Anyone for a craft?

I went with my roommie & her family (aka her parents, brother, sister-in-law & 3 cute kids) to the Festival of Crafts at the Stampede Roundup Centre.

Talk about claustrophobia.

Talk about fun!

For only $5/adult (as I am no longer a student. Please pause for a moment of happy dancing. Thanks.), you get into this huge exhibition area that's absolutely jam-packed full of booths that are, in turn, jam-packed with all sorts of interesting crafts (gawdy or gorgeous, depending on your taste [or lack thereof] - don't worry, I'm not talking about you), artwork, soaps, lotions, foods, dishes, beverages, etc. If you can handle trying to keep track of 8 other people and yourself while squeezing through gaps in the crowd (keeping in mind that you're rather bulkier than normal, given the bag you're carrying and your winter gear too), waiting for bottlenecks to clear and let you through, or waiting for the person/people in front of you to move just 3 more inches to the left so you can see that watercolour of a rooster at a better angle, it's definitely worth the $5 admission fee. And you can get a re-entry pass, so I could go back tomorrow and pay, oh what was it, oh yeah - nothing! All for another chance to spend more of you hard-earned (or, as the case may be, not-so-hard-earned) cash.

The only problem with fairs like this is that it illustrates to me how inept and clueless I am when it comes to getting even just stocking stuffers for my family!! I have absolutely no clue what to get anyone aside from the 2-yr-old (and yes, I did get her something). And then it brings up the whole dilemma (now that I'm no longer in university and actually earning enough money to get gifts for some people) of deciding who to get something for and who to not get something for. And then there's the item that you find and think is so cool and great and wonderful, not that you would ever get it for yourself, that you spend a good while trying to think if there's anyone in your family who would actually want it. Maybe I'll just go back and get it for myself. I thought it was pretty darn cute. Uh-oh, and the knick-knack-accumulation of clutter-that-you-absolutely-need-and-can't-live-without-even-though-it'll-sit-in-a-box-for-11.5-months-of-the-year begins. And reminds you of the fact that you're hoping to spend the majority of the rest of your life in a third-world country that will help you see that you really don't need most of what you already have in the first place.

Ah, the frustrations of living in a consumeristic culture. Though I must say that if it wasn't consumeristic, we'd have an equally frustrating cultural foible that would ensnare me just as thoroughly as the accumulation of cute or fun or 'needed' items.

This is a weird post. I'm going to go now. Oh wait. Stop. No.

Last night my roommie & I went to my work's Christmas Party. We got all decked up and a coworker of mine picked us up and drove us there. My oh my, it was fun!

Picture a huge ballroom at the Hyatt.
Picture ladies (they were part of the entertainment - don't worry, they weren't guests!) dressed in cat (sexy, not Halloween-ish) costumes.
Picture some of them up on pedestals acting like statues.
Picture great live music (a few bands, last of which was Urban Divide - we've decided to try and find out where else they're playing in town so we can go see what they're like) and a dance floor.
Picture well over 1,000 people decked out (to varying degrees) in their finery, inching through the throngs in the hopes of finding one or more coworkers, or at least someone they knew.
Picture scrumptious food (apparently the sushi was some of the best my roommate's ever had. Don't worry, I didn't have any.) and desserts (including chocolate fondues).
Picture cocktail stations where the drink is poured into an ice sculpture so it snakes its way down through the tubing and into your glass.
And then picture two of the Japanese beaver hunters I spoke of here.

Proof that we were there:



I gotta go do some research for her paper =). It's kinda fun sometimes getting back into scholastic mode...