Super Saturday...

Today started out early at the VFW, eating a pancake breakfast in support of the Voitures 40 et 8 nursing scholarships at CWC.  What a wonderful group of veterans who have touched so many lives with their generosity.  I then went out to Wild West and worked until closing time--getting ever closer to having things balanced and up to date! After work, I got to spend a relaxing evening at home...I love those!

Simple silver earrings and bracelet were today's choices.  (still battling the computer for photos..will work on it)

October 29

I looked and looked for my Halloween jewelry--I have bats, spiders, ghosts, etc.  Not sure what I've done with them but am sure I will stumble on them as I look for something else later on this year. 

On my hunt for ghoulish jewels, I did stumble upon my ghost pin so I wore that today.  I didn't think about dressing up in a costume for work...I'm sure I could have come up with something witty if I'd worked at it.  Guess there's always next year.

To go with my ghost pin I wore earrings & bracelet with orange-tinted stones. 

Where did October go?

I looked at the calendar today finishing up some paperwork and I realized that October is essentially past!  Where or where does the time go?  When you are five, a year is forever...the older you get, the faster the time goes.  I just don't get it...is it because a year is a much smaller slice of your entire life the older you get?

Anyway...I chose to wear a long turquoise necklace that NettaBell gave to me a year or so ago along with a shorter stone necklace in browns, earrings that match the necklace.

All knotted up...

Today I spent my lunch hour getting a massage...Dalene worked hard on my left shoulder.  I hadn't realized the knot in it was quite to big or so deep.  Wow!  I still have a tender spot where it was!  Thanks for getting the kink worked out of my shoulders my friend!  You are great!

I almost forgot to write my blog for today because I'd taken off my jewelry at lunch and didn't put it back on.  It was still in my purse on Thursday morning!  The charm bracelet I wore today for the first time was a gift from my garden club friend, Margaret from Sioux Falls, SD.  She is writing a cookbook and included a "Lynette" story in the book so she gave me a baker's charm bracelet with all sorts of cooking charms.  The necklace I wore is one of dark colored glass beads, the earrings were a Christmas gift from my good friend Becky several years ago. 

"...the blustery day turned into a blustery night..."

Blustery is a good way to describe the last two days.  We get so spoiled living in the "banana belt" of the state where we don't usually have too much wind, that when we do get wind, we whine (or at least I do).  My dogs think the wind is fun for a while...Dazzle likes to chase the leaves that are blowing and it gives Lucy something to bark at as things bang into the fence.  Poor Old Abby can't hear any of the commotion and doesn't see too much of it either--maybe being an old lady has its advantages--she can sleep through just about anything.  The cooler weather does mean that I've been leaving them in the house unattended from 8-noon each day.  So far, only one small box and a magazine have fallen prey to their chewing habits.  A big imrovement from last winter. 

At our sorority meeting tonight, we were talking about my jewelry challenge and how much fun it might be to have a jewelry loaning party where we might borrow each other's jewelry for a while.  I think we'll have to work out the details but it could be fun.  I won't be wearing the coppery colored blister pearl necklace and earrings below for a while...maybe one of my friends could wear it a time or two.

Silver & Pearls

I like the casual look of silver and pearls together.  It works with jeans or dressy clothes.  I attended a "Pearl Party" tonight too at Susan's.  I have to admit that I wasn't totally sold before I got there but it was a ton of fun to pick out your oyster and crack it open and see what the treasure is inside.  I had picked a couple of different possiblities for settings before I had the kids pick an oyster.  Once I saw the golden toned pearl, I had to pick a copper plated piece to put it in...when it comes in and I can wear it, I'll be sure to get a picture of it on here!

10/24

I didn't really cheat on my challenge today but I did wear one of the pearl necklaces today but with a different silver pendant.  It didn't take B long to spy my necklace this morning before breakfast.  Guess I'd better find some jewels to send to my little 3 y/o diva!

Shiny silver earrings caused lots of reflection as the sun glinted off them as I drove home.

Shopping Saturday

A fun day of shopping and swimming with the gang!  I didn't get to wear much of my jewelry today--B claimed the necklace and if my earrings had been smaller, she might have wanted to wear them too! :)  I don't remember a shopping trip that I didn't actually buy jewelry to add to my collection!  Will wonders ever cease?

Friday trip to Billings...

I worked most of the day but took off a couple of hours early to travel to Billings for a fun weekend with Carla, Bridgette, Mark, Grady, and Mom & Dad.  It didn't take long after I arrived and hugged the kids for Bridgette to steal my necklace!  :)  I'm thinking that we might have a next generation jewelry junkie on our hands!

I dug out a silver and charcoal colored cameo broach to cover the clasps of the two pearl necklaces I'd joined to get a long necklace.  I layered another pearl necklace with it and wore my dangly pearl & silver earrings.  A sparkly silver watch completed the grouping today. 

