our journey, part two: denver~cleveland

because of my extreme urgency to see my dear sweet sister, traci, glenn was a star pilot and drove straight through from denver to cleveland!

we have tried to stop at as many parks as possible along the way.

the girls saw fireflies for the first time.

it was magical!

my dry, parched, soutwestern colorado body has really been enjoying all of the midwestern moisture. i am like a dry sponge, soaking up as much water as i can... i don't need chap stick and i hardly even need lotion.

the mighty mississippi

the ubiquitous crop field

and all of these big, green, leafy trees! also so different from where we live...

i am deeply, desperately, overwhelmingly in love with my little nephew, john. it was heart-wrenching to leave him.

look at that smile!

the girls were so good with him.

the infamous traci

hazel with aunt traci's flowers

and uncle mike with everyone (including little sophia from down the street)

uncle mike took the girls to the build-a-bear factory

and to a cute little toddler amusement park

hazel and june had so much fun!

and i had a wonderful time at the ezra furman show with traci!

he even played a little acoustic set outside by himself, with an audience of about 10 people.

i made him a silver guitar pick (it said one of his lyrics, "my heart sings with sunrise") and he was touched. we actually ended up having a really sweet conversation for about an hour; it was very nice.

(please note traci's new ring, with a lovely blue lace agate, her favorite stone)

i miss you, traci! thank you so very much for everything!

our journey, part one: dolores~denver

this trip has been so fantastic so far! everything has been smooth and sweet...

a beautiful sunset on the drive up. (incidentally, we drove through the night last night. hazel was awake for the sunrise this morning and she said, "the sun is just as pretty when it comes up as when it goes down!)

we got to go to a great party to celebrate the marriage of our dear friends, greg and marcia. they were married last fall in portland, oregon and we were unable to attend the wedding. greg is an indescribably incredible singer/songwriter/musician and glenn used to play in a band with him in durango. he has been so very excited to play his fiddle with him.

it was so great to get to hear greg sing again! and glenn sounded great with him. another member of their old band, rob, was also their to play with them, but i somehow managed not to get a picture of him.

also, i made greg and marcia's rings as their wedding gift. here they are, sporting them. i am considering using this photo as one of the five in the etsy listing. what do you think?

the girls were delighted, as always, to get to read with their mimi and pops

here we are with my parents and my sister, kelly, and her family on father's day

and glenn and i having been playing a lot so far on this trip! it is lovely! we used to play together all the time, before children...

i hope you all are well! i will update again soon.

au revoir (sort of)

so we leave tomorrow for our month-long cross country adventure. here is a breakdown:

1st stop: denver to visit my folks (and see our dear friends, greg and marcia)

2nd stop: a national park on the mississippi river about halfway between denver and cleveland to camp for the night

3rd stop: cleveland to visit my dear sweet sister, traci and meet her seven month-old son for the first time! (and she and i are going to see ezra furman together...)

4th stop: buffalo, new york to visit my 93 year-old grandmother

5th stop: stowe, vermont to visit my aunt kandy

6th stop: acadia national park, maine to camp on the coast for 4 days

7th stop: south jersey shore, to meet up with glenn's family. we will stay at a hotel on the beach for 4 days

8th stop: newton, new jersey to stay at glenn's folks house for about a week

9th "stop": lancaster, pennsylvania for a romantic overnight getaway for glenn and i to go see the felice brothers while the girls stay with glenn's parents!

10th stop: somewhere between newton and nashville

11th stop: nashville, tennessee, someplace glenn has always wanted to visit

after that, we don't really have a plan, except to camp a lot on the way back home...

sooooo, one very exciting thing i keep forgetting to tell you is that while we are gone, jim (please see story about jim at the bottom of this page) is going to "finish" my shop! he is going to pour concrete on the floor, finish the walls, put in "new" windows that actually open, put in a "new" woodstove that is much more suited to my shop and has all the correct parts, and even paint the walls! trevor and i spent the day taking my shop apart, which was quite sad. i don't know what i will do without being in my shop for a month. what will i do? i will come home to a brand new space and i am so very excited. that's what. and i can't wait to share it with you.

i have taken everything out of my etsy shop except for my custom wedding bands, which will have a 6-8 week turnaround time. when i get back, i will be making lots of new stuff, and will resume doing custom orders, but not too many. and, i think a guy that i met in moab, who is also a jeweler, is maybe going to take my spot at the carbondale show. i feel good about that.

i will be posting periodically while i am gone so that i can share my journey with you and i will miss you all. thank you so much again for all of your continued support!

trevor's first project and more

trevor completed his first project and i would like to share it with you. i am so proud of him! here he is, sporting his fabulous ring:

it is a very wide band ring with a smoky quartz.

quite good, eh? i told him i would let you know what you all said, so please do leave comments!

and these lovely items are now in the etsy shop for you:

the "i vow an endless bliss" ring, with laguna agate

remember this post, that mentions the biographical john keats movie, bright star? well, this ring is inspired by that movie.

for me it was a stark reminder to really live your life, really love your love, because you do not know how long it will last.

with its fantastic lavender and pink laguna agate, this ring is feminine without being soft; romantic without being mushy. it is dark and light, silky and solid. it is to remind you to seize every moment; live with all you have.

two more "rustic nuance" bracelets, in aquamarine and prehnite with epidote

and another "resolve" ring, with a gorgeous faceted labradorite

speaking of "resolve" i forget to share a lovely story with you from moab. a very nice woman came in with her husband and daughter and bought a necklace and a pair of earrings. a little while later, another sweet lady who had a booth down the way came in to talk to me and we discussed doing a trade. she came back and got the same type of necklace as the previous woman, and several pairs of earrings. (and i got a beautiful apron and bag!) later in the day, another woman came in and said that both of her sisters had bought the same necklace from me without even realizing it and now she wanted one too! she also bought my "resolve" necklace. we chatted for a while and she has since come to visit the etsy shop. she just wrote to me to say that she and her sisters were all at a wedding and they each showed up with one of my necklaces on. i just love that!

another cool thing that happened in moab that i did not share with you was that my very first sale of the weekend was to a woman who lives in hollywood, doing make-up for actors and actresses. she spent over $800! she bought the peacock necklace, the tres flores necklace, and the two spinny-petaled flower pieces. it was so cool. she was in moab working on the filming of a movie called "john carter goes to mars" or some such thing.

and, speaking of moab, i am considering not doing my next show in carbondale. it was a bit expensive to get in, but i am afraid with only one week between my uber-vacation and the show, i may not be able to pull it off. and i do not want to spend my trip stressing about it. what do you think?