Two Weeks 'Til Maker Faire!!!!

I can't believe that two weeks from Thursday I'll be heading out to San Francisco for Maker Faire Bay Area! How is it already here? I am crazy kinds of excited, though. I'll be hanging at the CRAFT area and will be doing an Embroidery 101 demo at the CRAFT demo booth. I'll also be helping out with the kid craft area one morning - which should be crazy and fun.

I can't wait to see all the cool crafty offerings at the Faire. During Maker Faire Austin back in October, I met so many cool people and learned so many cool things. I learned about lace making, felting and pysanky. I watched guys hand carve giant wood blocks and then print with them. I watch as folks felted in plastic zip bags while they walked around the faire. And I caught several of the CRAFT demos from all kinds of interesting people, which was a blast.

The thing I'm most looking forward too, though, is seeing people I love - some of whom I haven't even met in person yet! I love my job more than you can imagine, and working virtually means I have incredible flexibility that is hugely appreciated. The downside, though, is that I rarely get to see the people with whom I work in person! We are spread - literally - across the country. We email constantly, instant message, share pics of our families and talk on the phone once a week. But none of that compares to getting to hang out in person.

At Maker Faire Austin, I got to hang out with Becky and Tina and Arwen (and more!) a bit, which was a total blast. At the time, I was still very new to the team and was suffering from a bad case of "I'm not worthy!" I was insanely shy. Fortunately, some of that shyness has rubbed off as our friendships have grown - albeit online - over the last six months. And now, I absolutely cannot wait to get to hang out with the rest of the gang in person and just soak up every minute of it. Since Natalie was days from delivering her first baby back in October, she wasn't able to come out to Maker Faire Austin. It's hard to believe I've never met her in person - it feels like I've known her for ages. Finally! We get to meet!

This online community is fascinating and fun, and one million times better when we can all get together in person. Can. Not. Wait.

If you are anywhere near San Mateo, you simply must come to Maker Faire. Heck, even if you aren't - it's a great vacation option. I haven't checked flights recently, but I landed super cheap airfare a while back. It's worth exploring.

Any of you coming to Maker Faire? You can keep up with our countdown to Maker Faire over on Craftzine, and I'll be blogging from the Faire there and some here (depending on how much time I have :) Come out and join all the fun!