It Seems Like Just Yesterday...

It seems like just yesterday that we brought our second son home from the hospital. All 7 pounds 11 ounces of him! We blinked a couple of times and here he is turning 18 on us! Where does the time go???

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIC!!! I LOVE YOU, AND I AM SO VERY PROUD OF THE MAN YOU ARE BECOMING!!!

A Very Full Day...

Today was supposed to be a washed out rainy, cold day-all day long. When I got up and about this morning, it was actually sunny, and almost warm. That was a great way to start the day when every weather report has called for a 60% chance of morning showers, leading into thunderstorms int he afternoon!

Kevin decided to tag along today and hang out with me as I did some treasure seeking at a few sales. We got to the first sale about 40 minutes early. Their ad on Estatesales.net said that they do NOT honor street numbers and they would hand out their own numbers 30 minutes prior to the start of the sale.

We figured we'd get there, stand in line for 10 minutes, get our numbers then go back and sit in the car and read our books until the sale opened at 9. When we go to the porch 3 other people who had been sitting in their cars came up and joined us. They already had numbers!!

I asked them why they were standing on the porch when they already had numbers (official numbers handed out by the estate sale company). I said I was going to get my number and go sit back in my car til it opened. They laughed and said that when they got their numbers they were told the sale was going to open at 8:30!!

So Kevin ran back to the car to get my money and my bags-I was so unprepared!!! I never for a minute thought we'd not go back to the car. I've never had that happen before where a sale opened early like that! Usually, they open late and everyone is getting anxious and cranky waiting!

When they opened, there were 6 of us standing on the porch and we got in a half an hour before the official, advertised start time. What do you think about that? Is that fair? I'm still not sure what I think about that. Today it worked out in my favor, but on other occasions, it might not. I was surprised there were so few people at the sale because the pictures seemed pretty interesting. I thought for sure I'd be number 27, or higher. It seems like I'm always number 27 or higher!!

Most of the things I wanted were priced way too high. The prices were at what I would list them at in the booth-- no money to be made--so I left them there. I did find a few things that came home with me, and Kevin found a few things that he couldn't live without too.

We drove to 4 or 5 garage sales (tis the season now YAYYY!!) and picked up a treasure here and there. We even found a sale with brand new, never used landscape bricks (the kind you make raised flower beds with or small walls around flower beds with for a quarter a piece! The guy is delivering 200 of them tomorrow!!! They usually sell for $2+ each at Home Depot or Lowes!

We stopped at Home Depot for some more mortar for the lower outside walls of the sunroom (prepping for the stone), and then we stopped at a little mom and pop restaurant called Rocket Grilled Subs. It is a tiny little place that I've wanted to try for a couple of years, but every time I'm in that area at lunch time, I always end up forgetting about it.

Today was the day! It is very tiny inside, only 2 tables with chairs and 4 stools at a snack bar at the window facing the street. They had a HUGE menu with all kinds of subs and sides! Some of their items reminded me of Tubby's subs. The prices seemed a little on the high side. The older lady running the counter seemed to be frazzled, and not to happy about being there. She wasn't mean, but she also wasn't very friendly-just focused on the task at hand...or maybe she was just having a bad day.

I ordered the chicken and broccoli, and Kevin ordered the Italian and we split an order of onion rings. Oh-My-GOSH!!! I was expecting a Tubby's copycat, and was MOST pleasantly surprised with MUCH better!!! We both really enjoyed our lunch, and can't wait to go back!!  I can't wait to take the boys there-they will LOVE it!

We were starving when our food came and we started inhaling it so fast that I forgot to take a picture! I did get a shot of their menu wall-it's not that great of a shot, but you can see how many things this tiny place has to offer. As we were finishing up, a guy from our church came in and sat near and chatted with us while he waited for his order. It was kind of fun and refreshing-almost like a small town atmosphere.

We went home after lunch so Kevin could get busy making some calls to volunteers from our church for the Labor of Love project he is working on next Saturday, and I went with Eric to order a tux for the prom. He got a great deal too! He's my practical, frugal (for the most part) son. Adam on the other hand always has to have the top of the line, newest, flashiest, trendiest, whatever. Eric's tux was less than half of what Adam's was 3 years ago!

Even though it was busy, hectic day, we still had time to enjoy all of the flowers and trees that are blooming and budding, the sunshine and blue skies when it was forecasted to rain, a small town-delicious lunch, regular life tasks and sharing in life milestones (with Eric). We even enjoyed each other's company!

Here is what we got...

 Kevin insisted that the bag of concrete be in the shot...

 Cast iron legs, tapestry seat-full of cat hair-but super cheap!

This little cabinet has sliding doors and it has two shelves inside. I think with a little white paint over the blue and maybe a little sanding on the edges it will be a really cute cabinet. What do you think? Kevin was appalled that I wanted it-he doesn't think anyone will buy it. What do you think? Would you have spent the $5 and taken a chance on it? Or would you have agreed with him and walked away? What color would you paint it?

