where we were. With no lifeguard at that time. They seemed to disappear for periods of time. At first I thought it was because they rotate stations fairly frequently but there were plenty of times there was no lifeguard for up to 20 minutes at a time, I'd guess, but I never checked my watch. I don't understand that at all. The water is only 3-1/2 feet deep but I'm sure a constant lifeguard presence is required by the law or the hotel's insurance company or something.)

The fact that this family was Asian is probably why I hadn't been able to take my eyes off that little boy. I just hope I don't translate him into Simon and have nightmares. I'm happy to report the family played in the water later and the boy seemed unafraid and perfectly happy.

Later that morning, Steve and I were floating around the river when a little girl in a tube got stuck under the waterfall and I pulled her out. There are two fairly powerful waterfalls pouring into the river from overhead in succession. But there is plenty of room on each side so one can avoid it if one wants to. The little girl in the tube seemed to be in such a spot under the waterfall that the water was not propelling her forward and she was clearly scared and sputtering. As I told Steve, even if she wasn't really "stuck", she felt like she was and was scared. Her dad was just a step ahead of her but I happened to be in the right place and the right time.

It's weird these two instances happened in the same morning. I felt for the parents who literally just turned their back for a second, but that's all it takes. I know I'm a Nervous Nellie around water so I always think I'm over protective. Better that than not.

Not as heroic as I tried to make it sound but still, I was glad to be able to help.

We had ice cream sundaes for lunch and hung out in the room for a few hours. Steve gambled for about an hour, moving from video poker to video blackjack. With the really low stakes machines, that man can make $20 last forever! I stitched and watched Law & Order. It was heaven. (Except the Law & Order part, which I can take or leave.) Nice & relaxing though.

Around 5:00 we headed downstairs to catch a cab to The Orleans, where Dennis Miller was playing. We ate our traditional vacation dinner at TGI Fridays, also celebrating completing 7 years of living together. Yay us.

Dennis Miller. I think he's hilarious and it's always fun to laugh out loud at comedians live, when you're with other laughing people. But it was a tad disappointing for me because he only played 1 hour, which could be standard for all I know. It was a nice, old, smallish theater and I very much enjoyed myself. He did a few classic bits and lots of current stuff. We've been quoting him to each other ever since. I just wish he'd played longer - I was expecting 90 minutes I guess.

We took a cab back to our hotel and watched Numbers, while I stitched some more.

Saturday, we got up around 6:00 AM in time to shower, finish packing and get a cab to the airport. Our plane left at 9:50 which we decided is early enough for leaving vacation. Heading out to vacation is quite a different story - our plane left Rochester at 6:15 AM, but we didn't mind getting a ridiculously early start. I got up at 2:45 that morning! But with the 3 hour time change we arrived in Las Vegas at 10:30 AM so we still had most of the day, which was cool.

We flew into Cleveland to change planes. We left there about 1 hour later than scheduled, waiting for a substitute pilot to arrive from a Miami flight. I told Steve I wouldn't mind waiting longer if the pilot wanted to take a 30 minute power nap. I hoped he wouldn't be cranky but he was. Can't say I blame him, flying from sunny Miami to snow covered Cleveland and immediately turn around to fly into Rochester. But his mumbly first announcement was, "They volunteered me for this." Nice.

I got to experience my first plane de-icing - kinda cool. Otherwise the flight was uneventful and Simon picked us up, only having to wait a short while. He'd been checking the website for flight information. And he brought Reggi! I didn't ask him to and never thought he'd think of it on his own. She whined and cried when she saw us and spent equal time popping back and forth between me and Steve.

The thing is, I immediately felt a lump on her neck that has me worried out of my mind. I'll call the vet first thing in the morning. It's the size of a marble but it wasn't there before. Believe me, we pet this dog a lot - we would have noticed. I thought it was matted hair at first but it's not. It doesn't seem to hurt her. Please keep good thoughts for my girl.

