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Who miraclesrule, come on down!

LadyP, if I HAD to do it it might not be as fun for me. I enjoy it because it is for my own child, which makes it very special to me. I have a party planner too, and he is good, but I am too much of a detail oriented control freak to not be very hands on. I have every detail thought out, down to the smallest thing, because I think that is what makes an impact, when you see how much effort the host put in. I ma lucky that I do not really have budget constraints, I was able to just pick what I want and not be worried, again, because this is likely the only time that I will be able to throw a big shindig and it is only about my kid...not even a wedding, if I were able to have lots of involvement, is about one person. This is only about my son, so I can go to town on all the things that he loves and are important to him. I am taking full advantage!

Miracles, could you post a photo? I LOVE the rosary idea, so people could pray for a win!!!!!
 
Date: 8/7/2008 1:00:55 PM
Author: diamondfan
LadyP, if I HAD to do it it might not be as fun for me. I enjoy it because it is for my own child, which makes it very special to me. I have a party planner too, and he is good, but I am too much of a detail oriented control freak to not be very hands on. I have every detail thought out, down to the smallest thing, because I think that is what makes an impact, when you see how much effort the host put in. I ma lucky that I do not really have budget constraints, I was able to just pick what I want and not be worried, again, because this is likely the only time that I will be able to throw a big shindig and it is only about my kid...not even a wedding, if I were able to have lots of involvement, is about one person. This is only about my son, so I can go to town on all the things that he loves and are important to him. I am taking full advantage!

That is really awesome--your son is so lucky to have a mom who cares about him so much!

Now I know whom to ask for advice when I start planning my own wedding.
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Feel free! I do love coming up with things, it is fun, but again, I have the benefit of my planner who has contacts and access to so much in the party circuit.

I am doing these Andy Warhol silkscreen paperweights as one of the party activities for the kids, their photo is done as a colored silkcreen like those famous ones by Warhol and they get melded into a lucite paper weight. I wanted things that were newer and different, these kids end up at so many affairs that I wanted somethings that were unique. I have some other great things that he came up with, I told him things I had seen at other bat and bar mitzvahs, so hopefully the kids will leave having had a total ball. It is all about them too, I want the adults to have fun, hence the sit down meal and band up stairs, with an elegant room for them, but still, I want the kids to leave raving about how much fun it was.
 
DF: I seriously wish I was your kid.
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I am soooo bummed that I don''t get to go to the first pre-season Charger game. I thought it was on Sunday, but turns out that it''s Saturday night at 7 p.m. and my 30-yr reunion is at 6 p.m. Boo...
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Worse yet, is that my daughter and her new hubby have to go to an engagement party so that can''t use the tickets, which are $98 a piece.
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I will have to give them away or hope that someone offers me a small pittance for them. Oh well, at least it''s just a pre-season game and not a "real" game. If it was, I would probably ditch my reunion.
 
I adopt all people, especially if you had mad skills like cooking or sewing!

I am bumming we are missing some pre season Eagles games too. they kind of suck, but I like going, we have some seats in a box but even so the weather does make it a drag toward December, so I like to go now, and it has yummy food and a bathroom which I love. I even sometimes watch the game!!
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If you go to encore studios, click on bar mitzvah invites and look at the encore edge you can see the beveling. The one shown is like mine BUT mine is inside a "barn door" wrap thing, that one is not, and their motif is flowery and mine is not. It just gives some some sense of it.

Wow, 30th reunion, well, you are such a babe you will have the best time I am sure! I am willing to be 30 years later not many of the class look as awesome as you do!!!
 
DF: I do have mad skills.
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I am also a massage therapist.
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I never went and got licensed because I didn''t want to be self-employed and I knew that I would never make as much money as my long time career provides me. But I do still have the best massage table and accessories that money can buy. I don''t have a chair massage table though. It''s a good thing i don''t, because I would bring that bad boy into the office and probably wouldn''t get any work done. It''s already crazy that people come to me and say "Miracles, please massage my neck, I have a knot" I''m expecially popular with the pregnant women and it is not uncommon for people to walk by and a pregnant lady has her arms up against the wall and I am massaging her erector spinae.
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330 hours of training is enough to make anyone drool.
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I''m going to go peek at your invites online...


