Betsy & Iya Jewelry


Posts Tagged ‘dreaming’

Wife.

Monday, October 5th, 2009

It means nothing but what we make of it.

hawaii mirror camera(the following pictures = the wife in her many states.)

“It is also good to love: because love is difficult. For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation.”  -Rainer Maria Rilke

Photo 39(love her)

mirror super(New York ready)

The other day, W took time out of his crazy work schedule to tell me (via email), that something I had said the night before had impressed him.  He did the kind of thing that one usually does when courting another…not after knowing them for 10 years.  It reminded me that we both do that sort of thing more often than I think; and that I admire that about our relationship.

When I read his words, it gave me butterflies (the free, colorful kind, not the dark, trapped kind) in my stomach.  I pointed out that we must be doing something right if we can still make the other feel:  chills from a new hand accidentally brushing our own, tingling lips the way a first kiss awakens us, (in a instant) loneliness transforming entirely into familial warmth—after all these years we’re still learning about each other as if we’re anxiously awaiting only our 3rd conversation—so much that lives inside the beautiful shell of a person, undiscovered, who sits in front of you, only waiting to be discovered by you…and you by them.

Photo 110(morning and glasses.)

mirror(meet: great grandma betsy)

newness.  When we decided to get married, this is one thing that I knew I couldn’t live without and I knew we had found in each other.  passion.  for life, in each other, and in all things we do (together or apart)…recognizing this in the other person and constantly supporting it, ferociously. wholeness. We would not be together, would not have truly uninhibitedly seen the other if we were not first whole within our own selves.  I find solace in this idea.  I find strength in my own independence, through my husband—crazy, I know.  ambition. to push yourself and your partner farther than you ever thought you could go.  music and art. inspire each other.  do these things together.  a lot.  support. faith and loyalty in all things we do.  love. strong, deep, the never-stopping-always-searching-for-more kind of love.  truth and honesty. who are you without these two things?  You owe them to the other and you owe them to yourself…for all time.  we must always seek out the deepest of truths and then we are honoring our purest and most beautiful selves.

mirror 2(business and crispness)

Photo 158(wife.  wiiiiiiiife?  wife. WIFE.  wife!!  wife.)

I really like the German poet, Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet and highly recommend reading it if you have even a glimpse of a human heart.  It’s a quick read and it moves me every time.

I am a wife.

I like being one.

it is an honor.

***Song of the Moment: Stillness is the Move, by the Dirty Projectors***

Not Stressed at All.

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

psych!?!!

(Throughout this post, I will attempt to de-stress myself by posting pictures of things that make me feel calm.)

notstressedatall21

When I got home last night, a neighbor asked me how I was feeling about the upcoming wedding and I said (sincerely), “Oddly enough, I don’t feel stressed AT ALL!  weird…hahahhaHAHAHAhaha,” and we continued to banter about that and I continued to giggle. It was lovely.  I felt different from ALL the other brides.  I felt in control.  That was last night.

notstressedatall

This morning, however, is a completely different story.

If you didn’t know, Thursday is COMPLETELY different from Wednesday.  I feel like I have pushed my body’s fast forward button and it’s stuck, and my brain can’t figure out how to un-stick it AND my brain is like two steps behind my body, so I feel all jittery (wait…maybe that’s the 3 cups of coffee talking)—so Betsy World is a bit tilted, nay UPSIDEDOWN, today.

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notstressedatall3131

The best way for me to get over it is to talk about it:

I’m insanely busy right now.  I probably bit off more than I could chew, work-wise, just moments before the wedding.  The last minute business trip to Seattle last week, seemed like SUCH a great idea at the time.  I’m so grateful that I picked up some new fresh stores there, but I’m also like…really, Betsy…REALLY?  I’ve got 3 NEW wholesale orders to produce and send out before the end of next week.  Online orders keep rolling in (AWESOME…seriously, I say this).  On top of that, there are still so many details to sort out about the nuptials and while I know they will continue to fall into place, I’m having a tough time envisioning that at the moment.  My email accounts are spewing over and I’m feeling sickningly guilty about it.  Social Networking is beginning to look like Beelzebub’s righthand man.  I’ve booked fashion/craft shows that I cannot even attend in September (b/c I’ll be with my honey, mooning), so before I get married next weekend, I must have created enough product so that my assistants don’t get stuck battling out who’s gonna sell the ONE thing I’ve left for them to showcase.  Not to mention, I’d like to keep my tiny shop full of merchandise so the ladies can open it up to the foot traffic that has begun to frequent the shop.  Writing it out is not helping at the moment, making me a little breathless—not in that sexy, romantic kind of whisper way…like in the—I-might-die kinda way.

