No Stones Jewelry Lot

Here is this week's jewelry lot - all of the pieces have no stones except for the squash blossom necklace which features pink mother of pearl. This is the first of three squash blossoms I recently received, all of which needed restringing. They have all been restored and are ready for their new homes. I threw the liquid silver necklaces into the mix at the last minute and they both sold! The rectangular ring and the concho ring also sold. The other pieces are all available. Included in this lot are three pieces from my personal collection. I really like them but I feel the need to downsize to only my ultimate favorites that I wear regularly. The fetish bear and kokopelli are really "too Southwest" for me to wear here. I picked up the heart earrings at a show in Old Town Scottsdale last winter. I love them but the style does not suit me. I have small earlobes so flat earrings twist to the side on me. As much as it pains me I have to stick to 3-dimensional earrings. If these pieces do not sell no big deal, I will just hang onto them and work them into my wardrobe.

On Monday Mother had her appointment with the neurologist, we hadn't been there since June of last year. Thankfully she passed the testing and will not need to go back again for two years. I know things are not 100% but they could be so much worse and for that I am very grateful.

Friday was my birthday, I am having a little trouble with this new number but acceptance will come in time. Estate sale issues put a big damper on the day but Kuochun did his best to cheer me up. He had an appointment at the urologist's office in Park Ridge the morning which is not a fun thing to do but he received another great report which is such a blessing. He does not need to go back until next May. Afterwards we went to Cream Of The Crepe in Uptown Park Ridge. The last time we were there was years ago with both my parents. I chose the Rise And Shine which is a breakfast crepe with scrambled eggs, turkey bacon and cheddar cheese and Kuochun chose the Atlantic which is smoked salmon, dill cream cheese and tomatoes. I successfully steered Kuochun away from the baked salmon option which did not sound at all appealing to me in crepe form. Both came with a side salad so we felt these were good healthy options. We then cancelled that out and ordered a Turtle crepe with chocolate and caramel drizzles, walnuts and whipped cream to split. There was only one man manning the entire restaurant but we were the only people there most of the time. He forgot to give us the dessert crepe after we finished the savory crepes but overall I give Cream Of The Crepe a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

Unfortunately Mother was not feeling well and could not go to dinner. I would have been fine waiting until we got to AZ but Kuochun wanted to go anyway. My favorite restaurant, Noodle Cafe in Wilmette sadly closed this year so we tried to think of a place we do not normally go. We ended up choosing Via Roma in Des Plaines, just over the Mount Prospect border on Northwest Highway. Mother, Kuochun and I went there for dinner one night shortly after they moved to this location from downtown Des Plaines. We loved the food but felt the restaurant was so noisy it was not enjoyable. An adjacent table of 8 had a bottle of wine per person and wow were they over the top. We decided to give it another chance. They do not take reservations and normally Kuochun hates to wait (and will not wait) but the hostess said it would be about 15 minutes. I said by the time we find another place the 15 minutes will be up so we stayed. It ended up being close to 30 minutes because people were not moving on after receiving their checks. They have drywalled the ceiling since our last visit and I noticed that there is now a 2-bottle limit per table but the restaurant still was super loud. The couple next to us was very friendly and spoke with us a few times. They ordered Kuochun's entree as an appetizer and were waiting for their entrees when we left. I chose chicken pesto risotto with sundried tomatoes and Kuochun selected seafood stew. I was considering the calamari appetizer until I saw the price - $25! I love risotto and find it a real treat. The chicken was a little dry but the creamy risotto made up for it. It was served on a large but shallow serving dish. Kuochun enjoyed his stew which was served in a large bowl. The bread was just regular Italian but it came hot from the oven which really helped the taste. Also, our server was attentive and refilled the olive oil on my plate as well as my water. I would also give Via Roma 4 out of 5 stars due to the restaurant noise. Next time I think we should try lunch.

Traditionally I like to get a hazelnut torte from Central Continental Bakery but have missed out on it since before the pandemic. We were going to get one this year but by the time we thought of it, the bakery was closed. We went to Mariano's instead, they have good cakes and cupcakes. I chose a small salted caramel cake. I am not a chocoholic, but a little chocolate is fine. This cake had three layers - two yellow and one chocolate and there were layers of caramel cream and whipped cream frosting between. Kuochun and I both really enjoyed it, in fact Kuochun wants to get another one!

Since there are still items Mother would like to get to Scottsdale, I decided to order one more U-Haul U-Box and have it sent to her house. It is scheduled to arrive next Wednesday. I forgot about a few items as well so I imagine we will not have trouble filling it. It is substantially more expensive than the other three boxes but even if I had ordered four at once, I would not have had time to fill it.

In addition to a couple of furniture pieces Mother would like to send, we are going to send all of our jewelry-making supplies. I do not have time to work on handmade jewelry anymore, definitely not during the busy estate sale season and jewelry design would be a great project for Mother to work on in AZ while I need to do estate sale work or online jewelry selling. I will find the time to "tie off" her designs and get them priced so we can put them into circulation and officially retire the bead collection. We will also pack the container with Mother's collectibles and Christmas decorations to sell. We will see how much room is remaining and if there is, we will include some of the other craft projects such as beaded flowers, felt and vintage doo-dads for pins and pincushions. I am not looking forward to packing another container but at least this one will arrive after we are already there so I do not need to rely on others to unload it. This box is scheduled to be picked up a week after drop off, October 19.

Before we go, I will be able to put together one more Sunday night jewelry lot and that should take care of most all of the new arrivals. If I can find time I will post a couple of smaller lots and the statement pieces over this next week in the hopes that some of the pieces sell so I do not need to take them on the airplane. We only have one carryon bag to share for the three of us and Mother and Kuochun both have a lot of medications to take along. There will be little room for jewelry, although I was hoping not to have to ship the half of my personal collection that I will be keeping in Scottsdale.

Time is getting short as we have less than two weeks before we leave. There is still lots to do but I am happy with the progress. In the remaining time we have I will prioritize what is left to be done, starting with tasks which must be done here at home. For once I have a doctor's appointment for myself on October 17. This will be an annual checkup but there will not be time for a mammogram or colonoscopy this year. I will also need to cancel my twice yearly dental cleaning because it is scheduled for October 31. This will be the first time I miss a cleaning as long as I can remember. I have been going to Dr Barrett in Park Ridge since 1981! Kuochun will miss his too, so maybe we will see if there is a good place in Scottsdale for us to go. It is not covered by insurance so we are free to go wherever we please. No one can compare to Karen though, she is literally the best! She is definitely someone I could be friends with, she is so sweet and very passionate about her job.

For hair, I have settled in with Dana at Bloom Salon in Arlington Heights after 19 years with Kerri at Joseph John Salon in Mount Prospect but I will either need to go back to the Aveda salon where I was going or find a new stylist. Tsofia at Juut Salon is fantastic, she really gets me because she has a similar hair texture but a cut and color is expensive there since she is a master stylist. She also prefers for me to go every 6 weeks instead of 8 weeks which really adds to the cost. I heard there was a curly hair salon in Scottsdale and looked it up. They cut curly hair dry and expect their clients to wash, dry and detangle their hair before their salon visit. And master stylists' cuts start at $225 with extra for detangling! The extra charge for detangling sounds like a dog groomer. I have had my last two cuts dry but Dana shampoos, conditions and blow dries my hair first. Decisions, decisions!