Mixed Metal Thursday

Hammered silver mixed with gold was the necklace of choice today...another one of those necklaces that had gotten "lost" in the back of my jewelry box.  It's one of those that you can wear with the toggle clasp in the back or in the front.  Front was my pick this time.  The silver cuff I wore needs a bit of fixing between now and next year as it seems to be bent more than it should be from regular wear.  Not really sure what I've done to it but it's been in my collection for several years so any number of things could have happened to it.  I guess we all get battered and bent as we go through life.

Dangles...

I may have to actually turn on the heat tonight.  It's not really COLD but it's pretty darned chilly.  Dazzle is curled up here on the couch next to me and she's pulled the blanket off the back of the couch to snuggle under.  This morning I finally dug out a sweater I'd bought at KMart last spring on clearance.  I'd needed to cut out the built-in "camisole"...with it in it was just too much oatmeal color for me.  This way I can wear some other colors with the oatmeal sweater.  With my oatmeal colored sweater, I wore a coral tank top and brown slacks. 

The necklace wore today picked up all those colors.  It was one of the first Premier Designs pieces I got several years ago when Tina started as a consultant/jeweler.  It hadn't been out of the jewelry box for a long time.  I'm not sure where the matching earrings are but the ones I wore kind of mimic the dangles on the necklace.  When Igot to work, I realized I hadn't put on a watch or bracelet.  Felt kind of naked without it.

Copper Tuesday...

Copper was my choice of metal today. I'm finding more and more copper in my jewelry wardrobe. It's warm and compliments the skin tone without being too yellow like gold-tones can be. I like gold but sometimes I think it makes me look a bit sallow and of course that's never good. My freckles tend to stick out even more then! I used to hope that my freckles would run together and I'd get a tan but I'm still not sure how it is that you never really run out of skin for freckles. I've given up on the dream of a tan!

The bracelet is an e-bay find for $5, the earrings I found when I was on my way home from Great Falls, MT last month, the green stone necklace is a piece I earned from hosting a Premier Design party and the other copper necklace is a $3 find in Rapid City SD.  Today was truly a bargain jewelry day!

Day 21...

I have no catchy title for today...of course...I'm not sure that the other ones I've used have been catchy either! :) I had a wonderfully productive day today, working through some paperwork from Oktoberfest (and no, I'm not quite done yet), writing some checks, and receipting some others. I looked up from my paperwork pile this morning and it was almost noon. I'm not really sure where the morning went--it was just gone!

When digging through the back of my smaller jewelry box last night, I stumbled upon the necklace I chose to wear today. It's one of my great clearance buys on one of my many shopping trips with my sister. I think it's one I found in Houston when I tortured Carla into more shopping than she really likes to do. The gold, clunky bangles were picked up in Billings on one of the "Shop till you Drop" trips with my girlfriends Jody & Kelly. I think I bought them the same time we bought the reindeer antler headbands with the curly blonde and brunette hair on them! The lady at the shop where we tried them on looked at us like we were nuts....grown women giggling like school girls and trying on goofy headbands. We should all act more like kids more often--we shouldn't take life too seriously, none of us get out of it alive.

Circles....

It's all about circles today...mostly about the circles I seem to run around in while trying to check things off my to do list!

I didn't realize until tonight when I took the picture of my jewelry today that the earrings and necklace were all circles.  The earrings are some of my favorite "go-to" silver ones...guess I won't be going to them for a while...and the necklace was a gift from my friends Paul & Carrie several years ago when they took a trip to Indonesia.  I have another necklace they brought me from Egypt that is made from camel spinal bones.  Sounds odd but it's a gorgeous piece of tone-on-tone browns.  I joke when I wear it that I tend to pull it out of the jewelry box on those days when I need some spine myself. :) 

One of the benefits of my shuffling of items around the house and sorting through some of my piles of "stuff" is that I found a couple of braclets that needed repaired.  I'll get them put back together and it'll add to my options for this challenge.

No jewelry today....

I didn't wear any jewelry today but spent most of the afternoon tearing apart my bedroom, rearranging the furniture, and sweeping up the dust buffalo that had accumulated behind the dresser.  YIKES! 

In my cleaning spree, I did find a couple of earrings that I thought I'd lost.  Now I have to more pair of earrings to wear since I found the missing mates.  Tomorrow I'll do better at picking out some jewelry to wear.  I definately dropped the ball today.

All about metal...

I dug into the left hand door of my jewelry box to a necklace that I don't wear often.  It looks heavy but is actually really light...a combination of gold, silver, & copper toned metal strips that form a "bib" of sorts.  The rest of my choices were silver:  hammered silver hoops, a silver & pink ring, & a silver chain bracelet. 

