It was a Great Day for a Birthday

Last night, Bea and I packed up and drove over to the Beck Farm to celebrate my birthday with a yummy home-cooked meal of roast "beast" and mashed potatoes. Good stick-to-your-ribs food topped off with a fudge cake. Earlier in the day, I celebrated while I worked in the studio by wearing this stunning combo. Yes, that is one of my red-black lampwork bead three-strand bracelets a bit of an unusual combination. But you know me -- one is never enough. So I added the latest Joan Boyce beauties in black diamond with the beautiful glass cream pearls. I just love the look. Makes me think of the "Twilight" series. For those of you who don't know of Joan Boyce, you can go to HSN.com and check out page after page of really lovely things and the quality of those pieces is beyond compare. And, if you are lucky enough to be in Aspen, you can look at her "real jewels" there. This mix also makes me think of the movie "Kate and Leopold" in the scenes from the early days in NYC. Don't you agree that these pieces would really finish off a little black dress on New Year's Eve? And in a strange but beautiful way, I can see a bride wearing this on that special day. Totally unexpected, but then that's what makes styling so much fun. It all fits with my ever-present thinking -- why does anyone want to wear exactly what someone else is wearing? I love when I get pix from one of you showing me how you styled my designs and made them your own. No one wants to be a sheep -- moving along with the crowd -- unless, of course, you are getting on the 6 train in NYC at 8:00 in the morning. When it comes to jewelry and fashion, the fun part is creating your own style and making and leaving your unique impression.

Turquoise, Rainbow Hickoryite and Assignments

Today I was feeling as if I needed to be a bit grounded. Somehow yesterday got away from me and all the things on my "to do" list just didn't get done. I felt a bit like a hamster on the treadmill -- running as fast as all get out but getting no where even faster. When I see and wear turquoise it always makes me happy -- and the Jay King Mine Finds three-strand beauty shown here with one of my rainbow hickoryite designs makes me feel very happy, relaxed and focused. I first started working with rainbow hickoryite several years ago after discovering it in Tucson; it felt lucky from the get-go. Don't ask me to explain it -- I just get these "funny feelings" at moments in my life that things are on the right path. When I held the beads that day I felt a warmth radiate from them. Maybe because they remind me of my dad for some reason -- he always took me along to buy the exotic woods he used in creating his guitars -- so my love of fine woods was honed at an early age. And, maybe because when I see beautiful stones like these, I am reminded of the greatness of Mother Nature, and I understand the importance of doing her proud with the jewelry I design. While my thinking makes me feel very small -- I understand that no matter my size I still have an important task to tend to while on this planet. I do believe that if I can make one person happy when they see or wear a piece of the jewelry I make then I feel as if I am doing the job that I was assigned. I know, I know -- maybe a bit philosophical for this time of day -- but one of the hazards of working alone -- I spend a lot of time in my own head without interruption or censorship. That can be a blessing or a curse -- today I think it's a blessing.

Life, the DMV and John Lennon

Well, today was the day to renew the driver's license. Yes, it's coming on my birthday (trying not to freak out about that fact but that's another story best left for another day) and that means that my current license was due to expire so I had to bite the bullet and renew. In this part of the world, that means you actually have to take a written test -- well, it is not really written any longer since it is all computerized in this day and age. Good student that I am I got the manual last week and actually read through and studied the contents. I was amazed at how much there is to know about driving a car these days. Now, as you know, I'm not new to the driving world; in fact, I have been driving for more years than many of you have been alive! So why was I so jittery about this darn test? Driving to the DMV office it actually hit me that I hadn't been this nervous about taking a test since the final in that damn (and yes, I am swearing) damn (there I said it again) finance class I hated in B-School. Now that's just nuts, right?


After showing enough documentation to prove that I am indeed a living breathing soul I went to the computer kiosk tryng to ignore my pounding heart. There was no time limit, so that made me feel a bit better and there is a way to skip questions and return to them later...unlike the finance final that was timed with a TICK, TICK, TICK obnoxious timer. I relaxed a bit on the first question -- one of the multi choice answers actually made me laugh out loud. So, okay. someone in the State has a sense of humor. As I completed the final question and was being congratulated on the monitor, I heard John Lennon's Happy Xmas playing on the Muzak (or whatever it is called today) buzzing through the small space. John Lennon singing a song about war being over -- written all those years ago and somehow still very relevant in today's world. Needless to say, I sat there quietly and waited for the song to end. John Lennon lyrics pushed aside for a moment, I finished up the process, had a pix taken, thanked everyone for making it a pleasant experience and walked out of the building.


In the car, where Beatrix was waiting, it hit me...today is December 8th. It was this day, in 1980, that John Lennon left this place. In an act that still makes no sense to me at all -- one of the greatest poets or our time was gone...in a flash. I made the short drive home no longer focused on the silliness of a license to drive -- life is a much bigger thing and we don't know how it all works; but what I have learned in the years I have lived is that it is so important to be kind, loving and sharing every moment of every day because we don't know when that moment will be our last. So friends, remember that kindness, loving and sharing should be a part of who we are, not just during the holiday season, but every day of the year no matter who we are or where we live.