the holidays are fast approaching!

The other day I started a giveaway to kick off the holiday season.. I went to random.org this evening, and the winner is..........

Maura from lilgreenshop!!! Congrats Maura!  Thanks to all who entered! 

I will be offering free domestic shipping in my RedBessBonney shop for Black Friday through Cyber Monday - just use coupon code BFCM12 at checkout.

I hope everyone has a lovely Thanksgiving week!  My son is off most of the week, and we will be spending the day with my parents. I don't plan on hitting any stores on Black Friday - most of my gifts are made by me - but if you are, have fun and don't get trampled! :)

Giveaway!!

I have been overwhelmed lately with life in general, and I have not gotten here as much as I'd like.  Hopefully in a couple of months things will be a bit better, and I can post again on a regular basis. 

Until then, I decided to have a giveaway from my shops to kick off the holiday season.  I will pick a name randomly on the evening of Sunday, November 18th.  I will be giving away a $20.00 gift certificate to use in either RedBessBonney, RedBessBonneyToo, or scooterbank.

For those of you not familiar with my shops, RedBessBonney has chainmaille, jewelry, and scarves.  This is one of my newest items -  chainmaille bottle jewelry.

My second shop is RedBessBonneyToo.  Original, huh?  :)  In this shop you'll find destash, vintage, and altered vintage.  Here's one of the items from that shop - a Victorian hidden name calling card.

Scooterbank is not really one of my shops - it's actually a shop for my son's art and photography.  I may be kind of prejudiced, but I think he has a pretty good eye for his age!  Here's one of his items: 

Okay, rules for entering.  It's easy - just enter a comment here with your favorite item from any shop.
For extra entries, like my page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.  Already do that?  Just let me know in the comments.   Good luck!

My Solo Trip

Back in April, my friend had her 40th birthday, and invited me to her crafty weekend party..  The problem is that she lives in California; I'm in Missouri.

But after the year I had last year - with moving, and my husband's aortic dissection, etc., we decided I needed a getaway.  My husband and son were very good to me - I didn't get just the weekend, but 10 whole days! :)

I arrived in San Diego, as the party was in Solana Beach.  I was looking forward to sunny skies and a walk on the beach, however I forgot how fickle beach weather can be.. This is what it was like all weekend:

We had a blast anyway, and even though I didn't get much jewelry made, it was very nice to reconnect with my friends!

And might I recommend staying at Holiday Inn Express, for the sole reason of the incredible pancake machine!  We all wanted one of these for our homes..

Once back from the weekend, I actually got to see a movie that wasn't rated G! :)  And a trip to California wouldn't be complete without a trip to In-N-Out..

I had a couple of relaxing days, then it was off to Hollywood to see John Cusack on the Jimmy Kimmel Show!  Hollywood is just so... interesting.  I miss it!

A couple of days later I headed to California Adventure ever so briefly.. I got a nice tease for our next visit later this summer.

That evening I went with a friend to the Pechanga Casino in Temecula to see our pals the 80z All Stars.  I've mentioned them before on my blog - they are some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet!  We had so much fun!

After a late night, the next day we had lots planned - we were going to visit famous dead people at Hollywood Forever Cemetery before heading over to a D23 event at the Walt Disney Studios.

I got chased my an attack duck..

My friend wanted to go to the Federal Bar in North Hollywood for dinner.. Cool place and good food.. I had the Greco burger - lamb with feta and tzatiki, and the garlic parmesan fries were so incredibly yummy!!

The D23 Fanniversary event was great!  I was a tad disappointed that this event didn't leave time for exploring a bit and shopping like some of their other events, but they did have 2 events that night, plus it was dark.  I managed a few pictures..

The next day was pretty easy going.  I went to a kid's soccer game, Ikea, and saw yet another movie not rated G..  Good thing I rested up a bit, as the next day was...

DISNEYLAND!

It was a very fun trip!  Maybe I'll get to take another one without my husband and son again some time.. Until then, I have my memories!

I should add that I really do enjoy going on trips with my boys, and we are planning a big one later this summer, so you have that blog post to look forward to.. lol!  At the rate I'm going, it will probably post in November... ;)