emu: a large, flightless bird of Australia, resembling the ostrich but smaller & having a feathered head & neck & rudimentary wings OR Jen's nemesis

It feels a little strange to have been trumped by emu oil.

On Saturday I participated in the Farmer's Market in my community. So, from 10 AM until 2 PM I sat under some palm trees by the lake and didn't sell anything. OK, so I sold one 1 oz tube of hand creme for $4.

I went with the intention of selling holiday gifts. Everything was packaged and ready to go. Easy spa shopping, right?

I was sandwiched between a sage burning, cedar flute playing hippee and the emu lady. The emu lady had a huge booth with emu-related products like feathers and eggs. Across from me was the fruit and nut mountain man. My spa stuff looked pretty good . . .

At first I worried that I had made a mistake by really promoting the holiday items because it seemed like most people were really shopping for themselves. People would stop at my booth, comment on how cute the packaging looked, maybe smell a demo product, hear my schpeel about Spa Escapes, and off they went.

Not a single person who stopped at the emu lady's booth left without buying something. Some bought expensive starter kits with a bunch of products, but most got their own 1oz bottle of emu oil. Want to get rid of scars? Emu oil. Have arthritic pain? Emu oil. Sore muscles? Emu oil. Dry skin? Emu oil. Cracked heels? Emu oil. There was a woman with a sad-looking Yorkie that was recovering from a horrible flea problem, and what do you know? Emu oil will make it all better. It's great to put directly on the irritated skin, AND she can give the pup a teaspoonful with her food everyday to keep her healthy and strong.

About 30 minutes before the end of the event, two young women came up to me and were very interested in the adorable stockings I have that are filled with miniature versions of our holiday products. Everything she looked at was chocolate, gingerbread, pumpkin, or peppermint scented. After smelling everything, she asked, "Do you have anything a little more Christmas-y?" I was speechless. Um.... So I picked up a snowman mug filled with cocoa mix and peppermint body tonic and a sparkly red 'Happy Holidays' decoration. She said she'd be back. Uh huh. Michael came by soon thereafter to help me pack things up, and I told him about the girl. He looked at my display and said, "More Christmas-y? Did she want little elves passing out samples and Santa Claus ringing her up?"

The next event is December 16th. Perhaps more people will be looking for gifts at that time. On the bright side, I heard the emu lady can't make it on the 16th. Too bad.