SDL: I thought you''d appreciate that. Over.
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Miracles, in my new house I am building a massage room and having a table set up! you could come live with me and cook and give me massages! I love this idea so much! Of course, you could go somewhere sunny in the winter...my favorite thing in this WORLD is scalp and neck massages and low back and feet.

It is really hard to see them on line. Encore has many books, this is the Edge book and it is all beveled paper. I used them for my older son, but did a rectangle, and his was navy blue and ivory with copper ink. It was gorgeous. It is hard to do a boy thing and have it be tasteful and elegant...so I love this company so much...
 
Date: 8/7/2008 11:20:41 PM
Author: diamondfan
Miracles, in my new house I am building a massage room and having a table set up! you could come live with me and cook and give me massages! I love this idea so much! Of course, you could go somewhere sunny in the winter...my favorite thing in this WORLD is scalp and neck massages and low back and feet.

It is really hard to see them on line. Encore has many books, this is the Edge book and it is all beveled paper. I used them for my older son, but did a rectangle, and his was navy blue and ivory with copper ink. It was gorgeous. It is hard to do a boy thing and have it be tasteful and elegant...so I love this company so much...

I love this idea too!!! I loathe my day job. Even though I am very good at it.

I do scalp massages all day at work. It''s so funny that my co-workers always want me to touch their head. But in addition to head, neck and feet, I
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outer ear and hand massages. My massage therapist knows not to even think about skipping my earlobes and outer ear or my hands. The ear thing always give me goosebumps on top of my goosebumps. I love it.

You''re so blessed. A massage room. I was going to set one up too...but mine would be a ghetto version of yours, I''m sure.

I loveed the chocolate invites. I am sure it is far more beautiful in person than online. Everything is. I think they are beautiful. I bet their calligraphy is out of this world.
 
My party planner has in house a woman who does amazing calligraphy by hand, it is so impressive. She is a master. She got my envelopes weeks ago so she could start them. They are going out at the end of August so she is busy working on them.

The massage room is for hubby mostly. He loves massages and we have a set up by the cabana for a steam shower, a sauna, a gym and the massge room. I may never want to leave my house!
 
Date: 8/8/2008 10:23:27 AM
Author: diamondfan
My party planner has in house a woman who does amazing calligraphy by hand, it is so impressive. She is a master. She got my envelopes weeks ago so she could start them. They are going out at the end of August so she is busy working on them.

The massage room is for hubby mostly. He loves massages and we have a set up by the cabana for a steam shower, a sauna, a gym and the massge room. I may never want to leave my house!
I would never leave the house either!! I think everyone should be massaged at least once a month. We wuld be a more peaceful society. I really believe that. I have to get a lot of deep tissue work because I sit at a computer all day and usually am tense and sometimes my neck is like a tree trunk. Some people say "Oh, you''re getting a massage, how nice and relaxing" Well, if they only knew that many of the ones I get aren''t so nice and relaxing. I only feel better after the massage and the following week. Sometimes getting the massage is what we refer to as "delicious discomfort" or "exquisite pain". Deep tissue isn''t fluff!! Now, on the other hand, when I just want the cadilliac of bliss, I get a hot stone massage. OMG, I love hot stone swedish massages. Those are strictly for pampering. All this is making me want a massage with my friend who gives the best hot stone massages that I''ve ever had. She just moved back into town. I need to find out if she belonging have been shipped yet. I need one.
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Hey miracles, is your daughter back from her honeymoon? How did it go?! Woohooo, how does it feel for all the wedding stress to be over?
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Date: 8/8/2008 5:34:11 PM
Author: SarahLovesJS
Hey miracles, is your daughter back from her honeymoon? How did it go?! Woohooo, how does it feel for all the wedding stress to be over?
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Hey Sarah!! I''m doing well. It is nice for the stress of the wedding to be over. I am sort of glad that we planned the whole thing in 5 months. It was pure hell, but it was like a short labor. Painful, but short. If I have to go through pain, I want it to be of the shortest possible duration.
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My daughter hasn''t gone on her honeymoon yet. They went to Palm Springs for a few days, but they are going to Paris and Spain in the end of September. Her husband has never been to Europe, but she has, because I took her there as her college graduation present. We didn''t go to Paris though, so she is looking forward to going there with him so that it will be a first for both of them.

