Bethany's 30th birthday, featuring Catbird

As part of this year's July family birthday celebrations (I have three family members with birthdays in early July), I was able to take a brief trip to Chicago to attend a birthday party for my brother's wife Bethany and spend a little time with my parents. I love Rob and Bethany's friends and was so glad to be part of this event.

 

Part of the birthday celebration included the first ever performance by Catbird. Hopefully there will be future performances!

 

Have you been celebrating any birthdays this month?

special feature for Jake's birthday

Some of you may remember that I put together a special feature for my husband's birthday last year. Or not. No worries. I couldn't tell you most of things that I did yesterday let alone one year ago. Anyway, I enjoyed writing that post and wanted to bring back the feature for his birthday today. Thanks again to Paige for the original inspiration for this idea. Enjoy.

 I bought Jake a watch for his med school graduation two years ago that has never worked as well as it should have, even after multiple repair jobs. You don't win them all. This is one of those presents where I got specific recommendations so it will only be so much of a surprise, but at least I know he'll like it (and wear it everyday).

I'm really sad that this is sold out right now. I contacted the seller about ordering one and haven't heard anything back yet (which is in really poor taste for a successful Etsy seller, but that's another post for another day...). If I do hear back at some point, I'll get it and save it for another occasion.

Jake and I are going to steampunk it up at the Renaissance Faire this year, hopefully on steampunk invasion weekend. More details about that later this summer.

Jake really enjoys funny t-shirts. Sometimes I take a break from the t-shirt gift, and it's always a mistake. You should go with what you know will go over well. Anyway, I may get Jake something Book of Mormon related for a future gift.

 When I first started dating Jake, I never would have believed that he'd want to own multiple nice hats and wear them to work everyday. He has two now and wears them to work as well as a lot of other places almost every day.

Jake and I recently had some amazing grilled chicken drumsticks at a friend's house. We love to grill during the warmer months of the year.

Funfetti cake of some sort is always a part of Jake's birthday. Adding multicolored sprinkles to the frosting is very inspired.

What items would your significant other enjoy?

special birthday feature for my husband

Happy birthday to my husband Jake today!

Earlier this year, Paige put together a Pinterest list for her husband's birthday.  I loved the idea and made a note to do the same thing for Jake.  If I didn't make notes, I would never remember these things months later.  But I did so here it is.  I've pulled items from both Pinterest and Etsy.  Thanks for the inspiration, Paige!

Jake is a huge fan of Lord of the Rings (and was long before the movies came out ten years ago).

The Hobbit - Lord of the Rings A3 poster by colorpanda

I'm sure that most people don't get this, but it's a popular humor phrase for people who play games with lots of dice and/or many sided dice.

That is How I Roll Pin Button Badge 1.25 inch by boxinghobo

Jake is a big fan of funfetti cake.  He requests it every year for his birthday.  And no, I don't make it from scratch...but now maybe I will.

Birthday Cake Recipe: Funfetti Cake from Scratch from thekitchn.com

Jake loves computer games.  This is an old classic.

Jake enjoys grilling in the summer.

Garlic Shrimp in Foil from The Food Network

Jake just started his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation

Peace Love PM&R Onesie Organic Tees from zazzle.com

Finally, Jake is a big fan of Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation.  This is one of the two Ron Swanson items that I got him for his birthday this year.

Ron Swanson Breakfast mug by PeachyApricot

What items would your significant other enjoy?

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Where I Linked Up Today:

new listing, Entrecard feature

I listed a new piece last night: Beadwoven Bracelet - Simple Birthday Cake.

I created this piece after I created my Birthday Cake peyote cuff.  (Yep, I'm still listing a few pieces that I made back in the summer.)  Yellow is not a color that I work with frequently, but it can be fun sometimes.  I haven't sold a ton of these simple right angle weave designs.  It's one of my favorite bracelet designs to wear, though.  It's very light weight and versatile.

Sharla was one of my Top Droppers on Entrecard last month.  I'm finally featuring one of her Etsy items here as promised.  I picked her Fall Sunset - Lampwork Glass and Swarovski Crystal Antiqued Brass Earrings.  Of course I can't resist lampwork, and this is the perfect time of year to wear these earrings.

Birthday Cake, free samples, sneak peak

I finally listed my Birthday Cake cuff tonight.  Some of you may remember that at some point this summer, I posted a sneak peak of the Birthday Cake bead mix.  I shot the original pictures before I made my light box so I decided to retake them over the weekend.

I generally have a difficult time naming my pieces.  If I do name them, I almost always do it partway through the creation process or afterward.  This name just came to me, though, as soon as I started putting the bead mix together.  I still think that it's very fitting.  And I really love this button.  It ties everything together nicely.  I made another bracelet with this same seed bead mix but no other embellishment that I'm going to list at some point, too.

Shannon (beadsandbabble) was so pleased with my inclusion of her chocolate dagger beads in my random feature earlier this month that she offered to send me some free sample beads!  Of course I wasn't going to say no to that!  They arrived in the mail today, and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

Some of these beads fit into my Art Beads fall blogging piece perfectly.  I've been planning some simple jade pieces for a while as while.  The neutral/metallic seed beads on the right will coordinate well with that green.  Thanks again Shannon!

Some accepted another Alchemy request today so I'll be working on that custom request this week.  I picked out the beads tonight.

I'll leave your imaginations open on that for now.  And no, it's not anything Christmas related even though it is that color scheme. :)

Finally, I got confirmation today that I will have a piece published in Bead Trends February 2011!