First Friday Soap Debut

First Friday was a success! We don't have the final count on how many bars of soap we sold but there was a big dent made in our display for sure. Thanks to all of our wonderful friends who came out to support us!

Here is a brief run-down. First of all, to set the atmosphere, I have to describe the building this all takes place in to you. Father and Son is ostensibly an antique shop housed in a 100-plus year old three story building downtown. It is actually one part antique, two parts vintage clothing, three parts retro stuff from your childhood - and the top floor is broken up into several artists studios. It's a pretty funky place (with no air conditioning.)

So anyway, the evening started out kind of slow. When we got there a little past 7, the band was warming up downstairs, there weren't many people browsing. Some of our friends began to stop by and we had time to chat with them. When the third, behind the scenes, member of 808 arrived, it was time for the champagne toast!

Things started to pick up around 8 and then got really busy between 9-10. The whole night we were doing a raffle to give away a couple free bars of soap. That gave us a good conversation starter when people walked into the room. I was a little nervous to start, but it definitely got easier. I had a hard time seeing myself as an "artist" the way I felt people would see me. That's all new to me!

My favorite thing was that a couple of people came in and were really blown away by the soap. They'd say "whoa!" like they'd never seen anything like it before. One guy in particular was really enthusiastic about it. It was a neat crowd and a very good night.

Unfortunately when it was all over, I was totally exhausted. I had a busy week preparing for soap, and recovering from Boston. I've been thinking so much about the whole experience up there meeting everyone - and still missing Paul. The last couple of days I haven't felt quite right, almost like I'm about to come down with something but no real symptoms yet. I'm hoping with rest and trying to take it easy I can fight it off. I can always hope!

We are off to the beach today for a wedding. We'll be spending several days there with Todd's family and I'm really looking forward to it. I really wish I felt better! I will have to listen to my body and will continue to nap and hydrate as much as possible.

Pictures from top: our soap display; Elaine and I at our first First Friday; front window of Father and Son.