Fun and Frolic With Long-Term Love

[Bluebird]

I am anxious today. I am doing it to myself - nothing has changed.

I finished two floral headbands with matching corsages yesterday, as well as 5 sun hats. I need to take individual photos of the hats this morning. My friend helped me with inventory yesterday, so I need to take a look at it all - I updated all of the numbers in my Square app but I didn’t like, comprehend them, if that makes sense. I need to look at the counts and decide if I have enough of each item, and if anything I have needs to be remade.

I am also planning on completing a Fabulosity head crown and at least one Fantastick staff. I would love to get another staff done as well but that’s a lot!

TheEngineer is coming over today. We didn’t get to meet up on Tuesday this week like we regularly do because his vehicle needed new brakes.

MisterMoonbeam has soon issues going on at work - his trip to Arizona is being rescheduled because the contracting firm he deals with had to reschedule, and on his end, it’s a lot of moving pieces, because timing is super important. He’s stressed out about it. It’s also potentially altering some of my birthday plans, but I guess we will see how that works out. Also, there’s a big restructuring going on at his work so some of his employees might be put under different management due to location. He won’t know more about that until next week so he’s got that on his mind as well. This time of year is always his most stressful. He is in the office every day this week, so he’s also been exhausted from the long commute.

DarkKnight is in the middle of tech week for his show - it opens this weekend. So he’s also tired - he comes home from work, feeds the cats, kisses me and leaves until around 9:30 pm or so. I had to keep the van yesterday so I got to pick him up and we had dinner at Mission BBQ together, so that was nice.

I am seeing his next weekend, since I will be vending in Virginia on Saturday! (That reminds me that I need to get my bins moved out of the garage and into the living room today - I need to make sure everything is ready to go!) My kids are coming to it on the same day, and we are all sitting together, so that should be fun. I don’t really have the money to buy dinner for the entire clan, but we will make it work.

 

[Bluebird]

Yesterday was interesting. TheEngineer came over and he had really put some effort into his appearance for me! He shaved his head previously and got his beard down to this really sexy stubble look and omg it looks AMAZEBALLS. He remembered that I liked this look, so he cleaned it up and did it again. This was fun for me, because I wanted to entice him as well, and had put on my “hippie” look. He gets excited over sundresses and bare midriffs. Here’s my picture of the day:



Yeah, we were both enthused. That said, he had a zoom therapy appointment pretty much as soon as he arrived. He did help me move some Amazon packages out of the garage first - his willingness to help me out with stuff is always so great! Anyway, while he had his appointment, I went to my studio and sorted through my Flourish crowns. My count yesterday had me at 6, and I really need at least 8 to make the bar in my booth look full, so I made one complete crown and tied up a second. Then he was done, and we talked while I finished gluing up the second.

He got into the last week of Ravenwood with me, so he is super motivated and excited to have a goal now. However, his numbers aren’t good - he made a list of everything he wants to sell and he literally would have to make 27 products a week. He uh, only has 24 done after 8 months, so I’m like, you need to be serious about your productivity! We talked through a lot of his current stumbling blocks and then we went to lunch.

He wanted to go to a sawmill in Chambersburg, which was an experience! Honestly, I was aggravated for not standing up for myself because my show is SATURDAY and I need to be working on my stuff. However, I agreed to go with him and in hindsight I don’t regret the time spent together, but I am still mildly annoyed for not being assertive about my needs when I am this close to an event.

Anyway, when we got back to my house we had sex, and it was seriously super good! It was the first time since we’ve been dating that it was this good! I mean, we literally went a year with no sex because of my surgeries and health issues, and since then we’ve both been kind of hesitant with each other. We’ve been mostly been doing butt stuff, which has been super fun for me because I’ve never had a partner that freaking excited about it. However, there’s not a whole lot of like, connection? with that. We did some of me riding on him, and then missionary/plow and then he went backwards and pulled me into a seated position. I don’t think I ever had sex that way! It was super hot and really good. I’m going to be thinking about it for a while, that’s for sure!

After he left for the evening, DarkKnight came home and he did his quick kiss, feed the cats and talk a bit before heading out to his practice. He was shown in a news clip for his play, so I watched that. MisterMoonbeam then came home with dinner - we had Sonic - and then I went back to my studio to do the lining on the second crown from the morning, and got that almost finished. At that point my sugar was climbing from dinner, so MisterMoonbeam and I went on a walk around the block.

That brought my numbers down and we both went downstairs to talk about stuff, and I finished the crown. He was pretty sleepy, so he went to bed and DarkKnight came home as he was about to go to his room.

