Friday's Favorites!

Last week's "Friday's Favorites" had one sold! Congrats CutieGoodie!

This week I didn't ask for submissions, instead I picked one item each from the last 8 shops that hearted my shop. There's a nice array of really beautiful things! I'm always fascinated by the jewelry especially, since I've never made anything more complicated than a friendship bracelet.



Go ahead! Click on a couple and treat yourself to a "Happy July 31st" present!

Book Review

Yesterday I finished reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Greggory. It was the book that the movie recently made was based on.

I must say that for the first half of the book, I was kind of bored...I didn't hate it, and it was interesting enough for me to not put it down. But as the book progressed to the second half, it got really good and I found myself liking it more and more. By the end (if you know your history, it isn't a spoiler), I couldn't wait for them to chop off Ann's head.

If you are a fan of historical novels, then this book is for you. They aren't really my favorite type, which is probably why it took me so long to get into it.


Synopsis
Sisterly rivalry is the basis of this fresh, wonderfully vivid retelling of the story of Anne Boleyn. Anne, her sister Mary and their brother George are all brought to the king's court at a young age, as players in their uncle's plans to advance the family's fortunes. Mary, the sweet, blond sister, wins King Henry VIII's favor when she is barely 14 and already married to one of his courtiers. Their affair lasts several years, and she gives Henry a daughter and a son. But her dark, clever, scheming sister, Anne, insinuates herself into Henry's graces, styling herself as his adviser and confidant. Soon she displaces Mary as his lover and begins her machinations to rid him of his wife, Katherine of Aragon. This is only the beginning of the intrigue that Gregory so handily chronicles, capturing beautifully the mingled hate and nearly incestuous love Anne, Mary and George ("kin and enemies all at once") feel for each other and the toll their family's ambition takes on them. Mary, the story's narrator, is the most sympathetic of the siblings, but even she is twisted by the demands of power and status; charming George, an able plotter, finally brings disaster on his own head by falling in love with a male courtier. Anne, most tormented of all, is ruthless in her drive to become queen, and then to give Henry a male heir.

A Clown Show

Last night I helped out with a show that the boyfriend was doing. (For those that don't know, he's a clown). When I say helped, I mean I helped load props in, load props out and took some pictures during the show...

A lot of people give clowns a bad rap, because they've only seen really bad ones or scarry ones perform, but a great clown is an amazing thing to see. My boyfriend performed with another former Ringling Bros clown and together they did some amazing juggling, hillarious comedy and broke in a couple of new routines that I hadn't seen before.

I also love the fact that his make-up isn't anything like a creepy bozo the clown. Sure he's got a little white on his face, but he looks so sweet and innocent...you just want to give him a sqeeze.

Where do lady clowns shop when they get cold?

Nuclear Size Bug...Yikes!

Even though I live in the desert where there are lots of different types of creepy crawlies, in the big city of Las Vegas, you hardly ever see the snakes and scorpions and other things that make you scream. Usually I see ants, crickets, the occasional roach, and spiders.



Last night we finished watching "Taken" (which was a really fun movie) and I put it back in its netflix envelope and headed out to the mailbox (if I don't do this right away, I'll forget for days and I'm sure netflix loves me for it). I opened the door and looked out to my right and saw the biggest roach I had ever seen.

Now, coming from Hawaii, I've seen some monster size roaches, so I'm not prone to give superlatives where they are concerned. This one, however, made me scream. Our neighbors mush be hard of hearing, because otherwise they would have come out to see if anyone was being murdered.

Huge does not describe this bug. I called my boyfriend out to see it because I needed a witness to the shear vastness of this guy. He, being a guy, took his sweet time, but upon seeing it let out a scream of his own.

I didn't take a picture of it though, I was tempted, but I knew a photo wouldn't show its true size unless I put quarters next to it, which would have required me to get closer than I was feeling comfortable with. Let's just say it was at least 4 quarters long and I didn't know what a roach that size would do to me.

Eeek! Next time I'm making my boyfriend take the netflix out.

A Fun Book...

I just finished reading A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer. I must say that I really enjoyed it. I love it when a book is really put together, and this one is just that. You can tell that the book was planned as a whole with every intricate piece fitting together. I most liked the court room scenes, which if not written well, could easily be dull, but this one is definitely a page turner.

If you like courtroom dramas, and books about plotting revenge, then this one might be a great beach read for you.

Do you find it hard to read because your hair keeps falling in your eyes? AllThingsTangled has scrunchies and headbands to solve that problem.

Sunday Funday Video!!!

