Andrea's birthday dinner at Lanza's Ristorante

These party pictures do not exactly appear in the order that I wish they did so like my life, it is a bit disjointed and tells a story here and there. Anyhow, this is Sally, Andrea's stepmom, with a laugh of redemption after she wondered when I might be turning 50!! HAHA - I am already there and a bit beyond at that! Why did she have to redeem herself? Because she bought a bead ( A BEAD!!! ) at another ( another!! ) store in PT as a gift for Andrea! Can you believe it? I will be teasing her about this for a very long time....


How does this fabulous meal look? Make you feel a bit hungry? It was so full of flavor and texture and I enjoyed every bite of it in celebration of Andrea's 48th birthday! Happy Birthday, Andrea & many more!




A portrait of Andrea and her stash of birthday loot!



This single flower stem was in a vase on our dinner table at Lanza's and it was so pretty in a true scarlet with radiating lines of yellow from the center. It sat right in front of me and I was hypnotized by it!

This is the sky on Sunday evening. Is it not beautiful? Breathing in the slat air on the ferry ride, seeing the mountain and the colors of the sky near the sunset made me feel just happy to be alive in this glorious place!




If you look very closely, you can just barely see the mountain poking through the weather changing sky on Sunday night's ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston. I never get tired of seeing any of the mountains.

The fabulous weekend bead show banner created in one hour in a hotel room with the effervescent Lisa my creative muse and co conspirator!



The Northwest Bead Society show was a blast. We had so much fun seeing friends and eating great meals with Lisa that I almost did not want the weekend to end! The best part was the fun I had with Lisa of Zizzyzaza Beads. I had forgotten to pack any banners for my booth, I can not begin to tell you where my head was; so we walked across the street to the fabric store and spent $22 buying stuff so I could make a banner. Then I told her Huckleberry Finn style, how much fun she would have helping me make this banner.... and presto, an hour later this beautiful piece of artwork was finished! HAHA - it was was 2 art students putting all their education to great use! How you may ask, did we get all those sequins and paillettes on the banner in just the right places? We shook them up in our hands, threw them across the banner and glued them where they landed! Sparkles are us!

I am going to post pictures that were taken during my weekend at the Northwest Bead Society show, where I did have fun, see friends and ate great food but first I just wanted to whine a bit! My medical bills have started to arrive and so far they exceed my ENTIRE LAST YEAR'S INCOME!!! What narrow minded, ignorant fools ( and I sure as hell hope these fools take no government assistance ie, medicare, medicade, social security, flood insurance etc. ) could say that we, the richest country in the world, does not need a medical plan available AND affordable to ALL its citizens!!! I am certain I will be on a path to war as I begin letter writing campaigns to congress, the senate, Glen Beck ( major fool ) and anyone else I can think of! Wake up everyone!

Before the weekend's journey begins at the bead show ( we do get a pretty ferry boat ride before getting there ) I will leave you with this quote that I like. I can not remember where I found it but I like it nonetheless. Enjoy.




This is where I will be for the weekend, at the Lynnewood Convention Center in you guessed it, Lynnewood! It is the annual Northwest bead society Show and I will be a vendor of beautiful beads, charms and jewelry. Hope to see some old friends and customers and make new friends and customers. The weather is slated to be hot ( 84 -86 degrees !!!!! ) so that may keep people at the beach and parks but really, beaders, the wet weather will arrive and you will need beads for your sanity while indoors!

I really intend to write an actual post today and of course, tell you wonderful arty and creative things but I could not let another moment go by that I did not say this is 9-9-9. I love numbers that have a rhythm or movement to them in the order they are placed and today's date is no exception. Pretty cool.

Corrupters! Andrea who got me hooked watching this HBO series and Kathy who enabled me to keep watching it by loaning me season 1 on DVD! I love it! Part of it appeals to me as it is set in the modern yet sleepy south and a small part attracts me because Bill, the handsome vampire is a Civil War veteran. I am such a Civil War buff. What would it be like to meet someone who fought in the great war of the North and South? What questions would I ask? All of this is interesting and has me thinking about things southern. I will keep watching.