#girl i have to rediscover how i make all my recipes and take pictures of them all 😭

[glitteratti]

filling out a cookbook zine application and i have to include detailed recipes ive created and PICTURES….well heres what you do. you measure those ingredients with your heart and you put that shit in the oven or stove. and you cook it til its tasty. and you throw your phone and other cameras out the window for papa forbade vanity or whatever

#.txt #girl i have to rediscover how i make all my recipes and take pictures of them all 😭 #at least my cocktails i always measure out. now if only i actually had PICTURES #other than a shitty selfie i took drinking my london fog cocktail out of a silly teacup that says vodka #also so many of my cocktails require infused vodka #and are also just bizarre. because i 💖 weird tastes. you will never be my untitled horseradish and pickle juice cocktail

[pynkhues]

4 for Stuby?

Thank you, anon! This ended up being more Ruby-centric than Stan x Ruby, but hopefully you like it still. :-)

4. Mint Leaves

When her mother leaves her the house, she leaves her clean floors and tired walls and boxes of her father’s things, stacked low in the basement, inched in dust and memories. She leaves her some of her grandmother’s furniture – the old dining room table she’d done her homework at as a kid and the armchair with the scorch on the leg from where her brother tried to put out a cigarette before she saw. She leaves her the old camphorwood chest that smells of damp earth and mothballs, the herb garden by the fence, and the lopsided bookshelf in the hall.

Leaves her everything she can’t take with her to the home, and Ruby tries her best to be grateful, tries to smile and take it even though it feels like being handed the keys to a museum. A glass-cased history of her maiden name while she’s in the middle of changing it on her driver’s license, phone bill - - god, in her head. Tries to pretend that accepting the weight of her family’s small legacy is a choice instead of the only option her and Stan’s combined minimum wage income will afford them.

Tries to pretend she’s ever had options when it comes to the roof over her head and the crumpled bills in her purse.

And it’s okay, she thinks, because Stan’s grateful enough for both of them. Grateful enough to visit her mother twice a week, to get her approval before painting the walls, fixing those shelves, sanding back the old dining room table and varnishing it until it shines beneath the warm light, and Ruby lets him fix the old while she tries to bring in the new. To buy new throws to cover the scorch mark on the armchair, and pictures to hang that feel like the woman Ruby Hill and not the girl Ruby Johnson, and maybe it would feel stupid if Stan didn’t watch her do it, a tender, thoughtful look on his tender, thoughtful face as he told her all the recipes he knows how to cook are his mom’s.

“Every time I try something new, it feels like it won’t ever be as good as one of hers. Sometimes I want to just find that one thing I can make to surprise her. Make her realise I got my own thing going too.”

(It’s weird, Ruby thinks as she kisses him, her hand gentle as it cups the back of his head.

The way even the biggest of loves can sometimes leave a shadow.)

Still.

It’s not until her mother’s death that they rediscover her herb garden.

Find the crush of dead leaves – basil, sage, bay – a graveyard beneath the stiff, wooden stalks of rosemary, cobwebs damp with dew between branches, the shriveled remains of what once was thyme.

Ruby’s eyes are still swollen, red and puffy from tears, and they start easy again now, the memories of her mother bended on tired knees as she pulled weeds and tended soil. As she plucked these herbs for ziti and stuffed peppers, for roast chicken, turkey, and chili. The smell of it all finds her nose even though it isn’t here, and she rubs her hands into her shirt just for something to cling to, hold to, to ground her in this moment and let her mother go.

Only - -

Stan’s voice.

Easy, open, surprised.

Ruby turns around, finds him not at the fence, but by the corner of the house, and she blinks, because that’s - -

“Mint,” Stan tells her. “I think it’s wild.”

Parts of it have gone to flower already – the tiny purple flowers springing from the centre like a fistful of thrown confetti, paused mid-flight – and the leaves are bigger, wider than what Ruby’s used to in the mint she sees at the diner, at the store, at the markets when she goes with Beth, and she turns back to look at the fallen remains of her mother’s garden, and she looks back at this scrap of wild, new life, and the pressure behind her eyes is back, her face stiff and her chest aching, and she tries to keep her voice flippant instead of hoarse when she says:

“Mojitos?”

They drink a few, and they’re a little tart (she’s not sure if it’s because they’ve gone to flower already, or because the herb is wild. She’s not sure if she cares), and then Stan cooks.

He cooks mushroom and mint pastries, pea and mint fritters, cooks salty, tangy larb and mint chocolate brownies, and they’re all good, but the last melts on her tongue until she pulls Stanley close, has him lick it out of her mouth so he’s there and he’s close when she tells him they’re better than his mom’s.

She regrows her own mother’s garden.

She pulls out the dead herbs and she plants new ones, and she transplants the wild mint from the corner of the house to rest with them, and when she gets pregnant, she thinks she’ll let her daughter pick the next thing they plant and she won’t be mad when she doesn’t get it. Won’t be mad when she wants something new, something that’s just hers, because she thinks maybe you have to know yourself, and what you have to lose, before you’re grateful for what you had.

