Reno, Lake Tahoe, airplanes, In and Out Burger, and online friends

Hello!  I'm back from our trip to Reno in body but not soul.  I'm finding it difficult to focus enough to get my act together and back to work.  I also have a cold and feel pretty cruddy.  So, I'm giving myself a bit of a break.

While I have lots to share, today I'm only going to show you just a few pictures from our trip.  We had a very full 5 days in Reno and Lake Tahoe.  We met some wonderful people, ate lots of great food, went to the air races, boating on the lake and I met my online friend, Angie (a.k.a.  Jumping Jack Designs and @modernpaper), in person. 

We had pit passes, so the boys (C included) enjoyed the planes up close and personal.  As you can see, some of the military planes were massive.

The Air Races were fun although E and I spent most of our time walking the midway looking at souvenirs.

Reno has one In and Out Burger, so we had to introduce the boys.  This is Max's Animal Style burger.  Rhode Islander's, he thinks 5 Guys Burger and Fries rivals In and Out Burger. 

[257/365 O is for Online - Angie's flickr]

Here's a picture that Angie's husband took.  It was so great to meet her in person as I feel like we've been online buddies for a long time.  I got to introduce my family to most of hers and see Angie's work in person. That was truly one of the highlights of this trip for me.

I'll share more soon, but for now I have to clear my head...literally...because it is so congested it may explode.

What's new this week at alamode - where I've been and where I'm going

This morning, I found myself on the Australian blog Kasiabear.  I really like this collection of typewriters and typography products curated by Kasia and thought I should share it with you.  Please hop on over to her blog to see it in detail.  Thank you, Kasia!

This week I mostly spent my time fulfilling wholesale and retail orders along with ongoing production and developing a new line of clutches.

As it happens, more often that I'd like, I also got a bit sidetracked with projects and materials that seemingly called out to me.  We recently changed two bike tires and I couldn't part with the rubber inner tubes.  I've seen some really great things made with these and "had" to make something myself.  This necklace below was the result:

I still have a lot of rubber left and plan to make more necklaces and earrings.  I won't be selling these, but I will give them away!  Stay tuned.

After spending a lot of time dabbling, I was so happy to come across this great post by Cameron on the blog Cottage Industrialist.  She talks about being easily distracted by projects that in the long run may not  yield obvious, immediate, or worthwhile benefits.  This struck an immediate chord with me, especially since I spent several hours this week trying to make things for the heck of it.  Often, people will ask me why I do things that don't connect directly to the bottom line.  Why do I blog, tweet, and promote other sellers?  Why would I spend time making something that I don't intend to sell?  The answer, as Cameron points out, is simple.  It's because I'm doing what I want to do.  I'm satisfying my own curiosity and desire to create.  I'm exploring the possibilities.  I'm pushing myself.  Yes, it may be time consuming and ultimately unprofitable, but for me it is cathartic and meaningful.  It is necessary.  And it is okay.  I highly recommend Cameron's post.

Next week, I'm heading to Reno with the family.  We are going on trip number 2 [1st trip post here] in our quest to find C's next job and our new home.  C has been offered a job at a great practice out there and we want the kids to see the area.  I'm sure I'll be tweeting and blogging during our trip.  I'm also planning to meet a good Twitter friend, Angie of Jumping Jack Designs.  I love how the world wide web has created a global community of friends.  I'm excited to put a face behind @modernpaper!