Jewelry!

Tonight I went to my sister-in-law's jewelry party.  Now, I'm not much of a jewelry person.  I have one pair of earrings and two puzzle rings that I wear all the time, and that's it.  So I went to support her (it wasn't just that she was throwing a party, she's actually starting up as a rep) and to buy something for my bff, whose birthday is in early July.

I was really surprised.  I found a few things that I really liked!  I ordered a pair of earrings for myself and a really pretty necklace for my friend.  (We rent a beach house every year, and it's become a really important thing for both of us.  The necklace is silver with a cz encrusted starfish pendant.  It's just perfect for her.)  And there are a couple things that I'd really like, but couldn't swing right now.  One was a really pretty silver ring.  (And I think there are a couple more rings I'd like to have.)  Another is a great big pair of hoop earrings.  (I've always wanted a pair of big ol' trashy hoop earrings.  Not that these are trashy, but they're headed in that direction!)  And then there was a silver necklace with a pendant that says "Believe" on one side and "like there's endless possibilities" on the other.  There's an optional second pendant that says "Dream" on one side and "like they will all come true" on the other.

I'd host a party to help my sister-in-law out with her new enterprise, but I don't know anyone in Indianapolis.  All my friends are in Texas and online.  So I was thinking I might ask her about doing a catalog party instead. Does anyone think they'd be interested in helping out my SIL launch her business by taking a look at a catalog and possibly buying a piece or two of fun, mid-range jewelry?  (Nicer than Claire's, less expensive than Kay's.  There is a range of prices, but a lot of the pieces I saw were around $30.)  Absolutely no hard feelings if you're not interested.  I just thought I'd put it out there.  If you are interested let me know, and if she is cool with trying a catalog party I'll mail you one.  (Prepare yourself.  It's a heck of a catalog!)

A small comment on a totally different topic.  The New York Assembly has approved same-sex marriage for the state of New York!  Yay!  I couldn't be more thrilled that very soon everyone in New York, regardless of sex or sexual orientation, will have the right to marry, and all its attendant privileges and responsibilities.  Others will have more to say on this issue (and say it in a way that's both more powerful and more entertaining than I ever could), so I'm just going to say Woo Hoo! and leave it there.

Woo Hoo!

And now, to get back into a habit that has fallen by the wayside lately, the Lip Balm of The Day is: Cat Pee  (I know, it sounds gross.  But it's citrusy and delicious.)

Indiana is Pissing Me Off

Usually I avoid the news, because I don't have enough energy to waste any being annoyed.  But I caught just enough of a news broadcast to skate past annoyed into pissed off.  The Republicans are currently pushing an amendment to the Indiana Constitution to ban gay marriage.  It's already state law, but they want to make really, really sure that no judge can overturn it.  This piece of asshattery was particularly irritating:

“Two percent of the population does not have the right to define marriage for the rest of the population,” said Micah Clark of the American Family Association, referring the minority of Americans who are gay and lesbian.

Does he not see that his 98% (not that I believe that 98% is even in the ball park for those who support this amendment) don't have the right to define something so personal as marriage for that 2% either?  Marriage, from the government's point of view, is a contract.  That's it.  As long as all parties are of legal age to enter a contract and freely consent, the government should be satisfied.

It's religion and the couples' beliefs about marriage that give it personal meaning.  No one is saying you have to let two men or two women marry in your church, if your church does not accept gay marriage.  (It's called separation of church and state.  We'll keep our government out of your church policies, you keep your church out of our government policies, and everyone will get along just fine.)  More than that, marriage is a union of hearts and lives.  It's what each couple brings to the table that makes a marriage.  You can't define that.  You can't control it.  And you have no right to impose your ideas on this most personal of relationships.

For anyone who wants to read a little bit more about the proposed amendment, here's an Indianapolis Star article that explains the situation in more detail.

I'd really like to end this with telling all of those GOP bastards where they can stick their stupid amendment.  But I won't.  I'd just as soon stay out of their bedrooms, and I wish they would extend the same courtesy to the rest of the world.