Crack of Dawn

We were awake waaaay before the sun came up on both Saturday and Sunday trying to get on the “standby” list for the College of the Desert Street Fair. Standby check-in was at 5:30 am.

Of course we didn’t have a clue of what we were doing, so on Saturday we were there before 5 and found ourselves weaving around campus trying to find things. While Liam headed for check-in, I was on a mission to find Lot 15 for temporary parking. After 20 minutes of driving around, I just picked a spot on campus and sat there until Liam called. As luck would have it… it was Lot 15, and I didn’t even know it.

Just before 7am on Saturday, Liam called that our number was picked from the lottery, and we were in the show. We weren’t all that surprised because the rain was keeping the regular vendors away. Despite the very wet weather, and the likelihood that there wouldn’t be a lot of people attending, we decided we would give it a go and chalk it up as a learning experience.

A Learning Experience

There were many lessons to be learned on that day. The entire “standby” process was quite a production… paperwork, lots of waiting, a little confusion and a quite a few people with limited patience. Painless for the most part, but still plenty of hoops to jump through.

There was light rain most of the day and shopper traffic was light, but we still sold some jewelry and added some names to the mailing list… and learned a lot about the “system.” Meanwhile, on Sunday the weather was gorgeous, traffic was a little heavier, but sales were less than rainy Saturday. Imagine that.

The verdict… we’ll continue doing this show. We didn’t make a lot of money, but any income is a blessing right now. Plus, the customers who did buy were enthusiastic and interesting… the type of people we like.

Yesterday was spent packing Pat and driving to Phoenix. Just as we pulled in, we got a call that her flight today was canceled because of a big storm in the Midwest. Looks like she’ll be staying with us a few days more. Her flight now leaves on Thursday.

Here’s a look back at our first week in Palm Springs… including shots from the College of the Desert Street Fair: