A couple weeks ago, I ventured outside of the 415 with my meaty art in tow (oh, plus Steve and some egg mcmuffins) to participate in the Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles. It was my first show outside of San Francisco, and despite a lower turnout than anticipated (thanks a lot, Carmageddon) I’m definitely counting the show as a success. Why?
1. An outdoors show that was actually WARM!
True, sometimes I’ll get a rare warm Sunday show with Indiemart, but for the most part in SF, it is inside shows or crazy windy outdoors ones. LA was lovely, tented, and a full 30 degrees warmer than SF at the same time.
2. Confirming that LA folks love meat too.
There were a couple of people who didn’t quite seem to “get” the strong rallying cry of “Los Angeles is for Meat Eaters” but overall, I got meet a ton of excited food and meat lovers, including numerous chefs, and friends of chefs.
3. We got and used a dolly.
No idea why it took us over a year of doing craft shows to spend a mere $28 to get the most amazing, back and marriage saving device ever. Thanks to Margaret of Paper Pastries for the insanely key tip.
4. Visiting The Bruery and Beachwood BBQ
Heading south also meant the chance to see my custom artwork I made for Beachwood BBQ in Long Beach (I might have had some amazing ribs and Telegraph Reserve Wheat on tap while I was there too). The place was fantastic, and finally getting to meet Lena and Gabe, the owners was such a treat. I’ve been delighted to discover that so many of these awesome business I love are co-owned by husband and wife teams.
Seeing the custom art in person was such a crazy trip and so exciting. As you can see.
We also managed to sneak in a private tour of The Bruery in Placentia, courtesy of the crazy nice and generous Ben, PR dude extraordinaire. I’ll have a separate post about that.
6. Palm Springs, baby.
Oh, and a quick jaunt to Palm Springs after the show didn’t hurt a damn thing. More on that later….
