This weekend was an interesting one. First off the weather sucked. It was cold, windy, and rainy. I still did okay with sales, though. Most of that I have to thank Art Bucks for. The show handed out $10,000 worth of these Art Bucks to local college students. $100 to each student that could only be spent at the show. As a vendor I accepted the art bucks and turned them in the next day for cash. I took in 7% of the Art Bucks handed out. Not too shabby. If it hadn't been for that on Friday night it would have been a much more disappointing weekend. I still did okay and I plan to apply again next year.
There were a few vendors that packed up and left Saturday night/Sunday morning, and only three of us stayed open until closing time at 10:00 on Saturday night. Most people closed up around 7 and 8 o'clock. Granted we were all cold, there was hardly any patrons there, and it wasn't much fun, but when I went up there I planned to be there till 10 so I sucked it up and stayed.
Sunday I went on the trade hunt. I had my eye on some glass lanterns all weekend and I lucked out that the man selling them was willing to trade a clock for a lantern. I would have bought one anyways, but it's always more fun to trade. I LOVE my lantern and have it hanging in my dining room. I wish I would have gotten two of them instead of just one!
There was a very nice photographer and his wife down the row from us and I stopped to chat with them for awhile. That led to me finding out he is a big Dali fan and I loved his prints of lotus flowers so naturally a trade ensued. I can't wait to get them framed. I am going to put the two shown in the photo below above the t.v. and a third print I got is going to hang behind my Buddha statue in the kitchen.
I also traded with the man next to me. He had amazing pottery. The coolest pottery from either show we have been in. We got a long bowl from him for our dining room table. I also bought a jack-o-latern from him for my mother as a thank you for watching our kids so much these past two weekends. I really am fortunate to have parents willing to help out with my kiddos so much.
After the show Nick and I drove off into the sunset:
Totally not show related but:
I found out today that my son has pneumonia, he's six! A couple of weeks ago he had a high fever for four days and right when I was ready to call the doctor it broke. Then he just had a bad cough and stuffiness. Well, the bad cough has stuck around so we took him to the doctor today and it's pneumonia. Even the doctor was surprised. Eli acts pretty normal and says he feels fine. He can't hear well, though, and the Dr. says that's due to an ear infection that is most likely related to the pneumonia. Poor kid! He is on antibiotics and has a follow up appt. in two weeks.
I got a new tattoo yesterday. It has been five or so years since my last one. I got a pink lotus and some Sanskrit words that mean Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. It is on my left forearm. I won't spout my reasons why I got it, everyone has their own set of beliefs and I respect that. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I have to admit, though, that some family and friends seem a bit uncomfortable with my interest in Buddhism. I hope in time that will pass when they see I am the same old Hilary just happier, calmer, more confident, and more responsible.
The picture isn't the greatest, but you get the idea. :)
