Photos courtesy of Amber. That's me, Lucy, and her. There is a local weekly paper here called Juice, which is very mainstream, but has some really cool people working at it. I was asked to style part of their fall fashion issue, which I was really excited about. I brought my best girlfriend Amber on board to do hair and make-up, which she does professionally, and very well. The newspaper asked us to do the shoot at the Iowa State Fair, which is about as anti-high-fashion as you can get. We totally rocked it, though. It was quite a coup! Crowds gathered everywhere. The model, Lucy, was awesome, Amber did a kickin' job, their photographer, Art, is amazing and one of the nicest guys ever, and Olivia, their fashion journalist, is truly fabulous. I can't wait to see the pictures. It came together like magic, I swear. Keep your fingers crossed for a cover!! Meanwhile, I'll keep pulling horsehair out of a $400 cashmere wrap one stinky hair at a time. LOL! Talk about flexible! Here is Amber doing hair in a horse barn! Me fiddling with Lucy. She had clothespins up and down both of her legs. Lucy fit right in with the carnival in this outfit!

The New York times says to throw away your tweezers!! Wowza.

Well, the very first Grey Market is over.... whew! Overall, it was a great success. I am my own worst critic, so there are some small mistakes that I made that I let bother me (I started a list of things to do better next time in the middle of the event, per usual), but the consensus was lovely overall! I feel really good about it, and extraordinarily grateful to sooo many people. *We had 26 local designers in the house (plus even more represented at the Bedhead Bazaar booth) *Nearly 300 people enjoyed VIP Night *We had nearly 900 people come through and visit the Grey Market in total *We raised over $1000 for The Des Moines Art Center! And, of course, also per usual, the picture of me in the press has me with my mouth open. I seem to spend my entire events with my mouth and eyes wide open. C'mon, why does this always happen? Are these Liza in action shots? My "to thank" list is really long; so many people were so great. It always amazes me how awesome people are. I have nearly lost my voice, and I am physically exhausted, but I know I am not alone in this! All the designers worked hard and were so amazing. I have lots of wrap-up work to do in getting info out to everyone. I have poured myself a pot of coffee (my caffiene tolerance in through the roof right now) and now I wait for it to kick in.