Kandice:

Kandice has lived all over the country, sleeping on the cliffs of San Francisco, traveling to the glaciers of Alaska, living in the woods at a Rainbow Gathering, freezing in Minnesota and roasting in Texas, but finally settled in her favorite place: Asheville, NC!

She has great friends and family, and is very comfortable being open about anything. She is disorganized and too opinionated. Spelling and losing/finding things are her biggest challenges.

She Enjoys: camping, photography, red hair, gardening, sarcasm, musicals, magic, crystal-hunting, dancing, cooking, making jewelry, sexy shoes, working-out, eye-makeup, cherries, coffee, avocados, being right, writing, cats, horoscopes, and making art.

Roz:

Roz and her husband moved to Asheville in August 2007 to escape the storm-ravaged city of New Orleans. Although New Orleans will always hold a special place in her heart, Asheville has become her
home of choice… not only because it is above sea level, but because it’s beautiful and the people are friendly and open-minded.

She enjoys spending time with her husband, stepson and the many friends she has met here in Asheville. Although she misses her family in Louisiana, she makes it a point to call them often and tries her best not to run her phone bill up.

Christa:

Christa* has lived in WNC for almost 20 years. In her spare time, she loves to travel, create artwork and jewelry, hike and kayak. She spent years raising her family, studying massage therapy, getting a college degree, and working in food service before finding herself at AFG Distribution. She is a great speller but can’t type without making millions of typos and she has an unnatural obsession with Kenny Loggins.

*Please note that Christa may secretly be a spy or ninja of some sort. We aren’t sure, but since we caught her looking suspicious in her fake mustache we’ve begun a thorough investigation into the matter.

Julia:

She loves calling the mountains her home. Once she wins the lottery, her goal is to move to the coast of Ecuador. She likes music in any form and will take any chance she gets to go to a show or festival. She will take anyone on in flip cup but will also take time out for board games. She enjoys sewing, camping, poi, traveling, laughter, home brewing, poetry and sushi. She loves her job here because you can ask questions like: “What astrological sign are the ninja turtles?” and may actually learn something!

Jacqui:

Jacqui and family spontaneously moved to Asheville in 2004, after a simple weekend vacation proved that it was definitely where they wanted to call home. Away from work, you'll catch her camping at music festivals, sipping a cocktail on her back deck, or playing cards.

Things you wouldn't necessarily know about Jacqui:

• She hates beer. (Captain Morgan anyone?)
• She plays a mean game of Ping Pong - often playing with a paddle in each hand.
• She has a Theatre degree.
• She loves football, and throws like a BOY ;-)
• Favorite color is tie-dye. Isn't everyone's?

Eric:

Once upon a time, a pack of wild dogs roamed an Appalachian riverbank searching for food. From high in the cascades a small human child descended toward the hungry pack and they readied themselves for an easy meal.

Legend has it that the canines were dissuaded from eating the child after hours of intense negotiation. The human agreed to assimilate into the pack in exchange for protection and wilderness education. Many moons passed, many miles traveled, and the boy began to grow curious about the biped world of human civilization.

Eric (as he is now called) eventually left the pack. There had to be more to life than arguing with stray dogs.

Jimmy:

Ancient tubes of sound

Reveal the hidden teachings

Spiral dancing man

Sue:

Sue’s true love is her family. She has been married for 34 years and is the mother of four beautiful children with one, her angel in Heaven. Her six grandchildren are each her bright and shining stars. She has traveled all over with her favorite places being San Diego, Nova Scotia and Germany.

She is a revolutionary at heart, loves laughing, people, her two dogs, Rachmaninoff, painting, dancing in a place nobody has danced before, sea shells, Asheville, a field of flowers, patchouli and gardening.

She is spiritual connected with her family roots and has also been know to be clairvoyant. “The answer is to rely on youth, not a time of life, but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, predominance of courage over timidity, and of the appetite for adventure, over the love of ease.” Ted Kennedy

Lisa:

For the past twenty years, Lisa has lived in Central Florida, but her heart’s been in Asheville. She and her four legged friend, Eli, have finally returned permanently, after visiting Asheville several weeks a year for many years now. Moving “home” was inevitable, and All Fun Gifts offered the perfect opportunity to make that dream come true.

One of her most memorable adventures was not by foot or tire, but by water -- A five day jet ski trip to the Bahamas that began on the Florida Coast! This trip ended with a bang, with stops by Coast Guards and Customs officials of all sorts who proceeded to search their crafts for illegal substances, adding five extra hours to the already exciting adventure.

Lisa has a fascination with gourmet foods, wine, motorcycles, racing, good local Asheville music, and she is absolutely obsessed with Aussies (Australian Shepherds that is!)

Lisa is living the dream being back in Asheville amongst her broad circle of friends that are, at heart,family- and a big one at that!

Paul:

Born a stone’s throw from the then-flammable Cuyahoga River, made famous by Randy Newman, Paul spent his formative years growing up in the sleepy N.E. Ohio village of Chagrin Falls. Tired of waiting for the Cleveland Browns to do something, Paul made his way to Iowa where he attended the University of Iowa, in the very magical Iowa City, IA.  Upon completing his degree in Art History, he set off on grand adventures, setting up shop in amazing places from coast to coast. A few of his favorites would include Bend, OR, Denver, CO, Chicago, IL, Nantucket, MA and Savannah, GA. Drawn to the beautiful mountains of North Carolina, Paul landed in Asheville and became happily employed at AFG Distribution.
 
In his free time, Paul loves reading, writing, cooking, dressing up as Obi Wan Kenobi, listening to music, and especially cartooning. His favorite philosopher is Hobbes, from Calvin and Hobbes.