On Vacation!

I'm here.

 

 

 

Enjoying the cool mountain air.

 

It's our family reunion this week / weekend and we're hanging out, enjoying the cool mountain air and the summer rains, chatting, laughing, sharing stories, hiking, making jewelry (well, us girls are anyway!) sitting in the hot tub, enjoying my sister's fabulous cooking and my brother's funny jokes and singing along with my other brother, my nephew and brother-in-law's musical concerts.

 

We're enjoying out time together,...

 

Gordy giving Jenny and Shelly Bunny Ears

 

Being silly!

 

I love my family!

 

I'll catch up with you all next week.

 

Until Next Time,

 

Peace, Love and Family Fun!

 

David, Marsha, Shelly and Gordon

 

Cheers,

~Shel~ 

When In Rome,...or Venice!

So, the vacation has come to an end.

 

The little village of Sommocolonia, near Barga, Italy in Tuscany where we stayed.

 

 

The sights, sounds, smells (except for all the cigarette smoking) and photo opportunities were amazing!!

 

Colosseum - Rome, Italy. Photo by Michelle Buettner

 

 

I will be posting some great window displays every now and then over the next few months as inspiration with everything from jewelry, shoes, purses, fashion trends - the awesome ways they display products - you name it!

 

Yes, I found the Swarovski Store in Venice, Italy!!

 

 

I'm not really jet-lagged. I thought I would be but luckily I think I figured out how to program my body and brain.

 

Italy really is this beautiful.
Sommacolonia, Italy  (near Barga in Tuscany)

 

 

I'll have my Etsy shops back up the 1st week of October is all goes well. I don't have all of the new designs I wanted to have finished done yet, but hopefully I'll have a few for you.

 

Pretty Blue Turquoise in One of the Shops in Venice.
I felt right at home!! ;-)

 

 

What have you been up to in September?  Have you transitioned into Autumn yet?  Do you enjoy this season and all it's fascinating colors and jewelry styles?

 

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Returning Home!

Cheers,

~Shel~

Tempo di vacanza!

Well, I'm officially outta here!

I'm on a jet plane headed for Italy with my sister and one of my girlfriends. 

 

 

 

 



We're meeting up with my brother-in-law (who's been hiking the Swiss and Italian Alps this past week!) in Venice tomorrow morning.

 

 

 

I'm actually freaking out! Twirling my hair with both hands (which makes it hard to hold that pre-flight Bloody Mary!!), I've got butterflies in my stomach, tears in my eyes and my heart's beating way too fast! 

I've got Dean Martin singing Sott'er Celo de Roma on my iPod, Paulo Coehlo in my back pack (The Alchemist), way too many clothes in my suitcase and my camera on my hip!

 

 

 

 

We're staying at a quaint little hotel in Venice that my sis's stayed at before. We're taking the water taxi over to Murano (Glass + Beads = Sweet!), going on a gondola ride (of course!) and walking some great little paths along the canals.

 

 

 

 

After Venice we're headed down to Tuscany. Barga to be specific. The most Scottish Village in Italy. Seriously - look it up!  (I'm so psyched about this part!! You have NO idea!!) We're staying in an old farm house that's pre-WWII and survived what so much of the village did not. 

 

 

 

 

We'll be taking some day trips - one of which will include driving over to the Cinque Terre and hiking the hill top towns over there (Yes!  I get to see the water,...and a beach!!) and possibly visiting Siena and San Gimignana and going to a winery (oh yeah baby!!).

 

 

 

After that, we'll all be heading down to Rome and staying in a friend's apartment which is situated in an area that's close to the Colosseum and all the other goodies Rome has to offer.  I'm excited to get some really cool pics of all the amazing architecture and ancient ruins!  Oh, and we're going to an opera while in Rome. I know - pinch me now!!

 

 

 

 

Then there's that little nagging thing in the back on my brain that keeps the tears right there on the verge of spilling over and running down my cheeks,.....my boys will not be with me. (insert sad face here!!)

I can't tell you how much I am going to miss them. And it's not only the fact that we'll be apart longer than we've ever been apart before,...but it's the distance. Oh, geeze,...the distance. My stomach is in knots, and the butterflies are fighting and knockin' each other around in there!!  Holy Cow - this is the most difficult thing for me right now, you really have no idea!

 

 

 

 

 

 

But, I know I'm going to have fun. And, I'm with family so it's not like I'm with people I haven't traveled with before or anything like that for goodness sakes. And they're fun people to hang with, too - that's for sure. So, I know I'll be fine. More than fine,...I'll be in Italy with my sister!  OMG!

