A friend of ours gave me tickets to an event held here in Houston called the "Nutcracker Market." Its a fundraiser for the Houston Ballet. It is held at Reliant Stadium and the indoor arena is full of merchant booths from all over the US -but mostly Texas or local vendors. Having lived in Seattle where the Farmers' Market and handmade gift vendors abound, I thought I would check it out, imagining it to be something like the gift area of the Ballard Market - just a whole lot bigger.
Well, I was sort of right. It was bigger. There was much more glitter, and sequins, and rhinestones. There were multiple bars and women tailgating in the parking lot with their friends. There were plastic rain-cowboy boots. You could get a hand painted candy cane sign for your front yard, or a clutch with the name of your favorite football team on it. You could get glittery crosses in every size, shape, or color. You could get personalized everything - photo frames, tote bags, ornaments, jewelry, etc. I saw a decorative Santa that was about 2 or 3 feet tall with animal fur and peacock feather clothing for $750.
Its not that I think any of this is a bad idea - I think its kind of cool - the idea of women friends and family getting together and making an event of the whole deal. The tailgating might be a little strange, but it is held at a sports arena, after all. I was just unprepared for the size of it all. Just how big and loud (visually) everything was. Part of my problem was I was completely mistaken to have the Ballard Market in my mind's eye as I entered this event. I should have known that the scale of this event was far beyond our pea sized farmers' market vendors. But even so, as I was walking around, I realized people's homes are big here in Texas, and so they buy very large, loud decorations to fill their large homes. I had forgotten I was no longer living in the land of fleece and technical outdoor wear, but that a gold lame trench coat would feasibly be worn by a woman here in Houston. Or a cute nubby plaid waist length sweater coat (I was supposed to be shopping for other people, not for myself.)
Ultimately, I felt very lonely because there were groups of girlfriends walking around together, of every conceivable age group, and I was there by myself, pretty far away from nearly all my girlfriends. So, even though I had not yet tried any of the fudge or pie or wine or Cosmos, I decided to leave. I really couldn't convince myself that buying gold sparkly Christmas ornaments was a good idea yet - give me a couple more years here to adjust the scale of the Texas life style. And if I ever return to the Nutcracker Market, I will be well armed with a friend and a drink.
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