***

In other news, my beads are all completely organized, categorized, and priced out in a nifty spreadsheet. It only took me like two months to do it, but I feel SO good now that I can make stuff to (try to) sell and give better descriptions and more accurate pricing. Which is to say: if you haven’t checked out the eight little pairs of earrings that have been sitting sadly in my shop instead of dangling happily from your ears, you should go there now, because the prices are drastically reduced and I feel like a loser I’m ready to start making some sales!

And just to give you a little more incentive, I’m offering a special coupon code just for my dear bloggy friends. Enter “BLOGLOVE” where it says “Apply shop coupon code” when you check out, and your shipping is free!

I am reallllllly hoping to make time on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to sit and create new jewelry to add to my shop. I can’t tell you how many times during the endless hours of bead counting and spreadsheet making that I was tempted to reach for the tools and start crafting a new necklace or bracelet! Now let’s hope my inspiration doesn’t float away like all those blog posts I never manage to get written.

Anyway, happy Thursday! I have tomorrow off, so maybe you’ll be seeing some new jewelry in my shop sooner rather than later!

Tagged: beads, etsy ]]> http://probablytabitha.com/2011/06/02/a-shop-update/feed/ 5 Tabitha bead mosaic Wearable Joy http://probablytabitha.com/2011/04/05/giveaway-time/ http://probablytabitha.com/2011/04/05/giveaway-time/#comments Wed, 06 Apr 2011 01:30:45 +0000 Tabitha http://probablytabitha.com/?p=2005 ]]> Today is special for two reasons:

1. It’s my birthday!
2. It’s my 400th post!

Unfortunately, I don’t have anything spiffy like a reflection on the last 399 posts (or the last 25 years), but I do have a little something for you.

In honor of my birthday, my 400th post, and the fact that all of you lovely people have stuck around to share it all with me, I would like to give away one pair of earrings from my Etsy store!

All you have to do is be the first to guess the exact time at which I was born into this world. You have until next Monday, April 11th, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. (If no one gets the exact time right, I’ll give it to whoever gets the closest!)

Oh, and just in case you’re looking at my earrings and thinking, “Gah! I wish she had something that was (orange/gold/heart-shaped/whatever),” — I will happily consider the winner’s custom request, as long as it’s not too elaborate. (I’ll accept the losers’ custom requests, too; y’all will just have to pay. I’m not made of money or anything.)

Good Things:

• We ran our 10k last weekend! I’m not even going to admit how far down we are on the list of times, because it’s pretty pitiful, but we weren’t going for speed. We just wanted to FINISH. And I’m proud to say that I did it, and I ran the whole entire thing, except for about 30 feet when I physically could not make my legs run up the steepest part of the course. So, check that off my 101 in 1001 list!
• We went to the local drive-in theater, and we learned a valuable lesson: watching a drive-in movie in the rain is not exactly ideal. You’re running the windshield wipers constantly, the car starts to fog up (and not from any hot-and-heavy action), and the speakers can only compensate so much for the noise of the rain before things start to sound distorted. But it was still a fun night, and that’s another item checked off the list.
• I’m getting a lot more excited and interested in sex with my husband. If you’ve been around awhile, you know this is something I’ve struggled with since the beginning of our marriage. Lately I’ve been having a blast exploring all the possibilities, and while I still have a lot to learn and some emotional/mental obstacles to overcome, things are definitely looking up (no pun intended?), and I think Joe is feeling a lot more fulfilled in that way, which in turn makes ME feel a lot better as a wife.
• I paid off the smaller of my two school loans completely, which leaves me with just $8,500 left to pay off before I am 100% debt-free. I’m already dreaming of things I’ll be able to do once I have a little more money to play around with, like:
  • buy a car (maybe even one that was made in the last five years instead of twenty?)
  • get a personal trainer at the gym
  • go to Scotland
  • take a cooking class?
  • get a fancy cut and color (and actually be able to maintain a new color)
• I had the opportunity to do some different tasks at work, things that relate more to the skills I obtained in college, and it could lead (eventually) to getting into a position where I could see myself actually looking forward to my job every day. And it seems like the people I was working with were really appreciative of my skills, which means there could be more opportunities coming down the pike.
• I put some new things in my Etsy shop, and I have some serious ideas about how to make this little hobby a little more organized. And, thanks to Ashley and her husband-to-be, I have a nifty little spreadsheet that will help me keep track of my materials and costs, which is going to mean I can put some actual thought behind the prices I set.

