New Year's Eve plans

My New Year's Eve plans almost fell through :( The first plans were to go to this one event, but the person who was supposed to get tickets didn't and they sold out. The second plans were to go to another place, but the person who was supposed to get tickets apparently thought they were dance-only (instead of dance+dinner) and so didn't get any. Sigh. The lesson we learned was "do it yourself" - if it's important that something be done, sometimes yu have to do that thing yourself.

Fortunately, my friend was able to get tickets for the dance+dinner tomorrow. Whew! It turns out that the suggested attire is all-black or all-white semi-formal wear... but I'm going to wear the red dress anyways. It doesn't say that it's a "black and white party" - only that the suggested attire is black or white - so I figure that I can wear other colours there.

Hopefully it'll be fun tomorrow. My friend and I figure that we shuold try to stick it out until midnight, unless we really don't like the music or it's super-lame... in which case it'll be fondue and movies at her place. In our fancy outfits :)

My family Christmas

My family Christmas went really well - certainly better than the last few years. Yay! The saddest part was that one of my sisters was much to sick (and apparently contagious) to attend and so she and her family drove back to Southern Alberta today. We all missed her and her family a lot.

When we got there, we chatted and nibbled on food a bit, ordered Chinese food, opened gifts while nibbling on food, chatted more, and ate Chinese food. After that, everyone else chatted while I slept on the couch. I think I had nibbled and eaten too much and my tummy felt upset. For some reason my body told me to go to sleep, so I did.

When I woke up about an hour later everyone was chatting and stuff. It was really nice.

I felt really welcomed by my family and it seemed that everyone else there felt the same way. I hope that this is the beginning of better Christmas celebrations for my family.

Oh! In case you were wondering what I decided to wear to the celebration, I wore my new red top and my long stretch-velvet mermaid skirt that I made for bellydancing. I wore some great Cubic Zirconia earrings, a grey headband with rhinestones on it, and a sparkly silver bangle. I looked quite nice, if I do say so myself :)

And just to clean up something else - I am keeping the extra pair of shoes (pair #1) that I bought the other day. They'll be useful.

A last little bit of shopping

I realized today that the only other purse I'd brought here, aside from my everyday one, was a cute little red plaid number. While it is an adorable purse, it doesn't really go with anything... so I bought two silver purses today. One is very simple with just rings and magnetic closures, and the other is a hobo-style (sort of) with that silver mesh stuff. It is big and it is shiny :)

The smaller purse is nicer for more formal wear, I'm sure... but part of me is completely in love with the other purse, and not just because it's shiny. It's big and will hold a ton of stuff - the other one will hold only a small wallet, keys, and maybe some lipstick. The big one would hold shoes, even :)

Other than that tiny bit of shopping, I didn't do much of anything today. I'm trying to take it easy because tomorrow my family celebrates Christmas. I'm a little bit nervous about it, even though we're not doing the activity about which I ended up crying. I'm also sure it won't be as bad as last year's bad parts or the year before's bad parts (I wasn't blogging then).

I'm trying not to think about how things could go tomorrow as I'm trying to let go of the outcome - things will go as they go. When I'm thinking about tomorrow, I'm actually spending quite a bit of time on thinking about what I'm going to wear. That's my happy place :)

Shoes, glorious shoes

Since I bought that great dress yesterday, I had to go out and see if I could find some shoes to go with it. I went shopping today for shoes and have bought two pairs.

You see, I found pair #1 - cream satin stiletto heel, cream mesh sides with some silver sparkle, and an open toe - which were comfortable and I thought that they might be nice, but I wasn't sure. They were on sale and so I figured that the price was right but I didn't want to buy anything that wouldn't be useful. I'm sure Ian is very proud of me for having learned to show some restraint in shoe-buying :)

Anyways, I put those on hold and continued my search. I found pair #2 - strappy leather silver stiletto heels - which looked good and felt fabulous and I thought they might be nice, too, but again I wasn't sure.

So I bought pair #2 and went back and bought pair #1. Both pairs can be returned as long as they're not worn outside and I thought I would look at both and return the ones that didn't work as well. Pair #1 is the kind of shoe I usually buy: it has nothing on top of the foot and so my legs look longer. This helps me to look a little bit taller than I am. :) Pair #2 has straps on top of the foot and fastens behind the ankle, which is not what I usually buy, but since the dress is ankle length I thought the straps would "fill-in" my foot below the dress.

