"Bring in the bottled lightning, a clean tumbler, and a corkscrew!"

For those of you who don't know her, this is Bethany.

Image A

Bethany and I landed some sweet tickets to go to the Charles Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco last weekend. It was held in the Cow Palace--don't ask--and as soon as you walked in it was honestly like another world. All the workers spoke in British accents--even a bum sitting on a keg outside a store gave me a look and said, "'Ello, luv." It was awesome.

One of the first stops we made was at a bonnet-makers. (See "image a" above.) There's something you should know about Bethany: I didn't think I'd ever get her into a bonnet. That's just not the type of girl she is. She's more this type of girl:

ARRR! Ye lass in back o' me'll be walkin' ye plank afore long!

I, however, was DEFINITELY going to try on a bonnet! Check this Christmas beaut out!

There were tons of shops. Tons. Wand-makers, a couple of haberdashers, a harp shop, lots and lots of roasted nut stands, a couple of candle shops and candy shops, dress-makers and corset shops, Fezziwig's was right as you walk in, where you could learn to dance, they had three other stages and a whole separate theatre, there was even a scientific demonstration for all those interested by Phileas Fogg and his associates. I wasn't as good about taking pictures as I should have been, but I did get a couple more. For instance, the mask-maker shop. This place was AWESOME! Man, if I had a couple hundred bucks to blow on something I would use bi-annually at the most, these masks would be it! Check out my crow! It was my favorite one.

And Bethany's bear was pretty cool too. They had smaller ones--just to cover the eyes--and even bigger ones! They had a wolf mask that was just enormous!

All in all, it was a very fun time, even if we didn't find a third person to go with us (we had three tickets) and despite not being able to blow a ton of money on frivolous but really cool things I would have loved to have and used occasionally despite their being out of fashion. I did spend $14 in an antique bookstore, but you can't blame me for that. I saw a little book called "Песни о Мире" ("Songs of the World") all in Russian for $4 and a hardcover, 1910 printing of Shakespeare's complete works for $10! A piece of my heart stayed at the bookstore though when I couldn't purchase a small collection of children's stories with illuminated illustrations throughout because it was $95. :( Someday...

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!