It's the Year of the Monkey...Dallas road trip! (pt.2)

February 14, 2016: it was Valentine's Day and I wanted to go to the Farmers Market. Our conversation the night before-

       Me: "I thought you liked vegetables."

       Wes: "I do but I don't care about them in their natural habitat."

Hahahahahaha! Luckily for Wes, there was more than just vegetables at the Dallas Farmers Market. The market had an indoor shed (or maybe they called it the barn) that was mostly restaurants. I think if it wasn't early on a Sunday morning, there would be some craft vendors there, too. Or maybe that's just my wishful thinking because I love craft vendors. 

There was also a really neat community garden. If I lived in downtown Dallas, I would totally be a part of this. I don't actually know how you become a part of this. *sad face* The garden had various herbs and leafy greens growing in troughs. I suspect that by springtime, all the gardeners have a pretty bountiful harvest. This is perfect for healthy eating while apartment living since you don't really have a yard to grow your own organic veggies. 

The market had a lot of farmers selling fresh eggs (which I wanted but there is no way they would have survived the day so I passed), soaps, dog treats (I bought some cheddar apple treats and Sadie & Athena loved them), honey and a lot of food vendors--baked goods & coffee, Cajun food, grilled corn on the cob, Mexican food, seafood, etc. 

       We bought some flavored honey sticks (pictured above). They are little straws filled with honey that you can dissolve into your tea. We got an orange, cinnamon, mint and natural honey stick. The farmer selling them looked a lot like my old neighbor, Dustin. We wanted to have lunch at the market but we gorged ourselves at breakfast in the hotel so we needed to kill some time. I wanted to explore Downtown Dallas but since it was early on a Sunday morning nothing was open. My mom had asked us to get her some Chinese New Year cards on our trip but the festival didn't have any so we made a trip to one of the Chinese grocery stores. 

We missed the dragon dance at the finale the night before but we saw our fill at the Hong Kong Marketplace! We arrived just as the dancers were finishing up their performance in the parking lot. We followed them into the grocery store, up and down all the aisles and then next door to the shopping center. I think the performers at this school were better than the ones that performed at the festival. They also needed ample space to perform but they didn't ask... they just barreled through the crowd. If you didn't move, you were getting a kung fu kick in the face! 

We searched all throughout the store and the shopping center but there were no greeting cards. I always want to get groceries but I never think they'll make it home during the drive so I have to pass. One of these days, we're going to stay a week and I'm going to shop my little heart out and cook us a feast! 

Aisle 3: flour, seasonings, dragon dancers.

After an hour or so at the grocery store, we headed back to the farmers market for lunch. Wes got tamales and I got a grilled corn on the cob. Both were delicious. I wanted to visit the Fabric District (yes, this does exist and there is a fabric warehouse!) but all the shops were closed on Sunday. I think we had our fill of adventures for the weekend anyway so we headed home. Driving around Dallas is crazy & stressful but we made it! I only almost got in an accident once! (and it wasn't really my fault; I was trying to merge onto the highway and this asshole wouldn't let me merge.)
       It was a fun Chinese New Year + Valentine's experience. I'm glad Wes and I share the same interests (and ideas on how to celebrate holidays!) and that we travel well together. More adventures to come!!!

It's the Year of the Monkey...Dallas road trip! (pt.1)

This artist does the trippiest collages. I normally don't like stuff like this but I loved his art.

It's the middle of spring and craft shows are in full swing. RagsReborn is doing well; if you want updates on shows & new pillows, please check on my Instagram and Facebook pages. I've already blogged plenty about craft shows but I haven't posted a travel blog in a while.
       Today is my father's birthday so I'm feeling a little nostalgic. Growing up, we were very Chinese (to the point where when I was at home, I only spoke Cantonese & ate Chinese cuisine and I've been listening to Canto Pop since before I can remember). I learned a lot about my culture & heritage and I'm pretty darn proud to be Chinese. That being said, I thought tonight would be a good time to post about Wes & my Chinese New Year trip earlier this year.