I am still off work and just being lazy and playing on PS. I did go have lunch in La Jolla today on the veranda at La Valencia hotel and watched a wedding. I even took pics of the bride. I then went for a little stroll, and stumbled onto the estate jewelry store where surfgirl got her e-ring. I found an amazing pair of leverback diamonds with pave. OMG, they were stunning. I looked through a loupe for my first time which was awesome. I could totally see a scratch on a pink sapphire. The lady who was behind the counter was so helpful and educational. It was amazing how much money they were willing to discount on their jewelry, but I knew that I could still get something more cost-effective through PS vendors.

How is the wedding planning coming along? Did you make a final decision on the BM dresses yet? What about Mom, how is she feeling about her dress?
 
What a fascinating, fascinating life story you have.

Wow.


Rich, Independent GG Appraiser
Sarasota Gemological Laboratory
 
Date: 8/8/2008 9:22:00 PM
Author: Richard Sherwood
What a fascinating, fascinating life story you have.

Wow.


Rich, Independent GG Appraiser
Sarasota Gemological Laboratory
Thank you Rich!! And what a beautiful family you have
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I starting reading your thread a few nights ago. It''s very clear that you were sorely missed during your absence.

I look forward to learning a lot more on PS beause my earrings are going to have to wait until my b-day since I decided to purchase the deluxe wedding album for my daughter and her hubby for xmas. It was tough...because I have been plotting my first pair of diamond earrings.

How fun to be a Gemologist. I had a question I was going to ask in your thread. I will pop over there tonight an post it.
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Date: 8/8/2008 10:28:04 PM
Author: SanDiegoLady

Date: 8/7/2008 10:39:29 PM
Author: miraclesrule
DF: I do have mad skills.
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I am also a massage therapist.
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I never went and got licensed because I didn''t want to be self-employed and I knew that I would never make as much money as my long time career provides me. But I do still have the best massage table and accessories that money can buy. I don''t have a chair massage table though. It''s a good thing i don''t, because I would bring that bad boy into the office and probably wouldn''t get any work done. It''s already crazy that people come to me and say ''Miracles, please massage my neck, I have a knot'' I''m expecially popular with the pregnant women and it is not uncommon for people to walk by and a pregnant lady has her arms up against the wall and I am massaging her erector spinae.
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330 hours of training is enough to make anyone drool.
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I''m going to go peek at your invites online...


SDL: I thought you''d appreciate that. Over.
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Well, its not quite how it goes.. we can practice on Tuesday. lol
Okay. I have lost my mojo....and need SDL so I can get it back.
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It''s been too long away from code calls.
I bought a new sun dress to wear so you could help me accessorize.
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I posted a present for you. And I need your opinion on stuff. It''s all in my thread...
 
With my fibro I love massages but I cannot do really deep tissue and some days I cannot bear to be touched. I had two cobblestone massages in Nantucket in June and I loved them because the stones were warm...it felt awesome.
 
DF, I didn''t know you had Fibro--I''m so sorry to hear that. I worked for the Arthritis Foundation before we moved up here (and may be doing so again if the funding comes through for a position up here) and we worked a lot with people who had it. I''m sorry that you have to deal with that, but I''m glad the massages help!
 
thanks so much LP. yes I do and it stinks, as for a massage I can only take very light pressure and there are days even that is too much for me. I have flinched and cried in pain when a masseuse touches me, on one of my bad days.
 
