An Affair of the Heart

My mother-​in-​law, husband’s aunt, (then) 5 month old daughter, and I went to this event last November and it was too much fun! It was Izabela’s, my daughter, first real time out in the world with a lot of people and we weren’t really sure how she was going to handle it. She loves to people watch but when you put a lot of people in a room together they often times begin to thing more about their own needs and less about the needs of those around them. Because of that we decided against taking my Britax stroller/​car seat combo (because it would have taken up a lot of room and probably be bumped and jostled a lot by people around us. Instead I threw on my Boba wrap and we made a go of it.
It was a really cold day when we went and after parking further away than I thought I was parking we finally made it into the building. After being herded around like cattle through the check-​in line we were free to start browsing. We decided to walk all the way down to one end and just go up and down all of the rows. Even though it was noisy and packed my daughter, safely strapped to me, was so amazed by everything happening. There was a lot of «oohs» and «ahhs» coming from her tiny little body and after almost 2 hours of looking at everything (and getting so many compliments on the crocheted puppy hat I made for her) she all of a sudden fell asleep on me. I mean… she was out!
We made it to the dining area and sat down to eat some crackers and drink some water. This was my first time breastfeeding in public so I was understandably nervous (sometimes people can be so unnecessarily mean towards women just feeding their children) and since there wasn’t a dedicated «nursing moms can do so here» we sat at the back of the seating area and I faced the wall. There was another mom back there with me doing the same thing. Luckily neither of us were tormented or harassed, so that was nice. So, breastfeeding moms, it is possible to do so here and even though the main area is crazy busy the back of the dining area is discreet enough to get things done.
As far as event is concerned there were all kinds of things to look at. It was quite the experience to be able to see so many crafty people showcasing their talents (plus some people who just mass buy stuff online and then try to resell it at craft shows). Since we were so close to Christmas I was able to see a lot of my favorite stuff in the world and think fondly of how wonderful it would be to live in a world of Thomas Kinkade.
This event, which as I understand it happens twice a year in Tulsa, is totally worth your time! Go for it!