Negative 5 Degrees...But Still Positive Baby!

Jan 2011 - Alright, I'm a West Coast girl...born in Orange County, CA and raised in Simi Valley, CA. I moved up to Washington State in 1997 and thought it was the coldest place on earth...that is until I went to Milwaukee last week.

I had the pleasure to visit with the folks at Kalmbach to see the layout of Spotlight on Wire and discuss the organization for my next book Metal Garden (expertly handled by editor extraordinaire Karin Buckingham). I was also thankful to have some time with Bill from their in-house photography department who is always generous in giving me advice when it comes to taking photos, and with Editors Jill and Hazel at Art Jewelry Magazine who gave me a tour of their studio and allowed me to partake in talking shop with them.

But my "cold weather" adventure really started in Kansas City, where I am pretty sure we were the last plane out of there. "How do you put chains on a plane," I wondered as we pulled out of the snow filled terminal. It didn't help that we de-iced and had anti-freeze dumped over us. The highlight was when the captain announced "we're going for it" and pulled out of the terminal like we were filmng a Bruce Willis film. Hmmm, it occurs to me that the Bruce Willis reference may date me. Let's move on.

But the real adventure started when I arrived in Milwaukee. There was a wind chill warning...a what? Wind chill warning? Apparently, the temperature would get down to -5 degrees! But, I was not deterred, I refused to miss the fun of walking through downtown Milwaukee, which I have come to love over the last 6 years on my visits to the Bead and Button Show. I stopped by my favorite places: The Milwaukee Public Market where I picked up spices and had an amazing Shrimp Po Boy sandwich, walked down to 3rd Ward Jewelry which along with my local gallery (Facere, here in Seattle) has the best selection of art jewelry I've ever seen, and finally a visit with Steven at Swag, who is the master of martinis. Yeah, it was cold. But there is something about Milwaukee that always warms my heart.