I brought them home to my parent's place and tried them on with the dress. Pair #2 is the winner!!!!!

But now I don't want to return pair #1. I have had occasion to want shoes like this, and they were quite inexpensive. I have another beigh-y high-heeled shoe but they're a little on the small side and so my toes go numb after about 20 minutes. Today's pair #1 would work with just about any knee-length skirt or dress, which is what I usually wear. I'm going to sleep on it and make the final decision tomorrow about whether to keep pair #1.

If you're interested, this is pair #2. Pretty, aren't they? They look even prettier on my feet :) I can't find a picture of pair #1 as they're made by the house brand of the store where I purchased them.

Boxing Day shopping

Today being Boxing Day with lots of good sales, one of my sisters and I went shopping. We weren't really shopping for anything in particular; we just like looking at stuff and trying things on for fun. My sister made me try things on that I would never try myself.

One of those things was a gorgeous red satin/crepe bias cut dress (gown?). It has a very slight cowl neckline, a spaghetti strap on one side, and a thicker twisted fabric strap on the other. The dress is divided into panels so that it has a mermaid effect and the bottom has quite a lot of swing. The crepe side of the fabric is used over the mid-section so that it does not shine and highlight the lumps and bumps I have there. At the same time, its satin shininess at the top and bottom help to draw the eye away from the midsection. It is gorgeous on me :) Honestly, I think it looks better on me than on the mannequin in the picture, partly because it is a little longer on me. I did think about this dress for a long, long time (and walked around in it - people I didn't know gave me compliments!) before buying it. I paid less than half-price (including tax) :)

I will need shoes for this dress - certainly better shoes than the one on that link above - and my sister and I will be on the hunt tomorrow.

I also bought a cute black dress with white swirls on it. It had an elasticized belt with fake patent ends - the belt really makes the dress look fantastic. Of course I remember the last time wide elastic belts were in and I wasn't sure that I wanted to give in to this same trend again but the dress was way too cute to pass up. It was 50% off and it can be worn in the winter with tights and in the summer with bare legs. Accessories will also dress it up or down.

Finally, I also bought a red top with chiffon and velvet paneling and some beading just under the bust. It is here (in red, not cream or black). It fits really well and looks awesome and was also 50% off.

So.... I bought more than I'd planned but I love love love love love love love everything I got :) Next up: shoes!!!!

Merry Christmas!

I am flying out to Edmonton tonight and will be leaving for the airport in a little while. I have had a great time here in Mississauga - I got and gave great presents! Thank you all!!!

I've been doing some thinking and reading some posts with advice about how to protect myself. Of course I'm responsible for how I feel; that's part of me. But if at any time - during any event or gathering of any people - I'm finding my feelings hurt, I can tell the person that my feelings are hurt and I can walk away. I don't have to stay around anyone that I feel is hurting me. I know that this is obvious advice, but it's something that I never really felt like I could do.

I am not singling out any one person and I'm not saying that any one person will try to hurt my feelings. Since I had been feeling so hurt and scared, I wanted to share my thoughts and plan with you.

I love each person in my family so much that I'm very much looking forward to seeing my family at our Christmas celebration. I haven't seen them in some time and it will be nice to see everyone.

Christmas Eve

Santa comes tonight! I hope that all of you that celebrate this holiday give and get fabulous presents and that your celebrations are filled with joy and laughter.

I can't stop crying

I cried uncontrollably all day yesterday. I took three tranquilizers to try to stop crying and they didn't work. I'm feeling somewhat better now but am ready to cry at the drop of a hat. How silly is this? Christmas is supposed to be happy and I'm supposed to be enjoying myself. I'm celebrating Christmas in Mississauga with Ian's family and then I'm going to Edmonton to celebrate with my family.

So what's wrong? Well, it has been a really bad year for me and so I'm very emotionally fragile. I'm looking for a chance to visit, to see the people I love, and to enjoy myself. Without going into details, I suggested some proposed "ground rules" for one of my family's proposed activities that included things like people be respectful and not sarcastic during that activity. People very strongly objected and the rule now is that people can say whatever they want and if someone else is hurt or upset, they are not to say anything.