Not-So-Good Things:

• I stepped on the scale this morning and was 158.4 pounds. I haven’t seen 158 since last July — nine months ago. I had been teetering between 151 and 155 for weeks and weeks, and I really didn’t mind that, because I still felt skinny. But my body isn’t feeling so sexy lately, and I know it’s because I haven’t been careful about what I eat. Seeing that number this morning has left me feeling crappy all day, and yet all I can think about doing right now is eating a gooey grilled cheese sandwich and washing it down with a bag of cookies. It’s obviously time to reinstate Weigh-In Wednesdays and start counting every stupid calorie again. Stay tuned for next week’s official return post.
• Hm. I can’t think of anything else “not-so-good” to share, so I guess that’s good! Or it just means I’m really preoccupied by this stupid weight gain. Grr.

Other Business:

My friend Megan is a part of Team in Training, and she’s helping to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Last year, she raised over $4,000, which contributed toward the $72 million raised in 2010 by Team in Training partners! Megan is training hard again, this time in memory of her grandfather, who passed away earlier this year from cancer. Megan says, “This year, I aim to raise just $2,500, and I would love your support! In raising a small amount of money, we can support those living, fighting, suffering and/or surviving with blood cancers.” Please check out Megan’s Team in Training donation website, and pass the link on to anyone you think might feel inclined to help!

So here’s the basic premise of the game. There’s a bunch of cards that each have a prompt on them that starts with the word things, and everyone is given strips of paper — as many as there are people playing, so each of us had ten strips — to write their answers on. The cards said stuff like, “Things you wouldn’t do in a graveyard,” or, “Things to make someone do under hypnosis.” One person reads off a card, and then everyone, including the reader, writes an answer to the prompt. The reader then collects all the answers, reads them aloud, and people have to guess who wrote which answer. Simple, varied, and ridiculously hilarious.

But this time, what was even more hilarious than the answers people wrote (which were insanely hilarious), was the stuff that was said during the guessing rounds. I decided to jot down a few of these things while I kept score, because I just KNEW it would make a fun blog post. So, without further ado, I give you: “Things people say while playing the game of Things…” Keep in mind that it may have been funnier after hearing all the written phrases, but I didn’t write those down, so hopefully the out-of-context quotes that follow will still make you giggle.

(Disclaimer: These are all direct quotes, so there is a little bit of language. Sorry!)

——–

Josh: It gets hard…it always gets hard!
Crystal (his girlfriend): Yes it does…

***

Leah (to Joe): Did you do the squirrel?

***

Allan (to Josh): Blow your load Josh!
Josh: I’m not ready!

***

Megan (to her husband Chris): Are you my ass?

***

Jeff: Joe’s goin’ the distance!
Allan: First time he’s heard that…

***

Everyone: “Joey One-Cheek!”

***

Crystal (to Chris): I think you’re the green vagina.
Chris: I’m…not, actually.

——–

Find me elsewhere on the Interwebs: As promised, I’ve posted some photos of Cari‘s wedding jewelry! But I figured, since it has to do with beads, I might as well revive my other website and debut the photos there. So head on over and check it out!

Of course, due to the fact that it’s been such a crazy week and I’ve got a busy couple of days ahead (yay for a WEDDING tomorrow!), my brain is basically mush, so all I can give you are a bunch of bullets. Wait, scratch that. My good friend Lucy does this thing called “7 Quick Takes Friday” where people just list 7 things on their minds. That sounds like a good number to me, so here we go.

ONE!

I have a million unread items in my Google Reader (okay, maybe just 230), but I just can’t stomach the thought of “marking all as read” because what if I miss something amazing from one of my favorite bloggers?! So what I’ll most likely do is go through the short stuff first (like the comics, nerdy riddles, and kazooisms), then browse all the shared items, and then go through each person’s newest posts (because yeah, some of you have written two or three that I have yet to read) and at the very least, skim them. Except I’ll probably end up reading just about everything, because THAT’S WHY I’M SUBSCRIBED TO YOUR BLOG, duh. Google Reader really has become an enabler for my obsession with finding new blogs, and as much as I love and appreciate it, there might come a time when I have to painstakingly pare it down to the absolute gems because, honestly, it’s quite the time-sucker. But it’s such a fulfilling time-sucker, dangit!

