Well, it's official,

I'm getting married in a couple of months.  Now that I've had a bridal shower there is no backing out.  Just kidding!  I can still back out if I want.  Kidding!  Kidding!

Anyhoo.  So it was a pretty stressful weekend for me.  You would think that having a bunch of lovely ladies throw me a big (to me, anyway) bridal shower with fabulous gifts and a delicious Israeli/French themed lunch (which, btw, are the two places we are going on our honeymoon...how cute was that!?!) would make me feel all warm and fuzzy.  And it did, theoretically.  It also made me sweaty, dry mouthed and extremely uncomfortable.  I HATE (!!!!!!!!) being the center of attention, it makes me want to cringe.  I'm not a shy person, just a bit more reserved than some, so this was (WAY) outside of my comfort zone.  (Picture a reserved British lady at a big Mediterranean (read: effusive and loud) social function and I think that will give you a bit of an idea about the cultural distance that I was/am trying to bridge).  But that is my own issue, and doesn't detract from the lovely sweetness of these ladies and the effort that went into my shower.  Which was lovely, and I'm super lucky that I have these wonderful people in my life now. This is probably a deeper glimpse into my not-well-socialized psyche than you were looking for, so let's proceed to the jewelry themed portion of this blog post.

I blogged earlier that I was making some earrings as little thank you gifts for the 4 ladies who organized the shower.  I just wanted to give you guys a quick peek at how they turned out.  I had a bit of trouble coming up with things that wouldn't be too big or flashy for the recipients (since I like diamonds and large dangly earrings, making these didn't come as naturally to me as some other things I make.  Which was nice, I like a challenge).

I like the way they turned out.  It was great to be making something a bit different from my daily sort of work.  I tried to make each pair a bit unique, I wanted them all to be really different.  I think it worked out.

I put them in little thank you cards inside envelopes and then just handed them out without choosing which ones went to which lady.  But I think they ended up going to the right person anyhow, so that worked out really well.

So that is that.  And now I have to get back to my day job.  I've been completely overwhelmed since the middle of September.  It's been CRAZY.  I can't wait to close for the winter in December.  I guess I should make an announcement about that.  I'll start that here:


ATTENTION EVERYONE THINKING OF BUYING JEWELRY:

I will be closing around the middle of December to get ready for my wedding.  If you would like to receive your jewelry this calendar year, you will need to order by the 15th of NOVEMBER, at the absolute latest. I CANNOT TAKE ON ANYMORE RUSH JOBS.  RUSH JOBS MAKE MY LIFE HELL.  I will not be working on a last minute project right before my wedding.  So if you would like your jewelry before I go on vacation, get it ordered now.  I will not be answering emails about new orders after the 15th of November and I will not be answering emails AT ALL, from the 20th of December until the 22nd of January 2012.  If you have your order in by the 15th of November it will go out before I go on vacation towards the middle of December.  But if you get an order started after November 15th, it will not go out until 3-4 weeks after I return from my honeymoon at the end of January.  All right!  I hope that makes things clear.  Let's review:

1)  I am closing for the year in the middle of December.

2) If you would like your order delivered before the end of February of 2012, order it by November 15th.

3) I will not be taking on last minute rush orders.  AT ALL.  I know you want to propose on a certain special date, or that you want to have the engagement ring to show the family during the holidays, or that a vacation/birthday/anniversary/elopement is coming up next week/2 weeks from now/tomorrow, but my work time is 3-6 weeks, with most orders shipping in the 4th week.  Anything sooner than that is virtually impossible for me to do.  I can't just drop everything else that I have going to make your order.  I really can't.  I would love it if I could, but I can't.

All right.  I think that is all I have to say for now.  It is a bit hard to focus when I feel like a chicken without it's head.

Signing off.