Every time I think about being a part of this, I cry and cry and cry. I love my family very much and I would love it if the people in my family weren't mean or sarcastic - but they can be (just as I can be). I'm too fragile to walk into a situation where it is possible that someone can be mean with no consequences.

You know what's worse? There are people that would say that this is my problem and that the gathering isn't all about me, so I should get over it. Which is sort of true, I guess - my feelings are my own problem. But if someone says something to hurt my feelings, then I need to be able to tell them that I was hurt by their statement. According to the rules for that activity, I can't do that.

Help!!! What should I do? Is there a way to protect myself in this situation?

The dress is a sack

I've been working on my dress lately, and I've come to a sad realization: it's not working out. I look like I'm wearing a silver potato sack, actually - and no, this is not the look I'm going for. Wah!

Honestly, the dress can be/will be a glorious dress! My problem is two-fold: the front needs more design ease and the back needs less ease and to be shaped a bit. I have a similar dress that almost works and I'll use that as a mode; to re-shape the dress.

Since I won't have much access to sewing machines while I am away, I must finish these major changes tomorrow morning. So I'm getting up around 6am.

Hair poufification

Ian's company holiday party was this evening at a local restaurant. It was a casual affair where everyone wore jeans. The food was ok; our only complaint was that there were too many people for the available seats and so we were squished together while eating. We were allowed to play pinball and pool for free.

They also bought Guitar Hero, which I tried. I didn't think that it would be that fun of a game, but I was quite wrong. It's great fun!!!!! I would have liked to play more if people hadn't been around. Maybe another time.

You're probably wondering what I mean by the title, aren't you? Well, those of you that know me know that I have very flat, fine, straight hair. It doesn't take a curl and even if I put in a curl, it will fall out quickly. That doesn't need to be the case for me anymore :)

I was wandering around the drugstore and I saw some Goody "volume" curlers. These are curlers with a fuzzy outside that sticks to hair, and there are 31 curlers in various sizes in a pack. The directions say to start with damp hair and add curl-enhancing product in it, so I dampened mine and put in some curl-enhancing gel I had.

I put the curlers in and blow-dried my hair. The directions said to let the hair cool for best results, so I left the curlers in for 2 or 3 hours while I was sewing. When I took them out, my hair was the poufiest it's ever been. Ian was quite surprised to see just how ginormous my hair was an hour and a half later :) I ended up smoothing down the back and putting my hair in a hairband. Now, 5 hours later, my hair is finally settling down. Had I used any other product on my hair - normally I would have put some pomade or shine stuff in - it would have stayed poufy.

Don't believe me? See the pictures here. I had to brighten most of them (we were in a hurry to head out to the party) so they're not great but you can sure see all my hair. It's good to know that there is hope to get poufy hair for those of us with fine, straight hair.

Trying my hand at domesticity

I spent the day at home doing domestic-type things. I sewed quite a bit of the dress and have decided to make a few changes. I had raised the armhole and it needed to be lowered a bit, so I've done that - now I just have to re-do some of the understitching. As well, the gathers in front and back go all the way across the front and back and I think they'd look better if they were more central. So I'll change that (I may even pleat it instead of gathering). On the bright side, the dress does look nice and the colour is perfect against my skin.

I also managed to do the dishes and make supper. These are things I don't do every day (well, most days) and so need to be noted :)

Ian and I made some cookies this evening. We made the chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies that everyone (including us) like so much. They turned out really well. It looks like we're finally figured out this oven because the cookie bottoms aren't burned or over-browned at all (not even the first batch!)

Even more shopping

I did a bit of shopping today. I know, I know, I don't really need to buy anything, but I had to exchange something (I got the wrong thing by accident). Naturally, since I was down there and the buses were running at random times, I thought I'd do some shopping.

I didn't actually buy anything until I got to Winners. It's winter now and I need some warmer tops. I don't always want to wear sweaters because I get too hot sometimes, and blouses need ironing. So I bought some long-sleeved tops that are quite nice and inexpensive.

