It's a beautiful Saturday in Fort Collins. As you can see in the photo below, the sun is shining- and Brandon bought me a new bike as an early birthday present! It's a new vintage-style bike, so now I have this for liesurely rides through City Park, and have my mountain bike for more heavy-duty biking.



We rode our bikes into Old Town, grabbed a bite to eat, then rode our bikes to City Park. I think it must be opening weekend for the City Park swimming pool- it was packed! They also had the paddle boats open, so Bran and I paid $4 to take a paddle boat out on City Park Lake. I love that the supposed "Adult" largest sized life jacket goes all the way down to his armpit. I'm sure that would keep him afloat should he get knocked out by a goose and fall into the lake.



Apparently (or according to Brandon's face), paddling a paddle boat is quite strenuous exercise. Check out the foothills in the background- I love the view from this side of town.

Brandon was working a booth at the local "Big Boys Toys Show" this weekend, since his company is a big sponsor of the event, and he had a bunch of extra tickets. Since he comes to visit me at my art fair booths a lot, I figured it was only right that I return the favor and brave the testosterone-laden event to visit him.

A group of us ended up going out and wandering around for awhile, and I was only slightly entertained by the big lovely RVs and vintage hot rod cars- not so much by the Hooters girls and ATV's. Anyway, I ended up signing up for a raffle through Bran's work, and ended up winning a 1.5 hour "Intro to Flying" class at the small local airport! I've never really wanted to learn to fly, but realize that this would be kind of a neat opportunity. And I won something! I rarely ever win things. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket this week.

happy birthday, dear becki...

Whoever guesses what Becki is doing in the last photo is the winner!

Becki's all, "Awww- you little rascals brought a cake and balloons..."

"I lurve my frog!"

Twin sisters posing for our annual "Identical Twins Born in Different Years" photo.

Becki got a magic wand + frog for her birthday, and expressed interest in the possibility of burning the right mix of incense in order to turn the fuzzy little green guy into Prince Charming.

3 boyfriends..........................!

i am so thankful that the trunk show is over! even though the event itself wasn't all i hoped for, yesterday i received a sweet 'good luck' phone call from a friend i haven't talked to in awhile... my sister made some fabulous brownies and sugar cookies, helped me price things just an hour before the event, and even stopped by with her friends and roommate.... my work friends cara and justin came by for moral support at 4:00, and kept me company and sipped wine with me until 7:00... brandon came over around 6:30, upon my phone call request to "please come over and eat some brownies!"

i tend to get really obsessed whenever i'm planning for an event or art fair like this. in a way, it's passion at it's greatest! on thursday night brandon came over with coffee and burritos because he knew i'd forget to eat supper, and we had great tunes on in the background while he helped me stuff my belongings on the very top cupboard shelves in my kitchen. i was dancing around, and just felt so-- alive. felt so excited with what i'd accomplished pre-trunk show, and was eagerly anticipating friday's big event.

on the other hand, i find myself talking and thinking about it incessently- wondering when my friends and family will tire of me rambling on about jewelry and setup and crowds once again! but i tried to take a mini-break from this stuff a few months ago, because i felt burned out, but i couldn't stay away for long. thank goodness for my sweet friends and family for being there for me during the bumps in the road- seems like there's always someone there when i just want to fold up my little art table for good.

A "mystery shopper" checks out the latest Moonwater creations...

The infamous "trunk." The cedar chest was my grandparent's, and the old suitcase is a recent flea market find. I bought the suitcase and didn't open it for DAYS, then asked Brandon to open it since I was afraid that what might be inside may not be so lovely and charming. Needless to say, all we found is the dark brown satin inner lining and a very vintage attic smell. On the right-hand side of the photo, you'll see this little faux rusty thing that looks like a 2-tiered birdbath- you can't really see, but there is a little bird perching on each of the tiers. I just got it this week- my latest necklace display piece- and it's the best 12.95 I've spent in a long time...

Oh, goodness- I am for sure getting sick. And there's so much to plan this weekend! I have a good start, and lots of necklace charms that I've created over the past few months.


figure out menu
wine
beer
NA drink of some sort
cake/cheesecake
chocolate
cheese


things to make
leaf necklaces
necklace holders
mirrors
copper st glass items
sun catchers

Speaking of biz-related things- what do you guys thinking of Nine Owl? I guess Becki and Sarah chimed in- what do the rest of you think? My URL is up in July, so am thinking of changing my business name to coincide with that this summer.

Is anyone else as obsessed with checking blogs as me? I check everyone's at least twice daily.