Home again x2 jiggity jig

Well, the party's over. Sigh. It was so nice to spend time with my aunts, cousin and mom! I have orders in from both aunts for custom-made jewelry in Carnelian and Iolite. Aunt Kathleen used to have her own silver-jewelry business, and Aunt Susan shares a love for sparklies, so it was nice to pick their brains and come up with some design ideas.
Wait until you see what I picked up! Lots of Coral, Apatite, Kyanite, Ryolite and some surprises ...it's going to be quite the undertaking to put them all into the inventory. The best news of the weekend though, was not the lovely beads I acquired, but being asked by my "twin" cousin Meg (we share a birthday, albeit a year apart) to be one of her bridesmaids! She'll be getting married next June, ironically, a year to the day from our arrival to Chicago (June 19th). I'm really excited about it. We tried on some wedding gowns together while we were in Shy Town (Meg needed some moral support. She'd like to wear a bright teal wedding gown, so I tried on the traditional white dresses, while she put on the ones intended for bridesmaid or prom-goer!) And there will be a trip to Kleinfelds Bridal in NYC in September so Meg can try on wedding dresses "for real". You can bet that will be combined with more bead-purchasing! I think I'm more excited about being surrounded by ivory lace, sequins and glitz than the actual bride!