You may also remember that yesterday I was wishing I had sew-on rhinestones? Well, I found a black cardigan that has sew-on rhinestones on the collar and placket at Winners!!! I think that there are enough rhinestones for the dress.... and even if there aren't, I'll be able to make it work somehow. Plus the cardigan was pretty cheap and I might be able to use it once I take the rhinestones off. Yay!

Snow day

There was a snow storm in Southern Ontario last night through this afternoon and so I spent the day lazing around. Well, I did some sewing since I'd washed the chiffon lining I'd bought, and I took some photos of new earrings I've made, but that's it.

The dress I'm making has a yoke in the front and back into which the dress front and back are gathered. Normally the dress has sleeves but I wanted something sleeveless so I took them out and raised the armhole. Leaving the yoke plain would be boring so I'm choosing to embellish it. I've looked at glue-on acrylic "rhinestones" (I can't find sew-in ones here) and silver paillettes..... and while I love love love paillettes, in this case the rhinestones really work.

So anyway, all I have to do is glue the rhinestones on and then finish the dress. I hope it looks good when I'm finished!

More shopping that I can shake a stick at

Today I shopped from 11:30am until 5:30pm and I'll tell you, that much shopping is exhausting. Most of the shopping was for Christmas gifts but I also spent time getting some fabric - I wanted some white chiffon to line the dress I'm making, and I got light and dark heavy flannel for bags - and looking at Winners. I was there, and it's a hard place to resist :)

So I'm almost done my Christmas shopping. Yay!!!! I picked up one wrong thing by accident so I'll return it tomorrow if the weather is ok and Monday if tomorrow is bad. I'm hoping to spend the bulk of tomorrow sewing and sewing and sewing. Well, except for the part where I'm eating a yummy prime rib roast that we got on sale today. Lucky me!

Dancing Queen

I danced in my bellydance recital tonight. I had a little bit of trouble with the veil choreography when my sleeve got caught in my hairband but I got that sorted out pretty quickly. Ian said that some of my movements with the veil were choppier than they might have been. Still, I thought that I danced well in that choreography.

I danced very well in the second choreography if I do say so myself. It went very, very well. People told me afterward that I smiled a lot and that I looked comfortable, happy, and enthusiastic. Coincidentally enough, I felt that way :)

At the very end, the organizer invited all of us on stage to dance to this one song. Somehow I wound up in center front (which wasn't very far to the front) because no one wanted to be in front of me. Most of the people were dancing at the sides of the dance area so that people wouldn't see them. I just wanted to dance. I used to go out dancing a lot - not bellydancing, of course - and I miss going out and just shaking it to the music.

I tell you, the recital is the best part of bellydancing :) I'm already looking forward to the next one. Oh yeah, and pictures of me in my costume minus the hip scarf - I drafted and sewed the skirt pattern and also lined and re-sparkled the top - are here.

What will I do in January? And how will I get rid of this pain?

Ian and I were talking today about my activities. This fall, I was bellydancing twice a week, curling twice a week, going to Well-fit twice a week, and swimming once a week. That was a lot! I ended up not able to do that much and stopped swimming early on. I missed quite a lot of Well-fit, bellydancing, and curling this fall as well. With the pain up and me feeling overwhelmed, I need to cut my activities even more from January - April.

I am going to quit Well-fit and Monday will be my last. This is partly because of the time it takes, but also because I really like to be pushed at the gym and when I get pushed I end up exhausted or with sternal pain. It's also $150+parking for three months which I could put to better use.

If I take any bellydancing, it'll just be one choreography or one drum class and no more. There's no way that I can do two classes.

I'm going to try and go to curling twice a week since I've paid for the two leagues until April. But if the pain gets to be too much I'll cut one of the nights out. It's tough to figure out which night I'd give up. I love the people and we have a lot of close relationships on Fridays, but the curling is better - and I'll get better - on Thursdays.

I saw my family doctor today as a followup to the new pain meds. They weren't working well so he's started me on the next dose of the fentanyl patch. If that takes care of the pain, then I can start playing with the dosages to try and reduce the amount of oxycontin I'm taking. Hopefully this will work.

I'm sparkly

I was up last night because of the pain (it's not gone after all..... wah!!!!) and thought that I'd look at my bellydance top. Some of the sparklyness had rubbed off in the dryer and while working with it and whatnot and I thought that I could add some sparkly back. Those who know me know I love almost all things sparkly.

