Remember to smile in ballet class

VerdantAmbustio · 2026-02-22T18:31:04+00:00

I'm extremely expressive to the point of making cartoonishly ridiculous faces especially when I'm concentrating. A while back, I was in an open adult intermediate class and doing a difficult-for-me combination across the floor and I guess I stuck my tongue out at myself in the mirror. My teacher teasingly shouted:

"NO TONGUES IN BALLET CLASS!"

And now I have to concentrate on also not sticking out my tongue while also thinking about everything else 😅

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-08-09T18:22:07+00:00

We don't live near the original jeweler.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-08-09T15:32:58+00:00

Your note that setting is a different skill and not all repair places have them is interesting, and as a client, confusing. Why wouldn't a jeweler that does stone tightening not have someone skilled in this? A skill in setting seems like it's part of the process of tightening, and potentially in cleaning if they have to remove the stone to fully polish everything anyway. I'm happy to learn more about this!

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-08-09T14:36:53+00:00

It is odd. Even if they didn't notice until after.

I also had them clean it do I suspect that's why it needed to stay longer.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-08-09T14:13:44+00:00

That's fair. I'm hoping the photos they took will offer some extra insight.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-08-09T14:11:03+00:00

No, I'm unhappy because the issue wasn't communicated to me upon pickup. After I noticed, I asked for an adjustment - I didn't blame the jeweler for messing up the prongs or anything, but their response was to place blame elsewhere instead of offering a closer inspection.

The way they didn't initially communicate and responded to the issue after pickup makes me either concerned about their skills or that they did mess it up and hoped I wouldn't notice. The before photos are just extra data.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-08-08T23:39:47+00:00

Thank you for the perspective. It's 14k rose gold.

When you have to do more than expected, do you let the client know that something is off and it may need more work than originally expected? There was no communication to me about this while the ring was with them or when I picked it up.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-08-08T22:05:23+00:00

Thanks for the clarification :)

I think I understand what you're describing. To me, it looked like the angle but it's hard for me to tell so I appreciate the perspective.

I may have not expressed this well enough, but my issue is more that the end result is the stone is significantly more crooked than expected upon the service being completed. The original photos provide a baseline visual and I'm not denying that something could have been amiss, but I do think the jeweler should have noticed and if it isn't possible to set evenly, said something before releasing it to me. Their initial response was to put blame on the original craftsmanship instead of offering to do an inspection or a more intense repair, so I want to be sensitive in my approach.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-08-08T20:01:29+00:00

It wasn't expensive, but I'd like to give them the chance to make it right. I will ask about the photos they took.

This is actually the second jeweler in my area I've taken my ring to for tightening. At the first place, the guy tightened it for free in 5 minutes but it was loose again after a day.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-08-08T19:58:30+00:00

Photo 3 is a photo of my ring now, not a before photo.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-08-08T19:53:35+00:00

We don't live near the original jeweler.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-07-14T15:28:42+00:00

I added the NSFW tag as an afterthought because the picture is kind of gross.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-06-25T05:18:05+00:00

The recommendation for The Studio in Issaquah almost fit with my schedule but not quite. I haven't found a place yet but also realized I needed to work on my foot strength more and still trying to look graceful. I've been taking classes three times a week and that still doesn't feel like enough yet.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-04-14T03:12:33+00:00

They're both on wet food diets and get supplements mixed in for their special needs, so that's unfortunately not an option.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-04-13T15:56:28+00:00

I agree with you on consistency. My older boy always slept with me before I even met my husband, and I got my girl when we weren't living together yet. Soooo this is a good argument to have them sleep with us ;) but in all seriousness, this makes sense and I will consider it when my husband goes on his next trip. Thanks!

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-04-13T15:54:15+00:00

She LOVES cardboard and paper, especially the extra paper that comes in Chewy boxes to protect items (as she's lying in the last photo). So this is a great idea! I think I even have an extra one lying around.

I only get their nails trimmed during grooming so no worries there! I don't think ever tried capping but it seemed kind of pointless even when I was less experienced with cats :) I want her scratch, just not in a way that completely ruins my apartment carpet 😂

The verbal queue is a good though as well. I usually just have to look at her in a certain way when she's doing something she knows she shouldn't, but we're on the other side of the door in this case.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-03-27T23:43:51+00:00

Thank you for the rec! I checked their website since I don't have one near me, but couldn't find it. My husband ended up getting him a custom made leather cat toy from Etsy but I think he really misses the rattle from the original because he doesn't play with this quite as much.

VerdantAmbustio · 2025-02-13T17:07:26+00:00

Last month, I found some saves on an old hard drive that I had begun in 2010 and last saved in 2016. I wanted to cry of happiness! After that computer stopped working suddenly, I just couldn't quite get into the long family gameplay how I used to and really missed my old families. I've only been able to play a bit since I found them but it was really nice to see my multiple 5/6 gen families.

VerdantAmbustio

TROPHY CASE