Starstruck

by Brigid McAlpin June 21, 2026

On Monday Kuochun and I took the Briesmobile out to get it registered. First stop was for the emissions test. When I asked ChatGPT what the proper procedure would be to get the job accomplished, it said I should go to emissions first and then suggested that I drive the van around for at least a few days after transport before going to make sure it would pass. I have not been going out a lot, just for essential errands but I figured a week would be enough time. The process was similar to Illinois except I needed to pay a fee of $16.15. The van passed which was the most important thing! Kuochun wanted to head for home and go to ADOT first thing in the morning on another day but I wanted to get the registration fully taken care of. Plus he was going for his first cataract surgery the next day and I did not think he would feel like going for a long while after that. We did have to wait in line about an hour but the line moved fairly quickly. It was definitely helpful to have someone to pass the time with! Once it was our turn the clerk was so nice and the process was very painless. I had all the paperwork I needed and also BRIGID was available so I snapped it up. I took the standard plate design which I think is great and a 2-year renewal. At about $109 for two years including $50 in vanity plate fees it was way less than Illinois for a year at $164. ChatGPT also gave me the advice to not bother renewing my Illinois sticker (no one had driven the van since it expired last September) so I saved money there as well. I was given a paper temporary plate with the registration attached and the permanent plate should arrive soon. Kuochun loves to read other people's temporary plates when we are out on the road to see what year their cars were manufactured. Most of them look in amazingly good shape even if they are decades old since cars do not rust here!

After the van was all set, Kuochun was ready for lunch and I realized that another Check, Please! Arizona recommendation was nearby. It is called Hundred Mile Brewing Co and it is a woman-owned craft brewery which is very rare. Check, Please! had a Mayors episode and the mayor of Tempe recommended this restaurant. They even named the homemade potato chips appetizer after him! I had a connection with the owner because she purchased a mid-century modern dresser from me a while back through Facebook Marketplace when she was building out the restaurant. She said she lived very close by and was going to use the dresser for her T-shirt display area. However when we went there the dresser was nowhere to be found. They had a tiny piece of white furniture which looked like an IKEA TV stand in the T-shirt area. The dresser was so nice, maybe she decided to keep it at her home.

The food was just OK so I am sure we will not be back. Kuochun had trouble finding something on the menu that appealed to him and ended up with shrimp tacos and sweet potato tater tots. I had a grilled chicken Caesar wrap and fries. I suppose people go for the beer and the food is more of an afterthought. I am glad we tried it and I now know that my former dresser is not there.

Tuesday was Kuochun's left eye cataract surgery, which took us to a surgery center in the fancy Biltmore area of Phoenix. The waiting room was so crowded there was barely an empty chair. I think I waited about 2.5 hours for him in total and I was on my phone so much I nearly ran out of battery. Finally he was ready and I went to pick him up at the patient exit. He looked a little fragile but he was OK. All along he was saying he wanted to go out to eat afterwards but I felt he would not be up to it. The nurse helped him into the car and I bet it was not the first time he asked her and he said "where is there a good place to eat around here?" It sounded like she was from Ireland and she said you know what? The best place is AT HOME! Then she looked at me and said TAKE HIM HOME! So I took him right home. We had a follow-up appointment the next day and the final follow-up for this eye will be next Tuesday. Then he will start the process for the right eye. He just had a mild case of cataracts but said he can see a big difference between the two eyes.

After the follow-up appointment Wednesday Kuochun did want to get something to eat so we went to Harlow's Cafe, also in Tempe. I had been there twice before - once with Mother and once with Kuochun. There are not too many old-school diners in the Phoenix area and this is one of them. They are famous for their muffins which come in blueberry, peach cream and banana nut but each time I was there they were sold out. The appointment was early in the morning so they were still stocked with muffins. Kuochun took the opportunity to order a dozen - four of each flavor. He eats something sweet along with a whole avocado for breakfast every morning. He absolutely loved the muffins! I tried a blueberry one and thought it was very good. It tasted a lot like the blueberry pancakes I had ordered.

Thursday I went to sign up for another month at the community college fitness center so I can keep up with my physical therapy homework. I thought it was going to be $45 but was pleasantly surprised to see that it was only $25. I think the summer slowdown has taken effect because it was not busy! It is a large state of the art facility but they only have two NuStep machines which is part of my homework. One of them is very small and the speed is controlled on the side so I need to use the other one which has a digital keypad on which I can change the speed during the workout. Next Tuesday I will be back to physical therapy and have four more sessions scheduled. Overall there is not much improvement but I hope I can at least drop it down to once a week so I do not need to spend half my time in the Scottsdale heat. It has been doable so far but I am ready to go to Prescott!

