Swimming with sharks

Being quite the bargain-hunter - and probably insane - I've decided to venture out to The Lost World.

You know it as the local car dealership.

With prices low, rebates plentiful, and a great rate from my credit union, I figured we should at least LOOK. Our 04 Explorer runs fine, but when you pile all the kids in there, little space is left for other necessities, like groceries or luggage. We need a minivan - a big one.

My first trip out this weekend didn't yield much. The sales people looked only mildly desperate, and the reaction wasn't what I expected. (Since I have been offered meals before to buy a car - a cup of coffee on a rainy day would seem like the least they could do)

Perhaps I'll try again - I wasn't feeling well, hubby wasn't there, so it might not have come across as serious. Still, for an industry struggling...not the way to bring in this customer!

Doin' My Part

Ah, Black Friday...

Must say, I was honestly a bit disappointed. Yes, there were some "doorbuster" markdowns, and a few were even items I wanted to buy.

But the overall pricing wasn't that much improved over the previous week, when we took the kids looking for ideas. And frankly, I'm buying less than last year - so every bit is noticeable.

Still, I managed to unload my entire Christmas bonus in about 3 hours! Thankfully, I have just a few small items left to buy, and all those cards to mail, and then I'm DONE.

(And ok, the HP printer doesn't count - it's not a gift, just a replacement, and a fabulous deal from Office Max at that)

Today I'm In Love With...

I don't know about you, but right now I'm hating my wardrobe! With higher gas and food prices, it's hard to justify buying new clothes and shoes (unless I can make a few sales in my Etsy store that is!). Still...it's tons of fun to look! Here's what I'm currently lusting after, mostly on Etsy.

Fun hair accessories

I've been letting my hair grow out, and now I'm ready for fun things to accessorize it! That, and just get it out of my face some days. I love all the gorgeous hair sticks available on Etsy - like this funky one (which I see is on clearance now...hmmm).

Barettes are harder to find, as I don't like lots of fuss - but this gorgeous copper one has caught my eye, and will someday be mine!

Girly Summer Clothes

As an engineer, I mostly wear sensible clothes - pants, flats, loose tops. It serves me well when crawling on the floor beneath a lab desk to hook up equipment...but it's not very fun. I miss dressing like a girl, and LOVE to wear skirts and frilly things whenever I can!

This "pillow shirt" seems like such a great compromise...casual yet girly. And this cut-out skirt could be dressed up or down as needed, yet still be feminine.

No new outfit is complete without shoes of course! I'm a huge fan of Cole Haan...I grab whatever I can find in the thrift stores, which isn't much. But what I really, really want is a pair of their Nike Air shoes for work. I'm on my feet a LOT, and would love to have shoes that look great and feel great! This pair of Jena Air pumps, for instance, would make me supremely happy. (Too bad I can't grab a pic of them!)

My weekend....sigh

If there's one thing I truly hate, it's used car shopping. All-day meetings stink, 2-hour elementary-school talent shows are painful, and childbirth is agonizing....but I'd seriously consider paying someone to do my car shopping for me.

Unfortunately, it has to be done. We are a two car family - no way to get around it - but the current arrangement isn't working. Since we have 4 kids in our blended family, we kinda have to own a gas-guzzler to get us around. It's big, it's blue, it gets 18 mpg when conditions are right...and right now, it's my 'commuter' car.

Switch cars with hubby you say? Great idea - except his car, while a sedan with better gas mileage, is on its last leg. Plus, it's a manual transmission, and I never learned to drive a stick shift. Ever. I should learn, I know that, but it's beside the point. This car needs replaced, like a year ago.

So off we'll go this weekend, making the rounds of the used car dealerships. Right now, hubby is still a SAHD, so we don't have the money to buy the car I want - new, from a dealership that brings you coffee and offers dinner at a steak place while they finish detailing your car. :'(

Instead, we'll be at the smaller places, with THIS GUY circling us like a shark. If we're lucky, we'll find a babysitter so we don't have 4 kids chirping helpful tidbits to the salesguy, like "mom hates negotiating" and "dad's just pretending, he really wants the car". On the other hand, if we're lucky, we'll have 4 tired and cranky kids with us for an excuse to leave - "sorry about that tantrum in your showroom, can we just roll the repair costs into the car?"

If all goes well, we'll drive away in a reasonably priced, utterly boring sedan that gets 30mpg and excites NO ONE when you cruise past. Yeah.

Can I interest anyone in a temp job paying minimum wage? Just for Saturday, I promise!

Product Lust

Since I had to go shopping for ear wires online anyway (see the last post)...I did a little window browsing too. There are so many gorgeous pearls, gemstones, and findings I would love to use someday - hopefully someone will either commission a piece, or I'll sell enough on Etsy to just *make* one! Come lust with me - maybe I can inspire *you* to commission a piece! :-)

Tsavorite is my new favorite gemstone, since I heard about it from my brother (he's currently in Sri Lanka). It's a green garnet, in shades from khaki to near emerald. It's rather rare, and so lovely, and the price is high as you'd imagine too.

I love blue opals - my birthstone, but also a pretty gem on its own. Pink is ok, but tends to show dark veining that I don't like. But rich blues...oh my. Opals can be so versatile too - surround them in gleaming sterling silver and they are fancy....but string them with wood beads and make them everyday.

Staying in the gemstone theme...about 4 hours from our house is a national park where you can mine your own Sunstone. For free! I'm sure it takes some work, probably more than just walking around and looking. Still, the idea is intriguing, and has me wondering...could I find some? If so, could I rough-shape and polish it enough to work with it?

Gemstones aren't the only thing I'm lusting after! I enjoy working with pearls - I love the creamy luster of good pearls, and find them a good compliment to so many other beads (and beautiful on their own too). The cultured pearls I normally get are nice, and Swaorvski makes very pretty crystal pearls...but to me, these Akoya Golden pearls are just the epitome of PEARL.

Coming back to earth a bit more...I keep seeing gorgeous silver findings by Hill Tribe Silver. So far, the extra cost has kept me away, but the more I see, the more I want to incorporate some of these lovely pieces in my own work!