It's gem show time!

The wave of gem-mineral-fossil-bead shows hit Tucson this weekend. When I drove home from belly dance class Thursday night, I saw tents all over the place. One vendor even looked like he was doing business at 10:40pm, but I suspect he was probably just chatting with fellow vendors after a late evening of setting-up.

I'm actually taking a more low-key approach to gem show this year. I haven't even touched a lot of what I purchased last year, and right now I'm a lot more interested in investing my spare cash into belly dance costumes and accessories than in more random beads. As such, I decided to completely skip Gem Mall this year. I may come to regret this if I have a sudden rush of crystal bracelet sales, but oh well. If I have a sudden rush, I can afford to restock from a slightly more expensive mail-order source.

But that's not to say that I'm skipping the shows entirely! I'm just being more judicious in what I purchase. Today I went to To Bead True Blue, because I wanted to get the new Green Girl designs before they sold out. After chatting with Andrew and Greg and getting what I came for, I browsed the rest of the show, where the only thing I purchased was an $8 boxwood netsuke for Chris. I was tempted by some unusual jingly rings, but I'm not buying any jinglies until after I've been paid for my Best Bead job.

While at the show, I ran into frequent blog commenter Jolene, of Funky Monkey Girls! She recognized me from my profile picture and introduced herself and her Mom. This encounter reminded me that I really need to stop being so anti-social, it's silly for me to live in the same city as someone and only see them at gem show!

I'm going to try to make daily updates during the show, for those friends who are living vicariously through me, but it may be hard. My schedule for the rest of the week:
Monday: Gym, grocery shopping, finish "Luna Fae" necklace, string three packages of crystals, do laundry.
Tuesday: Show set-up starts at 10am. Beadwork magazine party afterwards.
Wednesday: Working Best Bead Show, 10am-8pm. Oh, how I hate Wednesdays! Afterwards, gaming at my place, finish "Luna Fae" if I failed on Monday.
Thursday: Work Best Bead, take off early at 5 to go to dance class in Tempe.
Friday: Work as usual, followed by Swarovski party. Probably grab food on the way home, if last year's party is any indication.
Saturday: Work, then awesome dinner!
Sunday: Show closes at 5, possibly stay for tear-down.
Monday again: Run over to To Bead True Blue, except it's called Tucson Bead Show, and hope that Christi Friesen has a bead left with my name on it. Possibly also hit "metaphysical row" in search of jinglies. Technically I should also go to the gym, and go grocery shopping -- any bets on whether that actually happens?