Pearls and Pirates....a Wedding.

I know, I know...I have not updated in over a week. It is not like I have had things to blog about but I have been busy with planning a party, painting, and of course...shopping! I will hit you with some highlights. 2 weekends ago my friend Robin and I spent the day checking out a festival and hitting the consignment shops here in BG. I made some great purchases. The greatest purchase I made was a set of of fresh water pearls. It is a long strand that you can double. They were mixed in with cheaper brands of costume jewelry. I took them off the rack and held them and they were heavy. Now here is the gross part, yes...even with the flu looming about, I put them to my teeth and I new they were real by their weight, color, double knots, and of course...the teeth test. I brought it to the salesperson's attention and it did not seem to phase her at all. She just looked at me with a "blank" stare. The price was $13.99! I thought, ummmmmmm in the case you have higher priced costume jewelry and these are real. I asked, "is this a mistake?" She simply said, "no." I said, "they are real." She said, "do you want them?" Well, DUH! No brainer there. So, last Tuesday I took them to a local jeweler that appraises jewelry and asked his opinion about them and shared my story. He said I hit the jackpot. He said they are at least 15 to 20 years old in perfect condition. There are 300 pearls and they are large. Not the small ones mind you...then he told me on a piece of paper (because people were standing around) and wrote out the figure ($600.00 retail)! Yes, the MOTHA load of course. I did not sell them because they will be worth double that in 5 years. He said it is rare to see a strand of fresh water pearls in this condition and size. He said he would purchase them. I said, "I will keep them for now!" Sometimes, these consignment shops are so busy getting out their goods they really do not pay attention.
Their loss...my HUGE GAIN!Here are the pearls by request of Stephanie Howell (oh yeah, that little bodice that they are displayed on...I got it the same day for $4.50!)

On another note: My cousin who lives in Pensacola (Perdido Key, Fl) attended a themed wedding of our friend Steve. The theme was PIRATES! It was a second wedding for the bride as she lost her husband several years ago to a terminal illness. They had this wonderful event on a yacht and I must share a few of the photos with you. They sent them to me in color and I prefer the black and white as I converted them and cropped them. I have over 200 photos but thought I would share a few with you here. So, we missed out on the fun as we have moved and we really did not want to tackle a 12 hour drive. I am now sorry I missed the event.The Wedding Party


Steve is the Captain (Groom) and Mike, my cousin is his first mate...or I am thinking...Shirley is now his first mate! You know they had fun!My Cousin Mike and his daughter, Teresa (graduates college this coming December)
Mike and May

Well, that is all for today...I have lots more to post and will do it each day...a little at a time.
Thanks for stopping by!
Have a PERFECT Fall Day...sweatshirt weather for us today.