On Valentine's weekend, we drove to Dallas for the Crow Collection's Chinese New Year Festival (#crowcny). Wes was born in the Year of the Monkey so I wanted to do something special for the Lunar New Year this year. I came across this event online that boasted live performances each hour (which ended up being my favorite part of the entire weekend), numerous food trucks and shopping. I was sold!

The event was hosted by the Crow Collection of Asian Art. When we arrived, we walked through the museum first before venturing outside for the activities. Museum entry was free that day so it was super crowded. Surprisingly, we were still able to walk through the entire place and see all the exhibits. The museum had a nice array of art media from various Asian countries. I think my favorite was the jade and ivory sculptures. 

The Seven Lucky Gods.  

A beautiful gold and turquoise piece.  

We spent the rest of the day outdoors (thank goodness the weather was nice!). There were live performances all day long on the main stage. We first saw a Chen Style Tai Chi demonstration by Master Shang Wei Kui. He is pretty well known and Wes has actually heard of him before. My mom used to practice Tai Chi but nothing like this guy!

We also saw the Chinese Yo-Yo Club (not pictured), an opera singer, the Jasmine Chinese Dance Troupe and a fashion show put on by the Chinese Cultural Center and some students at UT Dallas. 

       The students were all really shy so they awkwardly walked out on stage in their unfamiliar costumes, sort of smiled and posed momentarily at the center of the stage and then rushed off as quickly as possible. The last student to come on stage was dressed in a bright yellow costume and he ate up the attention. He strolled onto the stage, posed, invited the audience to applaud, smiled, bowed and asked for more applause. What a ham! I think he saved the show for the rest of the students.

The Jasmine Dance Troupe performed various traditional dances from different Asian countries. They did a few Chinese dances, a Mongolian dance and Korean dance. I'm sure there were more but that's all I can remember at the moment. They had a few guest dancers but most of the dances were performed by the same women. They were such good sports rushing on and off stage in their various costumes with little time in between each dance. I enjoyed all of the dances and the dresses were beautiful! 

The dance troupe was my second favorite performance of the day. My absolute favorite was the Hau Yun Chinese Orchestra. Sadly, we missed the beginning of the performance. The orchestra used string instruments, as you would expect, but they also had a member who played the erhu (Chinese violin) and one who played the dizi (bamboo flute). They palyed a few musical pieces and then performed some with singer Sophia Liu. I didn't think I would enjoy the traditional folk songs (because I usually don't) but Sophia is an amazingly talented singer and I enjoyed her voice immensely. 

Besides the performances, there were a few tents with shopping (the shopping was actually pretty disappointing and we didn't get any souvenirs) and food trucks. Oh boy, were there food trucks! There were probably 10 trucks parked out there. I wanted to eat from all of them! LOL I knew I wanted a boba drink from Bobaddiction. For food, I was torn between a sushi truck and a banh mi truck. I decided on banh mi and got the lemongrass chicken.  I usually get banh mi with Vietnamese cold cuts or barbecue pork but never lemongrass chicken. OMG, it was so good! ...probably the best Vietnamese sandwich I have ever had.

After a full day, it was time for the grand finale. I didn't get to see any of the finale (because being short is a pain, ugh) but there was supposedly a martial arts demonstration, lion dance, dragon dance and fireworks. The entire event was MC'd by a young museum worker. She worked all day, did a great job and barely got any intermission time to rest. Bless her heart. 

       There were thousands of people gathered by the time the finale rolled around. A lot of the crowd was pressed up against the stage. In order for the J.K. Wong Kung Fu Tai Chi Academy to put on their finale performances, there needed to be at least 10-12 feet of space between the stage and the crowd. The MC did her best but the crowd would not move. She first asked politely, no one moved. She then asked a little more sternly, still no one budged. Then she threatened that there would be no finale unless people made space, still no one heeded her warning. She finally begged and pleaded for the crowd to please just move a tiny smidgen. After much grovelling, the crowd finally moved the minimum amount necessary. 

