My Swan Dive Into the World of Jewelry

About a month ago, my awesome and most stylish friend Brynn invited me to a Lia Sophia Party.  When she first asked me my text response back read something like this,  "Are you going to be mad if I have no idea what Lia Sophia is..?"  Of course she wasn't. She explained that it's a jewelry company.  Ha ha!  I wasn't sure how well a "Jewelry Party"  would go for me, considering a had only one other ring I wore regularly besides my wedding ring.  But I figured it's an awesome excuse to support a friend and look at some possibly pretty things in the process. 

At the party, of course Brynn served some very yummy refreshments. (Always a plus)  and I was very enthusiastically greeted by Liz "The Jewelry Lady"  When she found out I had no idea what the company was she gave me a catalog to look at.  The party pretty much consisted of Liz explaining the company, as well at the enormous amount of jewelry she had brought with her.  Then it was our chance to look at, try on, and admire all the jewelry we wanted to.  I pretty much stuck to my catalog.... at least for a while.  once I got up and looked at some of the things she had... That was the end.  I found some things I liked and made a small list in my brain.  Then when I remembered that all the purchases made at the party would benefit Brynn in getting great Hostess benefits, of course I wanted to do my part!  So, all in all I got 4 rings, a pendent and a chain to wear it on.

Of course I will include pictures of my plunder!

This ring is called "Wishing Well"  I call it my pirate ring!

This is "Peachy Keen"

This one is "Envy"  I'm glad you can see the green.  It looks black most of the time.

This is "Rock Candy"  I love the bubbles!

This is the Slide (pendent)  called "Greek Isle" 

 

I didn't include a picture of the chain.It's in the top of the picture above.

The one thing I saw that I really liked was not cheap... at all.  Liz told me that based on the way she did party I could get my pricy item for just a penny if I set up my own party.  It's not exactly hard to set a party up, so of course I said yes.  Here is what I received....

This is called "On The Town"  The stones in it are in a baguette cut which happens to be my favorite! :D

Now to my party, but first, I was pleased to hear that Brynn was very successful at her party and got pretty much all the things she wanted. Yay! My party was 2 weeks later.  I invited pretty much everyone I knew, but I think people are under the assumption that these parties are high pressure situations, so only a few people came.   Well, for the record there not.  Brynn was so kind and saved some of her purchases for my party so I could get some benefits too.  :)  (thanks Brynn)  Erin finally got over her never ending buyers remorse and got some pieces that she was drooling over at Brynn's party.  The person I was the most happy for was my mom.  She found some things that she was absolutely in love with.  She was not sure if she wanted to get them, but my dad told her that she never treats herself so she should get all those things she wanted.  She was so cute!  I'm so happy for her.  The necklace she loved so much actually shares the same name as her grandmother, Katie.  (It was meant to be)   Scheli and her mom came and found some things they liked.  They were quite pricy, so they set up their own joint party to get their pieces for  like $7.   The party was successful!  Yay!  Houston's mom was unable to make it but she ordered some stuff anyway.   In the end I was able to reach the higher hostess benefit bracket!  I had only picked out a few things, so I was not prepared when Liz told me that I had more free jewelry to choose.  I was so lucky!  Here are all the cool pieces I was fortunate to get....

This necklace and earrings share the same name "Beacon"

Yes, I got gold!  It's pretty dang cool!

This necklace is called "Sisters"

 

This is called "Odyssey"  Made with Mother of Pearl

 

This is the "Flux" slide

These earrings are called "Azteca"

Called "Voltage"

Called "Instinct"

Called "Expedition"

Called "Contessa"

Called "Jackie"

Called "On The Prowl"

And last but not least this necklace called "Urban Bling"

I had one other ring I ordered but to my dismay was discontinued. :(  So today I had to choose something else to take it's place.  The other ring I got I can't show you yet because I can't save the picture from the Lia Sophia site, but I will get it up here as soon as I can.  I love it too.  It looks like nothing else I  purchased. 

All of the pieces above that I got from my party, and that one ring I don't have yet, alone were over $1000 dollars at regular price.  I got all of it for $248 with my hostess benefits!  Not bad... Not bad AT ALL!  Thanks to all those people who ordered from my party!  Thanks guys!

It's pretty easy to say now that I have no lack of jewelry. Ha ha!  I have a lot of pieces that Brynn got as well.  We have a lot of the same likes apparently.  There are a lot of things that aren't the same too, so I don't feel like a total copy cat.  All in all it was a fun experience!  Scheli and her mom had their party last night and that was fun too.  My mom got some more things.  Since Scheli and her mom decided to do their party at my party I got $10 off anything at their party.  I already told Houston I was done buying, and I knew my mom wanted to buy a few other things so I let her use it. 