We also got to go to a sale in this really awesome old barn!

How about you? What was your Friday like? I'll be stopping by your place next to catch up-Happy Weekend!!

Friday Finds...

I had a fun day of treasure seeking yesterday and came home with some fun things! It was a gorgeous day, lots of blue skies and gorgeous sunshine! Our local paper had 39 garage sales in our area, and I was able to find 10 in my town. Well...one sale (actually a sub sale), was never to be found, but I was happy with the adventure I had, so I didn't mind not finding it!

This is what I came home with...

 A Gossip Bench!! I've been looking for about a year for one of these!!! I can't wait to paint it and recover the seat!!!

 A box of 2003 A & W Mugs (4).

 An awesome vintage daisy bowl. I'm finding I'm drawn to daisies lately...maybe because they were my Aunt's favorite flower...

A black Pyrex mixing bowl!

$3 milk jug!

Heard Any Good Gossip Lately??

I went out to a few sales this morning and found one of the things that has been on my wish list for almost a year!


It isn't very lovely right now, but just imagine it with a fresh coat of paint...the only problem now is...what color? I've thought of black, white, turquoise...I wish I had 6 of them, so I could paint one every color!!

I'm linking up with Stephanie over at Junker Newbie for Would You Buy it Wednesday. Click on the link to see what others have been finding this week, and post your own treasures!!

Would you buy it? How much would you have spent on it?? How would you paint it?

It's CRAZY Around Here!!!

Things are super, crazy, hectic at our house since we got the new puppy!!! She has been a lot of fun, and a LOT of work! Right now, she seems to be going through the terrible two's stage like a toddler. She gets over tired and  watch out!! Thankfully, we've figured it out (now) what is going on, and we take her to her "bed" (her crate) for a little snooze and then she wakes up all cuddly and nice again.

Maddie (our old lab) is so patient with her-even when Lucy tries to steal the toys out of her mouth!!

The Silver Lining...

Today was one of "those" days. A day with a bunch of little frustrations. Fortunately it does have a silver lining or a rainbow at the end of it. I went to a couple of estate sales in the Lansing area today, and Kevin went with me so we could stop at Menard's and check out their stone (we want to put some sort of stone on the bottom walls of the sun room).

The first estate sale was almost like going to a carnival. They had a guy set up with his kettle corn booth and he was making fresh kettle corn! They also had a tent set up with someone's crafts! It was a HUGE sale with a a crazy HUGE crowd. We got there about 15 minutes after they opened and I got number 123 for the barn and 124 for the house. The barn was the best, most packed area of the sale. I got right in, because the person running it just let everyone in.

I picked up this old crate...not sure if it is just an old crate or if it is an old chicken crate...what do you think??

After the barn,  I stood in line to get into the house for about 15 minutes. The whole time I was down-wind and about 10 feet from the kettle-I can still smell it in my hair! Yes, I bought a BIG bag and so far the boys haven't found it yet so there is still a little left!

The house was so not worth the wait! It was filled with mostly newer craft stuff and only a small amount of old stuff. I found a few things in the barn that I loved, but someone had gotten to them first and snatched them all up! I did manage to find a few old pictures that I couldn't pass up. I think they are all really fun shots-what do you think??

I also got this old Valentine card...

and this old white hanky...

I saw another dealer from the mall where my booth is. I expected to see her. She is always at the Thursday sales, and she usually is at the sales that advertise the stuff that this one had for sale. She always acts like I have the plague when I see her. She will never say hello, or try in any way to be friendly. I've given up on saying hello to her now. I just walk by and smile. I don't get people sometimes. Oh well, I'm not losing any sleep over it. It just makes me feel sorry for her, because if she treats me that way, she treats other people the same and she's missing out on a lot of joy in her life!!

After the sales, we placed our order for the stone at Menard's, and had lunch at A&W. I've been craving chili cheese fries and a coney dog for the longest time! It wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. I was hoping for the kind of dog that snaps when you bite it. I think they just used something like Ball Park franks-it wasn't bad, just not close your eyes and sigh, kind of good.

When we got home, Kevin decided to run to Home Depot to get the metal lath for the walls so he could get started getting everything prepped for the stone, and I ran to a local church rummage sale. When I got back I helped him hang the metal lath. It was then that we realized he had picked up wayyy too much lath...then we also realized that he figured wrong and we had ordered more than twice as much stone as we needed!!

I called and it took a couple of hours, but they were able to reduce the order, even though it had already been placed with the manufacturer. WHEW!!! We would have had enough extra stone to cover the front of our garage, the under side of the deck on three sides and whatever else we wanted to cover! We saved a bunch of money too!

I picked up a couple of tablecloths at the rummage sale...nothing special, but they were a buck, so I couldn't pass them up!

I picked up a couple of things earlier in the week when I was out and about...