       The performance finally started but as soon as it did, the crowded made their way back toward the stage. Every few minutes, the show had to stop and the MC pleaded again for everyone to leave space for the performers. There was absolutely no respect for the MC or the performers. Everyone rushed toward the performers to capture the best video to post on social media. I almost expected for the MC, who was probably at her wit's end, to cancel the rest of the show. And, parents were losing their children left and right. The finale was interrupted several times by announcements of lost children. Normally, the size of the crowd and children are blamed for these occurrences. But the MC (who quickly gained my sympathy) flat out blamed the parents for their bad parenting. Right on! She announced, "We have another lost child. Parents, parents, please keep a hold of your children!" 

       There were so many people in attendance that hardly anyone could actually view the performances. I stood next to another woman my height. As people walked out of the crowd, we had a silent agreement to keep a space in front free for us so we could sort of see the stage. Either one of us could move forward to take the empty space but we kept it open so we could squint and peak in between other people's shoulders. It worked pretty well until a very tall guy and his girlfriend stepped directly in front of us. Wes said the martial arts demonstration was very sloppy (probably because the performers couldn't concentrate due to all the interruptions) and probably wasn't worth watching anyway. We skipped out on the fireworks finale and just left early.

Next on the agenda was dinner with my Uncle Hoa. I've tried to meet up with him on several other Dallas trips but he's always been busy. I told him weeks before that we'd be in town and he & his girlfriend (who ended up not feeling well last minute so Jenny wasn't there after all) would be free so dinner plans were made! 

       We met up at Jin Korean Barbecue. I don't like Korean food in general but I am starting to warm up to their barbecue. My uncle got a Korean beer so I followed suit. It wasn't very good by itself but it paired really well with the meat. We got the usual fare and it was all really good. The best was this thinly sliced pork belly. It was basically uncured bacon. I probably ate an entire plate! After dinner and catching up, we rolled our fat bellies out of  the restaurant and headed to the hotel. Day two details to come next week!

RagsReborn's SURPRISE show announcement!

I'm happy to announce a SURPRISE craft show!!
       Are you ready for it??!?!?!

I won't have my regular booth layout, though. (;_;) Some sad news... my "double decker couch" inspired shelf wore itself out. It lasted me 7 shows, which is quite the feat since it was completely homemade with cardboard, Velcro, cloth and craft glue. The Velcro started coming off last year, so for the past two shows, I've used yarn to tie the pieces together. The cardboard pieces started bowing in and warping more and more due to use; then in the middle of my show at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds, the shelf just started falling apart! Wes and I were able to salvage it enough to finish out the show but it's time to let go.

My old display shelf. I cried on the inside as I walked it to the dumpster.

I'm currently working on new blue prints... with a new table... a collapsible table that Jessa so graciously gave to me!! I got some good ideas from some of my friends & fellow vendors so it's time to get to work.
       It'll involve more cardboard--because it's the sturdiest and lightest material I can transport on my own. I'm thinking of building bleacher-like boxes to put my pillows in and on. I'll also be making them different sizes so they can nest inside each other for transportation and give my display some different heights. We'll see how this goes. You should come check out the craft fair at the Wilmont Place Baptist Church. Be the first to see my new booth layout!!

An aside...
       This is what I really want for my booth display. A wooden folding shelf! It would look great with my antique trunk, don't you think? This is on my "for the future" wish list... many years down the line since I don't have money for something like this right now and even if I did, it probably wouldn't fit in my backseat. But, take a good look and keep this in mind. If you know of where to buy some cheap but durable and, most importantly, light weight wood and/or someone who would be willing to build this for me, let me know!

Anyway, back to my big show announcement... I'll be at Wilmont Place Baptist Church for their Craft & Vendor Fair this Saturday, April 2nd. Hooray  \(^_^)/ It's a small show at a local church in south Oklahoma City. I'll be there from 9am to 5pm. (Yup, aaalllllllll day!) I didn't intend on doing three shows in April but I haven't done a show since the Creative Craft Festival in Norman earlier this month and that has been way too long! 

