Wednesday....

We've made it HALFWAY through this week. This has not been a fun week for SO many reasons... mostly because it's crazy busy and I need a break.

Calgon take me away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, there is NOTHING beady to report and I am SO ready to talk beads. I have stuff to talk about bead/beadmaking-wise, but I just am not in the mood to do it today.

SO instead of my regular blog entry, I'm going to talk about OTHER PEOPLE's blogs.

I'll start with Jen Geldard. Jen is someone who makes beads that I LOVE. When I talked in one of my "sermons" on creativity in beadmaking and said that art is when you can look at a bead and see the emotion in it.... well Jen's beads are TRULY an example of this. I can't explain it, but they definitely evoke emotion and every bead that I've ever seen of hers just "sings" to me. I wish I knew Jen better to know the person behind the beauty that she creates.

I was on her site today - glassgirl.com (long story, but I got there because I was playing an online game MOUSEHUNT on facebook and she seems to ROCK at this game) ANYWAYS, I was on her site and I saw that she had a blog called "Torch Songs" which is SO witty. I thought she had always had a blog, but for some reason this one looks like a new blog. I'm looking forward to keeping up with what she's making, so I'm going to bookmark it for myself.

ANYWAYS (why does it take me so long to tell a story??!!) while I was there, I looked at the links to the other blogs she had listed and saw this one called "Confessions of a Pioneer Woman" - Of Mike and Firemen. Well, to be honest, the "firemen" thing caught my eye. I have a thing for firemen. SO I decided to check out the pioneer woman/firemen blog! I didn't expect the poignant story about the blogger's brother Mike and his love of fire Stations. It was beautifully written. (and you should go read it, go to Jen's site and then follow the link on her list of blogs she likes)

Leave it to Jen, whose beads really really make me FEEL something, to bring me to a site that does the same.

Thanks a BUNCH Jen!!! You've got my mascara running!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


tiny blah blah blah

coffee today - Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce latte with 3 pumps of Dolce syrup, stirred and topped with Whipped cream. (they had to make it twice because the new barista, for some reason mis-read the 3 pumps and instead made it a triple shot. I do NOT need the extra caffine, so he had to make it again. Pauvre Barista. he'll learn.

music - forgot my ipod, so I'm listening to Dave FM. I'm not liking the song that's on now, but Mercy by Duffy was on a couple of songs ago and I love it. I miss my ipod.

Absolutely nothing beady to say today, but I must make a blog entry simply to say...

MY COFFEE IS TERRIBLE TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have no idea why!! It's the same thing I always order, but ick ick ick it doesn't taste good and Starbucks is TOO expensive for bad coffee!!!!!!!!!

the end

I'm actually here.



I don't know why I haven't been as into making entries as I once was. Maybe I should just go back to the whole beginning of what I made and just keep it simple and up to date.



Maybe it's because I have basically stopped drinking starbucks! it's true. I even have a full giftcard....I've never had a FULL giftcard. They would get spent in a big big hurry. I still have one that I got from my Dad for Christmas!



I am a busy beadmaker these days.



Made little beads today (don't know how many...a few mandrels) and 3 angel faces. Must make HOH faces/feet next week.



Am officially a smaller person than last week. I weighed at the Y again today and I'm 5 lbs lighter than the last time I weighed there a few weeks ago. I have not been as diligent about going to the gym and need to get back on that too.



So...note to self...



Blog beads and gym....not starbucks...no music...blog court tv?? on demand movies?



Today I watched Bullets over Broadway (no good court cases on today)

Made beads

Swam 500 yards in 15 min.

Lifted 5000 lbs (not all at once! LOL)

Had chick fil a tea and m&Ms for lunch. (I had a sandwich too, but the m&m's were the best part of lunch) I like to eat the same number of calories in fluff food like candy that the gym computer says I burned today. I figure...they're free calories if I do it that way!

very sleepy



cold/flu meds make me woozy.



just checking in here to say I'm alive and really ok...just dopey. :)



wish there was a starbucks in my driveway...might walk there for chai latte.



watching tune disney w/ harrison who is also on cold meds. we're some bunch!



longing to make beads...... (this is a big deal! I really WANT to make beads again!)



zzzzzzzzzzz

I am back home. Have been for almost a week. I survived Lowell and my presentation and class at the Gathering.