My friend posted this on Facebook earlier this week. It's not often that you have a video that makes you laugh because it's silly, AND gives you chills because it's so cool.

If you're feeling down today, this will definitely cheer you up!



Now that you've got your good feelings going, go ahead, click here, and buy yourself a present to celebrate!

A Living Statue Story...

Yesterday I was a living statue again.

There are always so many different types of people that come up to me. Some are scared, some just want to try to get me to move, some are fascinated, and some are mad that I'm making a living standing still...

Usually the younger kids are scared.

There was this one little girl yesterday, she must have been 2 or maybe a really small 3 year old. Her father gave her a dollar to put at my feet. She toddled up to the stairs and ran back to her dad.

I thought, she must be scared.

Her father urged her to try again, and she made it up two of the three stairs, but then backed down again. She didn't run, she didn't scream, she just toddled back to her dad.

The next time he picked her up and carried her up the stairs for a picture. She didn't seem to mind, didn't seem to scared at all actually. The picture was taken, and again, the father tried to get her to put the dollar down at my feet. Again she refused.

Finally the father pried the dollar bill out of the little girl's hand, and that's when she let out a scream that echoed throughout St. Mark's Square...she wasn't scared at all, she just didn't want to give up her dollar...

Friday's Favorites!

Thanks everyone for all the submissions! There are so many wonderful things that can make a house a home.

Here are just a few of them:



I'm really in love with the dead bird on a plate. It's not too girly, and not too gross either...in fact, unless you look at it carefully, you don't quite realize that it's dead right away.

There's some great stuff here, go ahead and show these artists some love!

Thunderstorms and Submissions

Last night we had a wonderful thunder storm. Lots of big booming, lots of lightning and even a little bit of rain. Not that it helped the heat any, it's already back up to 100. For a couple of seconds we even lost power.

The boyfriend loves to be prepared for such things, and when the power came back immediately got out candles and flashlights and even a crank powered lantern in case it went out again (kind of closing the barn door after the horse has left if you ask me). Well, the lights stayed on for the rest of the night, and truth be told, I think he was more than a bit disappointed...

It was to be expected for me though, I've been in Vegas for over 10 years, and the longest I've been without power has been for about 5 minutes.


Submissions

In honor of me finally being the sole owner of my condo, I'm looking for things for the home. Anything that makes your home a better place...that's what I want to see. Post your links in the comments, and I'll be looking here first before looking in the forums.

Here's mine...a "Bag Lady" who stores all of those plastic grocery bags that no one knows what to do with, but no one wants to throw away.

Weekend!

Yes! Finally! My weekend has finally begun. For those that work at a regular job, yes it is Wednesday and yes you have to go to work...but not me! I'm off for the next two days!

This coming week should be a lot easier for me. I'm only working three days at the Venetian, and then I actually have a gig. Getting a gig used to be no big deal for me, but in this economy, I went from having 2 or 3 a month to having my 4th one all year.

It's a private party for a lady that I worked for before. Now I have to wrack my brain to remember what I did last time, so there aren't any repeats. You know...Magicians aren't supposed to show the same trick twice...Though that's not always the case, some of mine I can do again and again.

Today will be some light cleaning (although the house really needs a lot more than light) and then a beauty day with a long soak in the tub, a facial, and if I'm not too tired, I might even give myself a manicure...The way my nails look now, I can't even begin to think about doing any close up magic for anyone.

Another day in Paradise...

I have to be at work early today because I'm doing the 10 am statue shift. After that, I'm finally getting my quit claim form signed...my ex is signing over the condo which we own jointly now, to me. It would have been done earlier, but with all the work I've been doing trying to stay afloat, I didn't have any time to look for the proper paperwork (which, of course, I didn't have) and then call the title company to get it.

Now it's in my hand, and after statue, I'm ready to go.



In Knitting News:

I've started another Bolero Jacket. Since the Pink and Grey one seemed to get a lot of hearts and views, I thought I would try for one in a different color combination. This one will be in a warm beige for the body and the trim will be an automn red. The yarns looked so pretty together, I thought they might look good as a sweater. We shall see what the final result is.

New Item! ...and more heat...

It's hot and stormy in Vegas right now. And I don't mean the good kind of stormy where it cools everything off, but it's just clouds and thunder and lightning, but the heat is still there. It's only 8 in the morning and it's already 90 degrees.

The worst is finishing up work and taking the parking garage elevator. There are stairs that face west (which make them nice and toasty), and an elevator, with absolutely NO ventalation...If it broke down, I have no idea how many minutes people would last in there.

