Enter to Win Holiday Giveaway

The Holiday's are always an exciting and busy time of year for me. There is never a shortage of things to do balancing work with the additional Holiday events and activities. It can be stressful at times, but I always remind myself to relax and have fun along the way.

One of the "fun" tasks I do each year is to identify a great prize for the Holiday Giveaway. This year, I'm excited to announce the grand prize is a $100 Macy's Gift Certificate. Wouldn't it be great to win $100 to spend any way you wanted at Macy's?

There will be opportunities to enter through December 23 and the winner will be announced on January 2, 2010. To start the promotion, all new Facebook FANS will receive an entry into the giveaway. Become a Facebook FAN here! Once you've become a FAN, comment on this blog post indicating you are a new FAN so I can track of your entry.

Another opportunity to enter will be during the Black Friday - Cyber Monday Sale at my Etsy Shop . I'm offering FREE worldwide shipping and FREE gift wrap on all purchases from during the November 27 - November 30 Sale. And, all buyers during this sale will automatically be entered into the giveaway.

I will be announcing a few other prizes for 2nd and 3rd place winners. Those announcements will be made in the coming weeks. So check back for more information on opportunities to enter the contest.

San Francisco Opera Costume Shop Sale

The economy doesn't seem to be a factor for those buying costumes from the San Francisco Opera Costume Shop sale. Sure, lots of $1 - $25 items - but from what I saw, people were coming out with garbage bags full and rumors spread of folks spending upwards of $2,000 (I think the average sale was probably about $100 though - from others I spoke to). There was a separate section of costumes starting at $500 and UP. There didn't seem to be a shortage of people buying from that area although it was much less crowded than the sections of $1 - $250.



I had my eye on a costume from the Opera LuLu. It was $5000 and I believe it was designed by Bob Mackie (the white jumpsuit pictured). It was completely beaded - and probably worth the price - maybe more - but that's too much for me - so I left with a few gowns and miscellaneous pieces that I will use as inspiration in my Jewelry Designs. If you want to see a collection of photos from the sale, you can find them on my flickr account http://www.flickr.com/htjewels.

It was a great day of waiting and shopping. I got there at 9:30AM on the first day of the sale (scheduled to start at 11AM). The line was already 1 1/2 blocks long. I waited in line for 6 hours before I got in (they were only allowing so many at a time). Then, shopped for about 1 hour and waited in line for 3 hours at checkout. Everyone was friendly and it was loads of fun seeing all the costumes and reading the tags of the Opera it was used in, the year and sometimes even the performer. Can't wait till the next sale, but next time, I'll get there much earlier!