I stayed up and was on my phone for a bit, and DarkKnight and I talked more before falling asleep.

Today I have to take the van to the shop to get a replacement hubcap put on, and then I need to go through my inventory to see what I have time left to make before tomorrow. I need to get my bins in from the garage at lunch time, and then make sure everything is staged and ready for packing up the van tonight.

 

[Bluebird]

As expected, this weekend’s show was the worst of the year. It was a wonderful event - it’s just that dances are notoriously not the best for vendors. People are there to get their groove on, not to spend money. I connected with several drag kings though, and set them up with free product. One is excited about me creating a custom piece for them.

Now that I am home, I am starting to feel anxious about the amount of time I have left before Ravenwood, and about the amount of money I still HAVE to spend to get my displays complete. It’s stressful, for sure. I need to lay out the floor plan again and make more lists.

Today I went with friends to a free sunflower field and the 5 of us had a blast. Everyone picked one of my headpieces and posed so I could get some photos for advertising purposes. I am not a professional but I think I may have gotten a few good ones! Here is one of me:



I seriously had never been to a place like this, and it seemed almost otherworldly. The flowers stretched out to forever.

 

[Bluebird]

It’s go time now! I have lists on top of lists to keep me on track but I still feel like I am overwhelmed. I’m not letting it paralyze me though - I’m just moving forward as best as I can with purpose.

Yesterday I crunched some numbers and figured out how many crowns I need to create between now and my next show, and it’s quite daunting! For my Flourish-level, which is my standard crown, it’s legit 40. At a regular show I have 8-10. Ahhhhh! It’s a huge increase, but well, I can do hard things. I also have 5 custom orders for that particular style as well.

I had 6 leftover from my last show, and I made 4 yesterday. One was a custom order, and it’s already been taken by its owner. So I have 9 completed crowns right now. Today I am hoping to make 4 more. We will see - that’s a little ambitious given my schedule.

I am home alone today for now, but TheEngineer is coming over again. I am super excited to see him and have sex with him again. He’s bringing over a 3D print design for another vendor friend of mine, so we’re hoping to get that printed. I also have errands to run - I need to mail out a tentacle crown to a Virginia drag king that they requested, and I need to make purchases at the craft store. I’m out of grapevine wire for all of the crowns I need to make! I also need black eucalyptus leaves.

I’m also working hard this morning on figuring out it my 10x10’ courtyard at the next event. My friend came over yesterday and she assembled the flower cart and it looks great! We unrolled the photo backdrop I planned to use and it’s gorgeous! This morning I realized though that I need to return the 7.5’ arch I bought - since I am covering it with flowers, I wouldn’t be able to transport it in the box and then assemble it on-site; I wouldn’t have the time to decorate it during set up. So whatever I bring needs to already be put together and covered in flowers. A huge full arch would be impossible!

So I ordered a 2-part arch. Now I have to change my decorations - I was going to do garlands and hanging wisteria but that’s a no go with this new style. I have decided that I do still need to get pool noodles, so I will probably do that today as well, and then figure out what the flowers are going to look like, and purchase those. I have to check my supply of zip ties too.

I guess I need to get to work and stop typing here!

 

[Magdlyn]

One woman can only do so much! lol Good luck, busy bee.

 

[Bluebird]

One woman can only do so much! lol Good luck, busy bee.

lol The 45 flourish crowns is ONE product. I need 80 Bud crowns, 80 Blossom crowns and I haven’t done the math on anything else.

 

[Magdlyn]

Yeah, that's kinda crazy.

 

[Bluebird]

Yeah, that's kinda crazy.

I’m taking off November-January to focus on building up my inventory for 2026. I have 5 weeks until my next show and it is most definitely crazy!

Here’s my newest display piece for the booth courtyard next month. My friend assembled it yesterday and today I took it out to the backyard and saw how it would work! It’s going to sit next to a photo backdrop & bench and hopefully encourage visitors to take pictures while wearing my headpieces. I think it’s perfect!

 

[Bluebird]

I’ve got to get ready for the Pittsburgh Renaissance Faire this morning - MisterMoonbeam & I are headed that way to meet up with friends for Pirate Invasion - so here is a quick photo drop!

My picture of the day yesterday:



I need a pedicure, omg. Need to schedule that with BugGirl soon!

All 3 of my adult children came out last night to see DarkKnight in his latest play. LittleMichigan had come straight from work, and had been fighting with her partner, so she looks frazzled. Her partner came too, and they figured out their disagreement, so that was good. They just went through some of the most stressful stuff - their big move to another state, and him losing his job. (He’s employed again, but she had to cover everything for a while.)

