Back from Bead Fest Philly

I don't even know where to start reporting about the whole Philly trip! Should I start with how Mom got all irritated with me at 6am the day we were catching the plane because we had planned on leaving then, and I still hadn't showered? We ended up leaving at 6:30 and it worked out perfectly, despite a small panic when we discovered the longest lines EVER at the Southwest counter and the security line. I guess it was all back to school traffic? Very unexpected at the Austin airport.

Then there was the woman behind us on one leg of the flight who spent five minutes explaining in great detail to her seatmate about the doll she hand felted with a tomato head, and the arms were the flower stems, and the hands were holding....a potato. At the point she said potato, Mom and I both burst out in loud, inappropriate laughter that made my stomach ache from the silly of it all.

I taught three classes while we were there, and Mom held down booth duty by herself on Friday while I was in the classroom. Saturday and Sunday we faced the masses of beaders together. What a wonderful show it was! Huge crowds, happy people, and LOTS OF BEADS! I got to meet a number of folks in person who I'd never been lucky enough to encounter at shows before, like the awesome Paulette Baron. We chatted away for the longest time, and if I hadn't had to get back to the show floor, it would likely have been longer. I got to hug on friends, and make new ones. I think my Friday class of Night at the Opera students might have been my most fun national teaching experience ever! The ladies in the class all were funny and silly (my kind of people!) and we giggled our way through it. I adopted Leah Ready's mother, Joyce, who was in my class as my second mother because I adore her so. And getting Leah as a sister in the process ain't bad either!

As we slowly sold out of many of our kits over the weekend, I discovered that I had underpacked for the show. Agh! So next year I'll be making the trip to Philly a road trip and driving instead. That way we'll be able to be much better prepared, with our full booth setup which includes lights and the cash register. I've already talked with two area bead stores about possibly teaching there the weekend before and the weekend after Bead Fest Philly 2011, which will not only be delightful, but help pay for the extra driving costs too.

This week I'm working on business stuff, to try to free up some dedicated beading time next week. I have orders to ship, some instructions to write, and some class info to send off to the ladies at Beadoholique in Houston.