It's no secret that I am notorious for existing on a consistnelty wrecked calendar schedule. Always have. Probably always will. It stems back to my college days when I would pile on event after event because I was born with the notion that sleep is for the weak. As I've gotten older obviously things have changed. But I still say yes to a quite a lot, before ever actually checking in what I have in store already. And more times than not, all the creative juggling tends to somehow just work itself out in the end.
Point being, this past weekend when our glorious time at the Ace Hotel with the Crafting Community extragavanga bled into the second day of the Mecardo Segrado event in Malibu Canyon I already had tickets to, I figured why not power through and soak up a little sun at both. Especially considering I had already long convinced my niece and best friend to go too. And I hate to flake on that kind of thing.
I drove straight from Palm Springs early Sunday morning, with my ever willing, impressively good natured baby in tow, clad in a damp bathing suit all the way to the canyon to hop on a shuttle that landed us right there at the shady, tree scattered venue's plateau where the event was just setting up. We arrived early and wandered from booth to booth checking out the goods, spotting a few familiar online faces, admiring plenty of fantastic hand made pottery, jewelry, dresses, bohemian tinged art installations, and one overcrowded aura dome photo booth - that we silently cursed for not having enough room for four more aura shots that day. We also grew accustomed to dodging flocks of long haired barefoot little hippie girls in vintage dresses chasing each other around the green grasses in a sight so pretty it made me fear the long settled desire of "wanting" a girl of my own, for only the most superficial reasons (to dress!) might spring up and get a good and lasting grip on my heart again. Luckily, I didn't take too many photos of them to taunt me for very long. Like I knew they were sure to.
All in all, Mecardo Sagrado was much like I had anticipated it to be. A photogenic mix of young Malibu model types and revered community artiasians. A swap meet for the free spirited folk with a little extra cash in their pockets who appreciate a bottle of 4$ birch water in a proper flat brimmed straw hat while scouring gorgeous (but at times, generously over marked) vintage frocks and new creations with the tune of a brooding, eerie Leonard Cohen (among others that sounded kind of the same) serving as defining soundtrack to the day. I don't know that I fully "get" the validity behind the 25$ price to enter considering it is far from a full blown flea or festival, and the bathroom line itself is enough to possibly deter a few from returning next round, but I will say that if I were to come back again (and you know, I probably will) I would be more prepared to sit and park it there for a whole afternoon. To picnic and roam and chat and maybe even sneak in a little nap at a more leisurely pace. Because it really is a lovely set up with an interesting aesthetic and the people / fashion watching factor alone is well worth the long drive. Not the bathroom line, but definitely the long drive.
And next time, we'll be sure and book our aura's spot at the dome way beforehand.
Labels: Scenes From a Weekend
