Cold Lake: Tattoos, Hot Dogs & HappyHouse

Road Journal

Two people got HappyHouse tattoos at the Bombs Away Tattoo Expo this weekend. The first guy came over already wearing one of my shirts.

Very cool. Very demure.

Meanwhile, I was selling shirts, pressing shirts, and somehow commentating a no-hands hot dog eating competition.

Cold Lake. It’s been a slice 😂

Right where I need to be

I drove in from Edmonton on Thursday. Weird drive. Very zigzaggy.

Everyone was meeting at Boston Pizza, but first I had a Halloween drop to get ready. Products onto the website. New ads created and dropped in. Burned through that so I could get over there.

Then I walked into the bar and saw so many familiar faces.

Yep. Right where I need to be.

I get so energized around this crowd. And once the show got going, I had a great conversation with a gentleman about mental health. I’ll keep the details between us, but those conversations stick with me. People who connect with HappyHouse really get what I’m doing.

Two people getting the brand tattooed on them in one weekend still blows my mind.

Tom’s collab, and me being an idiot

Friday started with setting up the booth. Fuck, I hate setting up sometimes. Too much stuff, where’s the power, which way should the sign face? Same booth, slightly different puzzle every time.

I brought new designs with only ten of each, plus the pre-pressed rack with different garment colours. Fridays can be tough while everyone’s still at work, but we did alright.

Garrett and Cherokee were across from me. Charity, Jessica and Emily were beside me. Tom, Vixie and the rest of Mockingbird were just behind the curtain.

With Tom there, I brought his collab design. Easily my best seller of the weekend. Which is funny, because I need to confess something about that design.

Tom originally sent me about four options. They looked a little flat to me, so I asked him to change things up and add some shading. Loved the result.

Then, at another show, I actually looked at all his tattoo work.

Fuck. I’m an idiot.

That was his style. I’d asked him to change the exact thing that made it look like his work 😂

He’s such a nice guy he didn’t say a thing. Regardless, the design is dope as fuck. Seeing a bunch of us wearing it on Saturday made me proud, and Tom and Vixie picked up awards too.

Three dogs. Three buns. No hands.

Saturday started strong. Then came my annual duty as hot dog competition MC.

Three hot dogs. Three buns. Water or beer. No hands.

Contestants got to arrange everything before we started, and there were some unique techniques. Sam Hope, who’s always runner-up in these, squeezed the buns around the dogs to make little hot dog burritos.

Other arrangements looked a little more… anatomical.

Very sexy 🫣

I’m watching two people who look neck and neck, then glance at the other side of the table.

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

Also, big love to Mikey Dubz, the actual MC of the whole show. Photography, video, MC duties. Such a talented guy, and nice and humble too. Awesome seeing him again.

Afterwards, we caught up at O2’s. My beer and wings took about an hour, but they were slammed and our server was stressing. We had good company. Nobody was upset. I was just a hungry, thirsty boy.

Still pressing

On Sunday, Sam Hope won Best Of The Weekend with a beautiful piece. So deserved. She’s a great human, and the competition at these shows is tough. Loads of heavy hitters.

Seeing so many people walking around in HappyHouse never gets old. Between that, the conversations and the tattoos, there was plenty to take home from this weekend.

Eventually the show ended. Everyone was stoked. Everyone was leaving.

Happens every show. And I wouldn’t change it.

Me, Tom and Vixie were the last ones in the Energy Centre. I made it to Original Joe’s for the after-show hang, got Ryan a birthday muff dive, then slipped out with the Irish goodbye.

By the time I got home, I needed a ten-minute nap before unloading the trailer.

That became an hour, with notifications interrupting the whole thing. Woke up. Unloaded.

Weekend over.

Thank you, Cold Lake. It’s been a slice.

Stay Happy. 卌

Jeffy