Day 1 in Tucson - Gem Show

My first full day in Tucson was spent shopping at the gem show. The gem show
was my ultimate reason for heading south but having all of my family in town
too made it really rad.

My Aunt Janet taught me to make jewelry years ago. She makes really, really
great stuff. I would love to send you to her link on Etsy but she still
hasn't started her store. Ah hem. Janet?

She picked me up that morning and we headed to breakfast at the Hungry Fox.
A cute little breakfast joint. Then...dun dun dun. Off to the show. Ok, this
was a completely different ballgame than I remembered from the last time I
was there. It literally goes for miles and miles along the freeway. Of the 3
days I was at the show, I made it to 3 tents. The tents are bigger than
football STADIUMS. Row after row of gems, pearls, silver and gold. To say it
is overwhelming is a tad bit of an understatement. With our passes around
our necks we headed in. Then I died. A little. I was in gemstone heaven. I
probably bought stuff at the first 5 tables we passed. Just too much
excitement. Kind of like the guy in the race who sprints in the beginning
but runs out of steam by the end. Only instead of steam it would be
money...and I didn't want that to happen so I tightened up the reigns on my
horsy. (My horsy was me).

I can't even tell you about the prices. UNREAL! We had to take a trip out to
the car and grab a beer at halftime. You weren't allowed to take pics in
there so we got one outside of the tent. And my sister was "texting" and
snuck a few more. This is just ONE booth. They all look like this. For
miles.


I came home expectedly broke and completely happy. I had a grocery bag FULL
to the brim with goodies. Time to create! And sell.