       ***NOTE: This show is not a "pure" craft show; it is mostly a vendor fair, meaning there will not be a lot of handmade items. Instead, it will have a lot of direct sales consultants so if you're short on your Scentsy, Jamberry or Pink Zebra products, come on out. I still prefer handmade craft shows but I also support shows that allow vendors and have actually purchased a few of their products myself. 

       *gasp!* Why the sudden change of heart??? Well, I used to hate on direct sales when they go to craft shows (because, ahem... Pampered Chef is not a craft) but, lately, I've met a lot of the ladies who sell these products and they are all very kind and hard working. They take pride in their business & products and have befriended me as a fellow businesswoman. I still don't agree with their sharky sales pitches but I have learned a thing or two about sales & marketing from them. If you use any direct sales products, I would recommend coming out to a vendor fair to purchase your products in person instead of shopping online or from catalogs. If you would like a Paparazzi or Carey Pet & Home Care consultant, please let me know. I can recommend some wonderful ladies to you!

Funny story...
       One of the craft show coordinators, Karen, came to the Cleveland County Fairgrounds a few weeks ago to browse for talent & recruit vendors for her show at the church in April. She came to my booth and introduced herself.
     
Well, actually, the conversation went like this...
K: Hello, I know you!
E: Oh? Are you a vendor?
K: No but we've been talking. I'm with Wilmont Place.
E: Yes! Of course! I'll be at your show coming up soon!

We talked about RagsReborn, the craft show, the church and their mission trip. Her daughter is a missionary and will be the primary show coordinator but Karen has done craft shows for years and decided to lend a hand. She is a crafting veteran! 

I suppose this is what Wilmont Place OKC looks like. It was the first image that came up on my Google search. LOL

I've decided that my favorite shows are ones at local churches. I'm not particularly religious but the atmosphere of church craft shows is amazing. Everyone is so so supportive & kind and you can feel the positive energy all day.
       I'm actually really excited to be a part of this particular craft show because its purpose is to raise money for their Nicaragua Mission Trip later this year. I went on a mission trip to Mexico several years ago with the St. Thomas More college group. We worked with a local church by interacting with the children (aka playing and goofing off all day) and doing some light construction. It was a really good faith journey & humbling experience. It was probably the most I prayed and opened up about my personal experience with the church. (I know that sounds really cheesy and I'm sure everyone says this about their missionary experience but its true.) Anyway, since I had such a good time on my mission trip, I'm more than happy to aid Wilmont Place's missionaries attain their financial goals so they can also walk in Christ's footsteps by spreading love and aid to Nicaragua. Please come out to the show this Saturday. All of the vendor booth rent goes to their missionary fund and all proceeds from breakfast and lunch also goes toward the fund. If crafts aren't your thing, at least come out to grab a meal.

Here's a REALLY old picture of the St. Thomas More missionaries.

Said no one ever...

This blog will be full of someecards. I love these so I am borrowing them for my blog.  

They aren't mine & I don't take credit for any of their wit.

Last month, I called in sick to work due to menstrual cramps.
       I haven't done this since high school (where I stayed home almost every month because I was too much of a wuss to deal with the pain and, let's be honest, I hated high school and had absolutely no desire to be there so any excuse to stay home was a good one.)
       In my adulthood, I never wanted to call in sick for my 'womanly problems'. I always thought... "It is embarrassing. It is a sign of weakness. It makes me a woman." No one thinks endometriosis is a big deal. "It's not a real disease", they say, "it's just a weak woman complaining about her pain." We get chastised. "Oh it must be her time of the month," people whisper snarkily, "she can't even handle her own body."
       So each month, I would take a strong dose of pain medication, wear dark and comfortable pants, say a little prayer that I wouldn't faint from the pain and head on out to work. Each month it was excruciating. It got worse and worse, especially over the past few years. I started having to bring extra pain medication just to have on hand at my desk. I started bringing an extra set of clothes. Finally, I decided it wasn't worth it. Employees call in all the time...and on February 4th, 2016, it was my time!