So I got out the glue and traced around the flowers on both front panels and just around the neckline. And then I took my fine red glitter and sprinkled it over the glue. I did put stuff underneath the top so that the glitter didn't get all over the table.... but glitter did get on the floor and on me. I guess some people might have expected that this would happen.

In the process of cleaning that mess up, I used one of the soaps downstairs. We're using glittery soap now. I never did get all of the glitter all of the floor, either. I wore the top tonight to practice and managed to get glitter all over my coat, me, and the studio. When I went to my group afterwards, someone commented on how I had lovely red sparkles on me. It's like they're everywhere.

On the bright side, my top is sparkly and will be gorgeous onstage on Friday. :)

Optometrist appointment and even more bellydancing

I got to see my optometrist today. She's monitoring me every six months because it looks like I have a cataract on one or another eye. She hadn't seen that spot before this past July and so it's almost certainly a new development. The Femara that I take for my cancer can cause cataracts :(

Also, I'm at the very beginning stages of needing bifocals :( The very lightest bifocal can help my reading, but for now I can get by with just moving my glasses around. I feel kinda like an old lady. Sigh.

On the bright side, I was able to apply false eyelashes today!!! I went to the Well-fit party this afternoon and I thought I'd give the lashes a try. I put the subtler ones in and everyone just said that I looked really nice (well, some people just said that I cleaned up good, which is practically the same thing).

I'll definitely be wearing false eyelashes with rhinestones as part of my costume for the recital on Friday. I've been practicing and practicing and practicing my choreographies. Every time I have some time I go through the steps. I hope it pays off as tomorrow is the last day of classes for me before the recital.

The recital is this Friday at 7pm sharp at the Hespeler Memorial Arena at 640 Ellis Drive (just north of the 401 off Townline Rd). Doors open at 6:30pm. Tickets are $7 in advance and $10 at the door. Tickets won't be reserved at the door so must be picked up in advance. Not that I expect any of you to come, of course, but you're welcome to see us all dance. Ian is definitely going to attend the recital :)

Getting better

You know, I'm feeling less tired these days and I seem to have more energy. Today I got up at about 10:30am, put away three loads of laundry, did another three loads of laundry, hemmed some stuff, cleaned up some stuff, cut out and altered the dress pattern I'm working with (it's an easy pattern, but still), and started sewing. That's a lot for one day and yes, I'm tired, but I'm not exhausted. Hopefully I didn't do too much today and that I'm not exhausted tomorrow :) Over the last two days I've done a quite a lot as well but I haven't fallen into a puddle of exhaustion yet, so maybe things are turning around for me.

Don't worry, I'm not trying to push myself too hard. I do each task at a slow to medium pace, I'm not rushing things, and I'm not getting flustered. I take a lot of breaks from each task, too. And when I do get a little tired, I sit or lie down for a little while (although I haven't been napping like I usually do).

At the same time that I seem to have more energy, I think my pain is starting to go down. Yay!!!!! There are places that I can wear the fentanyl patches: my back and right arm/shoulder are good spot, for example. As long as I take my allergy medication on time those spots don't give me too much trouble, thank goodness.

I hope that the less tired/less pain trend continues. Wouldn't that be nice? :)

My bellydance costume is ready

I finished lining my bellydance top. I'd used both the sparkly red and nude lining but the sparkly red fabric didn't stretch enough. That's ok as since I put the nude lining to the bottom of the top so it doesn't look like I'm naked underneath. The top had some sparkly stuff glued to it when I bought it and a lot of that has come off. I'll probably just leave it even though I have glue and glitter.... I could make it way glittery :)

Now that this is all done, I can sew for myself. I'll start tomorrow by making something out of the silver fabric. Even though my New Year's Eve plans aren't confirmed I'm going to go ahead and assume that I'm going out. Hopefully the dress will work out :)

Oh, and I've figured out how to put my fake ponytail on so that it looks good and is stable and won't come off. Whew! Now I don't have to pay my hairdresser $20 to do it for me.

