I hate to get overly dramatic, but if I had to pick one night that "changed everything", then it was definitely the night we stumbled across a Phoenix Flea pop-up market...

Ages ago, when soap was just a hobby taking over our house, John and I went out to check out an interesting pop-up market at a favorite restaurant near our house. We browsed around the amazing handmade goods and stopped to talk to a couple that made amazing wood ornaments and signs. We chatted for a bit, and realized we had worked together years ago in college. Crazy. They told us how they took the leap and started their company and convinced us to try to get in to this market: Phoenix Flea. It was crazy competitive to get in. The best of the best of local makers and traveling vendors were in. The coolest vintage and handmade goods were in. I really wanted in. Guys, I was so nervous when we applied. I'm pretty sure I sounded over eager--because I was. When we got the email saying we were in, I was so excited I almost quit my day job on the spot (remember: over eager).

We scoured our house for things to create our set up. We made So. Much. Soap. We decided to create an entirely new product the night before (this would become a terrible, terrible tradition). We made whole displays, tore them down, and started over completely. Oh, and I gave birth to our son. Lucky for us, he was happy to just hang out or sleep through most of this.

Our first Phx Flea was amazing. We met a ton of new vendors, bought more amazing stuff than we could fit in our car, and marveled at how amazing this community was. And our second Phx Flea we did the same. And our third. We've been at five Phx Flea events and we still continue to marvel at this community that shows up by the thousands, that values the local markets, that gobbles up our stuff and comes to find us show after show. We love it. We do a lot of great events, a lot of amazing markets. But if I could only do one, no contest, it would be Phoenix Flea.