Work Shitt
This past weekend was my first outdoor vending event, and while I definitely had some sweet moments, the overall vibes were not so great. And while I usually don’t talk about negative experiences, I think it’s good to talk about the fails as much as the wins, so lets set the scene:
For starters - it was raining. The event was located outdoors from 10a-5p and set up started at 7am - and the entire time it was drizzling. Not the big fat drops that would have forced us to move to the rain date (which was perfectly sunny btw), but the pesky little tiny droplets that get everything feeling moist.
And yeah I know folks hate that word - but that’s what we were. Moist. All day.
And I sell paper products so it was a nightmare deciding how and when to take things out of their dry packaging. I wasn’t able to bring my mural outdoors at all, because it’s printed on very thick cardboard and would have absorbed every drop. So instead kids could color a sticker that I promised to stick for them later. It was still cute. But definitely not what I had planned on doing.
In addition to that, I was located on an uneven half grass-half concrete patch of land, which meant by the end of the day my shoes were soaked with mud, my tables had warped from the moisture mixed with the uneven ground, and my body was covered in tiny red bumps from the mosquitoes that loved my tent.
I wasn’t the only vendor struggling with the rain. Many of the other people vending had hand painted or drawn goods that couldn’t get wet, antique and fabric based products that shouldn’t get wet, just a whole lot of us trying to keep our products in good condition while still remaining optimistic about the turnout.
Which - due to the rain was really minimal.
Now all of that said, I was one of the few booths that had people standing in it. Kids often wanted to color a flower which meant their parents had to look around my booth. And I made sure to remind the kids to ask mom or dad to take them back to The Mill to see the mural in person when my shop was open.
So - it wasn’t all for nothing.
But I didn’t make any money. In fact, even if we don’t talk about the money I spent on alpaca related products, this was a net-negative marketing event for me. And while I don’t measure every marketing venture in terms of sales (conferences usually don’t have a direct correlation!) this definitely felt like the kind of thing I should have gracefully backed out of when I saw how wet everything was.
PLUS they hired a live band, which normally I love, but they were playing nothing by country all day. Not the bluesy-folksy kind that I like… but the god loving, beer drinking, truck driving nonsense that makes me want to fill my ear canals with mod podge.
All that said, I had some really cute alpaca neighbors! Black Magic and Dave were my besties by the end of day, I got to take them for a frollick in the grass while the event was slow, and I’ve now decided an alpaca farm is probably in my future.
Life Shittt
Despite the vending event being so rough, I was insanely supported the whole day by someone I’m still not fully willing to share with the whole internet. But it’s worth mentioning that this person kept my spirits up all day. They made sure I had food and drinks and relief when I needed to take potty breaks. They kept me laughing when the rain got worse, and let me whine but never get discouraged.
And best of all, despite it being so very hellish, they still are willing to help my with CPC, so for once I’ve got muscle coming with me to a show.
Oops. Not me spilling the beans that I’ll be in Chicago in November!
Planner Shittt
If you missed last week’s blog where I walked through my entire history of planner sizes and styles you’ll definitely want to catch up. What I found most fun about that exercise is that I’ve essentially ended right back where I started off. A5 Rings. She really is a phenomenal size and only ever trumped by B6 Rings for those of use with slightly less intense schedules.
We’re now two full months into this A5 Ring set up and I’m not planning on changing a thing. Although I have been itching to hop back into one of my other A5 set ups, we’re going to rock this coastal design at least through the end of July.
Random Shittt
I’m still on my HKIA streak. Hello Kitty and Sanrio in general, were my first real stationery related love. There was a tiny Vietnamese shop around the corner from my school that sold a number of Vietnamese snacks and goodies in addition to having a huge section of Sanrio stationery. It was there that I got my first ever 6 Ring planner - a cute little blue jelly cover with a blue bear on it.
I loved that planner so hard - I only ever used like six of it’s pages because I didn’t want to ruin it.
GAH. I wish I had saved it, this is the same one, listed on ebay, totally forgot it also came with the mini keychain.
Anyways all that to say, once a Sanrio lover, always a Sanrio lover and by gosh that Hello Kitty Island Adventure is too much fun to put down. If you’re also playing and would like to share resources/limited time outfits and furniture, I’d love to play multiplayer with someone!