TWO!

I’m ridiculously excited about tomorrow, because my brother-in-law (Joe’s brother John) is getting married!! He and Kelly have been together for like seven years, and I’m thrilled that I get to be there to see them officially tie the knot. I even get to announce the whole wedding party at the reception! (Let’s hope I don’t get all nervous and stutter or something.) Tomorrow also happens to be the one-year anniversary of the day Joe proposed to me. I still can’t believe how quickly time flies. I mean, on top of tomorrow being the proposal anniversary, I’m turning 25 in a week and a half, and two weeks from today will mark EIGHT MONTHS since we got married, and a month after that is the two-year anniversary of the day we met! Talk about crazy, right?

THREE!

Linking to our “engagement” blog in the last one reminded me that it still exists and we had been talking about resurrecting it someday. In case you weren’t around when we were engaged, Carbonated Jeans is what we called it, and you can check out the (very few) posts that are up there if you’re interested in the planning and excitement over our then-upcoming wedding. But what I really want your help with is this: what kind of stuff could Joe and I use Carbonated Jeans for? We were thinking of maybe a vlog series, since people seemed to like this one so much. But if we did that, what should we DO or SAY in the vlogs? And what else would you like to see from the silliest newlyweds you know?

FOUR!

I’m reading a book for the Goodreads Santa Barbara Book Club I’m a part of, and I basically LOVE it (the book AND the club). The book is called The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley, and it’s a mystery! It’s written from the perspective of an eleven-year-old girl who is a chemistry genius, and I just love her voice, the writing style, and especially the intriguing storyline. I’m terrible at summarizing a book (especially when I’m only partway through it), but I can already tell you that I would highly recommend you check this out. It’s a really fun read, and I’m learning a lot of new words, believe it or not.

FIVE!

So my 25th birthday is coming up (as previously mentioned), and my poor husband and family have been asking me for a wish list for over a month. I don’t know why, but it’s been so hard to come up with things I want that aren’t either a) way too expensive (hello, new car) or b) booooring (hi, seasons 4 and 5 of Numb3rs). I finally pulled together like six or seven things I might like, but I have to admit that I also like the idea of letting people surprise me completely with their gifts. I mean, cheesy as it sounds, the fact that I get to spend my birthday with Joe, his parents, AND my parents is going to be more than enough to make my 25th birthday fantastic. Of course, I won’t be turning down any spa packages or Borders gift cards. Noooo way, Jose.

SIX!

Joe and I are leading a new series in our couples’ small group, and it’s on the Song of Solomon, which — if you don’t already know — is all about dating, sex, marriage, and love. I think we’re both pretty excited about it, but I’m also kind of nervous about how it will be received by the other couples. Will anyone be willing to open up about stuff that intimate? Or will it end up being kind of surfacey like previous studies? Only time will tell, but the DVDs we’re following along with should at least provide a few laughs and some food for thought.

SEVEN!

I’m finally (just about) done with Cari’s wedding jewelry, and if I do say so myself, it is AWESOME. I think I might actually revive Wearable Joy long enough to share some photos and stories about the process…hopefully. Oh, and speaking of Wearable Joy, I got some free business cards in the mail yesterday, thanks to my brother’s handy advice about this place called Moo.com. If you click on this link, you can create custom designs and receive 50 FREE business cards! I’m hoping that Cari’s wedding jewelry and these great cards will combine to give me enough motivation to get serious about my beading website and my etsy store.

————–

Well, that’s all for now, friends. I really, really do hope to resume more frequent blogging next week! I’ve missed it so much!

Happy Friday!

Oh, and be sure to check out some other Quick Takes today!

We’ll see if I manage to start posting more consistently after this whole thing’s over, though.

Anyway, speaking of being halfway there, I spent some time this weekend making the earrings for my Truth Tuesday winners — something I should’ve done weeks ago. Out of the four pairs I need to make, I got two done (hence, the halfway trend of this post). The other two, unfortunately, will have to wait because I don’t have the right materials for them. There is a bead show in a few weeks, so I’ll stock up then and hopefully get these things finished before Christmas. But I’m pretty happy with the way these first two pairs of earrings have turned out, and I might just make a bunch of each of them and see how they fare in my Etsy shop. I guess maybe I’ll see how the winners feel — maybe they don’t want anyone else wearing their earrings, eh?