It's hard to believe how quickly the month of October is flying by.  I'm thinking that I need to dig out my halloween themed jewelry this weekend or I won't have time to sneek it into my challenge. :)  I know there's five or six pieces...ghosts, bats, pumpkins, etc. 

Terrific Thursday....

What a gorgeous day today!  We have had a wonderful fall so far...looks like the nice weather is going to hold out for a bit longer too. 

Fall colored jewelry was the theme of my day today...copper, green, coral, a tish of turquoise, & black.  Tonight I'm making a couple of watch bands for my sister's birthday.  Haven't figured out which beads fit Bert's personality but I have some ideas.  I'll see what happens with the bands and then post a picture here tomorrow.

Miracle at the Mine...

Wow!  What an astonishing feat accomplished in Chile...isn't it amazing what peole can do when they believe and pull together for a common goal?  Watching the news coverage brought tears to my eyes each time a miner came to the surface.  This story will go down in history as a true story of survial and hope.  Certainly puts a lot of things in perspective. 

On to a more frivolous note, my jewelry choices today were all about turquoise...turquoise watch band, turquoise earrings and turquoise necklace...all complimented by my dark teal/turquoise shirt.

New Paths to Friendship...

Tonight was our sorority social and we invited friends who aren't in the group to join us as we explored the corn maze out at the Pumpkin Patch.  The Beta Sigma Phi theme for this year is "New Paths to Friendship" and it's fitting that we spent 45 minutes walking the paths of the corn maze.  When it got dark and we got turned around a couple of times, I have to admit that I had visions of the movie "Children of the Corn".  Not good. 

The maze was great fun and then we enjoyed coffee, hot cider, and AMAZING cheesecake at Jody's.  The cheesecakes from Lander Cheesecake truly are good enough to make your want to slap your mama (as my friend Joyce, in her southern drawl, put it the other day).  Oh my! 

My jewelry choice today was also about friendship.  Dawn's daughter Grace, who just about 9, made me a necklace and earrings for my birthday this year in shades of red and purple.  The purple parts went well with the purple sweater I wore to work and the red went well with the red zippered hoodie I wore tonight.  Grace is a very creative young lady and did a wonderful job on the set. I didn't really have a bracelet that matched the set, so I chose a stretchy silver disc bracelet that is lightweight and comfortable.

Manic Monday

Monday's seem to be nutty no matter the tasks on the agenda.  I'm sure it's all in my head but there's something about "Monday Morning" that just is overwhelming sometimes.

Along with my choice of jewelry today, I thought I'd share the reason behind Dawn's challenge...my big ol' jewelry box.

10/10/10

A beautiful day today...had a sinfully good breakfast with my friend Cindy and then gambled a bit (actually came out with more money than I went in with for once), spent some time puttering around the house, then kidnapped Mom and went for a drive up South Pass and down the Loop Road through Sinks Canyon.  Gorgeous views and great wildlife.  Some of the pictures I took today are posted here:http://lifethroughlynetteslens.shutterfly.com/

I had to take off my big silver necklace today because the metal was reflecting in the sun and getting warm on my chest as the sun came in through the window.  You don't think about the silver gathering that much heat!

We did it!

We did it!  Another successful Oktoberfest scholarship fundraiser is in the bag.  Last night almost 350 people were having a great time at the Holiday Inn:  eating, drinking, laughing, bidding on almost 200 auction items, having a wonderful time.  Thank you to my friends and family who came to my aid (as usual) and pitched in to help make the event a success! 

The cramps in my shins and feet are finally almost worked out.  I wasn't so sure they'd ever go away at 1 o'clock this morning when I was laying in bed trying to will my toes to relax!

Last night's jewelry selection was all about silver and turqoise.  Everyone loves the necklace I was wearing--it looks so heavy but it's really a lightweight piece even though it's so substantial in looks.  It's one of the pieces I've purchased from a vendor at St. Margaret's annual December craft fair.  His booth is usually close to our "Pictures with Santa" booth and the jewelry calls my name until I go check it out.  There's almost alwasy a few affordable pieces I just can't live without!

Saturday was a day of relaxing and returning items we had borrowed to their rightful owners.  I didn't put one stitch of jewelry on today.  Don't fall off your chair!  It's a rare day that I don't put on even a pair of earrings.  I was just too darned tired this morning to even think about it. 

The count down to Oktoberfest is on!

Less than 24 hours now remain until the single, biggest event the CWC Foundation has each year...our 10th annual Oktoberfest scholarship fundraiser.  Susan & I were able to get the many (over 170) auction items gathered up into some semblance of order today so we could transport them all to the Holiday Inn tomorrow morning.  You can finally see the top of my desk again for the first time in weeks.  Of course, most of the paperwork is piled on the filing cabinet behind my desk but that's beside the point.