Date: 8/9/2008 12:53:24 AM
Author: diamondfan
thanks so much LP. yes I do and it stinks, as for a massage I can only take very light pressure and there are days even that is too much for me. I have flinched and cried in pain when a masseuse touches me, on one of my bad days.

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*Hugs* I''m even more impressed at what a positive person you are with all that going on!
 
Date: 8/9/2008 12:41:06 AM
Author: diamondfan
With my fibro I love massages but I cannot do really deep tissue and some days I cannot bear to be touched. I had two cobblestone massages in Nantucket in June and I loved them because the stones were warm...it felt awesome.

Isn''t the warmth of the stones incredible. It''s like they soothingly melt the muscle fibers. That is why it is more therapeutic for many people who suffer from connective tissue disorders or fibromyalgia.

When my Dad''s ARC (Aids Related Complex) was in a downward spiral, which was because he had gone to the ER three times and misdiagnosed him and released him....he was forced to undergo the most severe and toxic treatment for AIDS patients. It is horrifying and I discussed it with him first. I was ready to take him to hospice but the doctor convinced me that aside from the phenocystic pneumonia, he was otherwise healthy, so I opted to allow them to treat even though I knew it was going to be heartwrenching for me to witness. The meds are extremely toxic and the body usually rebels within one week. He needed at least two weeks of treatment for it to be effective.

Everyday, I went to the hospital straight from work and the other thing that keep us both going was for me to massage him. The medications caused huge itchy welts within the first week and I came in one day, right before the end of the 2nd week and they had my Dad in four point restraints in order to keep him from scratching himself. I went numb...then I cried...then I had them page the doctor. I demanded that they take him off the medication and transfer him to the secondary protocol. He had an oxygen mask on and was writhing and moaning. I just told him I would massage the itch away.

I would start with his head, because the welts were about an inch thick on his scalp and face. I knew that they were hives and that he must have been miserable. I demanded IV meds. I demanded his chart. I demanded a lot. I was big on demands. I swear if it wasn''t for my ability to bring in all his CDS, which he HAD to have, because my Dad couldn''t be without music. I would write BIG SIGNS and tape them over his bed with instructions for the nursing staff to make sure they checked on the CD''s and that the earphones were working and playing at ALL TIMES!! I left written instructions in charts.

But truly, I think the massage was miraculous. He survived the treatment and was able to be released to a rehab facility within two more weeks and then I was able to bring him home. He survived for two additional years and in relatively good health, but he was always scared after that. Yet, I was still able to bring him to several plays and watch a lot of movies with him and he got to spend a week with his cousin before his death...but to this day, I think scalp massage extended his quality of life.

Wow, that was a long post. I don''t know what brought all that back, I guess it was the massage. Massage has a way of bringing up emotional wounds/memories that we "put on the back" burner. We don''t really...we just store them in our muscles and our body. It must have been the Olympic opening and the Tai Chi. We had to learn that in massage school. We couldn''t pass unless we mastered it as it has everything to do with body mechanics when giving a massage.

I am so not reading that for typos......
 
Crap....I can''t help but fix that one typo...

PCP- pneumocystic pneumonia. I was an expert on that stuff so I should be able to friggin'' type it. I don''t what happened to hands on that one.
 
Miracles, I am so sorry about your dad. That is a terrible way to die. I am sure you were an amazing support to him.

LP, I have a multitude of issues, none of which are life threatening but seriously mess with how I feel from day to day. I have good days, I have terrible days and most days are just meh. Aches, pains, headaches, stomach pain, fatigue...most days are like this. And sadly I am just sort of used to that as the way I feel.
 
Yeah, it was pretty traumatic at times with my Dad.