And on another “halfway” note: Have I mentioned yet that HALF of the couples in our small group are “expecting” right now? Joe and I went to a baby shower today for one of them, and there are two more who will be having showers soon, too. All three are expecting within the next two or three months, I think. Talk about a baby boom, right? (Don’t worry — we’re NOT getting any crazy ideas over here. Not for another couple of years, most likely.) But it’s exciting to have a group of friends who are all getting to share their experience with each other, and I’m looking forward to holding some babies.

I can’t think of any more half-type things to write about, so I’ll call that a good excuse to end this one and go play with some more beads. Hooray!

The answer to last week’s first-ever Truth Tuesday with the potential for an actual PRIZE is…

Well, first let me review the options, in case you forgot or were totally lame and didn’t vote.

1. In the last year, I have been to more than five bead shows, but less than fifteen.
2. To date, I have made more than twenty different necklace designs, but less than thirty.
3. I own more than fifty different types of beads (for example, my 6mm clear Swarovski beads are one type), but less than 100.

Now let’s talk about the stats. There were 16 total responses, and the breakdown of votes is as follows:

#1 — 7 votes!
#2 — 4 votes!
#3 — 4 votes!
And one person thought I was really tricky and guessed that all three were true!

So let’s narrow down the possibilities a little. First, I wasn’t thaaaaat tricky, so one of them is definitely a lie. Fifteen of you are still in the running!

Nextly…the number of people who are going to get a prize based on the voting stats above is…

FOUR. Which eliminates #1 as a possibility. It’s true, I’ve been to more than five bead shows, but less than fifteen. I think I’m up to about seven?

So is it #2 or #3? The answer is: (Drumroll, please…) *da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da* (Um, that’s enough…you’re kind of a bad drummer. Sorry, just bein’ honest.) *snicker*

Numero DOS! That’s right: #2 is false. I have NOT made more than twenty different necklace designs. That’s where I got tricky. I’ve made more than twenty total necklaces, but a bunch of them were the same (my bridesmaids’ necklaces). The total number of unique necklaces I’ve made is somewhere around 17 right now. And #3 is true — I own over 50 types of beads, but under 100. I’m probably at around 75 or 80 different types.

Let’s take a look at our lucky winners…

My Dad! Hey Dad! Nice going — you were the first to guess correctly, and your reasoning was spot on: How could I have made that many necklaces amid all the crazy wedding planning? I’m actually surprised more people didn’t see your comment and copy your answer. (And don’t tell Mom, but I think this prize might be a great birthday gift…)

Summer! You are brilliant. And I’m so excited to make some earrings for you! (Also: I’m seriously considering holding them hostage in Santa Barbara until you and Zak come visit us for a weekend. teehee…)

Patti! Congrats! Also, thank you so much — you have been one of my best encouragements for continuing with Wearable Joy. I hope I can make you a pair of earrings that lives up to your great compliments on what I’ve done so far.

And last but most definitely not least, Kristen! Ooh, sistah, you’re on fire! How’d you know it was #2? Awesome critical thinking, I’m sure! It’s gonna be sooo fun working on your earrings.

Congratulations, peeps!

***

…Oh, another thing, winners. I’ve got one more eensy weensy little task for you to complete before I can make you your special, one-of-a-kind earrings. I need you to send me an email (to tabitha@wearablejoy.com) with the following information:

1. Your address
2. Your favorite colors, color combinations, any special requests, etc.
3. Whether you prefer silver or gold jewelry
4. And, once you receive your earrings (if you’re so inclined) be sure to tell people where they can find more of my designs! (Here and here!)

***

So there you have it. My first giveaway EVER! If you weren’t one of the winners but would still like a pair of earrings (or a bracelet or necklace), let me know. I can’t give them to you for free, but I can definitely make you a really sweet deal.

Stay tuned for today’s round of Truth Tuesday…hopefully to go up before noon Pacific Time!

Let’s get right down to business. Last week I asked you to guess which of three shows Joe and I don’t watch on Hulu… Well, I kind of tricked you. If you read the prompt carefully, you’ll notice I said I would list three shows that “Joe and I both watch regularly…” — BOTH of us. So, the fact is, one of us watches all three shows, and one of us watches two of the three, but chooses to pass on the third.