Movies and more about bellydancing

We saw The Golden Compass today. It was ok. It is aimed at the teenage set so it didn't have the depth of plot that we usually see in movies. Still, it is pretty good. The story is entertaining, the CG is good, and the story is fun. Nicole Kidman is very good as the evil woman, as expected :)

I made a second bellydance skirt today. I made the first one out of slinky fabric and it was nice but it wasn't quite what I wanted. I made this second one out of stretch velvet and it is much nicer - it's a deeper black and clings a bit better. The slinky knit stretches and looks kind of shapeless when I'm wearing it but the stretch velvet keeps its shape much better.

I still need to alter the top. I want to change the neckline to be less of a V (which, although Vs usually look good on me, looks funny on me) and to be more of a sweetheart. I also need to shorten it as it is too long. While some people wear these tops out to clubs and stuff, I won't wear it for anything but bellydance.

I must line the top because it's sheer and I'm uncomfortable going to a performance wearing the top with only a bra underneath. I have some red sparkly fabric and I'm thinking I could line it with that. I also have nude-coloured fabric with which I could line it. At least my bra wouldn't show then, although I'd still look mostly naked underneath. Still, not showing my bra would be an improvement.

More bags?

Someone new has contacted me about making a laptop bag made out of men's flannel fabrics. I hope that this bag will go through because I like the business although I had to tell her that I wouldn't be able finish the bag until about January 15 due to Christmas. Hopefully this won't be a problem and I'll be able to make this bag. I will need to find the fabrics before I start - she wants heavy nylon on the bottom, which makes sense.

This person also suggested that I make some laptop bags aimed at men because the ones out on the market are not nice. Honestly, I think that these bags are more popular than the jewelry that I make! I prefer making messenger bags but if laptop bags are going to sell, then maybe I should try and make some non-custom ones for sale. I did buy some great houndstooth fabric for bags so the idea of making bags out of menswear fabrics isn't new. Marketing to men is definitely a new idea.... although I'm wondering if maybe I should be marketing to the women who buy for their men :)

Pain update: I'm noticing that I'm quite sleepy and a bit dozy today on the new painkiller. This is not unexpected. I think the pain is starting to lessen a little bit but it's hard to say. On the positive side, the patch isn't bothering me too much yet.

Pain, pain, go away

I saw my family doctor today because the pain in my sternum has been steadily increasing. It used to be that if I was awake for about 12 hours in a day I'd take the oxycontin three times in the day and if I was awake more than 12 hours I'd take oxycontin four times in the day. Lately I've been taking oxycontin four times every day and that's still not enough to keep the pain under wraps. Sigh.

My doctor gave me a prescription for the Fentanyl patches again. We're starting with the lowest amount in hopes that it will take the extra pain away. If it works, I'll be upping the fentanyl and decreasing the oxycontin until I'm off the oxycontin completely. The only stumbling block is that I get welts under adhesives.

I talked to the pharmacist and apparently the fentanyl patches come in two generic versions, each with their own adhesive. Some people end up tolerating one brand over another (I'm not the only one with the adhesive problem). I'm trying one now, and if it doesn't work I'll try the other one. If that still doesn't completely work, I'll pick the one that works best. Reactine (an allergy medication) comes in prescription-strength and the pharmacist thinks that taking this should counter the allergic reaction to the adhesive (if I have one).

So even though I'd had those problems with this pharmacy before, I'm glad to actually know my pharmacist because she knows my situation and she tries to help me.

When I put the patch on, my pain did lessen. And I got kind of dopey :) No driving for me for a little while.

Oh - and remember that I wanted tall shoes? With a platform and stiletto heel? Well, I'd seen this pair of shoes a few months ago, tried them on, and loved them. They were $70, though, and I didn't really want to pay that much. Since then, I've been thinking about those shoes and looking for them everywhere. Tonight, I finally found them in my size and I bought them! They have a platform and a tall heel - it's not a stiletto, but it has a very strong heel. There's a tiny peep-toe in front. They're a pump and the front has rows of black sequins. The back and heel are patent leather. Yummy! This page shows them in brown, but those pics don't do the shoes justice at all. Imagine them with black patent leather, please :)

Bellydancing, bellydancing, and more bellydancing

I think I've almost got both bellydance choreographies learned. I'll keep practicing them, though - it's important to know the dances well enough that if I make a mistake I don't have to go through the next steps to catch up.

