The New York International Gift Fair

Wow, what an incredible experience! Just a few weeks ago was my first time at the NYIGF and man was I overwhelmed. Overwhelmed in a good way though. Myself and my acting creative design assistant, aka my sister, found ourselves in a sea of merchandise. There were literally thousands of vendors selling their goods. I can't even begin to list them. We really were thrilled with the quality of merchandise at the "show" -- as they say. "Have a good show!" "Enjoy your show!" I guess we'll be down with the lingo better next year.

So we spent one entire day there. Unlike the seasoned "show" attendees we took only a tote bag each to carry home the few catalogs we thought we'd acquire. In our delight and excitement with the vast array of incredible products we soon filled those tote bags and several "giveaway" totes we had also acquired along our journey up and down the endless rows. We no sooner found out that most of the people in "the know" brought giant pieces of luggage with WHEELS! I will surely not make this mistake again. My sister and I were like two pack mules carrying these catalog filled totes around the Javitz Center until we finally bumped into the blessed Bag Check. If it were not for the bag check I would have not made it the rest of the day.

For a mear few hundred dollars, well maybe a little less, we refueled at the Javitz Cafe. My aching feet thanked me for not hunting down an outside bargain lunch. Of course, after lunch we found ourselves in the culinary section of the show. Had I known there was such a spread I wouldn't have spent my mortgage on lunch. We had so much fun devouring all sorts of jams, spreads, candy and CHOCOLATES. Oh the chocolates! They were incredible but soon I found myself declining, only to find my sister politely pushing me aside to reach those decadent morsels. Not much longer after I realized my sister was acting a bit strange. Only to realize she was basically high on confections! As you can imagine this made for a hilarious rest of the show. Well we managed to close the place down and before my sister went in to insulin shock. Despite the shoulder and feet aches it was well worth it. I've already purchased from many of the new vendors to fill my new basket designs. I can't wait to share these new found treasures with you!