I spoke in front of 500 some people!!! OMG! I totally freaked out and was very nervous. I wondered if people even cared about what I was saying. Many people afterwards said other than being nervous, they liked what I had to say....that was a good thing. It would have been awful to be terrified THEN have people say "you were awful!" :)

I do have to report some very important things here....

For those who understand this...I am fine. Things are much better. Not solved but much better. - If you have no idea what I'm talking about...well....just know that I'm ok and say "oh good...she's ok" then move on to the next section. (like people actually read this other than my mom, the couple from canada, sandy and blair) Oooh! I have an audience of more than my mom now!

Here's the important stuff I need to say today....

The Intuition shaver ROCKS! If you don't have to shave your legs, then this isn't of any interest to you. I am not employed by the maker of this product...nor do I even know WHO the maker of the product is...PLUS they have really stupid ads with the Jewel song....BUT this is the best razor I have ever used. And that's my plug for the day.

In other news....I had my first starbucks since my return. I know...you're saying....hey! she complained and complained about the lack of Starbucks in Lowell....how come she didn't RUN to starbucks as soon as she got home?!!! Well...life was just too crazy...PLUS I'm cutting down on caffine (gasp!). I had a grande caramel frappucino. It was yummy. I was happy.

Music - lately is thank you to my new Ipod. Yes I have a mac again!!!!! And I have an ipod! It is wonderful and it makes life happy even when it's a little wacko.

Beads- haven't made any since I got home. Wouldn't recognize one probably! LOL But I am dying to and to play with boro...it's like meditation and peace to play with boro since it works so slowly. I need that kind of slow paced beadmaking this week I think.

Finally....the boys are back in school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ta ta

Am still in Lowell, Mass.....still no Starbucks...



This town is wacky. Everything closes at 5 p.m.!!!!!! I think attendees of the Gathering (not a witch conference, but a International Society of Glass Beadmakers convention) will be very surprised and HUNGRY!



Class is going really well from my standpoint. You never know what students are thinking until after the class...and that's if they actually say something good or bad about it. Cindy Jenkins is in the class and I'm having fun getting to know her, since I only knew her as a "hi Cindy" before.



Must go veg....class wears me out!



s

Dear Diary,



Am in Lowell, Mass.



Please send starbucks



love,



s

Ok...quick post...haven't made beads yet...just dropped kids off at summer camp. one wants to know why he can't just stay home....should I tell him how much psychiatry costs vs. him being at camp?????

Anyways...reason for post...Starbucks
Yesterday went to Starbucks where "employee of the month" boy tried to push chai latte on me.

Today...ordered my same old same old...

Venti Mocha light on the Mocha. Well I think she took me literally! There was only 1/2 a drink in the cup!!!!! I guess that's "light on the mocha" in her books. In mine it's a TALL not a VENTI! Didn't notice until I took a drink far down the road. Bummer. Will have 1/2 the caffine, though. Gotta look on the bright side.

I have been trying to plug the blogathon...if you're here....PLEDGE! You read my journal.....PAY FOR IT! Click that "blogathon" button on the right! NOW!!!!! Gilda's Club needs your money! I need an excuse to spend more time on my journal! :)

Hey! I never had my starbucks today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok...I'm not crazy, just de-caffinated. Isn't that how this whole crazy journal thing started? Got out of hand? Because I noticed I hadn't had my coffee and I wasn't productive...then I started logging my coffee habit? Yeah! So, we're right back where we started from....I am unproductive and haven't had my coffee!!!

Guess I really could end the journal right here. I've come full circle and am about to start it all again!

So...after the intro to the new blog junk is done...here is the scoopula what I've been up to.

Well...spent way too much time obsessing over my weblog, so I will begin it with a REALLY REALLY long entry, entitled...

I went all the way to Canada to see the Dixie Chicks!

That's right folks...flew all the way to Vancouver, BC Canada to see the chicks. Why might you ask??? Well, I will tell you! I know that my life is a train wreck ready at the click of a mouse for viewing, but this alas is no train wreck. It's a vacation entry! Sort of a Travel Log!

My best friend Denise and I decided we were going to see the Dixie Chicks. Since she's in Houston and I'm in Atlanta, one of us was going to have to fly to the concert. So...I couldn't go when it was in Houston because of something else I was doing. She couldn't go (or I couldn't...can't remember) when it was in Atlanta. We decided that if one of us was going to have to fly...we might as well both fly and make it a fun girl trip. So...off we went to check out the tour dates. Well...they weren't as exciting as they could have been. (no offense to anyone reading from any of these cities but they weren't for us) Ames, Iowa; Oklahoma City, OK; Greenville, SC.....places we just didn't think were vacation-condusive.