Send me a sensory prompt (Good Girls, The Umbrella Academy or Succession)

#thanks again anon! #i'm going to try and do one of these a day again #i took a few days off because of lockdown + a family thing that became urgent #but i'm relatively back now #ruby hill #stan hill #ruby x stan #nbc good girls #sensory prompts #welcome to my ama #my fic #fic asks #gg fic

[itsthehcgforme]

I want to give you a little background about my history and how its correlates with my weight gain and losses. I’ll keep it as short and digestible as possible, considering managing my weight, body dysmorphia and EDs have been a pretty prominent part of my life since the tender age of 6. I’ll stick to the last two years. Let’s talk about 2019 This year was a wild ride. I was working a job I hated in communications, I was studying for what seemed like no reason at all. I had a terrible relationship with my family. At that point I was very much still in wounded child, victim mode, and I want to say to some degree depressed (I take diagnoses pretty seriously -so I want to state that at no point was I clinically diagnosed, but I could tell something was off - but let’s tackle that topic in another post). It was incredibly hard to make drastic changes to turn my life around at that point. When things feel disastrous and out of my control, I self soothe by binge eating. When there are feelings that I just don’t want to feel anymore, I binge eat. When I’m uncomfortable, I binge eat. I’m sure you get it. In January I was definitely still in ‘New Year New Me’ mode and DID catch myself mid binge-out, and corrected that as soon as I could. By mid February, by the grace of ??? WHOMEVER - I was forced to make pretty life altering decisions. I dropped out of University, quit my job, became a flight attendant for a Canadian airline, moved out of my family home and to the city with a woman who I figured might’ve been the love of my life, maybe three months after meeting her. Just a recipe for a disaster. Ironically, by mid-summer of 2019 I was the happiest I had ever been. I was in love with my lady, I was living la vida loca travelling all of Europe and the South, enjoying city life with all of my queer friends, new and old. I seemed to have everything in control. But whew… the happy weight y’all! Ironically I wasn’t binging to mask unpleasantries, but between the many dinner dates with my lady at the time, dinners and drinks with my friends in the city, the uber eats, crew meals at work. I packed on the weight like nobodies business. By October, I came to the conclusion that my relationship with my body, with eating and with my lady all weren’t serving me. On some real prodigal son shit, I moved back in with my family which was terrible for my mental health, but I didn’t really have any other choice. Summer flying season had settled and most junior flight attendants work on an on call basis in the fall and winter months. Meaning, I would be “home” for the majority of the winter. I spent my days at the gym and working as an Uber Eats courier, just anything to avoid being at home. I missed freedom, I missed the city. By December I was dead set into working out and swimming regularly. I had stacked up some money, paid some debts and was coming up with a master plan on what my next steps would be. For my independence, my weight, my love life and so on. 

2020 started off incredible. Still living in the burbs with the rents, but I had found some other things to live for. I was fit and active, built up some confidence during my newfound and RARE single-hood. I was out there and dating. Discovering and rediscovering myself and the things I loved. I had picked up a sub-contract and was able to do a lot more winter flying around Canada. I was going on lots of fun dates with cuties in the city and out of province, I was making decent money. And then, like a brick, COVID-19 hit and the pandemic began. Late February, I found myself in Cuba on a 16hr layover with one of my favourite co-workers. She’s an instagram certified bad bitch, so you already know we were on the beach 10AM, full face, hair done, taking pictures. It was freezing. I became incredibly sick the next day. We were working out of a small airport in New Brunswick. I had to call in sick for the middle of the pairing. Little did I know because of that call I would be quarantined in my Moncton hotel room until the end of March. Let’s be clear, at no point did I ever test positive for COVID, but because this was the point where Canada started taking the virus seriously, it took a few weeks before I could even get medical attention. In that time, I had developed other health complications due to my initial sickness and lack of access to healthcare or proper medication. The hotel staff were really kind to me, they brought me unlimited room service, though the options were quite limited (and not the healthiest), I didn’t have the physical or mental strength to continue exercising. Between the lack of exercise, the increase in unhealthy food, the loss of control and the feelings of impending doom - I started putting on more weight. Let’s just fast forward through 2020 cause it turned out to be kind of a shit show and isn’t worth spending too much time on. I get released and get to go home, just to find out that I’d been laid off from my job as a flight attendant indefinitely due to covid. I leave home again because I can’t take it anymore. I have no excuse to leave home since we’re on lockdown. I have no gym, no space to breathe, no outlets. I move out of my family home for sanity sake into a house in the city with two girls who were at first glance really cool, but 6 months in realized I couldn’t stay there. Between trying to control my life, sabotaging my romantic relationships, emotional manipulation, drug issues and the list goes on, I had to leave for my own good. December comes, I’m living on my own in a small Toronto apartment. I’m safe, sane(ish) and satisfied. I have two wonderful partners, I have furniture, I have peace, I’m completely BROKE LOL. Here comes the happy weight. 

