opening

Dedicated readers want to know: How did the opening go?

Verdict on the opening: Great! (Cue Happy Dance!)

Here is the long version: I dragged a reluctant Evan over there an hour early to do some last minute get ready stuff. I was going to try (third time!) once again (and not all that successfully) to level my prints. I needed to set up a wine (go drunk impulse purchases!) and cheese table and a table with the price list, postcards, my business cards, and most importantly, a guest book so that I could see just who came.

The guy who was doing the tastefully simple demo on the other side of the building was already there, and he had a huge spread laid out. He set me up with one of his extra tables when it turned out that the table I had planned on moving to use weighed about 300 pounds and wasn't going anywhere without some wheels under it. Cool.

I put out all the stuff I wanted to put out and made another attempt at leveling. Some photos cooperated, some were beyond my ability. I shrugged it off. Time was running out and I didn't want to start sweating my make up off. The husband, Matt and Josh showed up with the beverages. Which, BTW, was going to be Two Buck Chuck until the husband and I went to the closest Trader Joe's and found out that only one TJ in the garden state has a liquor license and that we'd have to drive about 45 minutes in the opposite direction to get some Two Buck Chuck. That wasn't going to happen, so the husband patronized our local wine store for some 6 buck something else.

The opening started at 2 and by 2:10 there was a steady stream of people coming in and out and really looking at my stuff. (the looking and the steady stream of people part is what makes me so happy) I stood in pretty much the same spot right near the door from 2 until the end at 4 and tried to say HELLO and THANKS FOR COMING and chat a bit with everyone who came by. It was incredibly interesting to me to see people from all the different parts of my life wandering through the gallery at the same time. There were gym people there, babes, my new new undead therapist (who bought a few more prints!), my high school friend, editor and a couple of people from the paper, neighbors, one of my step sisters showed up, and of course, lots of mom acquaintances.

The two hours sped by, at 4 o'clock people started filtering out and we quickly swept the remnants of the 8 pounds of cubed cheese and two cases of not as cheap as I would have liked wine back into my reusable grocery bags, and we headed home.

In the end I sold 4 large prints and 2 small prints. But the thing that makes me even happier is how many people just came and looked. That felt really good. I'd like to reach right now and give them all a great big hug. Honestly, I know how nauseatingly corny this sounds, but I really feel like I know who the good people are in my life are right now - and that includes one of my favorite commenters who was willing to spend half the day on a train to get out here just for the opening.

Speaking of good people, WIldmom was not able to attend because she was in the ER. So if you have any connections with the higher power upstairs, please put a good word in for WIldmom. In a fair world, she would not suffer.