Thank you Secret Santa!

I participated in a Secret Santa gift exchange this year with some of the ACE (Amazing Carolina Etsians) team members. On Friday, I received a parcel on the front door.

In the box was a beautiful handbound journal from UberArt.etsy.com, a pretty handmade Christmas card, a big bar of chocolate handmade soap from Barebummbath.etsy.com (Yumm!!) and my favorite chocolates-Ferrero Rocher!

Thank you, Secret Santa! Whoever you are, you nailed it!

Of parties and eggs and SpongeBob

It's the time of year for holiday parties and Santa gift exchanges.
Last night, we went to Jason's colleague's house for their holiday party. We all pitched in and brought a dish. So I made some deviled eggs. I boiled 2 dozen eggs. Broke one. (Fried that one for later) And some didn't peel well. I ate those uglier looking ones and boiled 5 more. Sliced those eggs in half and placed 36 halves on the egg tray. And ate the extras. And ate a couple more at the party.
(I hope there is nothing wrong with eating too many eggs in one day. My cholesterol level probably just hit the roof)

Party was great. We each brought an anonymous gift and did the Secret Santa/White Elephant gift exchange. You pick a number. Smallest number gets to pick a gift first. Number 2 gets to decide if he wants to steal Number 1's gift or pick a gift from under the tree, and so on. If a gift gets stolen for the 3rd time, it's frozen and nobody gets to steal it anymore.

I decided to steal someone's Panera cookies and Panera gift card. Unfortunately, someone stole it right back from me. There was one last gift under the tree which I could not pick because it was the gift we brought. So I had to steal again. We ended up going home with a hideous pineapple frilly handbag (think SpongeBob), some chocolates and a handheld game.
But it was better than that Snowman lamp that Todd got stuck with, or the apron that keeps coming back year after year... Maybe the SpongeBob handbag will show up again next year as a gift bag.

Strangely enjoyable

It's been awhile since I last went to church (I probably shouldn't be admitting this here). So I had planned to go to church yesterday. But since we got back into town at almost 1am the previous night, I had a late start and attended the later mass at 1pm at a different church. I was 15 minutes early and as I sat down, I noticed the "atmosphere" around me was a little different.
Then mass started and I realized that it was a Spanish mass.
I did not understand a single word except for an occasional "Uno, Dos, Tres". I stood when everyone stood and sat when everyone sat and enjoyed the La bamba beat that was added into conventional churchy music. I thought that was kinda cool. And one guy was doing some sort of a salsa walk as he was walking up the aisle. For a moment, I forgot that I was actually in the U.S.

I left shortly after and spent the rest of the time at their "reflection garden" outside. There was a pond and fountain and stations of the cross that were engraved in stone, a stone altar and a little area which I assume is where they sometimes hold outdoor masses. Very pretty. Very peaceful. I could have sat there for a good hour enjoying the solitude but it was too darn cold so I went home.

First Craft show experience

The day finally came! After worrying and stressing and obsessing about this day, it arrived and I had a great time. I think Jason did too. (He got a little bored in the afternoon and thankfully there was a radio that he could tune in to listen to the ballgame)

We got to know and meet Gayle and her family. She's one of our team members from the ACE team on Etsy. Our tables were just beside each other in the same room. And I enjoyed their company tremendously. Her son, Mitchell, makes cards and they were a big hit. We bought some and Jason told him that we're going to send those to Malaysia. He was so excited and it really made his day coz he could not stop telling everybody about it.

There wasn't much of a crowd. Most of the buyers were their own church members. But everyone were so very nice.
Parents-in-law came during lunch time to help relieve us so that we could grab a quick lunch.

I sold a few scrubbies and Jason did a good job with his all-purpose spice and giving out samples. We went in with zero expectations and was just hoping to have an experience and meet some wonderful people. And we did.

That night, I slept like a baby. So relieved. And so very tired.
I admire those crafters who do shows like these almost every week. Where do they get all that energy from?

List of "must haves" for a craft show

I'll be doing my very first craft show tomorrow. So I'm going to list what to bring here (so I know where to look if I were to do another craft show)

Inventory
Tablecloth
Shop Signage
Price signage
Change (dollar bills)
Apron / money holder
Business cards + holder (I'm using the EQ3 glass dish)
Tape (duct tape)
Pens, markers
Stapler
Paper bags, merchandise bags
Camera (and batteries)
Calculator
safety pins
hand sanitizer
baskets, wooden bowl, vase
boxes (to add additional layer)
table runner
Water
First aid kit
Tylenol

I am probably forgetting something.

Holiday Gift Guide

Just discovered my bath scrubbie is being featured on UpstateFancy's holiday gift guide!

Bake Sale

Our office had our annual Pink on Purpose Fund Raiser on Friday. Everyone was encouraged to bring in a baked item. So I made some coconut almond bars.

Life as it is today

Someone sent me this today :

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today. If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today. If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today. But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received $214.00. Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. It is called the 401-Keg. A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found that Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon! Makes you proud to be an American!

:)