Vegas, Baby!

The hubby and I just returned from Vegas, and boy did we have a good time. I won't bore you with the details - music, gambling, food, etc etc - however there were a few interesting moments I just had to share. (Hubby actually mentioned "I bet you blog this" on some of these) I'll warn you, it WAS Vegas,these aren't G-rated!

1. Free airport entertainment is worth the price. And by that, I mean it's worth NOTHING. Hubby and I were enjoying our pre-flight sushi before leaving for Vegas, comfortably seated near the front exit. Half-way through our miso, an awful caterwauling commenced...some random 25-year-old guy set up shop with his guitar, and serenaded the busy travelers. Since security didn't haul him away, I assume he had permission...but boy, were we hoping for that burly security guy to step in. This "singer" was awful; he slaughtered perfectly good songs from the 50s through 80s. Seriously, when your "Love Me Tender" is worse than the fat Elvis Impersonator at some cheap casino...it's time to find a real job, perhaps at McDonalds.

2. Vegas needs to change it's slogan. Forget "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"...hubby now proposes a simpler "show us your tits". 10 seconds on a Saturday night is enough to prove him right. Now, I'm no prude - I've been there on a girls weekend where we dressed to the nines and clubbed hopped with the best of them. But sheesh, it's getting ridiculous! Everybody is wearing low-cut, tight, sparkly attire...from the petite girls with fake IDs, to mature cougars who know better. It's getting so you can't pick out the hookers anymore!

3. Speaking of that slogan - people, it's a saying, not a command! You'd never guess it from the Sunday-morning and Monday-morning crowds, however. (Hubby likes to get up before 7am and gamble for cheap) Walk of shame, check. Drunks of all ages, check. Conservative 50-something ladies grinning like Cheshire cats, check and check. As much as I enjoy people-watching during the evenings - all the crazy attire, the makeup, the flirting and drinking - mornings are even better - the hangovers, the smeared makeup and slept-in clubbing outfit, and more.

4. Drunks of all ages are fun. Sure, we saw plenty of drunk college guys cruising for chicks. (Note to college guys - getting drunk and randomly yelling "Wooooo" really doesn't draw the ladies) My favorite group of drunks was older, however. 3 couples, all in their late 40s to early 50s, riding the monorail with us after a night of dinner and a show. All were well soused, but one guy in the group was clearly way beyond the rest - he spoke loudly, said stupid things, engaged random strangers in a debate over the merits of the "Jersey Boys" show he just watched. His 5-person greek chorus just giggled and reminded him to use an "inside voice", which made the whole thing very, very funny to watch.

5. Movies and TV shows aren't that wrong. We witnessed an actual "medical emergency" on our flight back, and it was just like on TV! A lady was having a seizure about 20 minutes from our home airport. The flight attendants asked for "any passenger with medical training...a doctor, nurse, certified EMT". When we landed, we came in hard, and pulled into a gate in amazing time. It was thrilling and scary at the same time - for everyone, really. I can report that the passenger was conscious and able to walk out on her own, so hopefully she's ok.

In case you're wondering, no, we didn't come back big winners. That's ok - we stayed within our budget, ate a couple exquisite meals (Mesa Grill Sunday brunch is wonderful), and enjoyed being adults together. What a wonderful vacation...can't wait to do it again!

Welcome Back to Reality

I know it's Tuesday and all....but ugh, feels like a Monday! I'm swamped at work - big problem brewing, unfortunately. After a nice, quiet, relaxing weekend - it's back to the reality of work again!

I've reached two inescapable conclusions this weekend - one not too terrible, the other kinda expensive.

It was a rather productive weekend leading up to these conclusions. My eldest and I spent a good two hours finishing a charm bracelet for her mom's wedding in August. I think we reached a good middle ground of "real jewelry" and "designed by a kid". I promised not to post pictures (although the chance of her mom reading my blog seems small)...but I can tell you it's a nice sterling chain with pendant freshwater pearls. The pearls were picked out by the kid, and are mauve, cobalt, lime green, champagne, lavender, and orange. (That kid-design aspect) They are spaced out with silver beads, which helps make it more multi-color adult looking (less crayon-box)...and finished with a heart toggle. I really, really hope her mom understands the amount of work that went into this!

On top of the charm bracelet, I also recreated a pair of earrings that I'm totally in love with. (Wearing my own pair right now actually) I made the first pair as a gift, loved it so much I decided to make one for the store - but then had to keep them for me. :-) Finally made a pair to sell on Etsy - you can see them here.

Yesterday I also spent considerable time on a project I've been planning for a while. It's a braided wire look...and while I'm not happy with the "braid" itself, I did get some spiral wrapping done that I'm pleased with, and created one ring with it. I suspect I'll need an actual clamp, probably in the garage, to make my braid work properly (sitting on the couch watching CSI didn't work)...but it gives me some new possibilities for jewelry beyond my current abilities, so I'm stoked.

Which leads me to my discoveries. The not-so-bad...I'm not happy with my plain-jane white backgrounds. I've been thinking about this for a little bit, but my unhappiness really reached a peak this weekend. Time to start experimenting with solutions - something patterned a colorful, but that won't distract! Perhaps I can do a few drawing of my own....

The other - I really, really need a light box. My current arrangement just isn't working well, especially on overcast days. We have LOTS of overcast days in Oregon too. No matter how much extra light I have in the room, and how much photo-tweaking I do...I'm just not happy with the results. I know you can make your own lightbox, so will be looking into that - but since I do much more than just etsy jewelry, it will need to be a sizable box I think. Pooh.

Oh My, What a Weekend

Before I forget...be sure to leave a comment for your entry in my Blog Giveaway! (You can leave the comment on this post, so I'm sure to see it) One entry per person, per day - and you can earn extra entries by posting about this contest and providing me the link!

On to the rest of my post...

The weather here in Oregon was gorgeous this weekend - 75 degrees, sunny, light breeze. We spent much of the weekend outdoors, of course. Saturday was so much fun. First we drove to a local tulip farm, picked up some blooms and took a few pictures. After the tulip farm, we drove east of Portland, to the Columbia River Gorge area. Had a few misadventures trying to find a state park, with waterfalls, that we could actually locate a parking spot for. Apparently ALL of Oregon was outside on Saturday! We eventually pulled into a small turnout, where a very helpful Scottish gentleman (from the accent) guided us up a hill, behind a waterfall, and into some neat caves. He was meeting friends to rock climb in the area, and delighted our kids with his knowledge of the "Rat Caves" as well as demos of his climbing gear. What a treat!

After carefully climbing/sliding down the hill again, we drove back to Rooster Rock state park, where we enjoyed some time on the river, and played in the playground. We finished our day with dinner at Tad's Chicken 'n' Dumplings.

Sunday wasn't nearly as fun, at least for me and the hubby. We mowed, edged, pulled weeds, and cleaned the garage...while the children had watergun battles, bounced in their bouncy castle, ate lunch in the sunshine, and just generally did kid stuff. (Days like that make me want to be a kid again) The house looks better, but it's frustrating knowing we'll need to do all that work again in 2 weeks. Maybe less if it rains a lot. UGH.

When the rain moved in Sunday afternoon, I was finally able to relax, shower (!), and get a little jewelry making done. I finished a cute little bracelet, as well as some earrings for the "So You Think You're Unique" beading challenge. (Those will get posted on Monday on Etsy) So now we're back to Monday, and work, and 'normal' life.

Just a quick note about Feature Monday - it's not happening this week. Too much else going on! Instead, I'll be writing a post (probably for tomorrow) about step-by-step creation of a custom jewelry request. Hope you all enjoy it!

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!