So here we are, 2021. The gyms still aren’t open. I’ve definitely eaten enough frozen pizzas and wine to scare me into thinking I’m pregnant (not pregnant, just fat LOL). I’ve exercised on and off, some low-intensity-HIIT and other things. But nothing strenuous enough to make any drastic changes. My partners seem to both be into my happy weight, considering they both have histories dating bigger women. Considering they both eat gluten-free diets and are pretty much healthy, they probably don’t suspect a problems. But young people are usually pretty naive and self centred (don’t @ me. You know to some degree I’m right. Its also why I don’t have a tendency to date young people). At this point I’m unhappy, despite everything. Weights up, hormones feel out of whack, my guts in a rut and my emotions feel out of my control. I’m giving HCG another try in efforts to regulate my weight, my hormones, my gut and regain control. Its not my first rodeo and its why I’m back on the HCG diet wave again. We’ll see where it takes me. Wish me luck.

#hcgcommunity #hcg #hcg weight loss #covid 19 #flight attendant #non monogomous

[mad-madam-m]

You're welcome :) I haven't watched k-drama since rediscovering the beauty of animation after university. May I ask for recommendations? Btw I was thinking of how to ask about the Pidge/Allura fic that you mentioned at the end of Heartstone so I'm guessing(hoping) Heartstone p2 in one of those screenshots means it is still a thing

Bahaha, yes, the Heartstone p2 in my Ideas screenshot is the Pidge/Allura one I mentioned. I’m trying to figure out what to do with it but so far it’s “Pidge and Allura fall in love, Keith attempts to learn to people.” WHO KNOWS maybe the new seasons will knock something loose.

And OH BOY do I have some K-drama recs for you:

Coffee Prince - I think everybody gets started with Coffee Prince because it’s fairly easy to get into, it’s not super angsty, and even though the main dude is a bit of an asshole--the main dudes usually are--he gets over it. Basic plot is a girl gets mistaken for a boy and ends up with a job at a coffee shop staffed entirely by guys. She also discovers a passion for being a barista, in addition to falling for the owner of the shop...who is the one who thinks she’s a guy. It’s basically a coffee shop AU. It’s delightful.

Faith - A modern-day doctor gets pulled back to Korea’s past when the head of the king’s guard comes through a time portal looking for a legendary doctor to save the queen’s life. BOATLOADS of political intrigue, a dash of magic, angst and fluff and people you like die and people you hate die and ultimately, there’s a happy ending. This one was like...so much of my catnip; I loved it. I need to rewatch it soon.

City Hunter - Are you looking for a modern-day drama filled with vigilante justice where a masked hero takes down corrupt politicians? That’s City Hunter. Said vigilante hero in this drama is played by the same actor who was the captain of the king’s guard in Faith, and I adore him to pieces. The female lead is a girl who’s just basically gotten into Korea’s version of the Secret Service, so she often ends up being assigned to protect the very politicians the male lead is going after. Throw in a pretty prosecutor and a very awesome veterinarian who knows how to keep secrets and you have the recipe for a great action-oriented drama. There’s ONE death in this series that I entirely ignore, but everything else is A+.

Mary Stayed Out All Night - I fucking loved this drama, okay. See, Mary’s dad is in loads of debt and he meets an old friend who’s very wealthy and agrees to pay off his debt, if Mary will marry his son, Jung In. So Mary’s dad agrees to this, tells Mary she’s getting married, and she goes “oh hell no I’m not.” So she talks this guy she ran over with her car--Mu Gyul, and I swear it makes sense in context--into posing for pictures with her where she’s in a wedding dress and he’s in a tux. (Actually, I think their friends come up with this idea. Their friends are...not great.) So she shows these pictures to her dad and says “Sorry, Dad, whirlwind romance, I’m already married, please leave me alone and let me finish school” and he goes “...yeah I basically already signed you up for a marriage license.”

And there’s no way for her to get out of that without 1) a divorce and 2) sending her dad to jail for fraud, but she also REALLY doesn’t want to be in an arranged marriage. So what does she do? She tells her dad to give her 100 days where she’ll practice being married to both guys and make a choice at the end of it.

What follows is an absolute delight, because Mary has great chemistry with both Mu Gyul and Jung In, and the boys have great chemistry with each other, and really all together they make a functional adult. It doesn’t end with canon OT3, but you definitely get a lot of fodder for that particular ship and it’s PRETTY CLEAR the actors were totally on board.

The Moon Embracing the Sun - This is another historical, and I am not even going to try to summarize it because it’s so plotty and so much is going on and it’s so good. The very, very short version is: the crown prince falls in love with Yeon Woo and wants to marry her. Unfortunately, his conniving grandmother has another candidate for crown princess in mind and she does not like Yeon Woo at all. And grandmother is willing to do whatever it takes to get Yeon Woo out of the picture. However, another character has, for reasons, pledged to keep Yeon Woo safe and how she goes about that is just...wow. WOW. The characters are fantastic, the sets and costumes are gorgeous, and the story is so, so good. It’s very angsty, but there is a happy ending. 

