Multi-Tasking Genius - Project Runway Overview - No Spoilers

What would Betty Boop wear in today's world? How would she still be a trend-setter in our on-line, video and social networked society? This week the designers needed to design and make a dress for a young, fashion forward Betty Boop. The winner of the challenge will help to create a Betty Boop collection that will be sold at Torrid.com and select locations around the country. With a budget of $200, the designers, once again, have a single day to create some fashion magic. 

I love Betty Boop. She's classic, sexy, and totally unapologetic. She's
been around forever, but still looks great and is still solid with an
ever-changing fan base. 

In the meanwhile, my fingers are going a bit numb. I'm flipping between my keyboard and three different channels on my TV - network Olympic coverage (ice skating team competition), secondary network Olympic coverage (dual curling and Alpine skiing), and, of course, Project Runway All-Stars. Tomorrow I'll have the Olympics up on my laptop or phone while I'm working. Multi-tasking genius - I am woman, hear me roar - LOL. 

The designers aren't having problems with the sexy aspect of Betty Boop, but combining that with a young, girly attitude seems to be a goal that is escaping them. The models try-on went fairly well, but several people are certainly having problems. Stanley is working with a double layer of fabric that's looking and feeling bulky. Char is fighting with neoprene that is too heavy for the look she wants to present. Edmond is making his third dress, having changed fabrics and designs back and forth and back once again from a print to a solid and back once more to a print. Errors of judgment and indecisiveness are not a designer's friend. 

Finally the models are fastened or sewn into their dresses and everyone is on their way to the Runway. Ten designers remain, only nine will be left after tonight. As the fashions walk the Runway, I'm surprised by a few designs. I adore Helen's look. Normally she bores me, but by accident, she ended up combining stripes and polka dots, and it's really working. Char's design turned into a red hot mess, her neoprene never worked right for the design she wanted to create. Joshua is playing peek-a-boo again, but with a cropped T and a cute flared skirt, he might finally make it out of "safe" and into "judged" - for good or bad. Merline is once again being Merline, creating a look I've see from her too many times before, and not all that well done either. Some of the looks were seriously changed because of feedback given by Anne in the workroom, and I'm wondering about the advice she gave. She was trying to get the designers to think "young", but she totally missed the mark this week in her critiques.  

Tomorrow I'll show the winners and losers, and next week will be an avant-garde challenge. I'll be closing the shop two hours early today so that DH and I can drive down to one of the southern suburbs. Matt's memorial is scheduled for 5-7 pm and I want to be there for at least some of it. DH will also drive down for the Visitation, Funeral Mass and internment on Saturday, which takes place 90 miles south of the Cities. Between the drive and the various events, it will take most of the day. I can't attend that one, so I'm making sure I can at least attend one of the events. Have a great Friday and I'll be back with the Runway results on Saturday morning. 

Thank You and the Olympics Start Tonight

DH and I were busy last night, working through the logistics for Matt's memorial service, funeral mass and internment. Finally, we decided to rent DH a car for the weekend so that he could get to the funeral mass and internment on Saturday, but I would close the shop early on Friday and we would go to the memorial together. The funeral is being held in a town south of us about 1-1/2 hours. I'm hoping that the weather will cooperate, but thanking the rental company which had a great weekend special which dropped the rate to just under $50 for the car. DH still drives a 1992 Saturn, and although it's fine for the Cities, it wouldn't be dependable for the much longer drive to Wabasha. 

Enterprise ended up with a great weekend rate that allowed
DH to get a car on Friday, return it on Monday, and get the
miles he needed for the trip, all for less than $50. SCORE! 

Thanks to all of you who sent condolences. I really appreciated them. As much as DH may think of Matt as his friend, he was also mine and we had some great times together over the years. I think one of the hardest things about growing older is watching your circle of friends shrink. It's one reason I'm so grateful for my on-line friends. It broadens my reach and keeps me from closing myself up in my cave and losing myself to triviality. Thanks! 

I love the Ice Dancing event. Here, Maia and Alex Shibutani dance
in the US Figure Skating Championships in January 2018. The
brother/sister pair are our top hopes in this discipline. 

The first competitions have already started at the Winter Olympics, and tonight will be an ice skating exhibition event. I think that's in Prime Time, although I'll be watching Project Runway All-Stars. Fashion or frills? Fashion wins for me. But starting tomorrow night, with the official Opening Ceremonies, I'll be watching a lot of the Winter Olympics. Here, in the Frozen Northlands, we learn early - embrace winter, don't fight it. We're a state of skiis, skates, and snowboards (as well as snowshoes and ice fishing). We understand snow. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can of the events. In many ways the Winter games are my favorite events. 

