Cool Idea on a Hot Day

Still getting used to the new blogger features..ugh...but here I am so it's not so bad.  It is incredibly hot here in the east bay of San Francisco today.  The very rare Santa Ana winds are blowing hard.  This is air that blows hot from east to west whereas most winds blow in from the ocean...west to east.  The Santa Ana canyon is in the desert wayyyy south of me down in the lower third of California, but we still call these winds Santa Ana's.

Here is my cool tip for this hot day that I got from some magazine.  After trying several methods to keep fresh basil...well...fresh, I finally found the right one.  Wrapping in paper towel and then into the grocery store plastic bag didn't work....standing the clipped ends in water in the fridge didn't work.

But this totally works!  Just keep the basil in the bag from the store but trap air inside before you tie it off.  That's IT!  And it works so well that the photos I'm showing you is basil that is over a week old...usually by this time there is some blackening but look how FRESH that is!  Amazing and so easy AND it worked on my parsley and cilantro as well.

The ONLY negative?  Finding a darned location in my fridge for this big air filled bag...dang!  That wasn't so easy but it was worth moving other goodies around so that I could have my bruschetta several days after buying the basil...

Yum yum.

White Wedding

Until Sunday, May 3rd, ALL orders in my RockerJewlz jewelry shop and MomsArt paper shop are 20% off and will ship next day at the very latest (except custom orders). Most will ship same day.

Remember this mystery bead from a few posts back? It's a wedding cake bead and I've turned it into the White Wedding Lampwork Pendant in my shop. I'm covering the shipping on this one so that even to you, the gift giver, it feels like a treat! It's a full, 3 dimensional sculpture of two tiers of perfectly white handcrafted glass covered in luscious swirls and scrolls of frosting. It's a little over 3/4 of an inch (22mm) and is simply spectacular. Above is one view and below is the other view to show you it's personality that changes slightly as you move the bead.
Sterling silver is the only other "ingredient" in this sweet piece with a subtle sparkle from the sterling stardust rondelle atop the cake and is suspended from an amazing Bali sterling bail in a heart pattern. The bail is small, but has a big opening. I left this as a pendant so that the gift giver can personalize the chain, cord or ribbon to fit the wedding theme and colors. Perfect for the "something new" gift for the bride. I just love it!

This leads me to my niece's wedding I attended on the 18th...below is her wedding cake that I photographed after the first slice was cut...and smeared all over the bride & groom's faces...hey, they are young. I didn't get a slice until the final bottom layer was cut and I was happily surprised by Red Velvet cake which I have NEVER had...I know, hard to believe, isn't it? It was chilled and had just a hint of raspberry & chocolate and the color was amazing. This topped off a fabulous meal of smoked tri-tip barbecie that fell apart beautifully. Never had tri-tip that good before. Thanks, Roddy and crew. The glass heart in front of the cake was the centerpiece for the dining tables. They had sand to hold a candle and 3 smooth black stones that each had white script words of love, hope & faith. I brought one home and am using the glass heart for special loose lampwork beads. It's fun to have it to remind me of this wonderful day.
It just cracked me up when the limo arrived at the church with the bridal party and about 20 cameras were pulled out of purses & pockets to snap pics! I laughed so hard that I had to take a shot of the "paparazzi" swarm of family & friends ALL taking the same darned photo...as if no one could take pictures and then email them to each other....funny.
Great limo...shiny & clean and a perfect match for the black & white wedding theme. Even the chauffeur had totally white hair...now they didn't plan that...did they???
Thanks for your patience in waiting for this wedding bead to be revealed (Sandy, you can stop tapping your toes in anticipation now..haha) and I'm plugging away at the polymer clay cupcake bracelet...yum!