Miss Panda and Mr. Hedgehog - I’m not finished with this one yet but HOLY SHIT I love it. Baking! Found families! A prickly hero with a heart of gold! A sweet plucky female lead 100% determined to make her cafe succeed! Good friends who give good advice! Great sibling relationships! A super cute main romance! I just adore everything about this show and I’m so excited to see how it wraps up. 

I think that’s....almost every one I’ve seen over the past couple of years. XD My friends screen them for me before I watch (because I refuse to watch anything where everybody dies at the end) and so far they’ve been really good at picking ones they know I’ll enjoy. :-)

#Anonymous #M answers #K dramas #K drama recs #let me know if you like any of these #especially Mary #please God let's expand the English language fandom beyond 3 people

[carpalfunnelcake]

Foraging Foodies

As I walk to work every day, I can't help but notice the bounty of nature on the way, ignored by the unwashed masses – there, a dandelion! Here, a stinging nettle! So much free food growing right under our feet, and nobody bothers with it just because it's covered in car exhaust. I do not understand how anyone could enjoy buying genetically modified tomatoes in a store with harsh white lights and people in sweatpants – personally, I like to take a week off of work and rent a nice cabin in the woods to fully enjoy these gifts of mother nature; I just do not get why other people don't do the same!

Now, I didn't grow up foraging wild foods to wild-ferment photogenically in my kitchen – you may be surprised, dear reader, but I actually grew up entirely on McDonald's and didn't see a single green thing until I went to college and partook in certain substances with a man named Coyote. He showed me that you could actually use plants – use them, not just look at them! – and I haven't been the same since. Another big milestone was all the girls I ever dated and their families. You see, I date exclusively girls from other countries, just so I can meet their exotic grandmothers and absorb their wise food traditions. Just the other day, my current girlfriend Katya's grandmother spat a sunflower seed at me as I was explaining the science behind lactofermentation to her. This inspired me to come up with a great recipe for Classic Old World Fermented Pickles With Chickweed, Jalapenos and Sunflower Seeds – it's based on Katya's grandmother's pickle recipe, but, you know, made better! Another favourite of mine is  Purslane and Cilantro Kimchi – it was so good, I think Su Jin was a little jealous! She was actually pretty rude about it, but I told her that if she doesn't like that a white man makes better kimchi than her mom, isn't that, like, racist?? Well, she left and didn't even come back for her stuff (Su Jin, if you're reading this, please get your comic books, they're cluttering up my studio), and I figured it's for the best – I don't want to be with someone who holds me back, you know?

Now that foraging has been my passion for almost two years, I have decided to give back to the community by having foraging and cooking classes. For only $60 per person, I show people how to identify such healthy, holistic foods as dandelion greens, chickweed, and lamb's quarters, and for another $50, I teach them how to infuse various vinegars with their findings. I gotta tell you, shrub made with my own homemade blackberry and wild garlic infused apple cider vinegar changed. my. life. In fact, it was this delicious shrub that inspired me to open my own restaurant!You may have heard of it, it's called Leaf and Beef, it's an all organic, foraged foods, farm-to-table kind of place. It's really rustic – I found all these pallets in the dump that I decided to reuse as tables, and I even hung up a picture of my ex Xiomara's great-aunt so I can tell everyone she's my grandmother – it really adds authenticity. My wild persimmon tacos topped with purslane white bean hummus and pickled beet relish were recently reviewed in the local newspaper -- five stars, of course.

Anyway, I guess my point is this. Look at the world around you. Politics, poverty, cancer. People feel so out of control about these things, but the thing is, it doesn't have to be this way! Put down your cheap, soggy burger and take a good hard look at yourself in the mirror. Disgusting!! Now, go outside! Putting only freshly picked, organic, preferably wild-grown ingredients into your body is the NEW way of living – something our caveman ancestors did, and nobody since then*, but fortunately, people like me are rediscovering these ancient practices. Have you ever heard of cavemen getting cancer? That's right, they didn't. And have you heard of, well, dandelions? Of course you have! Well, that's probably what our cavemen grandmothers ate, and they are absolutely delicious, really quite an acceptable flavour. Also, they look really pleasant and fresh in a photograph, which is just as important!

Now, here are some photos I took of things in jars. I picked out the best ones, so there's only fifty or so. Enjoy! Meanwhile, I'd better go – the uber that's taking me to my cabin is here!

*My editor tells me that his family in West Virginia “totally do that,” but, I mean, I've seen pictures of them and they really aren't the kind of people I'd want associated with the foraging lifestyle. No offense, Sam!

#foodies #foodieculture #foraging #fermentation #appropriation #satire #hipsterfood

[gypsyrover-ghost]

An old favorite article...