I've loved slalom skiing events since the 1964 Olympics - yes, that's a
long time ago. With today's improved cameras and overhead cables,
the course can usually be seen from top to bottom. Love it! (and a
VAST improvement over patchy watching in snowstorms on small
black and white televisions. 

What about you? Do you enjoy watching the Olympics? If so, what event - summer or winter or both - is your favorite? In the Summer games, I love the swimming (of course), but in the Winter games, I love the ice hockey, many of the skating and snowboarding and skiing events, and I love curling! Yes, that rather ridiculous event of pushing stones across an icy surface to knock others out. I really do like curling, even though the US has a crap team. I cheer for Canada, but it's usually Sweden or Norway who win this one. 

Ice Curling can be a lot of nothing, but it's decided by small distance
increments occasionally, and it's just a weird sport. Still, DH and I
both really enjoy it. 

Well, got to get going today. If you watch the skating tonight, enjoy it for me. I adore skating, but exhibition skating before the events begin leaves me cold. Have a great Thursday, I'll be back tomorrow, and once again "Thank You" to those who expressed condolences in comments or private messages. It's very appreciated. 

Thoughts On A Friend

Yesterday I heard that a good friend, Matt, had finally succumbed to the cancer that had been wracking his body for the past 2-1/2 years. Matt was a friend of ours since the late 1980's or early 1990's - I can't date that exactly, but somewhere in there. When we first met him, we were season ticket holders for the North Stars - the professional ice hockey team up here in the Frozen Northlands. (We sent the Stars down to Dallas, and we now go wild with the Wild - although tickets are beyond our budget now.) Back on course ... 

Matt was our bartender in the concourse area, and we would gather during period breaks, have a beer, and shoot the breeze with other season ticket holders in our section. Eventually we all pulled away into different jobs, and Matt started working with Johnnie, another North Stars season ticket holder who had seats near us, in his jewelry store. That lasted for several years, but Matt always had his eyes on a larger goal - a wife and a family. 

I remember visiting Matt in the hospital. We had a chance
to talk about all manner of things for a while, and even though
he was in some serious pain, he was smiling. He had a
wonderful smile, didn't he? 

Eventually Matt met Liz - an awesome woman with a great sense of humor and a wonderful grasp on down-to-earth realities. Liz was a divorcee with a young son, Derrick. I still remember a trip to the local amusement park with the three of them, early on in their dating. It was a great afternoon, and we got hot and wet and that's what it's all about at Valley Fair. Derrick is grown up now, married, with a family of his own, and Matt and Liz got married and had five wonderful kids of their own - Grace, Meghan, Jack, Gianccola (forgive me if I blew this one out of the water, we just call her GiGi), and Jimmy - named after DH. 

Matt never lost his desire to shoot for the moon. He tried this job and that, and always was striving to strike it rich for his wife and kids, but he also realized that his true riches were surrounding him and enriching his life by sharing his life with him. He was family oriented and focused, and loved his kids and his grandkids. We ran into him here and there - at the State Fair or at other events. It was always wonderful to see him and we picked up as if we had just seen each other the day before. It was a really comfortable friendship, because Matt was like that - he could make anyone feel like his best friend. 

He loved kids, and his family was everything to
him. I'm absolutely sure they'll never forget
his humor and his courage. 

A few years ago, he, Liz and the family moved back to the Twin Cities from a town farther south, and we started getting to see them more regularly again. DH would join him and "the boys" for drinks every now and again, and sometimes I would join them after a long day's work. It was great to catch up again. After one of these impromptu get-togethers, he was feeling poorly, so went to his doctor for a checkup. His doctor found advanced prostrate cancer - a shock to all of us. That was in the summer of 2015. That was the start of rounds of hospitalization, eventually resulting in the cancer moving to his spine and paralyzing him from the waist down. He moved on, though.,working it in a motorized wheelchair. 

The last time I saw Matt was at the final day of Renaissance Festival this past September. It was rainy, cold and wet, and we huddled in the Vikings bar with Liz, his youngest boy Jimmie, DH and I. It was a miserable day of weather, but we had a great time catching up. When it came time to leave, it was a real struggle getting his heavy wheelchair through the thick, deep mud - but we managed and the fest attendees were very helpful, moving aside to allow us to stay on the more packed earth in front of the shops and stalls. We left him with hugs at his fancy mud-covered van, for the trip home. I think DH also caught up with him once more, along with "the boys" at a local bar in October or early November, but that was the last time I had a chance to see him. 

