AZ Soap Gathering

Monday, June 05, 2006

Yesterday hubby and I attended the 8th Annual Arizona Soap and Candlemaker's Gathering. It was the 8th year for the Gathering - the first year we went.

There were *loads* of folks there. I heard someone say 148. Not sure if that was accurate or just a guess. Anyway, lots of people. We provided every single person with a sample of charssi Spoon Fudge as well as also providing a door prize of 5 full size 10 ounce jars. Seemed like everyone we spoke to it liked it - woo!

I ended up with a raging headache due to all the fragrance oils floating around in the conference room. It smelled wonderful, but was too much for my olfactory senses to handle.

We were wandering around looking for somewhere to seat ourselves when we saw a nametag with a name that looked familiar. Hubby went up to her and said, "Hi, do you have a website?" She looked at him a bit oddly (what kind of an opening question is that?) and then slowly said, "yes. I do."

"What's the url?"
"It's desertdancer.net."

By now, I'm sure she thought we were a couple of complete nut jobs. Run away! Run away! Hubby started giggling (yes, even manly men giggle. trust me.) and told her he was Joe, her web designer! I'm sure she was quite relieved to find that we weren't unknown wackos, but wackos she already somewhat knew.

We ended up sitting next to her for the entire day and had a very nice visit. It's always fun to put a face to a voice you've spoken to many times and countless emails over the course of many months. Shameless plug: check out their site if you've not already - they carry some pretty incredible bath/body products.

The table we sat at was earmarked for a particular soap forum that I'm a member of. So not only was I able to place a face to a client, I was also able to see quite a few people I interact with on a daily basis as well as yet another client. All in all, quite a bit of fun.

There were a number of speakers speaking on topics ranging from how to make your own mineral makeup (fun!) to one gal who had us in stitches as she walked us through the use of an oil called Sea Buckthorn Seed. This oil looks eerily like a bottle of blood and stains like you wouldn't believe. She rubbed it on both sides of her face with hysterical results. Orange patches like tan-in-a-bottle gone horribly wrong. There was also a guy who did a step-by-step tutorial on making your own organic shampoo. I found that particular topic to be incredibly helpful and very interesting. I'm all about trying to make my own shampoo now!

There were a few speakers who couldn't quite get the attention of the crowd and during one particuarly boring stretch, a few gals sitting at our table got the giggles. Oy. Don't put me near giggles, especially poorly-timed giggling. I nearly had to get up and leave I got to giggling so hard. I have to say though - there isn't much more fun than giggling quietly (or at least attempting to) when you're not supposed to be. Reminds me of the time a girlfriend and I had to leave a wedding because we got the giggles so bad we were getting death rays from those around us. We slithered out and ran outside just howling with laughter.... but I digress.

I think hubby and I will be going again next year. A good spot of fun in the midst of the stress and chaos of work. Well worth the price of admission.

And for those that are wondering, my eye is about 95% normal. Still a bit of tearing here and there but as of last Tues/Wed, it had cleared up. Last Monday I was really worried about possible surgery as it was really REALLY bad. But, I guess it had to get worse before it got better. Whew. No surgery for now - that's all I care about.