The weekend didn’t exactly start with a bang. Last night the little man and I fell asleep, in my bed, by 8pm. We were both beat. But then he was wide awake at 3am, wanting to watch movie trailers on my laptop. Oy. Thankfully we got back to sleep, so I was well rested for my early morning trip to NE Minneapolis. It was snowing and the roads were crappy, but that didn’t keep hordes of determined shoppers from turning out for the first annual No Coast Craft-o-Rama. I guess the write-up in the Strib and the ad in the City Pages really did the trick (in addition to the word of mouth, the web site, flyering, etc.). I arrived right around the opening time, at 9am, and the place was already packed. Managed to meet up with my friend Meghan and her mom but it was impossible to stay together. Bumped into a few other folks I know too, while I was in the middle of my shopping spree. I blew my wad on some ridiculously cute stuff for the new baby, the little man, my step-nieces, and, umm, myself. Oops. But at least a good chunk of my holiday shopping is taken care of, and my money went to local artisans. Photos of my purchases are here, or click on the picture below. Been taking it easy since I returned home, just catching up on some laundry and such. The husband gave the little man a haircut (rather than spending $18 at the Kids’ Hair salon) which the little man was initially in favor of, but it ended in tears. Thankfully he’s gotten over it (it looks fine, honest) and we’re heading out to dinner soon, with friends. As for tomorrow…who knows.

Somehow we’ve made it to Friday, and there is far far too much going on this weekend. Too many things to name, but I’ll list off just a few…

• The Bad Boys of Cinema…the Oak Street is showing Shaft tonight at midnight, and Last Tango in Paris all weekend long.
• The Walker Art Center’s Free First Saturday event for this month is called “Pop-Mart” and seems to revolve around a food theme. Starts at 10am.
• Saturday night the Triple Rock Social Club celebrates their 7th Anniversary (already? wow - I guess they did open when I was pregnant with the little man) with a special anniversary show.
• Sunday afternoon is the Minneapolis “Thank God It’s Over” party for NaNoWriMo. While I didn’t participate as actively as last year, I still think it would be fun to attend. Our local Municipal Liaisons scored an amazing venue, The Loft Literary Center at Open Book. There other NaNos will be reading excerpts from their stories.
• Sunday night it’s the MN Rollergirls “Close Encounters of the Female Kind” at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
• Also Sunday night, oddball singer-songwriter Jane Siberry will be performing at the Cedar Cultural Center.

But the big event of the weekend will be brought to us by the lovely Zophia, who has put in a lot of hard work these last few months, helping organize the No Coast Craft-o-Rama craft sale (and more). It’s one day only, and that day is tomorrow, from 9am-4pm. I am so there.

Bonus: Speaking of hand-crafted goods, I came across these creatures at House of Ingri a while ago. They’re slightly creepy, yet cool, and hey, made of vinyl.
Plus: You probably don’t need to know this, but late last night the little man groggily got out of bed, stumbled into the bathroom, and, umm, attempted to use the facilities…but neglected to lift the toilet seat. Like, at all. That was a first. And hopefully a last.
And: Aeon Flux opens today. I don’t think I’ll be seeing it. It’s already being billed as “…a thoroughly awful and unusually incoherent piece of work.”