the uglimug

Yesterday was a great day. You know when you have a great day and you just NEEDED it? Yeah, one of those. The creative batteries have been running a little low lately. The groove is just off a little bit. It happens. I think the heat is finally getting to me. It’s been hovering around the ‘too hot to torch’ zone for a while now, and there doesn’t seem to be rain or cool in sight.

I keep dreaming of a little backyard with a deck, where I could hang out with my feet up, enjoying some shade and a cool breeze. I’m putting my vision of that out into the universe. Beautiful shady backyard, I want you! Maybe next summer.

When it’s 30 below and we’re covered in a blanket of white, do NOT let me complain about how cold and miserable it is.

Anyway, back to the greatest day ever. I decided to just relax. Nothing bead-related. Usually when I need to relax I end up in the kitchen. Lately I’ve been into making picnic dinners and taking them to the park. That’s our version of a backyard I guess. Isn’t there something about eating outside in the summer? It makes you feel like life is just a little better somehow.

Fresh from the garden beet salad with freshly squeezed orange juice, pistachios, and goat cheese.

Roasted potato salad with fresh basil, garlic, rosemary and thyme.

Chicken with mango chutney and brie.

YUM.

I don’t know what it is about puttering around in the kitchen that’s so restorative. I think I inherited that from my Mom. That’s what she loves to do. Hang out in the kitchen, making yummy things. And not in a barfy 50’s housewife kind of way, but there’s something that makes you feel at peace when you’re making good food for someone you love.

So there was that.

There was also a visit from one of my sweetest friends. We talk every day, pretty much, but we hadn’t seen each other since we were 18 years old. Oy! When I saw her smiling face at the door, it was like looking at the exact same person I’d last seen 19 years ago. Exact. Same. As though we’d seen each other yesterday. I’m one of those people who worries that I won’t have anything to say, that I’ll just be a stammering idiot when I see people in person but of course it wasn’t like that at all. She’s got the best energy – just one of those really radiant, genuine people. I was on cloud 9 all day.

Incidentally, she’s not just an old school friend, but one of my best beady buddies too. Every day there’s something new to ooh and aah over. And something new to make fun of. It’s not nice to make fun, I know, but let’s be real. There are some funny looking beads out there. Of course there are always the unintentional penis and vagina-looking beads. But our real favorites are the goddess beads. I’ll admit I don’t really ‘get’ the appeal of the goddess bead… to each her own I guess… but to us, they’re a constant source of entertainment. There’s always the tacky leaf and flower placement, the frit that looks like venereal disease, misshapen butts and colorful nipples. Well. I’ll leave it at that but seriously.

Our bead conversations take the most interesting turns, especially those late night ones when we’re feeling extra silly. One night I was trying to write the ever-awkward ‘artist bio’. I was trying to think of a word to describe the people who follow my Facebook page. Fans? Maybe not. Followers? Well, I’m not exactly Jesus. Then it veered into uncharted waters and we considered every variation on ‘Ugli’. Ugligeeks, Uglipeeps, Uglibabes… you get the picture. Out of this came the most epic piece of Ugliswag ever to grace the earth. The Uglimug.

So Tracy delivered this thing yesterday. She had these MADE especially for us!

It’s a mug. Black. Shiny. Pretty!

But not just any mug.

No.

When you pour your hot coffee into it, this happens:

Honestly, it makes me laugh so hard. I tried it out this morning and just kind of stood there staring at it for a few minutes.

This, people, is what I’ll be drinking my coffee out of every morning as I make beads. My very own Uglibitch mug.

For realz.