Hitting the boards

It's a phrase not widely known, at least not in the context I mean. I guess it depends on where you're from. But it's a big part of the Philadelphia region vernacular. "Hitting the boards." It means going to the boardwalk in a beach town, window shopping, eating salt water taffy and water ice, getting a sunburn, riding the ferris wheel, stepping in gum, buying new sunglasses, wearing hemp bracelets, bumping into small children, tipping over your custard cone, getting sand in your hair, wearing halter tops, and lots and lots of people watching.

That pretty much covers it!

I'm headed to the Ocean City, NJ boardwalk for the day tomorrow, and all I can think about is getting a Kohr Brothers peanut butter custard cone with chocolate sprinkles.

One class left

There's just one session left in my clay class. It's been really fun and relaxing. I have many pieces yet to come out of the kiln, so photos will be posted soon. I'll probably take the summer raku class in late July. Jewelry is so fun to make in raku, so hopefully I'll have lots to sell!

Back to work

It's so hard coming back to work after a long weekend!!! My brain is totally in summer mode. I'd so much rather be doing any number of the following rather than attending meetings and otherwise working:

1. Making jewelry (I have several projcects in the works and they are calling me!)

2. Walking (I've become addicted the the loop around Cooper River Park)

3. Sunbathing (it's bad for you, but I adore it)

4. Shoe shopping (I'm desperate for brown sandals)

But hey, a girl's gotta earn a living.

Paint your own toes

Did you ever get a bad pedicure? I've only ever had two professional pedicures in my whole life. The first one was exquisite -- complete with a leg massage, exfoliation and pristine polish. It was years ago (I don't let people touch my feet very often), administered by a friend of my stepmother's. Bravo Janet!

The second one was, you guessed it, bad. I got it here in Collingswood at a fancy salon which will remain nameless. The guy who gave it to me nearly scalded me with the water in the tub, then scrubbed my feet raw (do you really need excessive exfoliation on the tops of your feet??), and finally, with his shakey hands, managed to get polish not only on my toenails, but all over my toes as well. I even found spots of polish on the soles of my feet when I got home.

My friends had a laugh, calling me "clown feet" during our trip to get ice cream afterward ... which was really the only up-side to the whole experience. We'll probably laugh about it for years to come. For that it was worth it.

It took about 15 minutes and several polish-remover-soaked q-tips to make my feet fit for public viewing. Next time I'll just paint my own damn toes.

By the way, I'm refraining from posting a photo because I've learned that foot photos attract fans I'd rather not have.

Catching up

I swore I wouldn't let my blog postings lapse as they have been. Not because my deluded mind thinks I actually have fans ... but more just because this is a great place for me to unload my thoughts so my brain doesn't get too heavy carrying them around.

Anyway, here's a short recap of a few things that stood out over this past week, in no particular order:

1. I found out that Charlie dies BEFORE watching the finale of Lost. Bummer. But it's the price one pays for making other commitments on the night of a great TV show!

2. It felt especially great to throw pots this week. I made a bunch of stuff, mostly gifts for specific people, but also a mug and pitcher for myself. Hopefully they'll all turn out.

3. Because of the above, along with some other recent purchases, I have about a third of my Christmas shopping done already! What a nerd I am.

4. I can now say I'm a veteran of the Collingswood May Fair. Wow, it's a big event for our little town! Lots of booths (selling mostly junk), lots of food (some GREAT, some bad), lots of people (the people watching is unparalleled), and lots of fancy cars (everything from souped up dune buggies to vintage VW bugs to Ford Falcons and Caddys). Such fun to walk around with my neighborhood peeps too! I'm a true local.

5. Franklin Mills. Wow. I had somehow never been there until the other night. I didn't buy much, but the reason for going wasn't about me. My friend Alison needed a new wardrobe, and boy did she get it! So fun to see a friend try on clothes I picked out for her. Very gratifying. And she looks terrific in everything she bought.

6. The air conditioners in my place are officially on. The heat and humidity this morning got to me, and I broke down. The unit in my new apartment is loud, but it cranks. Yay! Of course, I say that now, but let's see how my next PSE&G bill looks.

Damn food

Food has a strange power over me. I've always had a little bit of a weight problem. Minor in the grand scheme of things, but annoying and sometimes depressing. Nearly 10 years ago I lost 30 pounds on Weight Watchers ... but have gained almost 20 of it back. Better than gaining all 30 back, but not good just the same.

I've been back to WW a few times since and lost, then regained again. But I'm back at it again, with the goal of losing about 15 pounds. It's been a week and a half, and I can honestly say that I've stuck to the plan only about half that time.

Today was particularly challenging. Why is the mystery. It wasn't a particularly stressful day, so my need to eat everything in sight makes no logical sense.

So I sit here feeling defeated and plump. I tend to approach most things in life with a strong sense of logic, but for some reason, food falls outside of that space most of the time. Can any of you relate?

Sometimes I just don't feel like it

There's always tons of stuff I should be doing when I'm home. And I'm not just talking about vacuuming, doing dishes, laundry, etc. The stuff I mean is the project stuff. The creative stuff. The stuff I'm supposed to enjoy doing in my free time.

The list includes—but isn't restricted to—jewelry making, blogging (ahem...), opening an etsy.com account, working on my newly-acquired skill of making pop-up cards, cooking (for one), and reading (a friend recently sent me a copy of "Eat Pray Love" and I haven't cracked it yet).

All of that sounds terribly interesting and fun, right? But sometimes I just don't feel like it. I'd rather watch "Sheer Madness" reruns on Bravo, or play Spider Solitaire, or smoke a cigarette! Is that so wrong?

My brain needs time to turn off. To not be "on" and energetic and fabulous. The problem is that I end up feeling like a schlub when I'm not using my precious free time doing interesting things. I guess I just need to find a way to be ok with it ... because sometimes I just don't feel like it!