Ive struck Gold!

Well maybe not struck gold- but for the first time I got my hands on some 22 karat gold to make a bracelet for a lovely customer- and yummmmmm- yu can not compare it to anything else. How will I ever look at 14 karat again? The color is so... well... GOLD! Not yellow- but really gold- rich and deep and amazing.

Now I get to make a ring for her with the same- I am so excited it is ridiculous!

A small amount goes a long way...

Having a little dinner party tomorrow night- and have forgotten what I used to cook. It seems all my mental eneragy goes into metal, instead of flour and butter and chicken- but I need to make a temporary switch and make something yummy- time to get out past Bon Apetit's and see what I can whip up- I have a feeling that a plate of silver filings wont do the trick...

Feel like having three courses based soley on peaches- but again- probably wont do the trick.

Although, if I had to pick 10 things i could eat for the next 5 years- and only those 10 thongs they would be: (calories dont count)

1. really good ripe peaches

2. chocolate chip cookie dough (so what! leave me alone)

3. Fettucini with a really good tomato basil sauce

4. popcorn

5. pad thai- (like in thailand- no where else)

6. cinnamon coffee cake with a lot of crumbs

7. a really good steak (need some protein to balance out the crap)

8. really crusty whole wheat bread with raisins

9. apples from the beginning of the season

10. chocolate covered rainins (not sure why- but goes with the popcorn for balance)

Now, I probably wont be presented with this opportunity, but i am ready if it ever comes up!

Cairo Cairo and more Cairo...

Back from Cairo. What an overwhelming place. A city of 20 million people with 5 million more each day coming into work. Possible the most insane place I have ever been. I though after India, nothing could surprise me- wrong! Rules don't exist- each time you cross a street- it seems like it will be the last moment of your life. There are street lights- but they havent worked in 10 years- cars dont use lights- there are no lanes and cross walks dont mean anything- gets your adrenaline going with every cross!

Cairo is almost a combination- in looks, of Paris mixed with Agraba (remember Alladin?)- never stopping, sleeping- the worlds trash on its streets- unbelievable poverty in places, but a preservation of phenomanol beauty in ancient art and culture.

In the center of the city is a cemetary- 20 kilometers square- each grave is a small masoleum- so it looks like a weird little town- BUT- the extremely poor have moved into these masoleums as houses, and now live there too- it is called "city of the dead"- extremely creepy, sad and full of crime and violence.

Unfortunately came back with some crippling stomache thing- after traveling time home of 14 hours- wanted to kill myself halfway through and get it over with- it hit after hour one on the bus! So here are some pics:

Gal and the Captain The famous Egyptian cotton

In the market- millions of lanterns

Unbelievable pita balancing

The three of us on a bridge over the nile

me and T and the Sphinx

The unbelievable sphinx

Tamir riding off into the desert

The quiet beauty of the desert

This is how i was dressed...

This is how i needed to be dressed... I was a little off...

The most crowded candy shop in the world!

check out the lasr sandwich- have no clue on the Viagra sandwich....

A bit extreme, don't you think?

All in all, an amazing experience. Will probably take me three days to recover from this stomache thing, but I imagine I will manage. Nice to seen green again, after such bleak deserts and heat. The heat never ends- there is no place to hide from it... that's life in the desert.

Egypt Awaits...

so- off to Cairo tonight! If it is anything like trying to get a visa- should be nothing short of an adventure. The Egyptian consulate was a hair shy of efficient- and that's stretching it. After sending me around the city to make copies of my forms, they told me to come next day to pick it up.
So, I arrived and was told to go buy stickers. Just that! What kind of stickers and for what- no clue. When I sked, I as told loudly "YOU ARE DISMISSED!
So I bought stickers- plain- not wth Sponge Bob and came back- apparently to write my name on the passport- Isuppose stickers are not in the consulate budget- Iasked when to pick it up- after asking 2 times and still not sure I WAS DISMISSED AGAIN!!!
In the end, we got out visas and are leaving tonight- staying over night in the desert in Israel, and getting to the border early tomorrow to try and figure out how to get the bus to Ciro- which is supposed to be a gorgeous 6 hour drive through the Sinai mountains!
Maybe fun and thrills at the border crossing await us- the Egyptian guard are always so delightful- maybe we should come with muffins...
But cairo sounds super cool and different, and after traveling through India- the "oh, what a dirty city" doesnt phase us.
So, back on Tuesday with stories and pictures galore... Bye

It Must be Love

okay- i have developed deep feelings for jewelry. Sometimes I make something, and I just fall in love. Today it happened to be this purple majestic necklace- looks almost medieval... magical... glowing... I am going to spend some quality time alone with it whispering sweet nothings to it- giving it meaningful glances...

I think I need to get out more in the sunshine and be amongst people... no?

Fun in the Sun

Nothing is more stress reducing then a day at the beach-the water in Israel now is so warm nand clear, it is like liquid turquoise- which I have been spending too much time with lately in the solid form- one of the best place to people watch and generally do nothing and think about nothing. Gal and tamir did their surfer guy thing and i read a book- heaven...

Has there ever been water more sparkling than that?