Steve and I are both very glad we came back on Saturday, leaving Sunday as a Re-entry to Reality day. And of course there's paperwork and laundry to catch up on. Simon leaves for Myrtle Beach tonight so he's excited about that, needless to say. As am I. ;-)

Good thing I really like my life - because Vacation 2007 is over.
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Las Vegas - Day Three

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Our evil plan worked - today we got much better seats by the pool. By the Lazy River specifically. The pool area opens at 9:00 so we went down at 8:30 and joined the already long line.

You have to understand something about me. I'm afraid of deep water. Steve loves the water. Vacation isn't vacation unless we're near the water, for him. When we used to visit his aunt and uncle in the Adirondacks, I would bob around the shallow water on a noodle and he'd go do whatever, like swim across the lake and back, go waterskiing, tubing. Simon loves to go tubing but I could barely watch him, seriously. If I was in the boat, I couldn't take my eyes off of him and fought back tears the whole time. So mostly I didn't go, trusting Steve's family to take care of him. I could tear up now, writing about it.

Anyway, stuff like the Lazy River and the Wave Pool are our current compromise. It's actually fun because it's shallow and I feel safe. If Steve's vision weren't so crappy, I'm sure he'd be off in other pools doing deep end stuff. But he's okay with this - he's just relieved I'll do anything in the water, I think.

So there it is. Now you know something about me that I used to be very ashamed of and now I'm just embarrassed about. I don't know why I'm like this. I have plenty of good traits and skills. Deep water ain't one of them. I am what I am.

Another view from our chairs. We stayed about 4 hours I think. I wore sunscreen and don't look like I got any sun. I am vain enough to not want to go home from a Las Vegas vacation without at least some color! But I made that mistake in Tampa last year and just 30 unprotected minutes in the sun turned my legs into a painful mess.

The people watching was much better at this location than yesterday. I have to tell you about these cabanas. I swear I read that they rent for $250/day but I can't confirm that anywhere now. They include state of the art music system with CD player and MP3 player port, 32" LCD TV with cable of course. They include an amenity center with bar, refrigerator and personal safe, ceiling fan, telephone and contemporary decor with sofa, table , chairs and chaise lounges. The bungalows are the same except the TV is 40" and they have a private changing area. Special staff waits on those people.

It seems really extravagant but Steve and I decided if two families shared one for the day, the cost per hour wouldn't really be all that much, for a place to get out of the sun. Not that these people would, but they could sneak in their own food. The TV kills me though. I made up all kinds of back stories about who these people are. We saw one family check in and as soon as the hotel dude left, the dad picked up the remote for the TV. It was hilarious.

That's all the pictures I took for the day. We left our room around 3:00 to head down the strip to The Mirage. We took the tram, then the monorail but it was still a lot of walking. Yesterday I decided I have a full blown case of plantar fasciitis. It's been brewing for a couple of months but I attributed it to other things. Now my right foot is a textbook case. Bummer.

So we went to The Mirage to see Cirque du Soleil's Love, the Beatles tribute. I've never seen one of their shows before but enough bits and pieces to have high expectations. It was fantastic! It was so amazing, so much to it, I can't even review it for you except to say it was outstanding. I'd like to see it about 20 more times in hopes of catching every little thing. At the end I felt kind of sad, thinking about John and George being dead.

I read on the website about the premiere and that Paul and Ringo and all the Beatles' families attended, even Cynthia Lennon. I wondered how the performers felt, doing it in front of the Beatles - and how the families felt, watching this interpretation of the music. I'm going to comb over the website again - there's lots of behind the scenes stuff.

We finally had dessert at The Chocolate Swan that I mentioned the other day. That mousse looking stuff was really homemade custard. It was good - but it actually looked better than it tasted. I'm not complaining but next time we'll opt for Ben & Jerry's or something.

