C’mon, you know you want one!  Do you love these bazaar little Santas with exagerated pink boots?  I’ve never seen anything like them.  A couple weeks ago, my friends and I took a trip to the "tree farm".  We were all feeling a little low on holiday cheer.

There wasn’t any spiced cider, but the spirit was definitely present.  Every square inch of space was filled with something tinsel-y.  We had so much fun sifting through the goods.  And don’t you love it when your face hurts from smiling and giggling?!?! 

The rest of the elves…   

We jammed the van full of trees, baubles, and cheer then giddily headed for a festive lunch.  Thank you girls for a very fun day.

Rockefeller Plaza in NY has an enormous Christmas tree.  We have an enormous Santa with an even bigger mug of beer.  I have to say I did a double take when I first saw this sight.    It’s just that I never pictured Santa as a beer drinker.  We also have a building with a huge light up scene of a reindeer rubbing a magic lamp and a Genie-Santa coming out of it.  Santa’s arm toggles up and down and you guessed it!  He’s drinking beer.  There’s a first time for everything and living here, brings many firsts.

Last night we went to Mr. Savvy’s vendor’s house for dinner and to see his new baby.  Cute baby.  Which reminds me this apartment had posters of babies taped to the wall everywhere.  I had to get the scoop.  Apparently, they have a theory; if the wife is surrounded by pictures of beautiful babies to look at each day while she is pregnant, their baby will be beautiful also.  In response Mr. Savvy says, "we just hope the baby comes out looking like the mother!"  Nice.  Thank you Butch.

Most Ch!nese families have the wife and husband and then the husband’s parents living together.  It’s grandma’s job to raise the baby for the most part—even get up with her in the middle of the night!  The wife and son work crazy hours.  And that leaves grandpa to do all the cooking.  At least in this apartment.  Grandpa made a feast for us last night.  He knows my husband loves chitins and spicy food so he made accordingly.  But not too spicy as he somehow knew I don’t eat spicy.  Can I just tell you I had chitlins for the first time last night? Well, one anyway.  Kind of rubbery.  And I tried this preserved black egg.  Looks rotten really, but it just tasted sort of like a hard boiled egg.  Survivor here I come!  I didn’t have my camera, sorry.  He also made pork and different vegetables, all very yummy.   They gave us a bag of Ch!nese handcrafts and ornaments that the wife’s mother had made.  The photo above is a neck rest pillow. 

The whole evening was overwhelmingly thoughtful.  Even though we don’t speak a load of Ch!nese, it didn’t matter as eating, drinking, and being merry together is the same wherever you are in the world.

A whirlwind tour, that is…

It all started on Monday when my pal K and I went to Guanzhou to buy materials for some projects and classes…and a few just for fun.

In terms of fun stuff, it’s really easy to blow your allowance in a four story mall filled with beads and findings of all sorts.  Do we look a little tired?  We are.  I believe we got up at 6 am to make the journey, but it was totally worth it!  Nothing beats delirious bead shopping.

This is one of my favorite places to buy kitschy glass beads.   They’re always happy to see me go as I only buy one strand of this and one strand of that.  Most folks buy fifty kagillion strands of a single bead, you know?  That’s just how they roll here.

On Tuesday I taught how to make a "garden variety necklace" and then on Wednesday I hopped a ferry to Hong Kong to go to the Gem and Jewelry show. Holy Smokes!

This picture doesn’t really do the show justice, but I always wimp out taking photos in places like this.  I went to check out trends and to simply see and experience the show.  It was pretty crazy.  That night I caught up with some fabulous folks from Beadalon.  Seeing people you know on this side of the planet is so surreal, I can’t describe it.

And speaking of Beadalon, you’ve got to get yourself some of their new CZ Drops:

I whipped up a few pairs of earrings on Sunday.  I couldn’t get off the sparkle train!  These things are marvelous! 

And that’s about all on my end, really.  I’ve got a shipping deadline tomorrow morning so I’m off to tidy that up.  Tomorrow is Mr. Savvy’s birthday—as of now he has to go into the factory to work.  Yay.   I’m going to attempt to surprise him by baking a sugar free blueberry cheesecake.  Yahooooo!

Saturday morning we took off with seven other friends for a trip to the beach.  When I grow up, I want to be a beach bum.  I’m not joking.  I think I am a quite good amateur beach bum.

These photos were taken from the porch of our cabin.  Quite a view and so nice to hear the waves coming in throughout the day.

Who doesn’t love a mysterious ghost boat floating out at sea?  The rocks and boat with overcast skies reminded me of Goonies.

Our bamboo cabin had this traditional ornamentation on each corner and roof.  I forget what it means, but I love that the builders took the time to put it on.

Rocker loves the beach.  He tears down through the sand to the water as fast as he can and then circles back up towards the cabin.  This was taken as we were leaving.  You can gauge how tired or relaxed Rocker is by where his ears are.  Horizontal equals he’s near passing out.  Poor thing can barely keep his peeps open for the picture!  I’m looking at him now, curled up in a nest of blankets sound asleep.  I must admit, I’m a little envious. 

I hope you all had a nice weekend.