West, Once Again

Living out of a suitcase this week. All my displays and tools and inventory packed into the back of a rented Cobalt, along with stacks of granola bars, apples pilfered from the Echo Park Super 8, a pair of mud-caked Adidas and a various cords to various electronics which have kept Ang and I occupied as we drive East from LA, up through Yosemite, back West to San Fran, and -- come Monday -- back down to LA again.

Spent a few glorious days in Yosemite, floating down the river in raft, sipping a beer and eating blueberries. Swam in the most crystal clear lake I've ever encountered, ringed with a backdrop of mountains and pine trees. Hiked through trails dotted with wildflowers, melting patches of snow and gentle streams.

Now, we're reunited with Misha in SF. Drove up to Sonoma for wine tasting. Made use of her parent's washer and dryer to get our filthy laundry clean again. Ate Japanese food, then ice cream cones in the 50-degree weather which passes for "summer" in this city. Still, it's wonderful.

Tomorrow, out to Fort Mason for the second of two back-to-back weekends of West Coast craft shows. Looking forward to it. Despite the fact that by the end of the day, my knees are weeping in pain. Love selling in San Francisco.

Hey, it's a life....

Summer

Berry Season

Many wonderful things about spendingly a weekend upstate with the family. A car trunk full of freshly picked blueberries is definitely one of them.

I'm 3 days into my 30's.

It's sort of hard to believe.

Over the last few weeks, I've been replaying my 20's in my heads, like a film reel of my greatest hits. This leap into a new decade has been punctuated by the fact that my little brother turned 21 last week. I remember myself at his age and how different my life was at 21. I was three years into a relationship with someone who I saw myself marrying.That obviously did not end up happening. I had only recently returned from my first time traveling outside North America -- clearly, I've done a bit more of that over the past decade. And I was still daydreaming about moving to the West Coast after graduating college. Instead, I've spent most of my 20's in New York City. 

Lessons to be learned here? I guess I'll resort to the cliche that everything happens exactly the way it's suposed to happen. All the major desicions I've made in my life seem almost like a series of accidents and half-baked schemes rather than well-thought out plans.

So now here I am, starting out on another decade. I've got plans. I've got some schemes and some dreams. Let's see what happens next....

21

Fun BBQ on the patio last night!

almost time

Waiting for fireworks to begin over Astoria Park.

Sandy, the fireworks are hailin' over Little Eden tonight
Forcin' a light into all those stony faces left stranded on this warm July
Down in town the circuit's full of switchblade lovers so fast, so shiny, so sharp
As the wizards play down on Pinball Way on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers on the shore
Chasin' all them silly New York virgins by the score

On the Side

A couple new images of my cascade earrings:

Simple but oh-so-fancy! They've been selling like crazy at shows and will be up on Etsy tonight!