April 1st, my husband, Gene, was "invited" to retire effective immediately. We were able to forget about it while we were on our trip, but from the time we got home, we've been in a tailspin. I'm really glad I had already decided to skip the summer semester of school. Gene has been searching the country for a job working in COBOL programming on a Unisys mainframe computer. Just about the only jobs like that are with State and Federal governments. I feel like we are in Limbo. I've been on a roller coaster ride waiting for government people to hire someone... anyone. The first job he applied for back in May or June still hasn't been filled. I had a hard time believing that we would be going to the Bead Shop Hop this year. Good news/Bad news is that Gene doesn't have a job yet, so we are going to the Hop!!!
click here to see more of the earrings that I made from last year's charms from the bead shop hop
Having experienced last years hop, we come into this year with more of a plan. I'll outline my advice based on our limited experience last year.
- Start inland, and go to Beach shops later in the day.
- Last year we found that we got pretty hot some of those days, and we overheard another hopper sharing this advice, so I'm now sharing it with you.
- Check and see which stores are having trunk shows, and make and takes that are limited to certain days.
- Last year we stumbled upon a few great trunk shows, and make and takes, and learned that we were missing out on things that we hadn't planned for. I'm in the process of researching this information before we head out this weekend.
- Decide what your priorities are.
- Last year I figured that I would be going back with Cloe and Mary so I didn't need to get to all of the shops on the first weekend. Gene on the other hand got into it, and wanted to hit all of the stores. He ended up winning one of the runner up prizes with a $250 gift certificate and a gumball machine full of beads! This year I prefer to take a little bit more time. Instead of just a scavenger hunt, which was fun, I'd like to soak up a little bit more of the ambiance of each store.
- Plan your route.
- Last year we were able to get 20 stores in the first two days. For religious reasons we didn't participate on Sunday, so we returned the following week to get the final two stores. This year there are only 20 stores. I think Gene thought that it'd be great that we could finish in two days, and just hang out on the beach the rest of the time. But, he's got us someplace to stay booked for all three weekends, so after I find out about the trunk shows and make and takes, we'll plan our leisurely route. If you have a limited time frame, and aren't planning on actually doing any beading, you can easily (sort of) complete all 20 stores in two days.
