A farewell to my dear friend, my very favorite hiking pants.

You, who were bought sometime around my sophomore year of college. You have seen me through hiking in feet of snow, in deserts, down to the basin of the Grand Canyon and back up. You who have floated down the C&O, hung out around campfires, braved the waterslides at Kings Dominion, and seen the tops of many mountains.

You were warmer than you seemed and dried with an almost magical quickness.

You outlasted two long term relationships. I was wearing you the day I got engaged.

You were a good pair of pants, and I will miss you.

Warning: Many pictures ahead!

Pretty, shiny things. So many lovely things, such a little discretionary spending budget. It's July, which is one of the slower months in the jewelry biz. So slow, in fact, that several of my suppliers actually close up shop for the entire month and part of August. My sales usually ebb around this time of year, as is natural, with people consumed with thoughts of vacations. I don't worry-- I make a substantial amount in the late August to December stretch, with my Autumn updates and pre-holiday sales being far and away my most popular updates. But it's July, and aside from the natural ebb, I just spent a boatload of cash on supplies for the coming months. The discretionary spending budget is... ahem. You get the picture.

Still, I've made a few small purchases for myself over the couple of months.

( Things I have bought.Collapse )

And now on to my current retail longings...

( Even more pictures ahead!Collapse )

And finally, I am getting a haircut. My hair is getting pretty long, and I need to start trimming off the areas that were once bleached, because they have a different texture than the new stuff, which I've been careful to use only vegetable and plant-based dyes on, no ammonia. I am also going have sideswept bangs cut in again, as it downplays the roundness of my face. And then I will bump up the red from the current light ginger I have now to more of a true red. Basically, I envy April of Gardens of Whimsy's hair.