Weekend Wind-Down #82 - I.C.E. Atlanta Edition

This past saturday we participated in the INDIE CRAFT EXPERIENCE, ATLANTA (I.C.E. ATLANTA) holiday craft sale...but before I can even talk about that, we have to skip back to the Friday night beforehand. It has become a tradition of ours to load up on PIZZA the night before a huge craft sale, and we always load up at the TRANSMETROPOLITAN pizzeria, just down the street from our hood. We always order a large vegetarian pizza - way more than two people can handle - eat a couple of slices, then take the rest home. We learned several craft sales ago that cold pizza (or rather, room temperature pizza) makes for a great meal when you're stuck at your booth during a busy craft sale. We just wrap the individual slices in tin foil and place in an insulated lunch bag. When the munchies strike...voilá!...a hearty slice of pizza is at hand to chase away those hungry feelings...







Early Saturday morning, we headed out for Atlanta and the old SOUTHERN MILLS building which houses the cavernous AMBIENT + STUDIO photo studio. Our load-in time was at 7am, which meant we had to leave Athens at 5:30am, which meant that we got up at 4:30 am. This wasn't as bad as it sounded, because we loaded the car the night before and pretty much had everything prepared way ahead of time. Actually, this was probably the most prepared we've ever been for a craft sale. We've been doing this for several years now, so I guess we can chalk it up to experience. One thing that we did that was really helpful was that we actually set up our table in our LIVING ROOM about a week before the sale. Before we even got to the sale, we had already planned where everything was going to be and how everything was going to work. That, combined with a four hour buffer between load-in and the start of the sale, equalled a relatively stress-free job setting up our tables...





Missy's plush BOILED PEANUTS stewing in a black cauldron turned out to be a big hit!





















































Business was brisk and there was virtually no let down in the action...we barely had enough time to leave the tables and look around the studio and do some shopping of our own. In the end, the sale ended up being one of our best one ever! As the sale wound down and the sun dipped into the horizon, we pulled out our battery-operated LED CHRISTMAS LIGHTS to help illuminate our tables, enabling us to squeeze in a few more sales before finally calling it a very successful night...













FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Having so much fun at the craft sale!
RAOUL - I.C.E. Atlanta!

WORST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - The magnets not fitting on the back of my one-inch badges.
RAOUL - Not getting enough rest before the sale...but that's a given.

FUNNIEST MOMENT OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Raoul talking in "emoticons"
RAOUL - Girl: "what does F.M.L. mean?", Me: "Fuck My Life", Girl: "What does J.A.H. mean?", Me: "that's JAH...you know, it's what Rastafarians call GOD...it's for the Rastafarian that comes to the craft show thinking, 'there's nothing for me here...wait, mon...look at THIS!'"

WORD OR PHRASE OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - "Sometimes she's in the office, sometimes she's getting fat" (in reference to the comic strip "Cathy")
RAOUL - "What does J.A.H. stand for?"

FAVORITE MEAL OF THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Zyka, in Decatur!
RAOUL - Indian food at Zyka, even though it gave my tummy a green sad face the following day.

FAVORITE THANKSGIVING DISH?
MISSY - Mashed potatoes and gravy!
RAOUL - Dressing/stuffing.

THREE THINGS ON YOUR TO-DO LIST THIS WEEK?
MISSY - Clean up, make a Christmas list, and figure out what kind of dessert we want to have for Thanksgiving
RAOUL - Fix the vaccuum, clean up the house before Missy's parents get here, catch up on sleep.

PERSONAL SOUNDTRACK FOR THE PAST WEEK?
MISSY - Beirut, Bjork, The Cure, Alessi's Ark.
RAOUL - The Cure, Tuscadero, Finally Punk, Stereolab, The Very Best, C.O.C.O., Adam Green, Vampire Weekend, Cryptacize, Mayer Hawthorne's "Hawthorne Radio" mix on Stones Throw podcast.