I have my eye on a very cool necklace that was donated as an auction item.  Can't wait to add it to my collection and then be able to share it here. I went with a multi-strand, seed bead necklace today that I ended up loaning to Susan today because it actually went better with her outfit than mine.  I wore her silver, purple, & black long beaded necklace for about 1/2 the day and the seed bead necklace the other half.  I dug out a silver & gold matte finish bracelet and a pair of silver heart earrings that were a gift from a friend several years ago. 

Simple, simple, simple

Simple isn't normally a word I use when I pick out of my jewelry box.  I tend to go for big & bold pieces but this morning, I just couldn't find anything that felt right.  I don't understand how that works but it happens in my closet sometimes too.  Nothing feels right...but when you put on one of those rejected clothing or jewelry pieces the next day, magically they are ok again.  I don't really get how or why it works.  I'm sure that other women have the same issues...I can't be the only nutty one...or can I? 

Wednesday's jewelry choice was a simple silver omega with an odd silver pendant that I think came off the zipper pull of a purse several years ago.  I liked the spiral design.  When I was checking out at Wal-Mart today (for the last and I mean the last trip before Oktoberfest), the checker asked me what the symbol stood for...I must have given her a blank look because she had to point to the necklace before I got what she was asking.  Of course, I wasn't thinking quickly enough on my feet to come up with some witty answer like "it helps to center my chakra" or something like that.  I just said, "I have no idea.  I just liked it."  How witty was that? 

In addition to my spiral pendant, I chose a pair of "go-to" silver hoops.  Thank heavens I have about 20 pair of them in different sizes since I can't wear them now for a while.  Maybe I'd better be on the hunt for more "no-brainer" earrings.  One of my watches was on hand today instead of a cute bracelet.  I promise to add pictures after I get through Friday's fundraising event. 

Brown, brown, & more brown...

Brown was my color of choice today.  It had been months since I'd worn the tiger-eye & silver bracelet I chose this morning--once in a while, the magnetic clasp pinches you on the wrist. :) The two strand silver, brown, & tan necklace I wore has a great layered look without having to actually wear more than once necklace.

Plans for Oktoberfest are coming along well.  I actually finished a couple of things today and got to mark them off my list.  Of course, three or more things made it onto my list so it hasn't gotten any shorter but I took great pleasure in marking through the completed items with a big ol' black marker!  I hope that all of you who live close by come out to the Holiday Inn on Friday night to have a fun time and raise some money for student scholarships! 

Shades of Purple

Purple is a power color for me.  I always feel good in it and more confident.  This week is always one of the most stressful ones of the year...the countdown to Oktoberfest.  Susan and I are making good progress with the help of the board members on the event committee, but it seems like every time you turn around, more stuff needs to get done.  I know it'll all get done by Friday and we'll have plenty of time but it's a bit overwhelming at this point.

I picked two purple necklaces, a pair of silver hoops, and a silver cuff bracelet with a purple stone in the center.  It looks heavy but is amazingly light weight.  It'll be tough to not wear it again for a while.

Relaxing Sunday

I had a great Sunday...breakfast with two of my friends, a little gambling at the casino, and then an afternoon of making centerpieces for Oktoberfest.  I have a couple of burns from the hot glue gun but Pat, Sharrayah, & I knocked out 40 decorated pumpkins for centerpieces.  They look awesome!


Not much jewelry to report on today.  A blue watch, silver chain, & small silver hoop earrings.  I did just do some shopping on E-Bay and purchased some additional fall colored jewelry.  I couldn't resist!

One of these days, I'll find that elusive Squash Blossom necklace that I covet so much.  I just can't bring myself to spend upwards of $750 to $1,000 for a necklace.  No matter how much I want one, I just can't do it.

Another garden club trip today...

More miles on my car for garden club today.  The fall state meeting was in Casper and I realized that I won't quite be able to meet Dawn's challenge about not wearing a piece of jewelry more than once before I've worn all the other pieces.  My state president's pin will have to be the exception to the rule.  I'll need to wear it several more times in the next 365 days but I'll keep true to the rest of the challenge.

It was another gorgeous Wyoming fall day.  The antelope and deer were plentiful along Highway 26 to Casper.  We stopped at Hells Half Acre today so Mom could check out the Elvis rock under the rim.  I think she was worried I'd trip her and let her go over the edge. :)  If you haven't checked out the wild and rugged site lately, you should take time to pull over, park and walk in and see it. It's still amazing to me!

It's FRIIIDDDAAAYYY!!!

Woo Hoo!  Loved the beautiful Friday we had.  Can't believe it's still this nice the first of October.  We haven't really even had a frost yet.  I love the crisp mornings and warm afternoons. 

I picked a mishmash of jewelry today...not thinking about the bells on my bracelet and that they'd be noisy on the radio this morning when I went on to Chit Chat to talk about next week's fundraiser.  I love the noise it makes as I talk but I'm sure it was a bit distracting to others.  OOPS!