To my Union Square Holiday Market customers:
With my sincerest thanks and gratitude for choosing my work (jewelry) for your friends and loved ones!
The market was a long journey, there were some wet days (yes, flooding in the booth) and some very bitter cold days, as
well and there was one day I literally was selling in the dark! I had to keep asking if they could see ok despite the low lighting.
One woman said, my eyesight is still good, I’m only 22.

Days were blending into one, I felt like a robot, I felt extreme fatigue. I missed my yoga classes and needed to practice.
I felt disconnected from my family.
All I needed to do was endure these 5 weeks and in January I will be fine. So, those happy thoughts kept me on.
I brought in the Chilean poncho Abuelita Flora gave me and served as an extra blanket. The real lifesaver is my thermos
that was filled every day with hot teas. Hot soups from Bar Suzette and Au Bon Pain, morning blueberry muffins from Whole Foods
and Thai food kept me sustained. There were some days when lunch was not an option and those were the exteremely
busy Saturdays and Sundays. I didn’t lose my voice this year, but I lost some of my weight but that is a good thing!

There were good moments, like saving a man’s life from Tetanus (he had a nail stuck in his shoe) and came to look at the
vintage watches, then ultimately asking for pliers to remove the 1 inch nail from his boot. I advised him to run home quick
and get a tetanus shot, and weeks later he returned to thank me for saving his life and he purchased an Art Deco Bulova watch
for his lovey. Yes Mom, I should have been a nurse!

There were also quirky kismet days when one customer asked about cuff links, and I so happened to only have two sets
of vintage musical notes and a set an architect would like. Well, she said it was for her hubby, a musician, and her son, an architect!
Then another day, a daughter and mother came, and daughter noticed a “Marjorie” vintage pin, and said OH MY GOD, It’s my Mom’s
name, Mom, come here, take a look at this. Mom said “well, Marjorie is a very vintage name.” and we all laughed! I knew that pin was
destined to be owned. And the last day, a woman came specifically looking for a silver fairy charm. In my treasure box was a sterling silver
fairy charm that traveled all the way from Phoenix, Arizona.

There were also some scary nights, when someone banged or crashed into my eastern wall, and all the vintage pins and necklaces flew off and scattered.
My neighbor came running in, asked if I was ok, and I felt a certain insecurity, both from the elements of the storms and from the strange
vibrations from people.  To counterbalance this, on a balmy evening, I met a priest. He was singing and whistling, and we got to talking. He felt friendly towards me because he
recognized that I was from the Philippines. He said mostly all of his Parishoners are Filipinos. We laughed, and I asked him to bless my booth, and so he
did. I thanked the Father and he said, May you have a safe journey, my child. My grandfather would have been proud of me.

In the end, all the vendors were happy, and successful, and exhausted. I spent christmas eve with a nice bottle of Garnacha wine, and crashed out…
Woke up in the morning to a winter wonderland….

All the best for 2011!