So today I'm remembering a good friend, a great father, a loving husband, and a courageous man who always tried to have a smile on his face, even when he was feeling like crap. I'm really going to miss you, Matt. Safe travels and much love speed you onward. 

Have a great Wednesday, I'll be back tomorrow. 

 

My Autumn Officially Begins ... Now!

Yesterday was the final day of this year's Renaissance Festival, and we didn't miss a single week. The last day, though, was wet, cold rainy and oh so muddy! Our dear friends Matt, Liz and one of their younger kids, Jimmy, came out to join us. We were worried they might skip it since Matt is a paraplegic and uses a motorized wheelchair, but they braved the rain and the mud and came out to spend several hours with us. We watched a stage show with them, then headed to the "pub" to watch the football game with them.

Here is a look across one of the major walkways toward the Petting Zoo. They
had wonderful animals for petting and feeding this year, including baby
kangaroos, lemurs (an extra $7 to enter the cage and feed them, but
they were pretty awesome), a llama, goats and baby goats, sheep, African
and American porcupines (mostly sleeping and not for petting), and
some baby antelope that had everyone falling in love. Check out
sea of mud and the tracks that the wagon with the two kids is leaving! 

Matt, DH and I watched the game. I took a couple of short forays into the rain to go to the bathroom or look over the food choices (none of which I decided to eat), Liz and Jimmy wandered the Festival grounds and Jimmy did some of the activities like the zip line and the bungee bounce acrobatics trampoline. DH and I mainly stayed with Matt and finally had a chance to catch up on our lives over the previous few months.

We had all tried to get together during the State Fair a month earlier, but kept missing each other. It was absolutely wonderful to see them again, even if it had to be in the mud.

A glimpse of Matt's motorized wheelchair at right, along with one
of my very muddy shoes. The flatter muddy areas like this one were
generally OK. It was the deeper, more wave-like mud that created
havoc with his wheels. Rather like the mud in the next photo. 

Speaking of mud, take a look at how bad it truly was! Getting Matt out of the Festival grounds was extremely difficult. His wheelchair is heavy, and even with six wheels, it can (and did) get bogged down if the mud is too deep. We had a few dicey moments with DH leading us through some poor choices of pathways, but then I took over the lead and got him moved over to the more packed earth in front of the various shop entrances. I wasn't averse to requesting people to 'please move over' so that Matt could get his chair through, and the people were very sweet and accommodating once they heard 'wheelchair' or saw him behind me.

Large muddy ruts like these were a real problem to get over, and
if the wheelchair actually got into the ruts, we might never get him
out of them. The only solution was a "quick" crossover to the other side.
BTW  Sharon - none of the cabriolet chariots were working at all. Mud is
more than they can handle, and the mud was very slippery. I could
envision some serious injuries if the carriages had been operating. 

Finally arriving at the entryway, DH and I got stamped for re-admission and walked with him down to the roadway, keeping him company while Liz walked down to collect the van and drive it up to collect the rest of her family. After she drove up and Matt got up the ramp and secured in the van, we waved good-bye, hugged everyone promising to get together sooner rather than later (and under better environmental conditions), and re-entered the muddy grounds to allow DH to buy one last-minute munchie. Then we left too, walking to the FAR end of the quarry parking pit - more mud! 

The inside of my shoes look horrid because my orthotic inserts have been
pulled out and put into my daily wear shoes, but it's the mud I wanted to
point out anyway! All of this has to dry and be pushed off into the
lawn or garden before I'm allowing them to be moved indoors
and washed. Ick! 

Enjoy your Monday. We had thunderstorms and serious downpouring rain for most of the last few hours, so I guess DH will have a chance to see how his drainage worked on the new patio now. He had wanted a good rain to assess it - LOL. Since it's now October, I'd better step up working on my holiday cards. I've been working on them in the early mornings, but now that what I want to do has coalesced in my mind, I have to make it happen. Cool weather is ahead, September is in the books and October beckons.

Back To the Grind - Santa Claus Has Left the Building

It was a wonderful holiday - three days off from the gym, lots of great food and lots of sleep. I think that last one was the most necessary thing, but all of it was really good. Santa was very kind to me this year - I got repaid for my coat and two swimsuits I had ordered to have in reserve, and I also got an updated Nook Tablet 7" (my old Nook reader was 5+ years old and had some issues). Although I do most of my reading on my phone, I want to bounce back and forth between books I'm using for research and my regular reading for entertainment. Now I can do that easily. I ordered a cover and screen protector for it on Sunday and it should arrive in a few days.

