Whole Bead Show

The Whole Bead Show http://www.wholebead.com/ was in Manhattan over the weekend. I slogged through the big, fluffy flakes of snow on Friday (first day of spring, huh?) to meet my friend Judith Schwab at the show. Judith is the owner of Bodacious Beads in Des Plaines, Illinois and has a great eye for unusual items, so it was fun to go through the show with her.

Despite all of the temptations, I only bought two things. One is undyed, slabbed, green turquoise above, left photo) and the other is pumpkin or squash-shaped, dyed turquoise (above right photo), both from Commercial Resources Corp. http://www.ecoralturq.com/.

After the show, Judith and I had lunch at Crema (http://www.cremarestaurant.com/) on West 17th Street. Crema is an upscale, Mexican restaurant and we were not disappointed in our choice, especially because the space was an inviting respite from the cold day. Judith had the house salad and I enjoyed the roast pork in corn tortillas with black beads, avocado, and salsa. Sadly, neither of us had room for one of the delicious-sounding desserts.

Since we were in the area, Judith and I toured two exhibits at the Museum at FIT (http://www.fitnyc.edu/museum). "Seduction" showed the act of temptation and enticement through clothing and "Muriel King: Artist of Fashion" focues on the career of Muriel King, American female fashion designer from the 1930s to the 1950s.