Bling

Non-jewelry enthusiasts, I apologize.

Jewelry enthusiasts (MY PEOPLE!), here's what's left after I unloaded a bunch of my Stella & Dot jewelry at the sample sale I held this morning. I'm selling it all off, so let's make a deal. I'll give it to you for at least half off, probably more...just tell me what you want and I'll give you a bargain basement price.


Starfish: $34


Rosary: $20


Bee: $22


Owl: $22
(Note: The owl's body is actually a coral-ish orange color...not the mauve'y rose shown here.)


Gilda Earrings: $19


Bloom Ring (adjustable): $15



Clover Key: $27


Charlotte Ring (adjustable): $19


Black Clover Wrap Bracelet: $29


Vintage Twist Bracelet: $19


Mira Bangles: $24


Clover Cuff: $32


Silver Charm Bangle: $20
(Note: Does not come with charms, unless you happen to want the August birthstone, in which case I'll throw that in for free.)


Colette: $69


Byblos: $50
(Note: A few of the crystal things are slightly chipped. Nobody seems to notice this but me, but I'm not comfortable selling this one without calling that out.)


Sadie: $39


Silver Pansy Charm & 18" sterling silver chain: $34
(Note: The chain and charm are usually sold separately but I'm selling the samples as a combo just for kicks. If you'd rather just have the charm, that's fine by me...the charm alone would be $22.)


Jenna: $22


Gilda: $59
(Note: Gilda has matching earrings somewhere up above.)


Uma: $22


Starburst Brooch: $24
(Note: This one has hook things on the back so it can clip into the La Coco necklace instead of the flower brooch that comes with La Coco.)

BPPOTD

Bree will recognize of these necklaces!

Things

1. No BPPOTD today because I'm repeating a recent outfit. SHAMEFUL, I KNOW!

2. I started boot camp again this week which means I'm back to the grimacing-when-I-sit-down-to-pee lifestyle. It doesn't really get better, either. If I'm making the the most of my boot camp sessions then I'll be in a constant state of aches and pains.

3. For added bad-assery, Lauren and I are going on a six hour hike through the wilderness on Saturday. When I called to reserve our spots the woman told me to bring lunch and oh, by the way, there are no restroom facilities. I can't remember if I told Lauren that but she reads this blog from time to time so if not, HEY LO! GET READY TO SQUAT IN THE BUSHES!

4. I'm officially dropping out of the Junior League. It sounded good when I signed up (it was a rough summer, yo) but now I'm less desperate for distractions and I'm looking at my calendar and wondering why in the HECK I'd want to go to events that require A) mingling or B) seeing sad things. I thought it could also be a good way to grow my Stella & Dot biz-nass but even that has become less of a motivator.

5. Speaking of Stella & Dot, I finally decided that instead of trying to make my money back, I'd just plan to take a loss and then be really casual about it all. If I make a couple hundred bucks a month, GREAT! If not, oh well. I'm also going to stop buying jewelry samples unless they're things *I* would wear. I have a ton of stuff that I'd never wear and I only bought them so I'd have more diversity in my samples, but I don't care about that anymore.

6. I'm not clear whether or not I'll be employed come November. It's all very up in the air. I may also get cut from this project earlier, which would be a bummer in terms of collecting delicious dollars for my bank account, but on the other hand, if I get a new project for November (the beginning of the company's Q2, so 11/1 is a realistic possibility) then I might not mind having a week or so off. It would be UNPAID, but it would be nice.

I'm making a list of things I'd like to do with a week off:

* Go to the spa during the week (so it's less crowded and crawling with first-timers in their bathing suits)

* Work on my book (which is something I need to do regardless of whether I have time off work)

* Use my acupuncture Groupon

* Maybe go on a road trip (but I'm hesitant to do this alone because the last few times I've traveled alone I've sworn I'd never travel alone again)

So I don't know what to hope for: Get cut a week or so early? Or not to get cut?

The getting cut would only work if I knew for sure I'd have a gig for Q2.

Either way, it'll all be okay.

Potpourri

1. First of all, look at this person:





If you were wondering if it was possible to be in proximity of those cheeks and not kiss the hell out of them, I can tell you that it's not.

We all drove together to my brothers' birthday dinner a week or so ago and Baby was sitting between me and Grandma and he was plenty confused about what the heck we were doing in HIS car, but he enjoys passing time with "If You're Happy and You Know it Clap Your Hands" and funny enough, so do we, so a good time was had by all.