I wanted the Nook Tablet 7" because it was pretty inexpensive,
but would work really well for what I needed. This one isn't
one of their really pricey tablets, this guy was less than $50. 

Was Santa good to you? I am always so blessed by that kindly old man. Monday was DH's birthday, so he had more presents to open for that, and he had a bit of cake to celebrate too. Total of my three-day indulgence was a three-pound weight gain, but I'll be back in the pool today and every other day this week.

I've been eating one piece of Candy Cane Pie every night since
Christmas Day, but yesterday DH ate his square of birthday
cake instead. He was happy, I was happy, a win/win for both. 

Our friend Matt was admitted back into the hospital on the 23rd with a fever. As of yesterday, the doctors still haven't determined what is causing it. We were going to go and visit him on Christmas Day, but the roads were a skating rink with freezing rain. Very bad. So we waited for Monday instead and it was a much safer trip there and back. It's such a bummer to see him in the hospital again, but his oldest daughter was able to come up for an extended trip from her job/school in Iowa so seeing Grace again was a real plus. Crossing fingers that he gets to go home again soon.

The Bead & Button Show classes are open for browsing
and normally I'd be all over it - post-it notes throughout
the catalog and decisions being made. The idea is boring
me this year  - that's so unusual. This is a trip I take every
year that I usually LOVE. 

Bead & Button Show registration opens in a couple of weeks and I'm still not sure that I'm going this year. I keep angling toward going to Vermont to see several LJ friends instead, but I'm quite torn on this. I guess I'll take another look through the class catalog and see if there is anything at all of interest to me. Last time I looked through, it was pretty much a bust for me, but it's also a business trip and the only chance to see old friends that I get each year.

I did get my fill of "A Christmas Story" on the 24-hours showing. I caught bits
and pieces, but managed to catch all of the important bits throughout the day.
I just love this movie! 

I hope you have a great Tuesday. It's nice to be back into my routine again. Those three pesky pounds will be off before I know it! Enjoy your day - it's the first day of my Four-Day End Of The Year Sale and I'll be working hard!

Sharing Pretty Things I

Sunday DH and I actually set an alarm to awaken and get going early. After a relaxing breakfast we headed out to the annual American Craft Council show in downtown St Paul. This show, which we've attended  every year for more than fifteen years, is a gathering of highly talented artisans from around the world who sell at one or more of the three ACC shows held around the nation - Baltimore, San Francisco, and Saint Paul. It's always a treat to go and see the pretty things. We didn't buy anything this year, but I have lots of eye candy to share with you for the next few days. So here we go.

I'll start with enamels by Emily Chesick who is actually
a Minnesota enamel artist. She has a delicate touch
with her cloisonne and is a talented goldsmith as well.  

This great piece is from a collaborative pair - Aaron Macsai
and Frances Kite. They are from Atlanta, Georgia and share
workspace, creative vision and their lives. The underlying
metalwork is highly textured and then the cloisonne is
placed over that. Lovely work. 

Danny Saatoff specializes in kinetic sculpture pieces and
dramatic jewelry. I loved his vision and playful
combinations that also were technically brilliant. This
bracelet is just one small example of his skill. He's
another local artist that I'm watching. 

Andrea Haffner's studio is located in Ojai, California. She
uses pigments, resins and natural pieces of plants,
shell and miscellaneous to produce exquisite works of
art. She'll entrap miniature items into colored resin and
the depth of the art is exceptional. Very fun! 

Finally, to end today's offerings, I present this kaleidoscope ring, one
of many wearable and working kaleidoscopes made by Kevin and
Deborah Healey of Lompoc, California. I adore kaleidoscopes
anyway, and the idea of having a small, portable one to look
through at the spur of the moment is very intriguing. The price
was right, but I was poor. I looked, but didn't buy. 

After spending a very enjoyable three hours at the show, we drove to the hospital and shared a half hour with Matt and his family who had gathered in his hospital room to celebrate his youngest child's eighth birthday. Then we all separated and we continued on to Chili's for dinner, several Patron margaritas, and watching the final round of The Masters golf tournament on their big screen. It was a lovely Sunday all around. Now to head to the pool and work off those drinks and my dinner. Have a wonderful Monday.