The Arizona room in Prescott is now officially finished and paid for. This marks my last large expense for the redesign project. There are still more expenses down the pike including the last payment for the landscaping, the tile installation for the Arizona room floor when it comes in this fall, the window treatments and new screens. I will need to have more work done to get the exterior totally shipshape as well but hopefully it can wait until next spring. I need some recovery time!

There was not a lot of time to post new items this week but technically I posted five. This beautiful 1970s chip inlay peyote bird necklace came to me strung on beading wire and the wire was so taut it would not stay on the loops on one side behind the centerpiece. The only choice was to have the necklace restrung on foxtail. It was an unexpected expense but the bonus is it does lay much better around the neck now and will last a lifetime. I reshot the photos and reposted the listing.

I sold one of the two Happy Piasso star shot cuff bracelets so I posted the other one. The measurements are exactly the same and at 7.125" in circumference this bracelet will work for most men and some women.

I finally posted one of my favorite Buffalo Dancer jewelry sets - I have had these pieces for at least several years and I have not seen the artists make a pendant like this since. I felt like I was having trouble capturing the beauty of the wild horse magnesite stone on the cactus so it took me way longer than usual to shoot the photos. I ended up going to the backyard during the "golden hour" which is the last hour of daylight before the sun sets and I hung the pendant on a cactus.

I am not so sure that this helped but decided to include the photo in my listing anyway. The artists told me that stars are the most difficult to cut and they also end up with the most waste as far as stone material. I am sure the cactus was no picnic either but they are amazing at what they do and the stones look perfect. These pieces have not been spoken for yet but I am sure they will be soon.

My final posting for the week was this beautiful pendant by Navajo artist James Lee Jr. The stone is Pink Dahlia turquoise, which is a composite stone from the Kingman mine in Arizona with a combination of spiny oyster shell, copper and turquoise. I had just purchased it thinking I would keep it but it is a little too serious for me. Most of the pieces out there using these composite stones are mass-produced and do not have the quality that this piece does so this is a real find!

Since I have been posting more items lately, I am now receiving a weekly report from one of the venues I post to, Mercari. They let me know that I am the #12 lister on all of Mercari for Native items! I thought that was really cool. There is lots more to come so maybe I can get that ranking up even higher.

The extra posting I did last week paid off this week! I sold 9 items - one on eBay, two on Poshmark, three on Mercari and three on Etsy. Coincidentally, both of my Rosella Paxton onyx heart rings sold on Tuesday, on two different venues.

It took a while to find the right person but I sold this person pendant by Federico on Wednesday, as well as the Happy Piasso cuff bracelet I mentioned earlier.

I fielded a lot of questions on this 1940s Navajo belt buckle that I had restored and ended up accepting a reasonable offer on Mercari for it. The sale of the week was this fabulous statement cuff bracelet by Navajo artist Sunshine Reeves. I took it to the Native American shop to have it made just an eighth of an inch larger to be sure it would fit the customer. It is on the way to California so fingers crossed that it is now the perfect size!

It looks like posting a dozen Buffalo Dancer items helped with a couple of Buffalo Dancer sales this week. I accepted an offer on this turtle belt buckle. It was already priced at "old" silver pricing but I think it is adorable but taste specific and also on the smaller side so I accepted the offer. I also sold my second and last pair of Mercury Dime squash blossom earrings which I had originally posted more than two years ago. This was before I was saving the jewelry photos so I do not have a good photo on hand. I have more Mercury Dime earrings to post including posts, dangles and post dangles. The Indian Head copper penny dangle earrings are currently online.

The final piece I sold was originally posted more than three years ago, a really cute vintage Navajo-made oval pin with a turquoise centerpiece. This is what is meant by "long tail" sales!

I continue to price new jewelry pieces when I can but I do not have nearly enough to fill a medium flat rate box. Next week I will plan to take a day to polish and price rings. I do not enjoy individually polishing rings but they are by far the best sellers out of the jewelry caravan. The turquoise rings I sent last time did not make it out to the sales last week but hopefully they can go somewhere next week. The Tibetan jewelry has been well-received so far, especially the earrings! If the trend continues I will definitely get more next year.

Until next time!