Well, I attended my 30-year reunion this past Saturday. That was eh..fun I guess. I wanted to dress up and at the last minute noticed the annoucement said that is was very casual so I panicked. I decided I would revert to my silly self and dressed in my 70''s overalls with my leather purse and wedgies. Of course, a bunch of the women dressed up, but I actually felt like my Jr High and High schools days outfit suited me better. I did age better than most of the women, but certainly not all of them. many of the guys looked a look better at the 30 year than they did at the 20 year, so that was nice.

One of the girls brought all of our Junior High Yearbooks and our High School Grad one. It brought back a lot of fond and not so fond memories. The two that were brought back that were not so fond, was the way I was treated by the "popular" kids in Junior High. As you may recall in my earlier posts, I started "blooming" very early. I had large breasts and the body of a woman, when most the girls still looked like girls, so I was treated as "fat". I weighed 130 and had C size "girls" and that was not the norm when girls are 11 years old. There were times when I was older that I wished I was my jr high "Fat" size again.
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I had lecherous male teachers and actuall dropped drama in High School as a result. I worked all through high school and so didn''t bond with many new people from the other high school, just mainly hung out with those I knew from Jr. High.

I remember one slumber party that I got invited to with the popular girls and I was so excited. They were having a gift exchange and we were to spend up to $5 on a gift. I was so proud of the gift I brought. I went to Hallmark and got a really cool candle that was very early 70''s and some cool raspberry oil. At the party that night all the gifts were on the floor in the living room and each girl was blindfolded and she had to pick out a gift. When it was my turn, I heard a lot of whispering and giggling and they were leading me to a specific gift. It was a gag gift intended to be funny and me the "butt" of the joke. I opened up the bag and it was a H.U.G.E pair of underwear from Elaine Bryant store. Of course, everyone was laughing and even though I was dying inside, I laughed it off too and played the ever "sense of humor" card. It did scar me though. I was not happy with the host who I knew had this planned the whole time.

That year, she knew how mad I was at her and I was in many clubs. She was on the yearbook committee and purposely kept out any of the pictures of me. In all the stage photos from Drama, she was in them and all my friends but the picture would be cropped so that I wasn''t in it. I called her on it. So, the only picture of me was one very unflattering close up...super close up in the lens shot with a caption under it that read "You asked for it, so here it is".

Well, of course, the yearbook was there. A lot of us got to talking about it and I was telling them how pissed I was at said person and that actually I have her to thank for being so thin right now. She was a catalyst for a body image complex that haunted me for years and years. It probably still does. I also had the bad reputation as the "whore" or the slu*" even though I was probably the only virgin in high school. In retrospect I probably acted out a lot in school because nobody knew about my Dad being homosexual and having a mixed race relationship. I actually told a few people about it at my reunion because we were taking about 6th grade camp when our school was the first school to go to 6th grad camp with an all black school. Several of my good friends and some neighbors were African American and so we talking about that at the reunion. I brought up my Dad and they were shocked. They said that they never knew anything about that. I said "I know, none of you ever really knew anything about me at all"
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So in comes the girl who jacked me up that year and comes over to me all excited. I gave her a big hug and told her we were just talking about her and showed her the yearbook. I could tell she felt bad. Oh well, after 34 years I can now forgive her.
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I also had the biggest crush on a guy who was on the basketball team. He came over to my house one night and we watched T.V. with my parents and family. When he went to leave, someone had stolen his ten speed bike from in front of our house. His Mom forbid him from coming over to my house again. I was devastated. He didn''t ever come over again and he started hanging out with other girls. I always tease him about it and only see him every 10 years at our reunions. I always get my every 10-year hug. He is so sweet and happily married to a beautiful woman and has lovely children. But I still get to have my every 10-year hug with my high school crush. I would be the one dressed in 70''s clothes.
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Still sporting the BIG MOUTH!! I am probably the most enthusiatic person I know. I was the lead in every play and have that dramatic flair. Just can''t help it...so it was no surprise that I had the cajones to dress up in 70''s garb.
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I can''t wait for some other pictures taken by classmates so you can see my whole ensemble, including the shoes.