Falling Off the Missionary Pedestal by

Leslie Verner

on September 11, 2016

As a twenty-something single missionary home for the summer, I sat quietly judging the other girls in the room who were laughing and talking about which color Kitchen Aid Mixer they had registered for at their bridal showers. I thought about my own home—a 300 square foot cinderblock apartment in China with one sink in the kitchen that looked like it belonged to an auto mechanic and a “shoilet”—a toilet that got wet when you showered because the shower was in the same tiny space.

As I listened to those girls, rather than feeling envy, I felt smug. I was doing the Hard Thing: purposely living a life of discomfort for the sake of the gospel. I had climbed the evangelical Christian ladder right up to the top, perching on the pedestal the church reserves for missionaries. I wasn’t going to waste my life like these other girls who could guiltlessly own a $300 appliance that would collect dust on their kitchen counters.

I had this “living for Jesus” thing all figured out. Hard always equaled holy, I believed. Discomfort was always best. And poverty was external and had nothing to do with the poverty of my own soul.

But have you ever strode confidently into what you wholeheartedly believed was the direction you were meant to go when out of nowhere a giant shepherd’s rod slips around your waist and yanks you backward … hard?

That was how my five-year missionary tale ended—abruptly and with little explanation from that “still small voice.” Before I knew it, I was back in America with the Kitchen Aid Girls, drinking La Croix and chatting about recipes we found on Pinterest.

And I was miserable.

***

That was six years ago.

Since living in China, life has gone from multiple roads, all wide open with glorious possibility, to an ever-narrowing path where I can only see enough of the way ahead to put one foot in front of the other. Getting married “late,” we were on the fast track and had three kids in four years. Sometimes I wake up stunned, wondering what happened to my life.

As a missionary, I had been a superstar, both in China and back home. In China, people asked to take their picture with me and got into motorcycle accidents while gawking at the blond foreigner. In the United States, I was asked to share at churches, gather small groups and give presentations. I felt like someone special. I was doing something meaningful with my life instead of just settling for the White Picket Fence Life so many of my peers had succumbed to.

Now? I drive a minivan. I am lost in the tunnel of parenthood and live in an all-white neighborhood. But I’m finally beginning to understand some things about Kingdom Living.

So far, God’s greatest gift has been to bring me back to live the unglamorous life of the ordinary stay-at-home mom. God has shown me that I was worshipping my call, instead of my Jesus.

I relate to Danielle Mayfield as she shares a similar tumbling from her missionary pedestal in her new book, Assimilate or Go Home: Notes from a Failed Missionary on Rediscovering Faith. In it, she confesses:

“I didn’t start to notice this real and powerful lie, this dark animal clawing up my mind, until it almost undid me. I didn’t see how I placed myself at the top and was eager for others to do the same. I didn’t see how that meant that my neighbors and refugee friends became my stepping stones in attaining the love of God; I didn’t see how it meant that I was using everyone around me in real and devastating ways…it was becoming increasingly clear that there wasn’t even a bit of specialness to be found in me, and that God loved me anyway”(182).

It’s in recognizing my poverty that I can finally receive the love that Jesus wants to lavish on me.

I’m being given the gift of lessening.

In motherhood, you grind your knees in the dirt and do the work of washing tiny, dusty feet just like Jesus did. And then you do it again tomorrow. This does not make me feel like a superhero. Instead, I feel small, insignificant and in need of a good footwashing myself.

From this low position, I may finally look over and see the other misfits and ragamuffins wondering about this Jesus man who gathers in prostituted women, liars, double-crossers and those despised by society.

A wise Chinese friend said something once that made me pause. “Ministry is not complicated,” she said. “You just have to look around you and pray for the people right next to you—your pang bian de ren.* Then wait and see what God does.”

Right now, my right-next-to-me people are my husband, children, neighbors, and the moms I trade war-stories with at preschool pickup. They are my virtual and actual friends and family online. And they are the invisible people who Jesus sees, but I do not yet see. I’m living life in the place where the majority of people live—in the ordinary, messy and everyday.

***

I bought a used $80 Kitchen Aid Mixer at a garage sale last week. I made the first recipe with my “helpers,” my two- and almost-four-year-old. They delighted in tossing the ingredients into the humming bowl until my back was turned and they dumped flour onto the counter, sending it sailing into the air. I cleaned as we waited for the wheat rolls. Then we popped those into our mouths straight from the oven.

Life is small right now. It is not quiet, but the loud and radical station is tuned down to the simple and same, the here and now.

***

Downward mobility begins at the heart level as I confess my own poverty. I have a slow leak that needs to be plugged by Holy Spirit fingers. And it’s only when I admit my own need that I can begin to meet others in theirs.

