Getting stoned

Every few months there is a gemstone exhibition and bazaar that lasts a weekend or more. I tend to go there, dragging friends and family or whoever is at hand (nah, they don't really need to get dragged) with me.

It'sfull of all kinds of stones: geodes of every type and size, gemstone spheres, crystals, jewellery... and all of them way cheaper than you can buy them online or in a normal shop.

This is where I tend to get half my Christmas shopping done. Just to give an example of the prices there: last time I bought myself an emerald ring (silver band with a pretty emerald in it, not too small, not too big) which cost me around 12 USD. Of course it's Hungary, so it's bound to be cheaper, but that price was mind-blowing on its own.

Anyway, I bought some quartz crystal pendants for the guys this year, a pretty necklace for my mom (she was with me so all she had to do was point at it), a pretty clear, biggish quartz crystal for my best friend, who already has her lapis pyramid and loves it... and lots of little knick-knacks. I also bought myself a jasper beaded bracelet, because it was very very pretty. (3,4 USD, so sue me.) It looked like parched earth with the dark brown background and light brown dots on it.

AndI didn't buy my dad a geode, because he forbade it (this time). Still, he's always looking at them, so next time I go to a gemstone exhibition (early weeks of December) I'll make sure to get him a discreetly small but pretty one (So not one of the one meter tall geodes they always try to sell.). Unless of course I have a better Christmas present in mind at that time...