I should mention that my brother has a different rendition of that song that goes "If you're chunky and you know it clap your hands" and that's far less flattering for Aunt Elizabeth but I can't help but merrily clap along. I AM CHUNKY AND I KNOW IT.

**clap clap**

2. Today's BBPOTD:





3. I went and met my dear friend Kari's husband Eric for burgers and alcoholic milkshakes on Sunday night because he happened to be in town for work. I'm sure the bartender thought it was an internet date because Eric and I had never met and it was clearly a meeting-someone-I-don't-know situation, but I hope he noticed Eric's wedding ring and thought we were particularly scandalous.

The milkshakes and I posed for a photo to send to Kari:



Note: Mine was actually a beer float: A dark stout with coffee ice cream in it -- KICKASS.

I wore one of my newest S&D necklaces but WHAT IS THIS?



Oh hey, it turns out the damn necklace rubbed black shit all over me and I ended up walking around like I'd pulled this wife beater off an actual wife beater!! Turns out I'm not the only one with this issue which is a CRYING SHAME because I love this necklace. I'm going to wear it around the house for a few days to see if the black stops rubbing off, but if not, I'm returning this bad boy LICKETY SPLIT.

4. This is vague but I would like to quote Team Texas for my own personal reference: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. She also referenced Whitney Houston circa 1986 and that was plenty wise and time-honored, but I'm going with the proverb.

Half price bling, yo!

Okay peeps, I have a number of Stella & Dot samples that aren't continuing to the fall/winter line. I'm keeping a couple for myself but I'm going to offer these ones up at trunk shows...before I do that though, I thought I'd give first dibs to my peeps for half the retail price.

The Uma for $24:



I'm not going to sell off the coordinating flower because I don't think it has held up all that well, but if you're dying for one, they're still available on the site.


Gemma Stone Hoop necklace for $29:



The Gemma is already sold out so if you want it, it's Sample City, sweetheart.

It hurts my heart to get rid of the Demi (I think that's "demi" as in "half" and not as in "Moore"), but it has to be done. Anyway, the sample Demi is $39.



Leslie gets first dibs on this one but given the 75 other necklaces she has ordered in the last couple of weeks, I don't want to hold her to it. So anyway, for whoever ends up with the Della, she's $49:



I would also warn you that Della is gorgeous and I love her, but she's a little bit deceptive. She'll tell you that she's "triple the beauty with luxe glass pearls and faceted smoky glass beads" but the big beads (the outer strand) seem more like plastic resin, if you ask me. She's still heavy and glamorous though, I promise.

So there you go, peeps. I just ordered an OBSCENE number of samples from the fall/winter line so I'd love to sell off these samples and pretend I paid that much less for the new line.

BPOTD

I'm very proud of myself for figuring out how to pair the Uma flower with the silver La Coco necklace (minus the brooch)!



Watch me talk some smack about a Stella & Dot product:

As much as I love that silk flower and even though it's supposed to be frayed around the edges, I'm kinda OVER it leaving little silk threads on my shirt. BE FINISHED FRAYING, ALREADY!

BPOTD

I've decided that I hate this outfit:



The jeans, the shoes and the sweater are likely to end up in the Goodwill pile.

The ring and the necklace do not await the same fate:





In other news:

1. I had a great trunk show at Leslie's house last night, followed by a post-happy-hour happy hour in a private room at Maggiano's that we happened to get invited to while we were in Cabo. I was in that room, surrounded by adult people, and I realized that OH MAH GAH I think I'm the oldest one here.

Save for the bartender, anyway.

So I was "OH MAH GAH"'ing about it and someone was like "No way! [What's His Name] is older than you! He's 33!" So I asked What's His Name, he said his birthday was in November, which means:

A. I'm older than the crowd's go-to "old guy."

B. What's His Name was butthurt that he was the crowd's go-to "old guy."

In my head I'm 27.

My crow's feet would tell you otherwise.

2. I'm thinking about joining the Junior League.

...

Have you recovered from the shock?

We'll see though...I'm going to an open house in a couple of weeks. I'm nervous about how much being-a-nice-person I'll have to do.