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Las Vegas - Day Two

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We started the morning with breakfast at House of Blues because with yesterday's lunch receipt, we buy one breakfast, get one half price. I didn't take my camera because I didn't think there would be anything photo-worthy. But there was! I took a picture with my phone but it's not there now so I guess I only thought I did. I had corn banana fritters that were delicious! I'd never seen them before so I thought it was a good opportunity for a food photo. Oh well. Just imagine little balls of corn meal & bananas, fried, sprinkled with powdered sugar, drizzled with syrup. I told Steve my fruit & vegetable consumption was offset by the fried factor. Good stuff though.

From there we went the pool area. This hotel has 6 pools or something, but some are still under renovation. There's a wave pool, a lazy river, a few regular pools and a "European Style" pool, aka "adult pool" - but that one is still under construction. The pools didn't open until 9:00 but we were kinda hoping lots of people would be hungover and sleeping in. No such luck. We finally found chairs - don't you like our view? We read for a while then went in the wave pool, which wasn't too bad actually. It's a kinder, gentler wave pool than at Roseland, my only other experience. (And I hang pretty far back. Not a water lover, like Steve. Opposite do attract!)

We're going to go at 8:30 tomorrow and see if we can get a couple of chairs in the quieter section by the lazy river part. Yes, I'm wearing sunscreen, thank you.

Steve is not a gambler by nature but he really wanted to try some different games while we're here. I have zero interest. Less than zero even. He finally ventured into video poker, dragging me with him. I was so bored so I walked around trying to find a slot machine I could endure. They have a million different themes, something for everyone - goofy & silly to "serious" slots. Nada. Just can't do it. I took a bunch of photographs.

Mom, I took this one for you and Steve supplied the dialogue,"I worry about all these machines. Who is going to play them all??"

I was concerned that it would be really smoky in the casinos but my friend Pam, who visited here last year, described it as you know people have been smoking but it's not overwhelmingly smoky. She's right. I thought the casino would be enveloped in a gray cloud of smoke and I'd want to shower and change my clothes after walking through. They must do a great job with the air circulation because it's quite tolerable. And I say that as a person who is pretty intolerant of smoking.

Finally Steve cut me loose while he played a while longer. I went up to our room to post yesterday's entry. Much more fun! He started with $10 and cashed out with $65. Excuse me, he didn't exactly cash out - he still has the ticket/voucher for $65 so he'll go again. Please, please, don't make me go. (Steve and Simon have both given me a lot of shit about going to Vegas and not gambling. Little do they know it strengthens my resolve not to gamble!)

We ate lunch at ESPN Zone in the New York, New York hotel. I satisfied another craving I've had recently, for nachos. They were very good - not a gigantic pile of chips like some places serve. The place was a little sensory overload for me - too much noise and too damn many TVs but Steve was in hog heaven. We were trying to decide if a restaurant like this, but geared towards crafters would have a different effect on me. I'm sure it would - it would be heaven! We'd have pottery on one channel, quilting on another, on and on. The play by play would fascinating!

We walked around New York, New York for a bit. All the stores inside look just like the streets of NY. The casino has trees throughout that make it look like Central Park. That's a stream in the above picture. Besides the stuff you saw in yesterday's photo, the outside also has shops which you get to by walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. This is the kind of stuff I wanted to see - the attention to detail, all in the land of excess where money is no object.

Another thing - every employee we've encountered has been exceedingly friendly. I know they are in the hospitality industry but I figured they would be so burned out by the zillions of tourists they encounter that they'd all be burned out by now. Customer service rules!

Speaking of shops, there are a bunch in every hotel but we haven't gone into many. Every time I see a designer store I want to take a picture of it for Simon. That apple definitely fell far from this tree. That boy knows his stuff. I forbid him from telling me how much he paid for his Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses. He talks about wanting a Gucci wallet and I keep my bills in my purse in a snack size Ziploc bag. No, really, I do. I carry a very small handmade (not by me) purse and can't find a suitable wallet. The Ziploc works perfectly! Wouldn't Simon be mortified?? Mwahahaha!