So the answer is #1, Dollhouse. I am the one who DOES watch it, but Joe decided not to get into it because we already do watch so many online TV shows. All three shows I listed are sci-fi in nature, but we also watch The Office, Leverage (via TNT), and a few others that are not as high priority… (Lately though, we’ve been thinking of paring down our crazy list in favor of more productive/fulfilling things…but that’s beside the point.)

Anyway, our winners are…my mom, and Jenna K! Congrats…you win YogurtLand fro-yo on me, whenever you decide to visit me in Santa Barbara. *grin* (But seriously. My treat.)

***

Now for this week’s TT puzzler…in honor of my new little website (which some of you STILL haven’t checked out!), I’m calling it The Jewelry Edition…

And…get ready for this…

For the first time in Truth Tuesday history…

ANY AND ALL* winners of this week’s round
will receive an ACTUAL PRIZE!

Yes. You read it right. If you guess this brain-bending doozy correctly, I will make you a one-of-a-kind pair of earrings! (If you’re a boy, think about it: Christmas presents for your lady, eh?)

So let’s get on with the show. Please guess which of the following three statements (all related to my beading hobby) is FALSE. Careful, I might be a little tricky this time…

1. In the last year, I have been to more than five bead shows, but less than fifteen.
2. To date, I have made more than twenty different necklace designs, but less than thirty.
3. I own more than fifty different types of beads (for example, my 6mm clear Swarovski beads are one type), but less than 100.

All right…guess away! You have until midnight next Monday (Pacific Time) to submit your guesses, and if you try to guess more than once, I will only count your first submission.

*I say “any and all” with one little condition — In the event that the word “giveaway” triggers a massive amount of search traffic and hundreds of responses, I have to limit it to a generous TEN winners… Typically, less than ten people respond with guesses each week, so I think we’ll be okay. But I’m just covering my back in case a miracle happens. (Oh, and I’m also gonna have to say US & Canada winners only…sorry! I ain’t made of money.)

I’ve signed up for a free two-week trial of DreamHost, where I have registered and hosted my new domain name. I’m sure there are way cooler things you can do with this kind of power, but since I only have two weeks to figure out if it’s worth keeping, I just installed a WordPress plugin which allows me to run the website very similarly to this here blog. It’s nice, because I was able to kinda hit the ground running, throw some stuff up there to start things off, and not freak out (too much) about maintaining a Real Life WEBSITE. Call it a cop-out if you want… I call it genius.

Anyway, the bead blog is still (obviously) wayyyy in the beginning stages of development, but I would love for you guys to check it out and tell me what you think! I’m going to be adding new stuff as often as I can over the next ten days, hopefully resulting in such a great thing that I will have no choice but to shell out a few bucks a month to DreamHost for hosting the site.

So, head on over to Wearable Joy, where you can (soon! like in the next few hours, hopefully!) see photos of my beady stuff. There is already a first post up, as well as an About page and a “Behind the Name” page. I need honest feedback! If you think it’s too cheeseball, let me know. I’ll see what I can do.

(Ooh, and I just had a vision of this thing becoming a site that’s about  MORE than just jewelry…it could be a place for other people to share thoughts and pictures of their own handmade stuff! Obviously it would make sense that it be only “wearable” stuff, but I can see it now…or, you know, a year or two down the road.)

Can you tell I’m excited?

And don’t worry — I’m not leaving this blog behind! It’s still my primary blog, and I still need to write write write about LIFE, not just beads.

So, enough rambling. Check out wearablejoy.com now!

This girl.

Yes, folks. I know  you’re loving my Truth Tuesday posts because they’re just sooooo trivial (pun shamelessly intended)…but I’ve been aching to write something more substantial, so I can only guess (or hope, really) that you’re missing that aspect around these parts, too. But if you’re not missing it, then skip right over this post, because it’s allllll about me, and my life, and there is no guessing game for you to play tonight…unless you want to guess how many slices of toast with raspberry jam I had for dinner tonight. (Riveting, I know.)

Anyway, here’s the thing about infrequent updating. It tends to lead to either an incredibly dull, dry “recap” sort of post, or a long, meandering journey through the labyrinth that is my brain when it’s ready to burst with information that has yet to be transcribed into black and white. I don’t know which of the two you prefer, but this is going to be the latter. Why, you ask?

Because I feel like it. And because my husband is playing one of his computer games, and I’m enjoying just being in the same room with him, knowing we get to snuggle up together later.