The lowest floor we can park on is 5, so when I get lucky and park there, it's actually cooler to take the stairs...as you park higher and higher up, you kind of have to judge whether the heat you create walking up stairs in the sun in 110 degrees is going to cancel out not going in the elevator.

If I could live in Vegas but have the weather in Portland, Oregon, life would be awesome.



In New Item News:

I finished my Aqua and Dark Blue House Socks. Since the pink ones sold a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd make some replacements. They're so cozy...I have a pair that I wear in the winter over here (yes, there will be coolness coming in a few months), and they keep my feet from going numb on the cold tile in the kitchen.

I hope you like them!

Sunday Funday Video!

Well, I'm still in the middle of my working marathon. Today I'm doing living statue again...my body is so sore, but at least it's only 4 hours and then I'm done.

Now onto the video!

It seems today that everyone has some weight loss scheme or another. Most of them are frauds, but this one is just too funny...it's the Beer Diet!

Depending on where you work, this might not be work safe....



Now that you've completed the beer diet, if you have any money left over, click here to treat yourself to something nice!

Relaxing...

So a Clown, a Magician and an Accordion player walk into a bar....



Now before you start to think, "Haven't I heard this one before?", let me tell you, it really happened. My boyfriend (the clown), our friend (the accordion player) and me (you guessed it, the magician) went to our favorite wine bar last night after work. They have these wonderful cheese platters and really good (and affordable) wine...we sat outside with the misters blowing on us and had a wondeful time.

The wine bar is actually in Boulder City, which is one of the few cities in Nevada where gambling is illeagal. It became a town when they started building the Hoover Dam (Which was then called the Boulder Dam), and it's a really charming and beautiful city. Maybe if I sell everything in my knit shop about a thousand times over....then I can get a place there too!

Click here to donate to the unrealistic Boulder City Dream House Fund

Friday's Favorites

Thanks for all the submissions...I feel a little bit cooler already.

Yesterday we rode up to Mt. Charleston and the weather was gorgeous...even a little chilly. Unfortunately, the heat had kicked up full force in Vegas, so when we came back to the city it was beyond hot. We were on the motorcycle, so it's not as if we could crank up the air conditioning...I must have lost at least 5 pounds in sweat alone.

When we got back, that first glass of water was the best water I've ever drank.

Now to cool off a bit with the "Friday's Favorites"!

Here we have a little bit of Christmas in July with some beautiful reds and greens. Are you too hot today too? Maybe you should buy something...Are you one of those lucky folks (like in Boston) where it's actually chilly? Maybe you should buy something...

Think Winter...and Submissions

Well, it's official...out here in Las Vegas we are in the middle of a heat wave. It's supposed to be 111 degrees (no, I didn't hit too many ones) in the city and 115 or so out on the lake. We were going to go out on the boat today, but now we're rethinking that decision.

Sure we can jump into the water when we get hot, but we've also discovered that it's a lot more fun to barbecue than to be barbecued. My suggestion for the day was to drive up to Mount Charleston (it's about the same distance away as the lake) where it's at least 20 degrees cooler...it's either that, or stay inside.


***SUBMISSIONS***

Since it so hot outside we are going to think winter...A little bit of Christmas in July! I want to see your Red and Green etsy items...just post the link in the comments (I'll be looking at stuff from my blog first, and then from the forums. We'll all think snow for tomorrow and check back here for the Friday's Favorites!

Another Sale!

I made another sale last night. That's 2 in the past month. After a reeeeallllly long dry spell (was that enough e's and l's?), I'm hoping things are starting to pick up.



This time I sold a pair of rainbow wrist warmers.

Even though I'm always elated when I sell something, I also always get really nervous. It's not just a product, it's something that I worked really hard on and something that I put a little bit of myself into. I worry that people won't like it, that it will get lost in the mail, that something will happen (I don't know what this mysterious "something" is, but I worry about it just the same).

One of my "kids" will be shipped off to Florida today, and I hope their journey is a good one.

MY Friday...

In Vegas we have a saying, (though it's probably in other places too) we say, it's "my Friday" or it's "my Monday" to denote when you've started your week and when you've ended it. Though there are people here in town that work mon-fri, 9-5, but the majority of us don't. For example, today is "my Friday"...I don't have to go to work tomorrow so even though it's really Tuesday, (it is Tuesday, isn't it?), for me, not so much.

My boyfriend hates this...He says it's too confusing...he says, Tuesday is Tuesday is Tuesday whether you're off tomorrow or not...

I like the saying myself.


So happy Friday to me!

Tomorrow there will be sleeping in, and much TV watching!

Enjoy your day today, whatever it is.

Trained Fish on a Monday Funday

Do to the death of my cat, I didn't post the Sunday Funday video of the week...So...This week it will be the Monday Funday! (Thank goodness it always rhymes).

Betty loved her fish, but she never saw anything like this. Oh yes! It's trained goldfish! Definitely something you have to see to believe!



Does watching the fishies make you yearn for the beach? Perhaps you need this fishnet tanktop...great as a cover-up!

Betty has passed on...

Last night my cat, Betty Boop, passed away. When I got home, she was having a bad time breathing (again), and I took her to the emergency vet. They gave her oxygen and did xrays...it was much worse than before. They said there wasn't much they could do.

She was a good cat, and lived to be 11 years old. I really missed her snuggling with me last night.

Crochet and Randomness

First things first...I got my 250th follower for my blog...yay!!!!!!


In Crochet News

I've started on the Aqua House Socks and got the first cuff done! I should definitely get the second cuff done today at work and I'm hoping that they'll be done by the end of the weekend. They're going to look like the socks pictured here except different colors.

I think this time I'm going to recruit my boyfriend into taking the pictures. It's really hard to set the timer, run in, take the shot, go back, see that I wasn't in the right place, set the timer again, run back, take the shot, run back, realize that the dog ran through the shot, set the timer again...etc....hopefully he can cut my self posed picturing by half!

In juggling news:

I'm chugging along with the clubs. I need to redo my nails yet again, since the clubs keep breaking them. It's really hard to practice because even after dinner when it's dark out, it's still 90 degrees, so after about 5 minutes I'm sweating like a pig...(which really doesn't make sense because pigs don't have sweat glands.)

Friday's Favorites

I didn't have time to do submissions this week since I was in Oregon, so for Friday's favorites I decided to go with people who have left comments on my blog. There were some items that I really wanted to put up in addition to these five, but I couldn't find the link to their shop.

I hope you guys like these!

Oregon, and TV Shows, and Treasuries...oh my!

Still in Oregon right now, although I'm leaving this afternoon. I'll be sad to leave all of this beautiful cool weather, but I'll be happy to be home...speaking of which, I still have no idea why people in Vegas actually use saunas...I mean, you can step outside and save yourself a whole gym membership...maybe it's just me.



TV Shows

Last night I visisted my cousin on the set of Leverage. I've never watched the show, so I didn't recognize any of the stars, but she did introduce me to the producer which was cool. I watched them block a scene, but since it took place in a sweat shop (and felt like it too), we went back to her trailer and hung out where it was more comfortable.

She says she's going to try to hook me up with an agency in LA for when they need magicians and hand models. Anything to get more work in this economy is always a good thing.

Treasury

The Treasury that I'm in is only on page 5 of the hot list and has only 10 hours left to go. Please give a couple clicks and comments...pretty please? With sugar on top?

In Oregon and a Treasury!

I'm sitting outside of my mother's house right now, and next to me is a hummingbird sipping nector from some flowers. Though we have hummingbirds in Vegas, you rarely see them because it's usually too hot for them to venture out. The cat is wandering outside in the back yard, I have my coffee and life is beautiful.

My mom moved here after I graduated high school, so I never grew up in a place like this, but it sure is pretty.

Today, we're taking a family portrait (the first one ever, at least that I can remember). Then it's off to Powels (the most awesomest bookstore ever). I'm meeting a cousin down there who's in town from LA because they're filming a TV show in Oregon, that for the life of me I can't remember its name, and that should be fun too! She's head of wardrobe on the show, so of course she's a great person to go shopping with.

In Treasury News

My White Shell Scarf made it into a treasury! Give a click here and show it some love!...it is much appreciated.

New Scarf!

I'm leaving for the airport soon, but I wanted to show you guys this new scarf I just finished and posted. It's another entrelac (which seems to be my best sellers), but I made this one longer and skinnier than my usual ones.

I know it's still Summer and possibly too warm for winter wear, but since my sales have been so slow, I have a couple more summer items that I want to make, but I'm going to focus more on the winter season and getting my store stocked up. And actually, I made a sale last week, and it was for warm house socks to someone in Florida, so who knows when your really going to sell those winter items.

When I get back I'm starting some new house socks, this time with some of that aqua yarn that I have left over from my last sweater.

Next time you hear from me I'll be posting from the "City of Roses" in the "Beaver State"!

Vampires!

I love getting TV shows from netflix because a)you can watch them all at once and b)because I don't get any of the cool channels like HBO and Showtime. Well, a lot of my friends had said that "True Blood" was really good, but the boyfriend didn't want to watch it...(I have no idea why, he loves vampires and he loves tv shows, wouldn't that be the perfect combination?)...I decided order it on netflix (on his account, of course), and we watched the first 2 episodes last night.