We did go in one shop though because I told Steve I had to go into a store that I'd read about that used the words pet and couture in the same sentence. It was Lush Puppy, full of fluffy beds, blingy collars, doggie clothing. I didn't even look at prices but I did see one collar I liked, turquoise leather with silver medallions, all southwest looking. I think Reggi would look fetching in that. (Fetching, get it??) Then there was the doggy outfit that said, "I'm not fat, I'm fluffy," but they didn't appear to have one in Reggi's size. Or my size for that matter. And they were way too frou-frou for our precious pumpkin.

We also went into The Chocolate Swan and I bought us two squares of dark chocolate. We don't usually eat dessert so this was the perfect bit of sweetness after our late lunch on Tuesday. Then as we left, another thing caught my eye. They offer dark chocolate coated (inside) cones and the choice of fillings all appear to be different types of chocolate mousse - strawberry, cherry, cheesecake, almond, like that. I must get one before we leave. Looked delish.

Then we went into the MGM Grand because they have a lion exhibit. I'd read it was six lions in a natural habitat display. I had pretty low expectations but boy, did we get lucky. There were two lion handlers inside the habitat - see above. This guy was playing ball with the lion and the other guy was the spotter I guess. Always good to use the buddy system! We stood and watched for a while - it was pretty much what you see above. The lion brought the ball to the guy, who didn't really try to take it away from him but kinda acted like he was going to. I guess it would really be no contest, would it? The lion would occasionally put his paw on the guys arm - just like Verona does to me when she's telling me it's bedtime. Every once in a while the lion would turn away so the guy would tease and poke the lion a little bit to get his/her attention. It was in a funny harmless way, not a scary way.

The cool thing was that the floor to this exhibit was all glass so you could walk under the above scenario. That area was filled with people taking pictures. I told Steve, with all the cameras pointed in the direction of the lion and this guy, it looked like the paparazzi & Paris Hilton or something. The whole thing was a nice unexpected surprise.

Afterwards, we hung out in the room for a while. We watched The Pursuit of Happyness. I'm so glad I didn't watch it on the plane - definitely shed a tear or two. That Jaden Smith is adorable. I'd read a bunch about the movie and seen the real dad and his son on Oprah so I knew it had a happy ending, but damn it could have been a depressing movie. If that movie doesn't encourage you to keep doing your very best in the face of all odds, I don't know what will.

I ended the day with a phone call to Gretchen. Simon was working late and hadn't let Reggi out in a while so I asked Gretchen to buzz over and do the honors. She called me from my house to tell me Reggi refused to go out! Even when Gretchen went out with her, she refused to leave Gretchen's side. I suggested Gretchen put Reggi on her leash and walk her around the yard. Reggi loves going for walks. I guess that worked because the next report I got was that apparently Reggi realized this was probably her last chance to go outside for hours so, and I quote, "She peed like Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own". Apparently that's a good thing.
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Las Vegas - Day One

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We're here! In sunny Las Vegas!

Good ol' Simon even got up at the "ass-crack of dawn" (4:00 am) to drive us to the airport. To my surprise, Steve didn't want to leave a car at the airport. Simon's Spyder is on the road, but he's having some work done on it so it was the perfect week for him to have access to another vehicle. For some reason he'd rather drive Steve's 2003 Explorer than my 1995 Saturn. So that was part of the deal, drive us to and pick us up from the airport. I'll probably have to remind him 6 times not to forget us Saturday.

We changed planes at Dulles. Steve loves to fly so we always give him the window seat, leaving me with the horrid middle seat. Guilt finally ate at him enough that I got the window seat for the 5 hours to Las Vegas. I stitched and listened to my crafty podcasts on my iPod, just as planned. Window seats are way better. I was so intent on stitching and iPodding, that I skipped the two movies, both of which I wanted to see. One was The Pursuit of Happyness, but that's in our Netflix queue and I want to see that in the comfort of my own home, in case I cry. The other one was Freedom Writers, which I've added to our Netflix queue - I forgot I wanted to see that.

