No Coast Craftorama

My Pooky Bear, the Qat Lady and myself have been doing this whole No Coast Craftorama for several years now.  (I can hardly believe it.)  The first time was 2008 and I still have those earrings.  Obviously I didn't get anything in 2009.  The next year we introduced alcohol to the experience.  That was funny because the moment we sat down at the restaurant, one went one way and the other went somewhere else to secretly by Christmas presents for each other.  I was the beard.  Last year we kept up the tradition and by "tradition" I mean the law of the universe that there must be snow on No Coast day.  Always.

View from the show down onto the Midtown Greenway.  The Freewheel Bike Shop had a mountain biking demo area set up along the Greenway.  The Greenway is just as well plowed as the rest of the side streets were.  The tradition continues.

 
This year was no exception to the snow rule.  We had a mere inch on the ground.  And the promise of a butt kicking snow tonight.  (It hasn't started yet, but I'm sitting at home waiting for it.)  Pooky Bear met me as I was finishing my run, she'd left super early in case roads were bad.  We hung out and waited for the Qat Lady before piling in the car and heading over.

This is the earliest in the day we'd ever been to the show.  That was definitely a good idea as it wasn't nearly as crowded.  However, a lot of vendors told us they'd sold out of things (certain sizes, popular items, etc) on Friday.  This is the first time in a few years we've been on Saturday.  We also noticed that this year many vendors had iPads and were able to accept credit card payments via their devices.  It was really slick.  Every year a few more vendors start taking cards but it's largely a cash only affair.  (I still need to write a blog post about why I never carry cash.)

Qat Lady was looking for a purse and possibly Christmas gifts for her family.  Pooky Bear was looking for gifts for nephews and nieces, and possibly new toys for herself as well.  I, as ever, was looking for earrings, although the sight of my last credit card bill put me off actually purchasing anything.  Oy.

We headed over to Maria's Cafe for breakfast.  Everyone had one corn pancake.  I had two.  (Clearly it was the right decision because it's 8pm and I haven't eaten since.)  I oohed and aahed over purchased.  Everyone was really excited.  Just so we're clear - they both wanted that purse.  And there was another one, so they both could've had it.  The negotiations were a mark of true friendship.