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Date: 8/11/2008 3:07:27 PM
Author: SanDiegoLady
Are we still on for tomorrow at 1?
Yes we are. I am sort of embarrassed to where my new dress, because I need a nice cover up and some cute sandals to go with it, but I don''t have any. I was hoping I could find cute sandals at DSW. The sun dress is all white. I wanted to add some color or get some sandals like the ones you were wearing with that black dress when we first met. Or maybe some really colorful shoes....I dunno. I am not good at these things.
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I am looking forward to having at least one mushroom ravioli from the Tapas menu at Sammy''s. I hope they still have them. I love those things.
 
I went through something similar miracles...I went to tennis camp at 13 or so and was "fat" with my Cs or Ds (I only wore sports bras so I have no idea) and this girl who was 10 or 11 called me fat and make fat jokes about me the entire time. I didn''t think she was talking about me, because I wasn''t fat I just had hips and boobs. Then I found out she was talking about me, and I told my parents I would never go back there. So then I went to Malibu for the tennis camp at Pepperdine with kids from LA and the general area. Ended up having to play against the guys because the girls weren''t good enough. Hahahahaha. I wasn''t really great or anything, they just weren''t as good as I was. Oh, and I think that being pretty good at tennis hurt me at the first tennis camp too, the only other girl who was about the same level as I was and she was good friends with the girl who talked smack about me.

Anyway, it sounds like it was an interesting time. I''m totally not surprised that you aged better than most of the ladies. And who knows, the ones you think aged better than you, may have had some help. And I''m glad that you got another 10 year hug from your high school crush!

Is it bad that I can''t figure out which of my shoes are skankiest? I have the first 2 pairs, but can''t figure out #3...
 
I had lunch at La Valenica the other day and it was a beautiful La Jolla day. Here is the table an our view....We even got to watch a new Bride taking picture below us.

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Here is a picture of my friend/former retired boss sporting her ring and me playing with my macro button. I took her to look through our first loupe. She is now plotting the resetting of her studs into leverback dangles. I am an enabler. I told her she should leave them to me in her will.
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I have always liked her wedding ring....

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SDL: I can''t wait. It would be awesome to go shopping with just you and me. I need to get something appropriate for the golf course too, but still look cute.
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Freke: Kids can be so cruel. In fact, the girl who brought all the yearbooks kept saying that I got such a bad rap in Jr. High. That most of the girls were probably just jealous because I so smart and extremely funny, but that I was probably the most unpretentious person in school (except for them not knowing anything about my Dad or the many times that I had to fight off friends married uncles and family members. It disgust me to think about how many men back than would try to take advantage of school age girls....It''s just gross)

I was also good physically. I played in all the sports and was very very competitive. I would beat everyone. I can''t help it, I am still that way when I play games. Some people are just sore losers. I was never a sore loser, I just always wanted to play again. I loved tennis, racket ball, hand ball, basketball, archery, team ball, tetherball, everything. I hated soccer though. I didn''t like getting kicked in the ankles. No fun at all.

I got the Presidential Award patch in grade school too.
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But I really hated pull ups. Blech...
 
Date: 8/12/2008 1:57:49 PM
Author: SanDiegoLady

Date: 8/11/2008 3:35:51 PM
Author: miraclesrule
SDL: I can''t wait. It would be awesome to go shopping with just you and me. I need to get something appropriate for the golf course too, but still look cute.
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See you at 1 at Sammy''s :)
Yayayaya, I couldnt'' wear the white dress because it would be too hard to get in and out of if we shop, so I am bringing it in a bag. I am wearing flip flops. Opportunities galore for you to accessorize my feet.

I''m leaving in 10 minutes. Can''t wait!!
 
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