 

 

 

 

 

A long time ago, probably between 15 to 20 years ago, Marsha and I said that we'd someday to go Italy together. Well, today's the day!

 

I'll be silent here on the blog until the last week of September. I'm not sure I'll even be able to post to Facebook or anything like that (all kinds of iphone/Verizon drama!!). I know I won't have email, so there will be a lot to read when I return home! LOL!! 

I hope you all have a fabulous next couple of weeks and I'll be sure to post pics upon returning.

Until Next Time,

 

Peace, Love and Sitting Under the Tuscan Sun!

 

(oh, and fulfilling dreams!!)

 

 

 

 

 

Ciao!

 

~Shel~

End of Summer,...

Well not officially, as that will happen later this month, but activity wise, school wise and in other ways, it's the 
End of Summer!

It's so hard for me to grasp that Fall is basically upon us since the temperatures here in the desert are still over 100 and will remain this way for several more weeks.



Photo Creidt: Marsha Hindman

 



 

Autumn is my favorite season. (Summer's second!)  The colors are amazing,...various yellows and oranges, deep reds, purples and browns - it's all so rich and colorful. (Not where I live, but in other places!)  Oh, and I just love seeing all the Autumn decorations, too - especially my sister's (Marsha Stewart's got nothing on my sis!). 

 

 

 

Maybe all the Fall decorations along with the great childhood memories, colors, smells, etc., are why I love designing jewelry with fall colors and motifs. Quite the palette for the imagination, isn't it?!

 

I'm going to be re-stocking my MiShel Designs Etsy Store with some new designs next month and today and tomorrow are the last two days to enjoy the huge saving with my "End of Summer" sale.

 

 

  

All the items in my MiShel Designs Etsy store are 45% off through the 7th, so hop on over and use coupon code ENDOFSUMMER45 upon check out for your super end of summer savings!!  

 

 

I was getting ready to put together another video tutorial, but I'm having some trouble with the quality and since the videos from my iphone and the flipshare are both pretty horrible, that will have to wait until I return from my vacation. (Sorry about that folks!!)

 

I mentioned a while back that I was going on vacation here soon.  Next week actually. I'm going to Italy with my sister and another friend.

Photo Credit: Marsha Hindman

We're meeting up with my brother-in-law in Venice before going over to Tuscany to stay in this very old, very cool farm house for a spell and then we'll make our way down to Rome for a short stay before returning home.

 

Photo via Pinterest

 

Sadly I will be going 'solo' so to speak. Meaning that the hubby and son will still be here at home, working and going to school.  That's the down side of owning our own business and not having employees and no one to turn things over to.  

Oh, and another kicker,....I'll be in Italy over our 18th wedding anniversary!  Yep. Bad me. Mike says it's great because he doesn't have to plan anything (Italy's my present) and he and the 'masked rider' can sit home, order pizza and watch movies and just hang out at night - you know - guy stuff!

 

I'm going to be snapping away, getting as many pictures as possible. I will have my iphone but they've told me it won't work over in Italy (it's not the newer models), and I opted not to go pick up one of their International phones because I didn't want to carry it around along with my other one and all that good stuff. And now, after making that decision, they tell me that not just the cell phone part won't work, but my wi-fi features and all that good stuff won't work on it while I'm over there either.  (seriously??)

 

That's a real bummer as I was going to facetime my son and FB with he and the hubby while I was away to stay in touch. 

 

My bro-in-law has a little tablet thingy we were going to use to use for facebook and stuff like that too, but I guess it took a nose dive onto a tile floor and fell to it's death. So, I'm going to just get a calling card and be completely and utterly unplugged for two weeks.

 

Yep - that's gonna be really weird!  

 

And, I was getting ready to do another give-a-way too, but my tutorial (it was a tutorial with a kit) isn't exactly as I want it to be either and so this too is going to have to wait until I return.

 

I despise putting things off - turns my stomach - but I guess sometimes you just have to realize there's only so much you can do and just deal with it. 

 

But, as a more positive way to look at it, it's something I have to look forward to when I return at the end of the month, isn't it? Yeppers,...that's the way to see things!!

 

So, once I leave, there will be 'radio silence' here on the blog for a few weeks. (Me, silent?! Ha! That's a good one!!)

 

How about some Autumn Inspiration for the moment,....

Blue Ridge Fall by Jim Dollar on Flickr - Via Pinterest

 

 

Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Seasonal Change!

Cheers,

~Shel~ 

Photo by Michelle Buettner

I'm Here,...

Got my toes in the sand,

drink in my hand,

watchin' the waves crash land,

takin' it all in,...

life's grand!

Until Next Time,...

Peace, Love and Beautiful Beaches!

Cheers,

~Shel~