oh long weekend thank you for being long. i feel like i have so many amazing things to cram into this post because so many amazing amazing things have happened this weekend. like, i don’t even know where to begin. probably with the mercantile market. because that has consumed almost all of the weekend and lets be honest a majority of my summer.
all photos by the amazing kristin jones
we officially began set up for the market thursday afternoon. all of the vendors trickled in one by one which worked out perfectly. everyone was so kind and understanding. i have participated in a lot of shows but this one… there was something magical about it. we were at the fairgrounds until dark getting everything ready for the second day of set up and the show at night. it was so fun getting to meet everyone coming from near and far to set up and sell.
friday morning we were back at it checking people in and getting all set up. the food trucks rolled in and fired up the grilles and by 3pm we were all ready to go. one thing liz, lisa and i are always sure to do before a big event is pray. none of this would be possible without God and his blessings on our events and while sometimes it takes us a while to find each other to pray, we always pray right at the beginning. to say this event was blessed would be an understatement. the atmosphere was just indescribable. everyone got along so well it’s like we’ve all been friends forever. if you are involved with shows you are aware of the “show drama” but there was none of that here. all the vendors became friends and helped each other out. i even saw several people helping each other unload. it was amazing. it was such a pleasure getting to run around and meet everyone. when the gates opened at 3pm the customers were so gracious and kind. they were so complementary of all the hard work the vendors put into their displays and set ups. i think about it and just get a warm feeling in my heart.
wednesday night before all of this began i sat in my rocker at 3am feeding and rocking otto with just a put of anxiety in me. is this all going to work? what if nobody shows up? how am i going to be apart from otto this weekend? will he be healthy? i’m scared of his weigh in and more bad news… just all this bad thoughts and feelings were eating away at me. usually at my 3am feedings is when otto and i pray for his health and future and this time i just said God take it all. i sat there and rocked awhile longer and i just felt this overwhelming warmth come over me (not just in my arms otto) but this calm sense of “i got this and everything is going to be ok”. and i clung to that for the rest of the weekend. when otto was weighed thursday morning and gained 11oz i KNEW it was God and everything was going to be ok. and it really was.
friday faded into saturday and we opened the doors to the last day of the market. it was a huge success and we all went home exhausted and full. it was amazing getting to meet so many people who follow this blog and are praying for baby otto. you will never know how much it means to me. the power of prayer is everything and i couldn’t be more grateful for your kind thoughts, prayers and well wishes.
i came home saturday night after closing up the fairgrounds and joe had made a big celebratory dinner. he made this amazing potato dish, pork chops and apple crisp. we ate dinner at 9pm after feeding otto and enjoyed the night together.
sunday we sort of slept inbetween shifts and got a late start to the day. we stopped at the downtown market for a late lunch before heading to my parents cottage. we hung out there and got pizza. my parents took the late night feeding shifts so joe and i could sleep through the night. it felt amazing. i woke up in a puddle of drool. like i said it felt amazing. it was hazy and cloudy so we all went for a beach walk and then headed to grand haven for tacos at rightous cuisine. it was soooo good. they set up at the market but sold out both days before i could snag me some tacos. after that joe and i got ice cream and went for a walk.
we got home, put our bags away and gave otto his first bath. it was a perfect, absolute perfect weekend.
thank you to all who came out to support the market and us. it means so so much.
Your so awesome!! I loved the market and you girls!!!
I wish I had bought a few things that I didn’t..lol
You girls are all three amazing! It was such a wonderful show great vendors , customers and weather ! You rocked it And probally best of all Otto got to come❤️
The market was fabulous, I bout so many Darling things!! So happy for you and all your successes- including Otto! I hope you do another market next summer, I’ll be there!