Janet's Smiles

I was really sad when Bob Seger had to cancel his tour a few years ago.  We had great seats at the Oracle Arena in Oakland to see him but of course his health is more important.  We thought that he might reschedule the tour when he was better and he did in fact do that but unfortunately he did not make Oakland one of his stops.  It was either two hours north of us in Sacramento or three hours south to Fresno.  Neither were good options for us. 

Then I saw he had added a stop in Mountain View at the Shoreline Amphitheater.  I got so excited.  When I looked at the date of the show I was disappointed again because it was while we were down in Boulder Creek for the golf tournament.  For a brief second I thought about getting tickets anyway but I realized that it wouldn’t really be a smart thing to do.  Since this is being billed as his Final Tour, I guess I’ll have to be thankful that we did get to see him twice.

The first time was in Oakland and that was a momentous occasion not only for the concert but also because I got to meet Ross Valory of Journey!  He was there seeing the show as well and we saw him in the stadium club before the show.  He was very nice and came over to talk to us when my husband went to ask him for an autograph and told him I was too shy to ask.  Wish I had been having a better hair day but it was raining that night and we got soaked.

Ross Valory

 
Caught Hollywood Nights on video.  You realize I am not a professional videographer and I get caught up in the moment of the songs so no judging!

Hope you are enjoying these Rocktober Music Fest posts.  Make sure to stop by and see some of the other players.  Lots of good music floating around. 

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Day 2 of #RMF and my offering is the Scorpions, Rock You Like A Hurricane. 

We’ve seen the Scorpions several times, including the very first concert we went to as a couple way back in 1982!  It was a Day on the Green at the Oakland Coliseum and sadly I have no pictures from that day, but here is a scrapbook page I made.  I loved that T-shirt! 

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On Sunday our daughters and I went to see the last game of the San Francisco Giants season.  Sadly this year they didn’t quite make it to the playoffs although for a brief minute around July we thought they might squeak in via the wild card.  It was a particularly emotional game, not only because it was the end of the season but also because our manager, Bruce Bochy, is retiring and we are unsure of the future of our beloved pitcher, Madison Bumgarner.

Our youngest and her friends made signs to show their appreciation and actually made it to the big screen a few times and also in a SF Chronicle pictorial.  That was so cool.  Our daughter is the one under the “Thank.”

The stands were packed of course and I knew that there were going to be a lot of people we knew at the game as well.  Turns out there were some friends sitting behind us about 10 rows.  I stood up and turned around to wave at them to get their attention.  I guess I was waving a bit too vigorously because all of a sudden my wedding rings flew off my hand!

Fortunately they landed in the lap of the guy sitting right behind me so I didn’t lose them!  At first he tried to joke and say that he was going to keep them and then I told him I had had them for 35 years so he gave them back.  I got a pat on the shoulder and a congrats for the 35 years too!

I guess losing 50 pounds means that some of the weight came off my fingers!  Looks like I’ll have to get the rings resized but I want to wait a bit because I’m hoping to lose another 40 and I don’t want to have to do it twice.  Maybe before next season starts? 

For now, I’ve used some pretty silver washi tape to wrap around the band to help keep them on.  You can’t even tell, right?

Just one of those things that you don’t really think much about until something like this happens.  Meanwhile, I’m not really a football fan (although I like the Cowboys for their uniforms) so I’m going to give hockey a try.  We started watching the San Jose Sharks toward the end of last year and it was pretty exciting. 

For those of you whose baseball teams did make the playoffs, good luck and please BEAT LA! (and the Yankees).   

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Mary at JingleJangleJungle is encouraging us to get our rockin’ shoes on this month and post a rock tune every day.  I’m not sure I can manage a daily one but I’m gonna give it a go. 

I think I’ll do a similar thing to the one I did for the A to Z Challenge a few years ago where I went with artists we have seen.  To that end, I don’t think you can get more rock than ACDC.

For Those About to Rock, We Salute You!

We’ve seen ACDC three times now and each time was a great show.  That was before Brian Johnson had to leave the group because of health issues and Malcom passed away.  i’ve read that they are in the studio again, though, so you never know.

For those about to Rocktober, we salute you!

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Serious question for my blogging friends.  I am about to get a custom domain name for a website to use in addition to my Etsy shop.  The name is everything.  I want to keep my “brand” which is “smile making” so what do you think about these names:

Janetsmiles.design

Janetsmiles.me

Janetsmiles.gallery

Janetsmiles.shop

Janetsmiles.studio

Janetsmiles.com

Or separate the name and say Janets-smiles.

I think these are too long but there is:

Asmile4ufromjanet.design

Asmile4ufromjanet.shop    etc. 

It is going to be a website for shopping in addition to the Etsy site I have.  Janetsmiles.design sound too hoity-toity?

Since my last two videos I’ve started with “Janet in the Studio” maybe I should go with Janetsmiles.studio? 

Love some feedback.  Can you think of something different? 