Like Mayfield, I am learning to declare this:

“God took away my asterisk, and now I don’t know how to classify myself anymore. I’m just a sheep of his hand, and it is more lowly and lovely than I could have ever imagined.” (193)

[downtownmooresville]

Discover Downtown Series - Ain’t Miss Bead Haven

Downtown Dazzles      By Kelly Sopp

Laura Brosseau has an eye for opportunity. She is the absolutely delightful owner of Ain’t Miss Bead Haven bead store, at 138 N. Main Street in Downtown Mooresville. Originally hailing from New Orleans, Laura packed up her creative, entrepreneurial spirit and brought it to Mooresville after Hurricane Katrina. Rediscovering her passion for jewelry making and her talent for making friends, she took a risk and rented a storefront on Main Street. Before long, she had built a wonderful community of artists and hobbyists who appreciate the wide selection of gemstones and beads she stocks from around the world. Loving her downtown location, she soon jumped at the chance to purchase and meticulously restore one of Mooresville’s oldest buildings, which is where the shop is now.

Where Creativity Shines

Unlike most large bead shops and hobby stores, Ain’t Miss Bead Haven’ is a place of inspiration. The walls are lined with strands of sparkling crystals, semi-precious and precious gemstones, glass beads, vintage beads, metal chains, leather cords, Japanese and Czech seed beads, and more. Vintage teacups and dainty dishes, filled with every kind of clasp, charm, bobble and bling you can imagine, rest on top of industrial chic tables. Almost everything is arranged by color to help customers more easily navigate the endless possibilities. “My mother was an artist, so I developed a great love of color,” says Laura. “I get very excited about the shape and feel of the stones too. And the quality! In here, you can make a higher end piece that you’re very proud of… where you don’t feel bad saying ‘I made this myself!’”

Making Something From Nothing

Laura has been an Entrepreneur since she was five years old. She recalled her first business venture proudly. “My sister and I wanted a Slip ‘N Slide, but our family didn’t have much money,” she said. “My mom helped us come up with the idea of selling lemon freezies in Dixie cups out the back window. She made up the recipe at night, and we’d sell freezies to all the kids for a nickel. I don’t know how we made ten dollars selling five-cent freezies, but we did! We got the Slip ‘N Slide, and every kid in the neighborhood played on it.” When Laura was about 10 years old, she started making jewelry as a hobby. It was something she continued to do for fun when her son was young, and sometimes she would sell her jewelry at craft fairs and jewelry shows. It wasn’t until years later, after her career in restaurant and hospitality IT, that she decided to get back to her artistic roots.

Talent As Far As The Eye Can See

Not only is Laura a great jewelry designer, her staff is very talented too. Many have created their own jewelry lines, and each of them has a different style. Their collective experience is incredibly helpful to customers, because they can offer tips on the materials and tools, along with guidance in choosing the beads and gems that fit your budget. For a small charge, they can take the items you select and build the finished piece for you. “People tend to know what they don’t like more than what they like. We listen closely and then we help them out,” says Laura. “People come in with a picture from Pinterest or Facebook, and we’ll help them make it. Often it’s something they’ve seen in the Sundance or Neiman Marcus catalogs, but the price is too high. So we help them create something similar, that is more affordable. They are just as happy, and they have a creative hand in it!”

Wearing It Well

According to Laura, the pieces people design are as unique as they are. A lot of customers bring in a family heirloom or a piece of jewelry with sentimental value that they would like to modernize and give as a wedding gift or a graduation present. “Because ladies don’t come in one size but jewelry typically does, petite women will bring in necklaces and we’ll help redesign them to fit better,” she says. “We can scale it up or down depending on your body type. Tall women need to wear their jewelry longer, whereas petite women need to bring it up sometimes. We can create something custom for you, or customize the jewelry you already have.”

The Thrill Of The Hunt

The beads and gems come from all around the world. And so do Laura’s customers. In fact, behind the register there is a large map with sparkly pins pointing to all the places customers have traveled from. To do her buying for the store, Laura travels too. Her biggest gem tradeshows are in Arizona, but she travels to about seven total shows in all. At the shows, she works with vendors from every part of the globe. If there is something she doesn’t carry regularly in the store, she will often host a trunk show featuring a vendor’s more unique items in limited supply. “At the shows I get excited by unusual cuts, sparkly gems and just about everything. I have a great time,” she smiles.  “When I get back to the store and pull something out of the bag, and my employees are like ‘Oh my gosh I LOVE that!’ then I know I’ve picked a winner. I know my customers will be happy.”

Discovering Your Inner Designer

“What do I love about jewelry? Everything!” giggles Laura. “The sparkle, the shine. I really love handling the gemstones. Some people feel they have healing properties and energy. I’m more drawn to their details and their colors. I love the way they feel. Sometimes they’re cool, or after wearing them, they’re the temperature of your skin.” When Laura helps customers create a piece of jewelry, she helps them identify the type of piece they would like to make first. Then she asks about their favorite colors and the types of clothing they wear most often. She likes to select colors that complement a wardrobe, rather than match it. When you come into the shop she’ll hand you a tray and encourage you to have fun picking out exactly what you like. “I always say go crazy and put what you like in there,” she smiles. “We can edit later!”