For two weeks I've been obsessing over not forgetting two things: my stitching and my laptop. Clothes? Uh, yeah, whatever.

And I'm so excited about this: I bought a new suitcase a month or two ago - it's worked perfectly. I've been using a backpack since 1978. Seriously! It's a big backpack but it has no wheels so it's fine for car trips but not so good for hauling around airports. So I decided at age 51, I was entitled to an honest to goodness adult, wheeled suitcase. I'm still finding compartments and pockets in this thing. I had room to spare even - and it's lighter than my carry on bag (because of my laptop). I love it. I'm so grown up.

We're staying at Mandalay Bay.

I also bought a new camera a few weeks ago. I have been struggling with taking good pictures of my products, the stuff I can't scan. I chalked it up to user incompetence but finally decided I could probably take better pictures with a better camera. I felt I'd gotten my money's worth out of my old camera, which I'll give to Simon. This new camera rocks.

The view from our room. That pyramid next to us is The Luxor.

This sign is outside our window too. It looks big here but it looks really big when you are on the ground looking up at it.

We had a late lunch at The House of Blues - we'd been craving a good burger & fries. I napped a bit & Steve read, then we walked around the grounds to see the pool areas. More about that tomorrow.

We went through the Shark Reef aquarium exhibit at the hotel, which besides being unbearably humid, was very neat. It's a self-guided tour. Each person is given a cell phone looking wand and you punch in the number of each exhibit. It was all done really well, not cheesy at all. Part of it was like you're standing in a sunken ship looking out at the fish. This photo shows the glass tunnel you walk through with the fish swimming over and under you. I turned off the flash to get a better picture and lightened this one with photo editing but it still doesn't do it justice. I thought it would be cool from what I'd seen online, but it was even better - really felt like you were under water.

There was a wide, low, open tank where visitors are encouraged to touch the fish. This was the big guy but there were other, smaller, more colorful fish. But you could only touch them with 1 finger and not near their eyes or mouths. No shit, Sherlock. I passed.

I fixed this photo up as best I could, just to give you an idea. This was a tall, cylindrical tank, full of nothing but jellyfish! This was actually my favorite part, I think. They were amazing! All sizes and shapes, gracefully floating around.

Then we started our Giant Walk of Pain. I'd been warned to wear comfortable shoes, it's easy to do a lot of walking in Las Vegas. So I was prepared in my fairly new walking New Balance sneakers. But all that walking on cement coupled with being dehydrated from the plane ride and all the walking we did in the dry desert air - well, let's just say I was maybe a tad cranky by the end. Or so I've been told. I tried to drink plenty of water but not so much on the plane because I didn't want to have to get up and go to the bathroom.

The above is The Luxor, the next hotel down from ours. That tram in the center of the pictures connects 3 hotels so we took that on our way back to save ourselves a few steps. Saves about a mile of walking I heard someone say.

This is the sign in front of The Luxor. This is me thinking, "I wonder if it would look arty if I took the shot like this?" (I swear that's what I thought. I just now noticed the genitalia. Oops. Sorry!)

The Excalibur. The theme doesn't thrill me.

New York, New York, complete with roller coaster. And people were riding it, the wackos. We walked around inside this hotel more the next day - I'll share those pictures later. We have decided we made the best choice for us, hotel-wise, but if I had to pick a 2nd choice, I think it would be this. It's full of New York City details - I think they got it just right.

Paris. We just saw it from across the street, never went in.

The MGM Grand. We can see this from our hotel too. We went inside on Day 2 - will share those pictures with you tomorrow.

Finally, our destination. The stinkin' Bellagio. We were both tired and thirsty but wanted to see these stupid fountains. What? Me? Attitude? Don't get me started on these people.