Legends - General Mills Comes Through!

Today will be horrifically busy, but if I can stick to my schedule, I'll get a lot done. The wallpaper install has been set for 7:00 am next Tuesday, so I'll start pulling down artwork and shelving today to get the hallway and living room prepped. It's a big job, but destruction is always faster than construction, and I'll be taking lots of pictures and measurements because I need to replace everything the way it had been (or as close as possible). There are a few things I'll need DH for, but he can help me on Sunday after the ACC Show.

Greg Louganis had an amazing career with gold medals in both
springboard and platform diving in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. He
came out publicly as a gay man in 1995 after being diagnosed
as HIV-positive. 

I also have to drop some information by my accountant, I want to get to the hospital to visit Mattie since I haven't been there since Sunday, and I have an exchange to make at Target and grocery shopping to do. No grass growing under my feet today, for sure!

Janet Evans was one of the best long-distance
swimmers the US ever fielded in the Olympics.
She won her medals in 1988 and 1992. 

So, I'm making this short and sweet. Today is the anniversary of the first modern day Olympics, so I'm celebrating by depicting three athletes in my photos. The top photo, Greg Louganis, is posted for a celebration because I just love this guy. Greg is finally getting his well-deserved acknowledgement as a superb athlete on the front of a Wheaties box. Whoot! Whoot! His status as a gay man had pulled him from consideration during the height of his career. Here's a short article about that as well as the announcement of the other two athletes in the "Legends" series who will be featured - Edwin Moses and Janet Evans - the other two pictures in today's blog post. I'm thrilled and delighted that he'll have his moment in the sun and will be sharing that spotlight with two other athletes of such skill. I'm already starting to get excited about the Rio Olympics later this summer!

Edwin Moses was tearing up the track in the hurdles in
the late 70's to mid-1980's. 

I'm delighted that General Mills, a Minnesota company, has stepped up to the plate and is acknowledging these three athletes as legends of the Olympics. Here's hoping all of you have a wonderful Wednesday. I've got to get my act in gear and hit the pool. Enjoy your day!

Sunday Rocks!

Sunday is usually a sleep-in day and a clean house and kick back day. But yesterday, Sunday was a rock day. Twice a year the G&LW Inc show holds a wholesale only event at one of the hotels near the Mall of America and we've been attending this show every spring for almost twenty years now. This time we were ignoring any products we might purchase for the store and concentrating on rocks and fun things for ourselves. After the show we were going to go to the hospital and visit Matt for a while, finally wrapping things up with a nice dinner out. And it all worked according to plan! (That doesn't happen all of the time.)

Red Lace Agate. I just loved that orange stripe going down
the center. I want that color in the next piece I'm designing, so
had to have the stone. I'm hoping it cuts true and doesn't turn
to mud under the saw blade and polishing disks. 

I bought several very lovely slabs to cut up, polish, and use in jewelry that right now is just perched in my head. It will be fun to work with these, though. The first picture is Red Lace Agate. I'm happier with Jaspers, usually, but the color was brilliant and bright and I want that color. So into my little box it went.

Serape Jasper - the banding on this is so beautiful. I'm hoping
I can control that and get it through the process in one piece. 

The second rock was Serape Jasper - probably named after the brightly colored serapes worn in Mexico. These stripes are wonderfully delineated and I am super stoked to play with this one.

Willow Creek Jasper has wide bands, but they are
not usually this evenly distributed. It's geological time
in the palm of my hand. 

The final slab I bought was a piece of Willow Creek Jasper. I was just bowled over by these regular, almost symmetrical bands of time set down in the rock. It's just exceptional and so darned pretty!

After a few hours at the show and other fun little finds, we wandered out and headed over to the hospital to see Matt. We had a chance to spend an hour with him and Liz without their kids or other visitors. That was fun, because we actually had a chance to talk. We didn't talk about anything major - grocery shopping, using computer apps, even the rocks that we had just bought - but it was nice to spend some time together. We're trying to have at least one of us drop by to say "Hi" every day when possible. I think it's really important for him as well as for both of them to know they have people other than family that they can call upon if needed.

Chili's has good food and their Patron Margaritas are steller!
We had a great meal to cap off a fun and productive day. 

After our visit, we headed to Chili's for dinner. It was the perfect cap-off for the day - a great diner and a Patron Margarita. Yummy! Now it's off to the pool to swim off some of those calories, but it was well worth the small weight gain for a great day. Have a wonderful Monday!