A Jolly Holly Local Shopping Holiday!

Scavenger hunts, snowman cookies, free coffee, and gifts galore!

Kelsy & I on the scavenger hunt.

One of the reasons I love Fayetteville is that I can hang out around town with the coolest people, some of whom I know, some who know me somehow, and others I’ve never met who quickly embrace what Ripples is all about and start sharing their journeys with me.

Over the weekend, I met various people who were living without a fridge, who made birdhouses from pottery, build a home from recycled grocery store freezers, who lived in a yurt, or off-grid, or who hauled their own water for 20 years.  There are impressively hard-working, resourceful and sustainable-minded  people here. 

Shopping locally can be a real party!

Block Street Bizarre Scavenger Hunt!

The whole weekend was a series of holiday markets: an Art Bazaar at Nadine Baum Studios, an Alternative Gift Market at St. Paul’s, the Trailside Holiday events along the bike trail, and the Block Street Bizarre with special deals and prizes.  I hung out in Little Bread Co. with a free coffee and this amazing sparkly snowman cookie which was incredibly difficult to share (but I did eventually share it with Ryan after making him clean the apartment for it, *wink*). As I write this post I’m devouring a Little Bread Co. cherry chocolate chip muffin.  Paws off, Solo!

Each event was special, from the real wreath-making workshop to the cozy art galleries, but my favorite was the scavenger hunt!  I actually don’t know what the prize was, someone post it in the comments, but it didn’t matter to me because I LOVE to wander around searching for things. (Thanks, mom & dad!) Our scavenger hunt took us around Block Street from Hoot to Scoot to IM Spa, the Himalayan Mountain Shop to Riffraff, seeking out special decor and taking photos of ourselves with the “clues”. Thanks Kelsy for sharing this photo!

At World Treasures!

And in brighter (possibly the brightest) news ever, Ryan discovered a way for us to write this blog AND only advertise the local businesses we support, all with 300% wind power! (Yes, 300%) He’ll be telling you more about that in a future post.

For now, how are you spending your holidays supporting groovy local businesses wherever you live?