First we walked all over the hotel looking for a simple bottle of water - is that asking too much?? I know it's a casino and they want to sell booze, but there are plenty of families there. (Pam, I saw the gorgeous blown glass ceiling but my feet hurt and I was so thirsty, I couldn't stop to look or appreciate it. We'll probably go back.) We ended up finding drinks at the Tropicana, I think it was, across the street. As we crossed the bridge back over to The Bellagio, the fountains were just ending their little dance.

We settled in street level, waiting for the next show, which according to their website, starts every 15 minutes after 8:00 pm. We heard an announcement that Steve thought said the next show starts at the top of the hour, but I was sure he heard wrong. Turns out he heard correctly. We stood there, on our achy-breaky feet for 51 minutes, I tell you! Yep, shows were starting at the top of the hour - and of course it only lasts 5 minutes or something. It's cool but for the mood I was in at that point, those fountains would have had to been squirting dark chocolate down my throat to win any props from me. Bastards! I even checked the website the next day - yep, every 15 minutes, it says. By the time we realized it really was going to start at the top of the hour, we'd waited so long we weren't going to leave. Said Steve. I was starting to think they lost their opportunity to entertain me. I wanted to show them!

We were so tired, we never ate dinner. I crashed into bed the second we got back to the room. We have a big fluffy king-sized bed and man, oh man, did I sleep good. It probably had nothing to do with the fact that I didn't have a beagle crowding my legs or a black cat sleeping by my head.

More fun tomorrow.
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Hard Crash

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The craft show ends in 2 hours so I don't have the final data yet but it seems to be quite successful! From all accounts, not just for me personally. More traffic than previous years, I'm told. I guess you can't compare a 4-day show to a 1-day show but in general terms, I'm thinking this will be my best show yet. I sold a bunch of framed pieces, which pleases me no end. I sold enough Stefani Cards that I had to break out the purchased cards I had left from when I participated in the local gift shop co-op. (They are beautiful cards, from Blue Turtle Studio.)

And my best seller continues to be the Sticky Notes. I worked Saturday, 2:00-6:00 - I was a wrapper/bagger at one of the registers. When I peaked into a customer's basket and saw the bottom of the basket filled with my notepads, I was so happy! She bought 10 - for the women in her office. I'm not shy anymore about telling people I'm the artist. They are usually happy to meet me too, so it's cool.

Remember how nice my new display looked in this entry? It was considerably more empty - mostly the stitched designs by the time I left Saturday. So I came home and immediately stitched more - maybe a dozen until I literally couldn't see straight. I know, could I be anymore dramatic!? But really, I couldn't focus enough to thread the needle so I went to bed. I assembled the notepads this morning and took them over to the show before it opened. I did another spruce-up on my booth - it looked much healthier when I left.

That was the last work I had to do for this show, other than tear-down this afternoon. As was 100% predictable, I crashed. Hard. I barely made my way through the Sunday paper before needing a nap. It's rainy and cloudy here today - not good for craft shows, but perfect for napping. Since then, I've been having what Gretchen calls a low energy day. It feels weird to be unproductive. Times like this always worry me that I'll never get my energy back. But I've learned that I will and this recharging is necessary.

I was planning on taking stitching with me to Las Vegas next week because it's one of my favorite things to do. My next show isn't until August, which I was kind of bummed about before. Now I'm grateful for the time to restock my inventory. If I get into all the shows I want to for the fall and holiday season, I will have next to no time to create during those weeks, so now is the time to get busy.

I really wanted to make enough money at this show to be able to buy a tent because that August show is outdoors. We have the daily numbers available to us so on Saturday afternoon, I saw that I made more than enough Thursday and Friday to cover it. Then Saturday was my big day, I think.

Anyway, even though all this hard work has burned me out, that's only temporary and it's all tons of fun!

From what I've read on airlines regulations, I should be able to take my sewing needles and not-pointy scissors on the plane - yes? Can anyone tell me?
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