Getting to stay in bed that day was the best thing to ever happen to me. LOL Yes, I was still in terrible pain but it was wonderful to get to rest instead of suffering through the workday.
       My place of employment is aware of my health issues and my boss was very understanding. Upon my return to work, I thanked my boss profusely and doubled my efforts to make up for lost time. No one called me out for being weak, I wasn't expected to feel guilty for staying home and no one demoted me for not being able to be at work; everything was just all in my head. I won't be abusing this knowledge to call in on a regular monthly basis, but I do feel as if a huge burden has been lifted from me. I now know that if I ever am in too much pain, I can take a sick day. It's a light bulb that just turned on: Endometrosis is a valid reason for a sick day. I was in pain that day. I was sick.

I don't know if anyone else has ever feared using a sick day for menstrual cramps. 

I don't know if anyone else is ashamed of their ill functioning reproductive system. 

But if you are and need some enlightenment, here it is. 

       Please read my blog and know that you are not alone. Also know that you shouldn't put your body through the stress of having to be at work when you really should be at home caring for yourself. 

Speaking of caring for yourself... I have one short rant before I let you go. I drive by this billboard every day on my way home from work. I understand its message regarding caregivers but it still makes me angry.

I remember how my mother cared for me when I was a child and I plan to return the favor. I also plan to care for my step-father and husband in the same way. No problem. 

       The problem is that I will never have a child. How I see it is, this billboard is telling me that I will never be cared for in my old age because I cannot fulfill my initial role as a mother. How disappointing! Fortunately, I have already planned for this and it doesn't come as much of a shock. I'm smart so I've been carefully putting away money for retirement and I monitor my health very closely to avoid any major complications as I age. I am aware that I am an only child with very few friends so my last years will be difficult. My mother, step-father & husband are all older than I am so I expect them all to go first. But I am fully ready to take care of myself when that time comes. With all that set aside, this billboard still does offend me. I have a hard enough burden to bear with my infertility, I don't need a billboard reminding me that I will have to suffer through ailing age on my own. 

        And, why should my female role be one of a mother? Why can't this woman in the billboard primarily be a politician or athlete or business woman? Why is her "role" one of a parent? There are plenty of women who either cannot have children or choose not to have children. Are we all going to die alone in one childless arena designed for childless females?

       And what about those mothers whose children succumb to disease or fight & die in wars? They took care of their children but due to whatever ill circumstances, their children will not be able to care for them in the future. Did the AARP think about the possibility of offending those women as well?

       Gawd, I can't wait until this campaign ends so they can remove that billboard. I would much rather see something telling me to enjoy Coca-Cola each day. Breathe, Erica, breathe... the AARP is just trying to help... it's not trying to offend you. Okay...I'm off my soapbox. Let's calm it down and wind it down...

       This last picture isn't empowering and probably doesn't go with the rest of this blog entry but I thought it was hilarious. I literally laughed out loud when I saw it. And when we're suffering from an angry uterus, a laugh is much needed.

How to use up raw pecans & chocolate candies...

Pecan cookies with chocolate caramel center.

I am now an expert at shucking pecans.
       At Thanksgiving, Wes went over to his grandparents' house and he and his grandpa picked pecans. I wasn't there but I imagine they picked pecans for appropriately seven hours and eighteen minutes while discussing the complete works of Krisnamurti. Wes returned with a large paper grocery sack FILLED with raw pecans (still shelled). I like pecans. I was excited. Raw nuts are expensive and we just got about 5-6 pounds for free! But I've never shucked nuts before in my life. I wasn't aware how difficult those little suckers would be to open. The excitement ended when I picked up a nutcracker for the first time. LOL
       Over the course of the next three months, Wes & I took shifts shucking them. We'd do a few handfuls at a time. Shuck nuts, hurt fingers, enjoy healthy snack, repeat. When we whittled down the amount in the paper grocery sack and had few enough left, we placed what was left in a Pyrex for storage. The time came for me to need to transport cupcakes to my Arbonne + RagsReborn party. The rest of the pecans had to go. Commence mass nutcracker pecan shucking party!

Text courtesy of Lacey.