Hands-On Fun

Laura knows that jewelry making is creative and collaborative. She hosts classes, girls-night-out parties and even a B.Y.O.B night (that’s bring your own beads). She also encourages young artists through her popular summer kid’s camps. The summer schedule includes gemologist camps where kids get to dig for gems, jewelry camps where kids create their own masterpieces, and craft camps that exercise kids’ creativity beyond jewelry making.  For a complete camp schedule, check out the calendar here. https://www.aintmissbeadhaven.com/class-schedule/

Ain’t Miss Bead Haven in Downtown Mooresville is open Monday through Saturday, 10am – 6pm. The address is 138 N. Main Street, Mooresville, NC 28115. The website link is: www.aintmissbeadhaven.com. Phone: [phone]. You can follow the shop on Facebook too.

#DTM #dtmsmallbiz #dtmshop #downtownmooresville

[twistednuns]

March 2017

Passer une semaine merveilleuse à Paris avec Frank! Wow, my first impulse was actually to start writing in French, this is how far I've already come in little more than a week of intense training... Which brings me to me first good thing this month, even before writing about the great things that happened in Paris:

Being extremely motivated to brush up my French! It was so much fun to notice how my language skills improved every day even though I only spent five days in Paris. On my last day, I bought one of the Harry Potter books in French (I figured reading a book I already know more or less by heart will make it less hard when I have to guess every other word). I read seven chapters on the train to Munich and have since scored thousands of experience points on Duolingo. Gosh, I even started filling a notebook with vocabulary and grammar rules. I wonder how long I can keep up this pace... But it's so amazing, I catch myself talking to myself in French (in my thoughts at least). Immersing myself in the language definitely made an impression on me.

Ok, so, Paris. The train ride was great because I started AND finished reading a whole book. / I was so happy whenever I managed to have a successful conversation in French. / I really liked Ombeline, especially roaming around her apartment (with more than 17 chairs in the living room alone). Going through all her books and bandes dessinées (she even had one by Margaux Motin!), making breakfast in her kitchen, opening some of the cupboards and marvelling at the sheer amount of stuff and back-ups she owns, looking at her souvenirs from Africa and the beautiful crescent moon mask. / The SOHN concert at La Maroquinerie (which was by chance only a few hundred metres away from Ombeline's flat). "I can feel it coming, we can never go back." / Finding a statue of a gorgeous bearded man in marble; surrounded by baby angels with severed heads. A man after my fancy. / Sitting in Sacré-Coeur, taking cover from the rain, having a profane conversation. / Taking a walk from Montmartre to Faubourg; a good hour of sunshine, glitter on the streets in Pigalle, noticing that gay Frenchmen have a very distinct style. Sharing a passion fruit éclair. Decadent bulky waste (a pink satin canapé). / Spending time at Centre Pompidou, rediscovering Twombly, Brancusi and Klee. / Sitting outside a café with a strong drink and a cigarette (I had to think about Franzi's idea of the ideal way to spend time in Paris - sitting around in cafés all day, wearing red lipstick and smoking way too much). / Watching the swing dancers at Balajo. / Le jardin des plantes! The palaeontology and geology museum were fantastic. I've always wanted to go there but somehow I never managed even though I've been to Paris three times before. / Sitting at the Seine, next to each other, taking in the scenery.

Minimalism input: reading Escape Everything by Robert Wringham in Ombelines overly full apartment made me consider doing something drastic with my life. Sell all my stuff, become a digital nomad. So many ideas!

Overhearing a little girl one afternoon addressing the red, white and blue balloons she had just gotten in a bakery: "Ja ich weiß, ihr Luftballons ihr wollt weg!"

I've basically stopped watching TV? What's going on? I only saw one movie in February, and that was at the cinema! Awesome! More time for books!

Buying books is so satisfying. I loved spending time in French book stores (Les Mots à la Bouche!), going through the used-book section at the Bouquinistes and Shakespeare and Company. I bought so many books during the last few weeks. It's gonna take the rest of the year to read all of them.

My colleague asked me whether I'd like to start a sustainability exchange programme with a school in South America! Exciting!

The Grossstadtgeflüster concert at Feierwerk was awesome. I even got a sticker with a street sign for Fickt-Euch-Allee (I kinda wanna put it over the real street sign here in my street).

Oat cookies with dark chocolate. Baking my favourite lemon cake with poppy seeds and blueberries.

A weird weekend - I neither left the house nor talked to anyone - but I was in the mood to clean all my windows! My productivity high is getting scary...

How sadly true this article on jealousy is. The first paragraph actually triggered me to shout out "ha" because I felt caught. Oh well. After all "you have to keep breaking your heart before it opens." (Rumi)

ALMOST booking a flight to Cancún over Christmas and New Year's Eve. It might still happen. So far I'm afraid I'm spending too much money as it is... we'll see how much unreason my bank account can take. But just imagining lying on a white, sandy beach on the first day of 2018 while Germany vanishes in a cloud of dust and smoke after the annual fireworks... nice thought.