LittleMichigan, BugGirl, BeanBoy & Me:



Ah! I am out of time. Gotta go get my garb on!

 

[Bluebird]

Pittsburgh Renaissance Faire was fun, but things were messy. My medicine had me feeling emotionally unbalanced - my new Synthroid dosage is sending my hormones into nightmare mode. I started the day with a cry in the car.



The friends we were supposed to meet got stuck in a horrible traffic jam and arrived several hours late.



While I saved seats at a show, I gave MisterMoonbeam my wallet to go buy lunch. He left it on the food counter, so all of my money was taken and I had to cancel 3 cards. I did get my ID back though, and thankfully we ate super late so I had bought other items already and only lost around $40.



We left around 5 pm and beat the rush out of the gate, but I was overheating and frazzled. My sugar spiked really high during the day, and it never really dropped below 140 the entire time.



It’s crazy, but I still really enjoyed my day off!

 

[Bluebird]

My emotions are still skewing way to the fucking side of crying at the drop of a hat. I do not like this. I haven’t slept well in a while because I’ve got anxiety. I am not used to having anxiety with no focus - it’s just coursing through my veins, making me be on alert and I can’t figure out a specific topic to pin it on.

Yesterday morning I was in bed until almost 11 am, feeling sad and depressed and just generally not wanting to get up for any reason. I finally made myself go feed the cats, and when I went downstairs to start work, I was still anxious, but I enjoyed the actual process! I glued up a bunch of dragon/demon horns and then made three headbands. It was fun. None of it was an issue. It’s like what?

I am pretty sure it’s the medication change and it needs to fix itself quick!

Here’s a photo drop of some of the headpieces I’ve made recently:

And another of me in the sunflower field, in one of my flower crowns:

 

[Magdlyn]

Just a fashion idea for your selfies. Since the crowns are full of color, I wonder how putting on some lipstick in a somewhat matching color, or a nice contrasting bolder color, would work? (Obviously I don't mean to wear blue lipstick, for example.) I'm thinking some various shades/saturation of a warm brownish-red. Also, you could try taking off your glasses for a more "period" appearance. Or maybe wearing some rimless wire-frame vintage type glasses.

Just some thoughts!

 

[Bluebird]

Just a fashion idea for your selfies. Since the crowns are full of color, I wonder how putting on some lipstick in a somewhat matching color, or a nice contrasting bolder color, would work? (Obviously I don't mean to wear blue lipstick, for example.) I'm thinking some various shades/saturation of a warm brownish-red. Also, you could try taking off your glasses for a more "period" appearance. Or maybe wearing some rimless wire-frame vintage type glasses.

Just some thoughts!

These photos were of friends & I wearing jeans and sundresses in a nearby flower field. Nothing “period” about them.

 

[Magdlyn]

These photos were of friends & I wearing jeans and sundresses in a nearby flower field. Nothing “period” about them.

Obviously. I wasn't just referring to the sunflower pix. The glasses are fine with the denim jacket, of course. I still think a bolder lip color would set off the crown nicely. For the glasses idea, I meant when you were wearing your Ren Faire type garb.

Just some ideas, from my aesthetic. Take it or leave it.

 

[Bluebird]

Obviously. I wasn't just referring to the sunflower pix. The glasses are fine with the denim jacket, of course. I still think a bolder lip color would set off the crown nicely. For the glasses idea, I meant when you were wearing your Ren Faire type garb.

Just some ideas, from my aesthetic. Take it or leave it.

I don’t usually wear any lipstick at all since I had all those issues with my dental care. Post pandemic I started adding some colors in, but now that I am back to having work done on my mouth, my issues with that have started back up so I probably will stay with my nude lip into the foreseeable future.

That said, it’s nice to know that at least one of my anxieties has a cause that has nothing to do with my current medication change!

 

[Bluebird]

MisterMoonbeam stayed in Dulles last night and will be keeping the same hotel room tonight as well. I miss him, but it makes sense that he stays over there as he’s in the middle of a stressful audit. Driving a couple of hours there and back in the morning and then again in the evening is just too much this time of year for him. Last year, I stayed with him but I have too much work to complete here with my own business right now!

I have a friend coming over today to assist with making some earrings. I add a pair for free with every order I ship out, and I am running low. Since it’s a little bonus thing, it’s too much for me to add to my schedule.

Today I have two custom Flourish crowns to put together, and I want to finish the last two red & black dragon horn headbands.