After a night of labor, I was left with a rather large bowl of pecans. What to do with them? ... 

                                           

The literal fruits of our labor.

Wes' brother gave me a really nice (and large) box of chocolates for Christmas. I brought them to Christmas dinner at my mom's but we didn't get a chance to open them because there were already plenty of desserts. So, Wes & I took the chocolates back home and put them away.
       Fast forward almost two months ... today I remembered that I have a really nice box of unopened chocolate covered sea salt caramels just sitting in my kitchen waiting to be eaten. I had some for breakfast (they were delicious) and decided I wanted to use the rest for baking. I could have had more for breakfast but I didn't for the sake of my teeth and waistline.

There was only supposed to be 24 chocolates in the box but I got 25 when I opened it! Yay, bonus chocolate!

       I really like those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey's kiss in the middle--well, more like on top. I think they're called "Chocolate Thumbprints". I also really like Turtle (aka caramel and nut... not the animal) flavored desserts. A former coworker of mine would always bring "Trailer Trash Turtles" to our company potlucks. They're pretzels with Rolo candies and pecans on top. I've never made either thumbprints or turtles before but I imagine they're both pretty easy. And the two could probably be combined into one master cookie. Using that as my inspiration, I decided to bake some cookies with the Christmas chocolate candies in the center & crushed pecans in the dough. This is my first time baking these* & the recipe is mostly made up, except I used a sugar cookie recipe from a baking cookbook to get the correct proportions (because baking without correct proportions is disastrous). Wish me luck!
       *I will add adjustments to the recipe once I'm done baking...and if it's terrible, I'll just scrap this blog and post pictures of Sadie & Athena instead. LOL

Caramel stuffed cookie recipe:

       Ingredients- 

• 1/3 cup of granulated sugar*, 
• 1/3 cup of brown sugar*,
       *sugar cookies call for 1/2 cup each of brown & granulated sugars but I went with only 1/3 cup because I didn't want them to be too sweet with the candy in the center. The lesser amount of sugar did not affect the cookie texture or baking.
• 1 stick of butter (at room temperature & softened), 
• 1 egg, 
• 1 1/4 cup of flour, 
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 
• chocolate caramel candies (make sure you have one per cookie; not all chocolates are shown in this picture), 
• 1/4 cup of pecan pieces, 
• a dash of nutmeg & a splash of vanilla (both are optional)
        I was able to make 12 cookies from this recipe. The chocolates were pretty large (about 1 x 1 inch squares). The recipe should be able to make one and a half dozen cookies if the chocolate pieces were smaller. 

1. Get a large mixing bowl and cream both sugars & butter. This is easiest to do with an electric mixer.

2. Once creamed, add egg, vanilla & nutmeg and mix together until everything is well blended.

3. In a separate smaller bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda & pecans.

4. Slowly add the flour mixture into the butter mixture. I always use one hand to pour while the other hand is mixing.

5. Wrap completed dough in Saran Wrap and refrigerate for an hour (more or less... I never time these things.) You can preheat the oven while waiting on the dough to chill. Preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

6. After chilling...time to make cookies!! Take a chocolate candy and wrap dough around it. The cookies will be little dough balls with candy in the center. 

7. Place the balls onto a cookie sheet (you can grease the cookie sheet or use parchment paper but I have a Silpat and I LOVE it) and press down onto the balls until the tops are flat. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.

8. Cool and enjoy!! (but don't cool for too long...these are best eaten warm so you can truly experience the gooey caramel center!)

These cookies turned out so well!! So so yummy!! Especially for being the first time I ever made them. I have impressed myself. LOL If I had to tweak the recipe, I'd use smaller pieces of chocolate candy and maybe only one type of sugar. And that's only because they turned out a little sweet for my taste.

RagsReborn's first charity auction.

I had an absolute blast at my first Quarter Mania auction!! I will be participating in the next Quarter Mania (they happen quarterly & the show organizers are currently looking at available dates for the next one) and I highly encourage you to come. All proceeds benefit a different charity each time. 