Anyway. About that update. I started with some bullet points so I wouldn’t forget too many of the myriad things I’ve got rattling around to share with you. I’m sure there’s a smarter way to go about fleshing them out, but I’m just going to take them one at a time, write about them until my fingers bleed, and move on to the next one. We’ll see how much I pound out tonight.

• I’ve been on a reading kick, and I think that goodreads.com is fueling my passion in a serious (and maybe a little bit dangerous) way. I want to read everything. Like…everything.

It’s true. I read several books in a span of a month or two, back when Joe and I were still in the planning stages of Wedding Madness, and I haven’t been able to stop since then. At that time, reading was my winding-down activity at night. I’d get home (usually after hanging out at Joe’s place and reluctantly leaving to sleep in my own bed) and I’d lay back with a book and just get lost in it, let the stress of planning or work or whatever else just melt away…and it’s really great. Now that we’re married, reading has become more of a lunchtime activity; I’ll bring my book and my lunch into Joe’s cubicle and sit on the floor while he surfs the ‘net or whatever he likes to do on his lunch break. It’s my little escape from work, and it beats going out to eat every day because we’re saving money and gas and energy. Anyway, that was a rather boring explanation, but I think what it boils down to is this: I’ve been kind of missing “academia” lately. Or maybe just English. Reading stimulates my mind, my imagination, my vocabulary. So when I discovered goodreads.com? I was doomed. I’ve been adding tons of “to-read” books, finding ones I’ve read already and adding them to my “bookshelf,” and I even joined a Santa Barbara Book Club group on there! I might make some geeky friends around here yet. But let’s move on, shall we? Even I’m a little underwhelmed by this whole paragraph.

• Joe surprised me with dinner last night, on our one-month-iversary. It was delicious.

Ooooh, was it ever delicious. Joe asked me a few days ago what I would like to have if he ever made us dinner all on his own. I didn’t really give him any good ideas, but boy did he pull off an incredible meal. And I was totally surprised, because I went out to Williams Sonoma with our neighbor to pick up some things with our gift cards (Yay KitchenAid mixer!), and when I came home he was slaving away at the stove and said, “Don’t come in here! Go in the bedroom and I’ll tell you when it’s ready.” Man, are those ever the greatest words to hear when coupled with the divine aroma that was floating in the air. So he made two dishes, actually: a penne pasta with artichoke hearts, and a lemon chicken dish which also had artichoke hearts. And together? They were heavenly. I mean, seriously. I think I should just leave the cooking to him, because he knows what he’s doing. Me, on the other hand…well, let’s move on to the next bullet point.

• I made dessert last night, and sort of created my own recipe. And it sort of worked. (Sort of.)

Right. So I bought frozen puff pastry the other day, thinking I could concoct something pretty easy with it since I’d seen so many recipes for tarts and things around the webiverse. I went with a play on Pioneer Woman’s apple tart…but since I didn’t have apples or lemon juice, I substituted them with blueberries and raspberries and grapefruit juice. Don’t laugh at me. The final final product was actually pretty great. But first I completely botched my intital attempt. See, the original recipe calls for a fruit that isn’t overly juicy, which is partly why she asks you to squeeze half a lemon into the mixture. Raspberries and blueberries, on the other hand, are nice and juicy, especially when they’re the kind you buy frozen in a bag. So I threw together the berries and some brown sugar, and without even taking notice of the plentiful amount of liquid the fruit was already sitting in, I squeezed in half of a LARGE grapefruit. And then I spooned a bunch of the mixture onto my thawed puff pastry sheet and tossed it in the oven. This is what it looked like before I baked it:

I’m sure you can imagine what happened. Or rather, what didn’t happen. The juice soaked into the puff pastry and therefore the pastry? Did not puff. It just got really warm and kinda gooey. I didn’t even bother tasting it, because it was icky. Fortunately, I had another puff pastry sheet and tons of the fruit mixture left, so I drained the liquid out of it and went for another shot. Here it is right after I stuck it in the oven:

See how the liquid is not threatening to take over the world this time? They turned out much better the second go-around, and I even felt confident enough to invite our neighbors up to taste it. (They liked it!) So, kind of a success. I think I’d probably nix the grapefruit juice next time, not because it didn’t taste good (it really did), but because there is already plenty of moisture and tartness in the berries. I’m definitely going to try the original apple tart sometime, too.

