wednesday 3 o'clock: happy new twentythirteen

i am almost resurfaced.
after months of participating in at least one crafty style show over each weekend since last june, the toll of it all has taken me apart. i have not been as tired for a long time. of course, the result of the movable store experience is that i had a chance to fill some custom styled requests and fill in some etsy store sales as well as sleeping a lot. there was the big cahuna of time use... called the children returning home from college. as an embellishment, there was as well as shopping for gifts or schlepping the kids around to make some holiday gift giving purchasing (as well as support it financially). surprisingly, i have managed to snag some cool stuff in brief sorties from my tables at shows. very interesting and handmade finds from these events, along with the actuality of cash in my pockets, allowed me to make impulse purchases for my kids, husband and friends. this whole experience allowed for the lessening of stressed out buying at my end.

as for the holidays themselves, they were delightful. thanksgiving was remarkably low key. it featured the annual kennel show which my kids and i adore. the dog is completely non-plussed by it all, but appreciates the opportunity to get special treatment in the way of oven roasted sweet potato chunks. the rest of us ate madly and enjoyed our meals... i think that they stretched for hours. just as soon as one of us finished a little something, another plate was pulled out to capitalize on another item emerging from the fridge or the oven. i will say, that having a ham instead of turkey is a huge and delightful stress-buster. no long tending of a turkey and all that entails is nice to skip.
my fave part of the meal, was a homemade apple pie , still warm from the oven, with melty vanilla ice cream melding into its slices of plump apples and the creamy yet flakiness of a handmade buttery crust.

as for hannukah, boxing day and kwanzaa, they kind of took a back seat to some of the more time consuming two day holiday shows. christmas was a lot less crazy this year than past ones. husband had some stomach bug. he was tucked away in his bed so he could get well soon. that and hugging the toilet to keep the flu he had, somewhat contained, kept him segregated from the family.
it was nice and peaceful, in spite of his absence in the fray. later that week, the boy got sick and hubby did his big gifty unwrap... it seemed balanced in the level of inevitable craziness.

now we are in the midst of the eldest's first internship. it is a real first job. not the ad hoc ones that she has been doing to keep that tuition money coming in... and her ridiculously long tenure at Au Bon Pain... as she blithely calls ABP. she headed out to NYC to her first job as a digital artist. Luckily her roommate and friend Jen was also starting along on that journey aside of her. the inevitability of start-up nerves and a need for fresh office-worthy clothes has also been dealt with as delicately as is possible during this period in spite of being fraught with seasonal excitability. i am really so proud of the girl. she has more gumption at her age, than i think i had at twice her age. it is truly as neat to witness as the miracle of when reading happened for the first time. i am thrilled she and all three of her roommates who are all beginning their own internships simultaneously, are able to keep their rooming situation intact also. so there will be some shuffling back and forth between Boston and New York City... but if they keep their heads about them, this will add nothing but a sense of accomplishment and maturity to their skill sets.

as for the others here, things after the vomiting and gift buying... (not at the same time) have passed, it is all sorts of relatively normal. i do not underestimate that delightful peace that may settle upon us as a cozy blanket. thank heavens.

now i am trying to figure out what my own new year promises. the need to start planning for the upcoming year is raising its head. blech is all i can say. how do i balance what shows to do with how much they may cost? how do i decide on which ones were actually profitable enough or just barely vs. how much they cost to do? how do i integrate in the price of hotel time, foods support and other items against everything else about the shows?
this is all in contrast to the wholesale orders that my rep brought my way last year. i tried wholesaling at a variety of stores... some of this entire process. it was a very difficult year to predict. work came and went. orders came in droves and were non-existent. i had a gamut of relationship experiences with my rep as well as store owners. let's just say, the whole learning curve for the process was a huge straight line upward. it was harder to keep organized than i would have thought.
as for earning money in a regular manner, it was really nice. i enjoyed that. however, the ability to predict when and how much might be available dependent upon my work, was erratic as heck. it is hard to live a life without steady income... to pay for groceries, orthodonture bills, and all else needed to keep things on track.

as many things have changed, i have felt a great amount of personal growth. the need to deal with my own health has also played into the mix. getting my shit together is easier to say than do. just like it is for everyone else... still i am having a time trying to keep myself on track. the alternative is not good. over-indulgence in chocolate, may lead to horrific loss of circulation to my feet, kidney failure or significant heart disease. so it is better than not, to keep my need for sugar in check. in reality, my sugary need is just an addiction and i best keep that in mind. i really still want to do so much more in this life i lead.

while i am feeling much more happy and satisfied than morose, i have plenty to substantiate how nice and pretty my world has been this year. here are a few flowery highlights of the productivity from my work bench.

mixed beady chain flower necklaces