Before I start, I want  to let you know that if you are looking for a home in Oklahoma, you should totally check out the city of Mustang. The houses are nice--aka new, large and in a quickly developing suburb, the people are beyond friendly and their community center is the nicest thing I have ever seen. 

       In the middle of town, there stands the Mustang Town Center. It is a ginormous complex that includes a library, fitness center, park, and multiple banquet halls. The auction was held in The Great Room (one of their larger banquet halls that had a kitchen). I've never been to Mustang, let alone the Town Center, so I parked on the entirely wrong side of the building. I must have looked bewildered because the first person I happened upon offered to help (she, unfortunately, didn't know where the auction was, either). I then wandered into the fitness center and the girl at the front desk gave me very detailed directions to The Great Room. She offered to walk me so I wouldn't get lost but her supervisor wasn't around to grant her permission and she couldn't leave her post. I found the room with no problem and checked in. The women running the auction were incredibly friendly and helpful. I dropped off my quarters & chose my table to set up my items for sale.

       Then came the task of hauling all my items in. As I was walking to my car, I saw two teenagers wearing shirts that announced they were "staff." I asked if they could help me carry in my trunk of pillows and they had no objection!! (I'm always stunned when I come across nice teenagers.) They were very polite and informed me that there was a much closer parking lot where I could move my car to unload the rest of my items. I parked right by the doors and managed the rest of the unloading on my own. Like I said before, Mustangians (or whatever they call themselves) are beyond friendly.

I set up right in front of the west window at sunset. Not smart.

Okay...back to the auction. This was my first Quarter Mania and didn't know what to expect. Luckily, I set up between two veterans. I was in between Brandy, who sold Pink Zebra and children's book author, Carly Cartmill. (Shout out to these lovely ladies!!) Doors opened at 5:30pm and patrons flooded in. All of our auction items were set up on a long table for viewing. Patrons could purchase paddles and quarters. There were so many in attendance that we ran out of paddles and the show organizers asked for people to sell their paddles back if they had bought multiples. There wasn't much time for shopping but vendors had tables along the walls just in case shoppers wandered by.

Pink Zebra to my right and Carly Cartmill to my left. She was promoting her latest book, Stuffed.

Patrons browsed & shopped, ate yummy Frito chili pie and mingled until about 7pm when the auction started. Here's how it worked:
1. The MC announced an item--which vendor the item is from, a brief description and how many quarters it cost to bid. Ex. OU themed tote and pillow gift set from RagsReborn. Two quarters to bid.
2. A volunteer (vendors were volunteers for the night) would grab the item and walk around showing it to all the tables.
3. Then the bidding would start. Each item cost either 1, 2 or 3 quarters per paddle to bid. If you wanted to be entered, you would drop your quarters into a little Tupperware that runners (that was my job) would pass out and collect. If an item cost 1 quarter and you bid 1 quarter, you got to raise one of your paddles, 2 quarters for two paddles, etc.
4. Once bidding ends and all the quarters are collected and all the paddles are raised in the air, the MC draws a number from the hopper.
5. If the number corresponds to the number written on your paddle, you win!

The OU basket was my highest grossing item.

It was simple & fun and everyone participated. It was crazy! I was on my feet all night running around everywhere collecting quarters and depositing them to the bank. What a riot! Everyone was in high spirits and items were flying off the table. After the first hour, we had a 10 minute intermission. I used that time to have a quick bite and make a few sales. I was able to network and meet some new friends.

Then the second half of the auction started and it was just as busy as the first. At the end of the night, I had a bag full of quarters and eight pillow sales! (That doesn't sound impressive but there was barely any time to for making sales, so I believe that was an accomplishment.) And more importantly, I passed out all of my Spring Craft Show schedule flyers & a lot of business cards. I talked to almost everyone in the room and gained some interest in custom orders. I even got invited to be a vendor at an event next weekend! I had to decline since I am participating in D.U.C.K Week.

I posted short videos of the auction on my Facebook and Instagram pages. I'm really glad I was a part of this and I am already signed up for the next one. I hope I see you there!