Yesterday TheEngineer came over and we spent a good deal of time and money in Home Depot. I had a zero interest coupon for my credit card and it put in WORK. I needed to buy a sheet of plywood which will be cut to fit later as a base for my new bookshelves. When outdoors, the ground can be uneven and sliding the pieces under each shelf keeps them from sinking into the earth and being unstable. I’ll have to make time to paint them after they get cut - TheEngineer will help me with the saw later.



We also bought 28 4” PVC caps and 7 80-pound bags of cement. The plan is to make tube weights for our respective tents. Only, Home Depot didn’t have any of the right type of PVC pipes to use the caps on. TheEngineer owes me $$ from a purchase several months ago at Joanne Fabrics, so he’s just going to pick up the pipe later at Lowe’s. Again, we are going to schedule a date to make these soon. His show is on October 4 - so a lot sooner than mine!

I also bought a pack of assorted screws to experiment with today; I want to use a hole punch that I bought to make spaces for them in my headbands to hold up antlers. I have SUCH issues with antlers! We will see how that goes. If things work out, I am also hoping to transition to using this method to attach some of my 3D print pieces as well.

The main trip to Home Depot was all about materials for building two new Bean displays for my booth. I have one right now, and it’s wonderful. It’s been evolving since TheEngineer first built it based on a Pinterest photo I saw back in February!

He’s promised to build two new ones that are completely collapsible, which will make transporting them so much easier!

I’m awake and alert and feeling okay today. I felt a little down this morning, but I lit a candle and set an alarm for 10 minutes. I emptied litter and cleaned up my bedroom a bit in that time frame, and then opened my sliding door. It’s raining but it’s peaceful.

Time to go get started on making some flower crowns!

 

[Bluebird]

I’m feeling down in the dumps again today. Just teary and terrible. I did get up and get dressed. I tried on some corsets and outfit ideas for Saturday - MisterMoonbeam is taking me to the Playhouse for a dress-up event for medieval maidens, pirates and steampunks! I was kind of confused on what to wear, and I did find something okay. That said, I am so unhappy with all my extra skin that I don’t feel pretty or confident about being even partially naked there.

My brain is currently full of negative thoughts about my life and myself. I need to get motivated this morning - I’ve done zero work for my business. I’m going to feed the cats their lunch and eat some food myself and hope that helps.

 

[Stem]

I’m feeling down in the dumps again today. Just teary and terrible. I did get up and get dressed. I tried on some corsets and outfit ideas for Saturday - MisterMoonbeam is taking me to the Playhouse for a dress-up event for medieval maidens, pirates and steampunks! I was kind of confused on what to wear, and I did find something okay. That said, I am so unhappy with all my extra skin that I don’t feel pretty or confident about being even partially naked there.

My brain is currently full of negative thoughts about my life and myself. I need to get motivated this morning - I’ve done zero work for my business. I’m going to feed the cats their lunch and eat some food myself and hope that helps.

Sorry you're down today, I hope you made some gains? Loving your creations, thank you for sharing!

 

[Bluebird]

Sorry you're down today, I hope you made some gains? Loving your creations, thank you for sharing!

I managed to finish a new fireball Fantastick and matching Fabulosity. No photos yet. I also made 3 Halloween-themed headbands. A fourth is almost complete, but DarkKnight called me to dinner! We finished watching Final Draft last night, so that was fun.

MisterMoonbeam came home from his two nights away. I was happy to have him back and he was very snuggly.

Today I need to shower, film some stuff real quick to make some Reels to post over the weekend, and then get ready for DarkKnight to come home. He’s taking a half day off of work. We are going to do lunch and then I am getting a pedicure. He bought us tickets for a theater thing in Shepherdstown tonight, so we are going to head that direction for shopping and dinner. All of that is to celebrate my birthday on Monday! I’m excited! I’m going to wear a new outfit.

 

[Bluebird]

Date night photo drop - I celebrated my birthday yesterday with DarkKnight!



We had lunch together at Mission BBQ, and I got a pedicure. We drove to Shepherdstown and strolled German Street. We bought some things:



We saw some things:



Dinner was absolutely amazeballs:



And the spiced maple bourbon cheesecake was the best dessert I have ever had in my entire life:



My sugar never got above 140, in spite of it being so delicious! Whoo hoo!

We stumbled upon a game store and played CodeNames: Duet (which we own at home) and we bought a game I can’t wait to try, where players choose cat characters that help out their humans:



We saw a great medley performance:



And I got stopped by at least 15 women who wanted to find out about my frog purse! (Photo taken before the pedicure lol)