Making poached eggs for the first time. You have to make a swirl with an egg whisk in a pot of vinegar water and crack the eggs while the water is still moving.

The nice feeling of the dust cover of Zeige deine Wunde by Rüdiger Sünner.

Talking to Inge on the tram.

Watching Wilde Maus at Rio Filmpalast. Pia Hierzegger is such an interesting actress and I just found out that she's been dating Josef Hader for years now! Ha. Best quote: "Bist du angrennt irgendwo?"

Drawing some figures for my sixth-graders and colouring them in Photoshop (I haven't done that in a while but it's so much fun). And in general - being more creative. Drawing a treasure map with black ink. Getting the watercolours out. Sitting down with my students to make clay and stone sculptures. It's so nice to create something, free from pressure.

A fantastic room tour.

The handsome dude from the French textbook publishing company. Can he come over more often, please?

Watching old Art Attack videos.

A very stormy morning. 6am, the sky still dark blue, the trees bending and bowing as black silhouettes against it. What an energetic start into the day.

Pressed flowers. I'm thinking about making my own, just like I used to as a kid.

This article: On drowning goats.

I just had a wonderful idea: I'd like to make a book for my friends. I'm not quite sure what should go inside but I was thinking of stories and memories, recipes, photographs and of course some of my drawings. I'd have so much fun layouting it and I'd also have a full round of really good Christmas presents. Projects! Whee!

It sounds counter-intuitive but: Running from a situation instead of suffering through it. I often try to do "the right/decent thing" to put a good face on the matter and sit it out when I'm actually dying on the inside. It felt good to say "no, not that shit again" and walk away.

An unexpected support squad at school (thanks, Selina, Osna, Katarina!)

Liberté, Egalité, Beyoncé

My tiny new portrait drawing class.

Successful adulting: taking care of boring insurance policies, contracts, applying for a visa, having my bike repaired, refilling my car's water tank. But I did all the things!!

Milchschnitte Himbeer and mango panna cotta.

Liebertext / exchanging daily mails with a stranger.

Getting the invitation for Franzi's and Ralf's wedding in the mail! I was so happy I was hardly even mad about all the confetti in the envelope, I mean, on my bathroom floor. And I was so relieved that my return flight from Helsinki is going to be on the day before; for I second I thought I wasn't going to make it.

"Komm mal her!" - "Aber ich hab dich gar nicht lieb." - "Ich dich aber trotzdem."

Sexy schmexy (I love saying this at the moment)

Bibiana Beglau as Mephisto in the Faust production at the Residenztheater.

Hitting the jackpot when opening a pint of ice-cream just to find a huge pool of liquid caramel right under the lid.

Seeing how creative some of my students are (I mean, hello, Frenchman, hunter, Santa Claus, rockstar and superhero minions made out of clay? Such great ideas!)

Little pink tulips with round heads and yellow edges. So cute.

Dinner with the Educational Lady Warriors. I mean, Franzi, Elsa and Martina. Finding out that Elsa is pregnant! She showed us her ultrasound picture and you can actually see a tiny human already, with the spine, brain hemispheres, the heart, the limbs... Fascinating.

Receiving a 50€ gift voucher for a book shop after completing a random survey on school questions. AND winning two theatre tickets for Liebesblind at the Pathos. Sweet.

Unsweetened almond milk. It tastes like marzipan!

I noticed that I really like the sinew over my right big toe. I don't have many body parts that aren't soft, which is why I appreciate this one sinew standing out.

I won two tickets to Liebesblind at Pathos and took Franzi with me. The location was pretty great, very Berlin-esque. Afterwards we had some drinks at her place, Ralf and a few of their friends were also there. A pretty nice evening!

My trusted old 2-minute-recipe: couscous with some feta and tomato puree.

I went to a drive-in cinema for the first time and I don't know why I'd never been before, it's AWESOME. You're in your cosy little box, get the audio via radio frequency (since my new car has a BOSE sound system the quality is excellent) AND you can talk throughout the movie!!

This incredible weather. Getting the first pistachio ice-cream of the year at my favourite ice-cream parlour in Schwabing. Seeing everyone sitting in the sun in front of the Glypthothek. And the blossoms on the trees. Munich is so nice in the sunshine.

Having pizza and ice-cream with Lexi, driving on the highway with open windows and extremely amusing German songs blasting (Schnipo Schranke, Von Wegen Lisbeth, Sookee). Drinking beer at the Bilderbuch concert, singing along, mock-arguments with Frank.

Hugging Doris just as long as she can bear it.

The other day my pupils told a colleague that she was beautiful, then they saw me and quickly added: "Oh, you are beautiful, too!" And then they group-hugged me. Adorable, bootlicking little gangsters...

How much fun I can have when I'm layouting tests and worksheets.

#personal #present perfect #things i love #march #2017 #march 2017