It was awesome! Perhaps a tad too much sex, but still a great show. The boyfriend won't admit that he likes it, but afterward he was trying to look it up on hulu so he could see the next episode. (They don't have it there, but he tried). I guess now I have to go and put the rest of the series on the queue.

In other news:

I'm leaving tomorrow for Oregon to visit my mom. I should have internet access (since her husband is a total tech geek) so there shouldn't be any interruption of blog posts...

While I'm there I'm going to Powells which is the most awesome store ever! It's the largest independently owned bookstore in the country selling both new and used books. It takes up about a city block and is at least four stories tall. I always go there when I visit mom, and I always end up leaving extra room in my suitcase for all my purchaces...unfortunately, no matter how much room I leave, it's never enough.

Sunday Funday Video

This one has been around for a while, but it never ceases to crack me up. It's an improv group of about 200 people and they go around and do weird things in different places around the country. In this video they randomly freeze in place at Grand Central Station in New York City for 5 minutes...I love watching the people's reactions to it. Hee hee!



Have you missed other Sunday Funday Videos? Click here to catch up....you can also subscribe to this blog to ensure that you don't miss anymore... :)

Weird Book

I just finished reading The Gunslinger by Stephen King. It's the first book of the Dark Tower Series. Now I heard from a lot of people that it's really good, and probably some of his best work, but I'm not totally convinced.

It was interesting, that's for sure, but there were many times where I wasn't sure quite what was going on. I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt, though, and I hope that it was more of a set up for the books to come. I'll definitely give the next book in the series a shot and let you know if it gets any better.

Anyone out there read the series? What do you think?



In Elevator News:

We have a bank of 2 elevators at work that go from the casino level to where our dressing rooms are. I've been taking these elevators for about 5 years (since the first year I didn't know where they were). The cast refers to them as the pretty elevators, since the elevators that are closer (and slower) are ugly service elevators.

Well, in the past 5 years, I still can't pick which one is going to open. I know I have a 50/50 shot, but I swear there's a little man that controls this thing and gets a kick out of watching me run back and forth. It's gotten to be a game with me now...will this be the time that I get it right?

I know I'm weird, but the Venetian is a huge place, and there's a ton of walking to and from everywhere...without these little games I play, I think I'd go insane!

Friday's Favorites...Patriotic Style

And we come around to another Friday, yet again. There were so many submissions this week, both in the comments and in the forums, that I had to go with ten items instead of the usual eight....I really wanted to use all of them, but an etsy mini can only be so big.

Here we go with some patriotic items and patriotic colors! A lot of these items can be used all summer, so don't worry that it might be a tad late to get them on the fourth...go ahead, click on that buy button, you know you want to! (I'm such an enabler to those recovering shopaholics out there...hee hee)



Want to see some more? Check out all these patriotic items that were submitted in the forums!

Clowns and Submissions!

The boyfriend came back last night, completely exhausted...they'd been shooting the commercial since 5:30 am and they worked up until he left for the airport...poor guy, he could bearly walk off the plane.

For anyone out in Kansas City, I think there's a picture of him in the paper falling out of a car (yes, he fell out on purpose)...at least I think it's on the paper's website...he showed it to me, but I didn't catch the web address to post it here...

Now I'm going to have to wake him up for work soon. After all of that, he's still got shows to do all day.


Submissions!

Since the Fourth of July is fast approaching, I thought we'd look for things patriotic. If you have anything in your etsy shop that's Red, White, or Blue...or even better, all three...post the link in the comments and tune in tomorrow to check out Friday's Favorites!

I don't have anything in my shop yet that's all three colors, but here's one of my red halter tops to kick things off!

Something for Me!

Since I've opened my etsy store, which was in October (I think), I've made stuff for the shop, for the boyfriend and for a couple of friends but nothing for me. At work in between shows I'm working on a new entrelac scarf now, so I decided to start a new home project just for me. I'm making myself a new afghan with scrap yarn!



I have made three before, but one got given to the boat, and the dog claimed the other two for herself, and I really want one to snuggle with on the couch while I watch TV. It will probably take a while since I know I don't have enough scraps right now...but with other projects I'm making, I'm always producing more...besides...I deserve it...this one, the dog's not taking away from me!

In Juggling News:

Now my arms are reeeeally sore, I've had to give myself a manicure to repair all the damage those clubs did to my nails, but there is some improvement...today at work juggling balls is going to seem like a piece of cake!