Our next choices were West Coast...all of them we'd both been to before...L.A., Portland, Seattle. I loved Seattle and so did Denise and we thought about Seattle or Portland until we saw....VANCOUVER! Yes! Denise had been there while going skiing, but I never had. I said "let's do it!" So we bought Dixie Chicks concert tickets to a concert in CANADA! We're totally laughing at ourselves at this point, but it was a fun idea. Then after Denise buys the tickets, we remember the exchange rate and hootie hoo! We got a discount because they were puchased in Canada!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So...the travel date draws nearer. I find us a hotel in Vancouver by doing a search for "boutique hotels" in Vancouver. Find a gorgeous hotel (or it looks that way from the website) called the OPUS Hotel and make reservations. Denise makes our airline reservations and we wait till July...the trip time!

Some time in June I find this funny funny halmark card which says...

"This year for your birthday let's go bowling in Canada...so that someday we can say we went bowling in Canada"

On the plane on the way to Vancouver, I give Denise the card. It becomes my running joke for the whole trip. "Let's go to the dixie chicks in Canada so that some day we can say we went to the dixie chicks in canada" and on and on and on.

We go through immigration (behind the family of non-english speaking people who were in the line that DIDN'T need a translator). They asked us "why are you coming into Canada?" and we said "to see the Dixie Chicks concert!" Laughing at ourselves at how silly the notion was. Then Mr. Immigration says..."Did you see them? They just came through a little ahead of you?". Of course, we didn't see them...we only saw the woman who had made us get up out of our seats so that she could go to the bathroom 15 times on the flight there. From immigration, we make our way through the airport without me actually losing any digits, though a family of French Canadians did try to prevent that from happening by trying to run me down with their smart carts. Finally...we made it safely to our rental car place...got a gorgeous big car to hold our many shoes and took to the Canadian road! (with our strong american dollars in hand)

We get to Vancouver and go to lunch...very cute pizza restaurant in Gastown district of Vancouver (going to have to look up the name). Got lost at least once going there and had to go around 3 blocks to get back on track (the pedestrians and one way streets really messed us up)

Went to our hotel to check in. GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!! The Opus is such a gorgeous/funky/cool/spa-like hotel I can't even believe we were so lucky to pick it by only looking on line. And the bonus is...it's Canadian! (which in Sylvie-speak means it's like on sale!)

We veg out at the hotel for a while and then go to dinner on Robson street at this wonderful Italian restaurant called "Cin Cin" (pronounced Chin Chin). I can't even remember what we ate for dinner, but it was wonderful and the desert was even better! Did a little shopping on Robson street then headed back to the hotel to crash....and we got great deals because of course...we were spending Canadian!

Friday morning we got up and headed out for a day of shopping. We began at Starbucks across the street from the hotel. I was so psyched with my american dollar power that i purchased a gift card...figuring $50 in Canada would be $80 in the US!!! Well folks...gift cards don't work that way. Alas, they figure these things out ahead of time. Anyways...the coffee I got there was a discount, so whoopeee! Bargain starbucks! We got our coffee and hit the road!

Went to Gadsen Island which was way cool with little artists studios and galleries all over the place. We got lost at least 10 times trying to get there, because we kept taking wrong turns and getting back on this big bridge over and over and over. By the time we made it there...we were in a giggle fit just from the silliness of being lost so many times. We got a kick ass parking space, which in my universe means that you will find good shopping. Bad space...you will find nothing you like or can afford. Well, we got a good space and the shopping was great. I would love to go back and spend more time AND money there!

from there we went downtown to check out shopping there. Went to their mall which was a colossal disappointment. Should have stayed boutique-y, but took a risk and failed. :( Probably because we had a bad parking space!

Went back to the hotel and took a little nap before getting ready for dinner and the concert. We got ourselves looking very concert cute and went to dinner at the hotel restaurant...Elixir. Delicious meal! Our server asked us where we were going and we said "to the Dixie Chicks" and he said.....(dramatic music pause) "Oh did you see them?...they're staying here."

