I'd have more to say about the shows had I posted in a timely fashion. At this point, much of the experience is a fleeting memory.
I left Minnesota on November 30
th, adding more frequent
flyer miles to my formerly Northwest Airlines - now Delta account. We spent a day getting organized and loading the truck, leaving California for Arizona on December 2. Some folk manage to make the drive to Arizona in one day. We did not.
We travel with a very large book, sort of like the Quilter's Bible, that provides information on all the quilt shops in the United States. Dangerous publication. So, with stops here and there along the way, we make the drive a 2 day event.
We spent our first night in
Claremont, California - fun for me as I lived there for a couple of years. We were able to drive by my old house and check out the town, which had changed so much in 20 years! Funny how that can happen.
Our show in Tempe was very nice. We were so lucky to stay with Georgia's friend Claudia who provided first class accommodations, great food, lovely conversation and fabulous assistance with our booth set up and tear down. She even provided a flashlight beam for our last customer of the show to complete her shopping after the sun had set.
We had a good location, lots of customers, friendly people and a few Minnesota Vikings fans who were in town for the NFL game. Of course, Vikings lost the game, so our experience at the sports bar, the only 2 Vikings fans in the whole place was . . . . interesting.
We had a visit with Georgia's friend Nancy in Prescott, AZ for the few days
between the shows and then headed for Tucson. What a show! We had good sales, nice customers, and the most interesting parade of characters we've ever experienced at a show. Try to imagine Berkley, CA in the 60's, plus the Renaissance Fair, plenty of Goth, many senior citizens, and more chihuahua dogs than I've ever seen in one place, and you'll get the idea. It was fun, crazy, and a lot of laughs. Georgia spent the better part of an afternoon flirting with an adorable Santa Claus.
We got back to California December 15, and I flew back to Minnesota on December 16.
I got Christmas put together in 8 days. Whew.
I should mention that while doing these two shows, Georgia was in so much pain with a knee injury on her right knee - the driving knee, so the entire trip was quite a challenge for her.
That leads us into January, and Georgia's knee surgery on the 28
th. I flew out (Hello! Northwest Airlines! now Delta) to be with her for the surgery and recovery. We had a lovely cozy time at her cabin, venturing out only twice post surgery. She has recovered nicely with a slight set back due to shoveling out after a snow storm.
During our seclusion, Georgia sat with her leg propped up, and using her lap top, she opened our second
Etsy shop - I'll post those details in my next blog.
So, 2009 was exciting and very busy for the Bag-It Designs ladies. We opened an
Etsy store in March, we did numerous shows in California, the
Midwest and Arizona. We sewed, and sewed, and sewed. We sold lots of products. We talked about our business. We made plans.
Stay tuned.