I'm quite pleased with the skirt I made. It's sort of mermaid-ish: it hangs straight to the knee and then flares out. When I turn, the bottom flares. I think this style looks much better on me than a wide skirt. I bought a top before and I'm going to make some alterations to it. It needs a lining as it is a sheer lace and I'm not willing to go on stage with it as-is. I'm also going to change the neckline a bit to make more sweetheart-like and less V-like. I know that the costume shouldn't be that important, but, well, it is to me :)

I'm quite pleased with my fake hairpiece. I've figured out a way to wear it - with a headband that wraps around the head - so that it looks natural. The hairpiece wants to tangle all the time, though. I was reading that it's possible to wash these things and so I think I might do that and then use some kind of light conditioner on it. I also have a shine styling product that detangles as well that I could use. I'd like the hairpiece to look its best on stage, and all tangled up isn't its best.

A whole lotta shopping

We decorated our Christmas tree tonight. Yes, for the first time, we bought an artificial tree. It's a 4 1/2 foot tree with a pot (so it could sit outside) and has mini-lights on it. Our decorating scheme is blue and silver, so we have silver bead garland and silver and blue balls. It looks nice - I'll try and take a picture of it for you.

I've done a lot of shopping lately. I bought a backup New Year's Eve dress as even though I plan to make a dress, if it doesn't work out for any reason I want to be able to wear something. I got this dress, and I got it at a great price because it didn't have the sash. I don't need the sash anyways because the dress it looks nice on me as-is. The best thing about this dress is that it is a little black dress (LBD), which is something I didn't have before. LBDs are the right things to wear on many, many occasions; they are a wardrobe staple.

I also bought stuff for bellydancing. I got two beaded crochet scarves, a variety of headbands, some big sparkly earrings, some more sparkly hair stuff, and some shoes that I can wear. Some people are wearing slip-on slippers from Isotoner but I don't really like those. So I'll wear shoes that are at least as comfortable as those slippers.

I also bought a beautiful polka-dot shirt and two blouses that fit me really well.

Whew! I'm done with shopping for me. Well, except that there is this longing inside me for new shoes. Tall ones. With a platform and stiletto heel. Sigh.....

Anyways, tomorrow I'll finish my bellydance skirt. From now on when we go to class we're supposed to wear whatever it is we'll be wearing to the recital. The recital is at 7pm on December 14 in Cambridge. Tickets are $7 in advance and so if you're interested in attending, please let me know soon so that I can buy tickets for you.

A great weekend

Thanks to everyone who shopped at my sale - I did pretty well, all things considered. That makes me happy :)

This past weekend was wonderfully relaxing. I started sewing the skirt I'll wear for the bellydance recital; I expect to finish that by Wednesday. I also got some bellydance practicing in with the class. Now all I have to do is practice on my own :)

We saw Beowulf in 3D on Saturday and I highly recommend this film. Apparently it's supposed to be the story that could have inspired the Beowulf story. The story told in the film itself is very good; Beowulf is a hero, but he is also human and isn't perfect. He must live with the consequences of his own choices even though he didn't know what they would be when he made those choices. In this respect, the film is very good.

The film is also animated, and the animation is very well done. There were times when I didn't know whether or not it was animated or filmed; they can be that good. The animation wasn't always that good, which is a shame; in some places it looked more like a video game than reality. Still, it is a step up from other films.

The 3D aspect of the film is believable for the most part. There were some times when something would come towards the audience in a blatant display of 3Dness. We liked it better when the 3D action was happening in a box in front of us, as though it was a live theatre. Still, it was very good.

If you get a chance, go and see this movie.

SALE!!!!!

This weekend only, just in time for Christmas, take 25% off *everything* in my shop (excluding custom orders)! After purchasing your item, just wait for a revised invoice before paying. Sale ends Monday, December 3 at 6am EST.

That means you would pay only $187.50 for this fabulous hand-beaded handbag:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5419304

... and only $18.75 for these delicious fuschia dangles:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5467172

... and only $15 for these elegant labradorite and quartz earrings:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7258434

There are lots more beautiful pieces in my shop. Happy shopping!

http://angelstuff.etsy.com