OMG!!!!!!!!!! The Dixie Chicks are staying at our hotel!!! There are only 90 something rooms in the hotel, so it's not like it's a huge hotel or anything...we could be staying down stairs from us...or just above.... They could have seen naked man too! The man across the street who Denise saw out the window while she was getting ready...walking around nude in his apartment. (it was like a Seinfeld moment) The Dixie Chicks could be calling him "naked man" also. They could be excited about spending american dollars at the same starbucks I was. Who knows?!!

So...we head out for the concert. We get there and wait through security and what not and head in to find our seats. As we're coming in...we hear Michelle Branch! We didn't know she was opening for them!! She was not listed as opening when we bought our tickets. So the way I see it...Dixie Chicks, and Michelle Branch, plus canadian dollars. It's two concerts for the price of one AND it's canadian...so that makes it basically FREE! We're jamming and psyched at Michelle Branch being there. As soon as there is a break between MB and the Chicks concert...Denise gets up to go buy a T-shirt. As she does, she says something to the 2 girls on the aisle who have to stand up to let her out.

They say to me after she's left..."hey, you're not from Canada are you?!!" Well, no...we're not. She asks where we're from. I tell her Atlanta. OMG! She just moved back to Vancouver from Atlanta last month! She was going to school there. So here we are at the Dixie Chicks in Canada sitting next to someone who is from Vancouver AND Atlanta. She thought it hilarious that we were there and begins to tell her friends who think it's funny too. Then I mention the silly card about going bowling in Canada. As soon as I say "let's go bowling in Canada for your birthday" she says "So we can say we went bowling in Canada!" She'd bought the same card for her friend! Bizarro!

So the concert was incredible! We head back to our hotel, write a note to the Chicks and leave it with the front desk thanking them for such a great concert. We find out later that the chicks had already checked out before the concert but the nice Opus hotel people faxed their office our note. Wasn't that nice?! It wasn't even a big deal. We just thought it would be funny to write a note since we were in the same small hotel and we'd come all the way to Canada for the concert.

Saturday we went to Victoria via ferry. It was a beautiful ferry ride. The island was beautiful! We went to an old mansion called Craigderoch (sp?) castle. As I walked around it, I was reminded of the PBS show Manor House. Denise hadn't watched it, but it was a lot more real to me after seeing today's people trying to manage/clean a huge house like that in the way that they did in that era. The house had a museum with all that historical stuff about the family. This family, however had juicy gossip in their past, so it was FUN to read about all their wayward daughters! One of them left her husband for Taluleh (sp?) Bankhead! (I have no clue if I spelled that anywhere remotely correctly) It was funny anyways that they had the gossipy stuff in their museum!

Shopping in Victoria was incredible and we barely scratched the surface of what there was to do on the island before we had to go back to the Ferry. On the ride home, I almost punched a French woman. I am NOT a violent person. However, sitting next to someone who says "zeees orrible americans" over and over was about to drive me mad! I controlled myself, but really wanted to let her have it. I didn't care about political views...just politeness. She had to know that there were lots of people from the US on the ferry. If you don't have anything nice to say...don't say anything at all...at least not NEXT to the people you're dissing! Tres rude!

We flew home EARLY on Sunday. On my flight home, there was a near air-rage incident between a Brazillian couple and our less than polite flight attendant. The people around me were all truly afraid that these people would come to blows with him. Very bizarre ending to my travels.

All that considered...It was a wonderful trip with a truly good friend. We laughed like 9th graders, ate like gourmets, stayed at a hipster hotel where the beautiful people of Vancouver hung out at night, drove like crazy tourists, and shopped like true American-dollar-toting girls!

I learned on my trip...
-that many Canadians see us as less than they are. Sort of in a snooty way. That was sad.
-that Victoria was Beautiful,
-that Vancouver was Beautiful,
- that the Opus Hotel is FABULOUS,
-that I like Parisians (the drink ironic...huh?),
-that it is easy to get run over in customs and immigration
-that the Chrysler 300M is a cool car with funky mirrors that move to make it easier to parallel park
-that my coffee order is different in Canada "Venti Half Sweet Mocha"
-that the Dixie Chicks stay at great hotels AND put on a great concert
-that the American dollar in Canada ROCKS!
-and that you can't buy a Starbucks gift card and benefit from the exchange rate when using it in the US.

And thus ends Sylvie's trip to Canada report. :)

today's coffee - Venti Mocha light on the Mocha (american order purchased with Canadian Starbucks card)