All I can say is that I'm a happy girl!  I like everything I got and love wearing it already!

Three Signs of a Good Halloween

I think it goes without saying that Halloween is good regardless of what happens in a specific year, but I had a few stories I thought I would share just to make to squirm, or laugh, or both.  ;)

First off, I had a jewelry party 2 weeks ago (to be posted about later).  Since it was in October I figured I could get away with doing Halloween treats and decor.  So, I got a small sugar pumpkin and carved it into a vampire face to place outside my parent's, otherwise Halloween-less house.  It remained there until 2 days ago.  I quite enjoyed watching it slowly turn from a scary vampire to an angry old man with no teeth...  In it's decaying state the teeth curled back inside and the skin became wrinkly.  I thought it was quite cute.  Lol! Needless to say, my parent's didn't think so.  His final resting place became the garbage can.   (Only a person like me could find joy in watching this poor pumpkin's gross transformation)

Now for the most dramatic story.  Monday afternoon I was sitting in front of the computer messing around with Itunes.  With that being said, I didn't hear Boo come in through the cat door.  I had turned and saw him in the corner of my eye.  When I turned and looked at him I see my favorite thing...(Not really)  He was devouring a small bird.  I was so angry!  I've had to clean up bird feathers before, and wasn't exactly happy about doing it again.  I was so mad, in fact, that I grabbed a water bottle that had about a swallow of water in it, and threw it at him. I didn't hit him, but it did scare him enough that he ran straight out the cat door.  I took a few deep breaths and walked into the kitchen and grabbed some paper towels.  Now for the worst part.  I get over there expecting a bunch of bird feathers...  Oh no,  this time he left half a bloody wing, a bunch of blood on the carpet, and the head... That's right!!!  THE HEAD!!!  I was squirming.  I just couldn't do it..  I put the paper towel over it, so I wouldn't have to look at it.  I could just imagine picking it up and feeling that severed head, let alone the beak!  But the other hand, I didn't want to leave it there until Houston got home either.  All in all, I finally went and got on heavy duty leather work gloves.  I was able to pick it up, WITHOUT feeling the head and such, but I did squirm and gag, the whole time.   I honestly think, it's Boo's  way of saying, "Happy Halloween, my human caregiver."  It gotta be a good year... it just has to. If I can get through that.

Now for the last, and the best.  Tonight for dinner the choice was either waffles or going out to JCW's.  JCW's won out, considering both of us wanted some sort of protein with our meal. (waffles don't really deliver in that department)  As we ate we talked about our Halloween costumes.  I wont say what they are yet.  I'll post pictures later.  My great friend Brynn, is the Queen of Halloween!  Every year she throws an awesome Halloween party!  She totally goes all out.  This is what our costumes are for.  We sort of always dress to match.  If anything it makes the costume picking easier.  I'm the Halloween freak, so I've had costume chosen since last year. ;)  Okay, sorry rambling.  The reason this is so great is because I think Houston is secretly as into Halloween as I am.  YAY!  WE talked about it for like an hour.  It's going to be awesome!  I'm super excited!

Okay, that was probably hard to follow and totally random, but what else would expect, coming from me.  Only odd things to make the holiday great for me!

P.S.  I have already  decided what I want to be next year.  ;)  Startin' early! 

Kassie's Reception

In case you didn't think that I felt old when I found out my oldest niece was getting married... well, I do. Lol!  Their reception was on October 1st.  Houston had class that morning, so we had to race up after to make it to the reception.  Kassie's husband, Eric's, family is Hispanic so it was a cultural experience for everyone.  Most of the night consisted dancing to some very spirited music.  Eric's family is so talented, they all know how to dance well.  Here are some pictures from the event...

Kassie and Eric cutting the cake...

Shelby, how cute is she!

A lot of dancing!

Even Angie and Brian got into the action....

At least for a second. 

Then there is what's called, The Money Dance.  It's a Hispanic tradition.  In a nut shell, people pay to dance with either the bride or the groom.  Normally the last person to dance with them gets to keep the money, but in Kassie and Eric's case, they just kept the money that was pinned to them.  Pictures below...

Kassie dancing with her father-in-law

This is an uncle, I believe.  Him and his wife were VERY good dancers!

And Brian got in the the action too. 

Julie and Kassie.  So cute together.  And yes, those are Kassie's earnings from The Money Dance.  I heard that they got about $300 between the two of them.  Not Bad!

Houston and I attempting to dance... Lol!  Houston looks quite dashing, if I do say so myself.