Renegade

Last weekend I went to downtown Chicago for the Renegade Craft Show.  It is held in multiple cities across the country and even has a website (click here).  It took me about 4 1/2 hours to look at all the booths.  They were filled with fun and wonderful items from posters and cards to vintage clothing, soaps and silver jewelry.  Many of the crafters were from out of town - LA, Austin, and even Oregon.

A beautiful sunny day for a craft fair

A mural in Wicker Park where the Renegade Fair was held

Of course food was available at Renegade and one participant was a vegetarian restaurant named Mana.  It happens to be my daughter's favorite place to eat downtown.  I had an amazingly good slider made from brown rice and mushrooms.  Mushrooms have never been my favorite food - my mother made me eat them - but these sliders are worth the long drive downtown.

One thing I didn't expect to hear at a craft show was a loud scream followed by a person saying, "oh, it's just another zombie."  There was a group of people who were covered in fake blood enjoying a zombie apocalypse game.  Apparently there was a zombie hunter in the crowd and I believe he dispatched all of the zombies without loss of human life.  The zombies were last seen boarding Chicago public transit.

Craft fairs are a great place for people watching.  I saw some adorable outfits, all styles of boots, and lots of scarves.  I hope I was able to blend into the hip, urban crowd just a little.
-christina