Moving on…

• I made a whole bunch of necklaces over the weekend and it made me want to quit my job and start beading full time. I can’t do it, of course, but I just might throw a necklace or two on etsy.com and see what happens. Or maybe I’ll start a beading blog.

The longer I think about this, the more I’m feeling like a beading blog could be really fun. Don’t get me wrong: I have no doubt that it could very well turn into a project that only gets updated every month if you’re lucky…but it might be worth a shot, just to see if it goes anywhere. I’m seriously having a blast coming up with new jewelry designs, and whenever I wear things I’ve made, I get a lot of compliments and shocked expressions like, “You MADE that? Wow!” And I know that people sell handmade jewelry for a pretty penny, so I could start with some competitively low prices and see how it goes. I’m by no means holding my breath for a potential career here…but you never know, right? Here’s a picture of one of the pieces I made this weekend (and, note to self: if/when putting stuff up on etsy, learn to take better photos):

So there’s that. Oh, and the beading blog idea also reminded me that I’ve been thinking of getting myself a domain name. Something catchy, memorable, but not obnoxious or overly long. Any suggestions? I don’t think I want it to have the word “blog” in it, because that would limit the possibilities (like using it for the bead blog that turns into a hugely successful online store). But enough about that.

• Not exactly news, but my allergies/food reactions are ruining my life. My mouth and throat seem to react to just about everything I eat these days, and there is no consistency to it. Probably going to go back to my allergist for some more tests. It just seems so futile.

Yeah…not a lot more to say about this one. It’s just that, right when I think I have it all figured out (avoid sesame, mustard, almonds, walnuts, yada yada…), my throat gets all scratchy after eating a bowl of cereal or a piece of chicken. Not cool. Granted, I’ve never had a reaction serious enough to warrant an ER visit or the use of my epi-pen, but it still sucks. Whenever my throat reacts to food, the only thing I can do to keep it from getting worse (or having a panic attack) is stop eating anything for a few hours, drink lots of water, and wait for the throat-closing-up feeling to subside. Add that to the equally frustrating fact that I have weird trouble swallowing anything, and oh how about the part where I get random stomach aches, earaches, stabbing chest pains and other fun unexplained ailments? And I swear my body is, in its entirety, rebelling against me. Fortunately, I have more GOOD things to think about/write about, so I won’t end on this lame note.

• I’m thinking of making a 101 in 1001 list, if for no other reason than I have a bunch of fun (and some necessary) “to do” items that I need to keep track of. One of them was to come up with my own recipe for something, so I could half-cross that one off.

Another is to pay off my school loans, and as crazy as it sounds, I may just be able to do it in 1001 days (almost three years), if I manage it right. But back to the list. A lot of people seem to have their own 101 things to do in 1001 days, and I can see how it could be a great motivational tool. On the other hand, another blogging friend posted her own list recently, but it was a list of things she HAS done in life. That’s definitely something to consider, too, because it’s a way to look back and be thankful for the experiences I’ve had. Hmmm…

• It sounds like my little nephew Levi is not ready to come out of his mommy’s tummy yet, so he probably won’t be a 09-09-09 baby. But the real bummer is just how badly I want to see his little face and touch his tiny hands. I can’t even imagine how excited Josh and Serena are.

That’s all there is to that. No news yet (as of 9:30 p.m.) except that they were released from the hospital today after going in to see how things were progressing. Josh said they didn’t think baby Levi would be coming out tonight… Eep! I can’t wait for that moment to come, so that I can tweet, text, blog, and shout over my cubicle wall that I AM AN AUNT!

• Carpal tunnel sucks.

No, seriously. Another bodily ailment trying to attack me from every angle. My wrists are totally killing me right now. And since I definitely would never leave you with “Carpal tunnel sucks” as a final bullet point, how about this one:

• I’ve  been sitting next to Joe at our computer desk for the last several hours, blogging while he plays games, and despite the fact that I smell really icky (because we went to the gym after work and then had dinner and have been sitting here ever since), I’m perfectly content.

Why, you ask? Because this is my view:

Husband in underwear, with a focused, determined expression, doing his geeky thing = priceless. I love him.

And that concludes this Insanely Long Post. I hope I didn’t lose you guys, at least until after the part about my fabulous jewelry that you all want to buy from me.

I’ll try to be better about updating on life things, so’s you can be spared from reading another one of these heinous ramblefests. Peace out!