Vegas Winter Market 2022

Curiosity. Curiosity was the biggest reason that I wanted to attend the Vegas Winter Market. I really had no idea what to expect when I got there, other than it was huge and there would be a lot of walking. So I packed my ugly (but comfy) shoes, booked our flights, and away we went…

I honestly don’t think the word “huge” is adequate for describing the enormity of the campus of the World Market Center. According to what I could find online, there are MILLIONS of square feet of space between the buildings. Two of them are 16 floors apiece! I had seen pictures, but WOW – being there really made it hit home just HOW big the market is. I was definitely a little overwhelmed.

Thankfully we realized on our second day wandering in and out of vendor booths and showrooms that two of the buildings really didn’t pertain to me – they were filled with the large stuff like furniture, beds, rugs – things that I am in no way looking to put in my Cottage. I really wish I had taken a step counter with me though. Even though we spent the bulk of our time just carousing the Expo and only one of the three buildings, I know I had to have walked miles. At least my poor hips and back thought so!!

There were SO MANY beautiful things to look at – trying to take it all in was exhausting. The expo portion of the market was set up like a typical vendor fair for the most part. There were candles, purses, jewelry, rugs, home decor – all sorts of goods and services on display in each booth. Some of the vendors handed out samples which was fun – I got home with several tiny bars of soap and a couple of little bottles of lotion, lol. There was even a cash and carry area in the back with all sorts of interesting things that you could take with you.

The permanent showrooms in the larger buildings were something else. Each floor is set up kind of like a mall – each showroom is its own entity, fully enclosed by glass walls with sometimes several doorways that opened in to the hallways (the several doorways thing made it impossible to go out the way you came in, so there were many times we exited a showroom and had no idea where we were or which direction we had been going, lol). Some showrooms took up a good portion of the whole floor, and others were relatively small, but every one was packed to the brim with all sorts of wonderful items. I was in awe of all the Christmas on display in many of them – and the lighting!! I could have spent a whole day just looking at chandeliers!!

We spent the better portion of 4 days at the market. I saw so many beautiful things that would be a great fit for the cottage. I gathered several catalogs and business cards and applied for several wholesale accounts. I learned quite a bit, and I definitely want to go back next year. At least then I will be a bit more prepared and will know what to expect – but I am already looking forward to it!!

Just Short of a Full Fence

My husband has got to learn not to jinx us by saying things like “it should only take a couple of hours”. Seriously. Doesn’t he know by now (it’s only been like 20 some years!) that things NEVER go that simply for us?

We made it to the Cottage at a decent hour this morning even though we had to make an extra stop because Home Depot didn’t have a fence stretcher tool. Thankfully Lowe’s did. I have to say that the process of putting up a chain link fence is NOT as simple as my husband seemed to think it would be. Just the process of unrolling the stuff is a pain! We didn’t have the little bar strippy thing that you are supposed to put in the fence to hook the stretcher to, so our first attempt at pulling the fence tight had to be aborted so that we didn’t completely mangle the fencing. Thankfully we had a piece of metal conduit laying around that we were able to use and it did the trick.

Once we finally had the first section of fence in place and taught, we realized that our top and bottom rails were too far apart to nail the fencing to both. We had assumed when we put them in that a six foot fence meant a six foot fence – but we assumed wrong. Apparently in the world of fencing, six foot means 5 feet and 10 and one half inches . . . who knew? So next weekend my husband gets to move all of the bottom boards up – one and a half inches . . . . yay. We would have done it today but of course we had no idea we would need the necessary tool, and it was sitting in our truck – in the driveway – at home. Oh well. Onward and upward.

Once we figured out our strategy we were able to get the far side fence done without too much more trouble. Well – other than all the cursing my husband did every time he would hit one of those stupid staples with the hammer and it would fall out of the board and on to the ground . . . . it was a LOT of cursing. I hope the people in church couldn’t hear him . . . .

We were finally ready to start on the front side when we realized we would be short by about 18 feet of fencing. Again . . . . yay. We went ahead and put up what we had and then moved on to the gates. It was here that we realized that one of the gate fastener thingys that we had grabbed was the wrong kind – so out of the three gates, we were able to put up two. They at least went up without too much of a fight. That was something I suppose.

Then it was on to the last chore of the day – cutting the tops off of the posts so that they were all even steven. Now, I love my husband, but he doesn’t cut a very straight line with a reciprocating saw. Definitely not his forte. But he got the job done. A little touch up paint and clean-up and we were finally ready to pack it in and head for home. Around 6 hours after we’d started. And we’re not quite done. But it’s progress!!

I Almost Have a Website!

There are a million other things I could have – or should have been doing today, but instead I spent my ENTIRE day working on my website. We were supposed to go to The Cottage and work on the fence but I don’t think either of us were truly motivated to do anything resembling physical labor today. So, my husband got a day to watch stupid movies on the ole’ boob tube and I drank coffee and cursed at my computer. The website isn’t perfect yet and there are things I will need to work on soon, but for now at least there is some content worth publishing!