3. Tonight's Exciting Agenda:

* Drive up to SF and do a walkthrough of my old apartment.
* Meet the locksmith so he can re-key the joint.
* Meet my new tenant so she can measure for furniture.
* Possibly do the hut-to-hut run along Crissy Field, which will hopefully make me feel better about how non-attractive I'm feeling today. Of course, my dining-out breakfast and lunch didn't help either.

4. Tomorrow's Exciting Agenda:

* Possibly go to Happy Hollow with Joanie and Grady and MAYBE even my wonderful nephew, if I can steal him away from his other grandparents for a few hours.
* eBay some never-before-worn clothing.

BPOTD

This is a dress I haven't worn since last fall but that is getting too big for me so I bought a belt to give myself a waist and VIOLA! It's good for another few pounds:



Now that I look at this picture in full size I think I look kinda googly-eyed, but so be it:



That's the Jenna necklace, btw.

And OOH OOH OOH! I forgot to tell you that my SIL was wearing two Stella & Dot necklaces to the birthday party on Sunday:



And OOH OOH OOH! I forgot to tell you that I had my FIRST solo trunk show on Saturday:



Thanks to Bree and her posse for making that happen!

BPOTD

1. My side-butt muscles are KILLING ME today and it's all Lauren's fault.

AND I CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT AGAIN!!!

For reals!

2. Horrifying admission: I finally ended up finding a bathing suit I could live with at Target, which is awesome because it was only $40 instead of $140 but I got it home and looked at the tag and realized that OH MY GOSH IT'S A MATERNITY BATHING SUIT!

And here I thought all that fabric around the belly area was supposed to be rouching.

Oh well. I'm keeping it. My mom and Leslie were the only ones who knew that it was a maternity suit but I had to go and tell the whole internet...

3. I've already had two detailed and enthusiastic in-person compliments on today's ensemble:





That's the Sofia necklace and I LOVE IT.

BPOTD

I don't think I've ever worn this skirt before. It's from the "Bought a Too Small Size Because it was on Clearance but Never Actually Got to Wear it Until Now" collection:



Today's bling:



I'm still trying to organize my music and pictures after I had everything wiped out when the Russian nerds helped me get rid of my virus and I just came across this:



Baby DOES NOT like Mike. Whenever we're in my room he looks at him every few seconds, wondering when the hell that guy in the hardhat is going to move. Mike makes him uneasy.

In other news, it turns out I'm going to Cabo on Tuesday. The only bathing suit I have is four or five years old and hasn't been tried on in like 35 pounds so I went shopping for a new one after work today. I ended up working late so I could...um...take a last minute vacation and all so by the time I got to the mall, I only had an hour before it closed.

I don't think I've bought a bathing suit IN the store since I was probably a teenager, but I don't have time to order anything online so there I was, spending my Friday night searching Macys' swimsuit department for anything larger than a 14. The only fattie suits I could find had GIANT, molded boob areas and that just WON'T work for me so I found a few two-sizes-too-small suits, bought them un-tried on and hoped for the best.

Except daaaaaamn. Those Miracle Suits make you look like you lost ten pounds because they're TIGHT AS HELL. There was no give in those suckers whatsoever and squeezing into a two-sizes-too-small suit was just not going to happen.

I hear the Oakridge Lane Bryant carries swimsuits (Valley Fair does not) so I'll head over there tomorrow morning and hope to find something that fits and that is not plastered with neon flowers, a la most fat lady swimsuits.

BPOTD

I've never worn this dress before but I've owned it for like two years:



Today's Stella & Dot bling selection:



Also, quote of the day:

"...there's teenage-internet-soap-opera goo all over your shoes."

-- Alyssa of the Beautiful NYE Wedding

BPOTD

1. I stumbled across a movie called The Private Lives of Pippa Lee and I really, really liked it. I mentioned it to my parents, they Netflixed it and they really, really liked it too. They've since been going around telling people that "You may hate Keanu Reeves and you may hate Alan Arkin and you may hate whoever, but this is a movie worth watching" so I figured I'd tell the internet too.

Internet, The Private Lives of Pippa Lee was a crowd pleaser 'round these parts.

2. I would like everyone to know I own multiple pairs of these jeans:



And that this necklace is from my new HUGE order of Stella & Dot samples:



3. I had grand plans to leave at 3 today but at 2:50 something came up and now it's 3:46 and GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. No car wash for me today.