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Today’s Song Lyric Sunday prompt from Jim is Clothing/Hat/Pants/Scarf/Shirt/Shoes/Tie and I’m going with a Keith Urban tune, You Look Good In My Shirt:

I usually try to feature artists I have seen so I have pictures to share and this week I do have some pictures, but not of Keith Urban. 

You may remember the most recent Sketchbook I did for the Sketchbook Project.  It is on tour in California right now and happened to be in San Francisco so my daughter and I went to check it out.  At the San Francisco Center for the Book they were having a little printing festival and the Sketchbook Road Tour had a booth. 

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It’s time for Stream of Consciousness Saturday and Linda’s prompt is Wrap/Rap.  You know it is almost Christmas again (don’t yell at me, I have no control over the passage of time) and there are a lot of people who give gift cards as presents because it is easy.  Truthfully sometimes a gift card is more welcome than a set of knitted socks would be.

I think that it is appropriate to give gift cards, but a lot of times you wonder how to wrap them.  I mean, everyone knows what a gift card looks like and while you could put it in an envelope with a card, why not make it a little more interesting? 

Here’s a short video I did showing how I make these cute Slider Cards.  I think it elevates the gift card to a different level, don’t you?  Plus, you get to see my smiling face 🙂

I am slowly adding stock to the Etsy site and have just listed a couple of the Christmas ones.  There will be more for other occasions coming soon so check back.  If you have a special request, send me a message on Etsy and I’ll see what I can do!   

Gift card giving doesn’t have to have such a bad rap with something like this! 

Your questions for today:

What do you think of “Janet in the Studio?”  I was thinking of starting all my videos like that.

Pick One:  Gift cards or knitted socks?  Happy Saturday all!

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Jim has given us the prompt of Floor/House/Roof/Walls for this Sunday’s entertainment.  A couple of years ago we saw Bon Jovi during their “This House Is Not For Sale” tour.  The album is the first album that the group did that was not on the Mercury record label after having been with them for 32 years.  It also does not include Richie Sambora who had left the band.  Jon Bon Jovi said the album is about their integrity.  The songs on the album clearly have a lot of meaning behind them.   

Some pictures I took that night:

And the video – this is how they opened the show we saw.  So cool!

I did a post about another song on the album last August for a #SLS prompt, Drive, “I Will Drive You Home.”  That kind of works for this week too, doesn’t it?

Can’t forget the Pick One for today:  Drums or Guitars and why?

I’m a drum person myself.  While I appreciate good guitar playing, give me the beat of the drums every time!  Have a marvelous Sunday!

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Missed a couple of days here but I’ve been working on something a little different.  Tried my hand at making a video to show my latest Halloween themed mini-album.  I want to start doing more of these.  I’d love to know what you think.

If you like it, I’d appreciate a thumbs up on the YouTube site.

The #SeeYouInSeptember prompt is “Seasonal” and I think this fits.

Pick One for today in keeping with the season, “Pumpkin spice:  Yes or no?   

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The #SoCS prompt is Weigh/way/whey and the #SeeYouInSeptember is Spicy.  The way I am going to connect these things is like this:

I have been on many different “diets” as a way to lower the amount I weigh.  Some have been successful for a while.  At one point around the early 2000’s I lost 44 pounds and was down to 169 pounds.  That was using the Weight Watchers way.  Of course things happened – don’t ask me what because I don’t remember anything specific – but I do know that I got all the way back up to 238 pounds! 

The next thing I tried was Hungry Girl program.  Again I lost about 40 pounds.  Why is it that I didn’t keep going?  Who knows.  I am an Italian and I love pasta?  I am a wife and need to feed my husband who doesn’t like low fat/sugar free foods?  Busy working so I call for take out?  All of the above! 

Then my son worked the Keto lifestyle and lost about 30 pounds.  He suggested several times that I try it too but I was resistant.  It’s not a healthy way of eating…too much fat…I have diabetes I can’t have too many ketones in my urine…all excuses.  Finally, around my birthday in March this year, I decided that I’d had enough and it was time to get my act together so I investigated the Keto plan more thoroughly and found that it was actually not that bad and it might even help with my diabetes.  I had a basic set of lab tests done and checked with my doctor who said that each “diet” be it vegan, keto, WW or whatever, have their own proponents but in the end it really is just an individual thing and every body reacts differently.  She said that I should get repeat lab work in September to see where things stood.

I can say that so far I’ve lost 38 pounds since March and 54 pounds since my all time high of 238 (you do the math).  The last time I was at this weight was April of 2006.  I keep setting mini goals for myself and while I know that if I was even stricter with intermittent fasting I could lose it more rapidly, as long as I keep going in the downward direction I’m okay with it.  This is me today.  Excuse the messy hair and the glare from the light.  A bit different than the first picture, no?

My daughter and I have tried many different recipes from the books we’ve gotten and online and most of them have been very good.  I am still not a fan of really spicy foods but I am using more spices in meals than I did before.  Mostly I like garlic and pesto but on fish I use dill.  We do also add some whey protein occasionally.
   

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