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jess2bead Reopens

Hello everyone! Did you miss me? Don't worry - you don't have to answer that. The important thing is that I missed you and am so happy to have my shop open again and to be able to talk about BEADS! BEADS! BEADS! and other creative ventures with all of you lovely people. 

If you are someone who missed me or even thought to yourself 'I wonder whatever happened to that Jessie girl with the jewelry shop' then you might be interested to know that I have moved 16 hours away from my hometown to Minneapolis, MN. It is still very warm and summery here but I can't wait to see lots of snow and frozen lakes. If you are someone with these queries of where I have been then you may have followed this blog before when it was called My Cat Ate Your 5. I love that name but it does make it more difficult for people who know my beadwork to find the blog, and I had a difficult time deciding on what material to post there. I want and need to stay more connected to my craft at this point, so having a place to talk about and show off my beadwork is a much better outlet for me than worrying about pulling random stuff out of my a$$ in the hopes of entertaining you. I like you too much for that. 

When I last left you I was talking about having to pack up my studio and how daunting a task it would be. It was. I managed to part with a lot of unnecessary craft supplies I had collected during my employment at a craft supply retailer and box the rest away for a couple of months while the rest of our belongings got condensed and packed and moved. Here is a picture of my new 'studio' here in Minneapolis. Not the entire room that I had, but the beads are much more accessible here than in big cardboard boxes. 

Thanks for reading and I look forward to keeping you posted on my bead adventures and to reading about what you are up to.

My family and I are moving north in five short months! Our living space is going to be cut in half and we have so much stuff. I will no longer have an entire room for my studio so I have started condensing as much as possible and packing up.

 See all of those glass jars? They housed these beads....

Great! This should be easy then... right?

I just have a few more odds and ends to pack up...

A few more shelves to clear ...

A few stacks of books to sort through again.

My stress level directly reflects the level of this chaos. 

How did I get so established here in just five years? Did I mention the pictures and toys I have painted and glued to the walls that will have to be removed so the walls can be repaired and repainted?

I hope I can undo it in just five months!

Super Bowl of Food Day!

The Super Bowl is 2 weeks over but I wanted to share with you how I watch the game anyway.

http://party-world-blog.blogspot.com/2010/12/super-bowl-party-supplies.html

 I know that there is no way that I am the only person out there that does not watch a single game of football of any sort right up until the Super Bowl. I do not follow the sport, do not understand the sport, and do not have the desire to know anything about the teams or players. So why would I bother to watch the one game? Okay, the half time show is one obvious and true answer, but it is so much more than that. It is about something far more exciting. It is about food. I don't mean chicken wings and pizza and chips. People, this is a very serious holiday for my family. Okay - my daughter does like televised sports and is the one who tells us which teams will be competing in the Super Bowl - and she semi-watches the game with a slight interest in who wins. Why, you might ask, is knowing which teams are competing important if you don't care about the teams? Well here it is... it is important to know what region of the country the participating teams represent because that determines the menu. So there you have it - we have developed our own holiday out of a game that is apparently very important to a great many.  

Now if you want to participate in this holiday you must be prepared to consume enormous amounts of food in one evening. I believe we may eat more on this day than we do on Thanksgiving. Here was this years line up.

#1 Starters - not always regional to the teams but a very important step

 Here we have rice crackers, New York style garlic crackers (Giants), potato chips, homemade beer cheese, white wine cheese, vegetable tray, french onion dip, and amazing bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos (recipe from  The Pioneer Woman ).

#2 New York Style Hot Dogs in support of the Giants

 New York style hot dogs are topped with dijon mustard; onions that are cooked down in balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, brown sugar,and corn starch; and sauerkraut. Ridiculous but delicious.

#3 New England Clam Chowder in support of the Patriots

 This was amazing. Homemade by my partner, it is the best clam chowder I have ever had.

 #4 I don''t want to forget to mention the beer.

 Pretty obvious choices but it is important. 
Do you think you could handle this onslaught of food?