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See…I KNEW posting seemingly arbitrary pictures of warmer moments in life, would help.  I stop the anxiety destruction train that I’m currently riding, to stare at these last two photos.  Instantly, I am reminded that the stressball is fleeting and the ladder is here to stay.  W built it for me from the ground up, the one he stands on.  It hangs from the ceiling of my studio, suspended, part of a pulley system that W created.  No training whatsoever, he figured it all out along the way.  Kinda like how it is to live—nothing is known from the beginning, we have to be open to it, we must believe it can be done…and it probably can.  Not unlike our own relationship and journey to this end/beginning—the end of a courtship and the beginning of our own forever.  I proudly take these steps with him, up that thing we built together, the thing we didn’t even know existed until we tried.

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And we will fight for it, until the end.

Thankfully, I’ve forgotten why I started this post in the first place.

***Song of the Moment: Unravel, by Bjork***

Random Pop: Welcome to the Old World.

Friday, June 12th, 2009

oldworldtreasury

The treasury is the collection of items you see everyday on the front page of Etsy.  The treasuries are handpicked by other Etsy members.  It always feels good when someone wants to put you in their treasury.  The treasury is sort of a wild subculture of the handmade world—people become addicted and obsessed with having the best treasuries.  This morning I had a sweet message from Impulse Art that she had chosen one of my pieces for her “Old World Feel” Treasury.  I immediately fell in love with the mood she created here.  I am drawn to Greece, the brown/gray texture, history, and cracks of this treasury.  I had to share it with you all.

The bottom middle necklace belongs in my collection.

(btw, you can create a drinking game with this post:  for every time I use the word “treasury,” take a swig!)

***Song of the Moment: Dirt On Your New Shoes, by Bishop Allen***

Outfit of the Day: Meet The Brendas.

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

brendasstairs(one of our very first shows.  Secretary Brendas)

Once a brenda, always a brenda.  Back in ‘06, along with one of my favorite people in the entire world, Louise Watson, I started an all-girl band called, The Brendas.  The two of us were itching to do somethig non-theatre related, something big and something full of joy.  We decided our sound would be catchy, ridiculous and sappy (straight from the heart).  Soon after, we had some of the most awesome, talented women in town, wanting to join our team.

brenda-lou-and-brenda-betsy(Brenda Lou and Brenda Betsy…playing in Denmark, no less)

brendasindenmark(The Denmark installment:  30s’ girls with an 80s twist.)

brokenbrenda(Hours before our Denmark show, I had tripped and fell on some stairs when loading up the van with music equipment.  I was in extreme pain, but so devastated because playing in Denmark was almost like a joke…it was so cool.  I knew I had to push on.  With painkillers, a shot of whiskey, and adrenaline, it was a piece of cake.  Funny that over a week later, I finally went to the doctor in England, to learn that it was actually broken.  Without insurance, I was so grateful that it happened in Europe.  They took x-rays, cast me up, gave me new sweet crutches, and when I asked about payment, they looked confused for a moment and then smiled and waved me out the door!!  Ahhhh universal healthcare.)

We don’t take ourselves too seriuosly.  In fact, we didn’t consider ourselves musicians then.  We still don’t really.  But MAN, do we put on a good show!!  We’ve had anywhere from 5-9 members at a time.  We’ve had a few Americans, a Brit, a Czech, a Swede, a Dane, a Brit, a Dutch, and two Canadians as part of the band.  An instrument smorgasbord, including: 2 accordians, mandolins, trumpets, saxophone, guitars, violin, bass, ukeleles, ukelin, lap harp, kazoos, washboard, drums (kiiind of), xylophone, egg shakers, and even a boy!  We’ve played many times at the world famous Logger Bar in Blue Lake, CA and even a huge Euro tour (slash: one very well received show in Arrhus, Denmark).

glamrockbrendas(Glam Rock Brendas 2007)

One thing that we decided early on:  our outfits must have a theme for every single show we play.  We started off quite modest—secretaries, or something similar.  Later we moved on to Sailors, Glam Rock, Gingham & Lace, Mechanics, and many other amazing costumes.  This latest installment is quite possibly my all time favorite.  My heart aches because I couldn’t be with them, but I share this picture with you with great GREAT pride:

The Super Brendas

brendas(clockwise from top left to bottom left:  Generally Super, Wondercorn, The Hot Flash, Beauty Sleep (with the power of napping), Green Fingered Goblin, and lastly, the Superslav)

There was a time when I was traveling down to Blue Lake (where the band is based) more often, to participate in shows.  Lately, though, life has been too mad to allow me the time to get down there.  When they play, I hear them and I miss the everything out of them.

This post is a dedication to all Brendas out there.  I miss y’all and your genius sounds!

(By the way, The Brendas will be playing a few numbers at W and my talent show “rehearsal dinner,” the day before our wedding.  I am SO excited.)

***Song of the Moment: All songs, by the Brendas***