Even though it wasn't the best day for sales, I did get a couple of things I am happy with. It was a beautiful day for a drive. We had lunch out, and the best part...we're not stuck with 200 extra square feet of special order stone!!! WHEW!!!

What Kind of Bidder are You?

Have you ever shopped on Ebay or any other online auction? Have you ever been to a live auction and bid on items? What kind of bidder are you? Do you have a system? Do you have predetermined  stopping points, or do you let yourself get carried away? Do you wait for others to run out of bidding steam before you jump in? Or do you like to be the first bid?

I think for me to answer those questions for myself, I need to separate online bidding from live auction bidding. As far as online bidding, if it is something I really want, I will put in my max bid and hope for the best. Although, a couple of times, I did get sucked into bidding wayy higher than I planned-but luckily I was outbid by someone else who must have wanted it more than I did! WHEW!!!

Sometimes when I am bidding online, on an item I'd like to get, but am not dying to get, I just throw out the first bid as the starting bid price and if I get it, I get it. If not, then I'm usually not too upset. I've been surprised at how lucky I've been with throwing out the lowest bid and walking away from things. It doesn't happen all the time, but it has happened a few times, and every time I have completely forgotten that I was bidding on something when I get the email with the invoice!

When I'm at a live auction, I like to take my time getting to know the auctioneer's call or cadence. Each auctioneer is different in how fast they speak, how they pronounce their words, and how quickly they move the auction along. While taking your time and slowly easing in to bidding can be a good thing (not getting stuck with a higher priced item than you expected because it went to quickly and you weren't 100% engaged), it can also be bad when you're still trying to figure things out and the things you want start flying out the door!

I tend to stop bidding a lot earlier than most people. I guess that is just my cheap side coming through. I really do like bargains on the things I get-it makes the acquisition that much sweeter when you get a great deal!

How about you? Do you have any tricks that you use to keep from spending too much? Which do you prefer-online or live auctions? Have any tips for cleaning up at an auction? Do you stay to the bitter end? Or do you swoop in and out in a short amount of time?

I've been dying to find a good estate auction to go to, but they just haven't started up yet here in Michigan! I don't really care for the auctions in halls or warehouses-I prefer the onsite auctions right at the estate. What do you prefer?

V A C A T I O N!!

I am on vacation from work this week! I stayed home and didn't travel because I have too many commitments scattered throughout the week-I was hoping to get up north to my parent's house, but it just couldn't work out. I could get used to these laid-back days!

I ran a few errands, cleaned some cupboards and then I went to the booth to straighten and fluff stuff around. I was surprised at how dead the place was! Only a couple of shoppers in the whole place!! I walked through the whole mall looking for something to spend my Christmas gift card on, but I couldn't find a single thing that I could live without!! How could that happen??

Our house is quiet this week with both boys off house-sitting. Although they have stopped at home from time to time for food. While I was gone today, a giant ziploc bag of leftover turkey came up missing-yesterday it was a bag of rolls! I keep trying to get them to take some potato salad (because I made wayyyy too much), but they keep passing.

I have a late volleyball game tonight-8:40pm-UGH! It is our last game of our regular season and next Wednesday is our playoffs. Then we are done until September-whew! It will be nice to have one more evening free during the week now! The other leagues will all be wrapping up in the next month or so, so I will have tons of free evenings-whatever will I do with myself?!? ;)

How is your week going so far??

Good Friday Surprise!

This morning I wanted to get out and be out and about in the gorgeous (although chilly) sunshine. I scoured Craigslist for sales in my area, and came up with two within 5 miles of my house, so I set out. The first one was not really a sale, as I would call a sale. It was a new resale shop that was set up like a garage sale in an old computer ink business. It was mostly newer stuff, and I'd say 99% of it wasn't marked. I didn't find anything. It's a good thing I didn't find anything because when I got back in my car, I realized that I left my cash at home!!

I had plans with the boys to meet for lunch, and it was only 10:30 when I left the first sale-and the second sale didn't start until noon, so I stopped at TJ Max and walked around for a while, and then decided to head home to get my cash and find out where the boys were and what time we were meeting. They are house sitting for my friend just a few miles from our house.

As I was pulling on to my street, I noticed a sign going in the opposite direction of my house. Our road is split by a main road, and we live on the dead-end dirt part of the road. The sale was on the other bigger part of our road. It was at the home of an older lady who has been a collector for years! She has had at least 2 other sales in the past few years that I've gone to and my friend Auntie has gone to as well.

She is down-sizing and her house is for sale. I heard her say she is moving into an apartment. Both Auntie and I have bought a LOT of stuff from her in years past. This time around, it was a small sale. Just odds and ends, and by the time I left and another guy who was shopping at the same time left, there wasn't anything vintage to be found! That's why I didn't call or text you about the sale Auntie... :)

After I paid for my stuff, I noticed a set of 3 old white wood chairs. While I was asking about them, another lady started going through the boxes of stuff I had already paid for!! I looked up and said, "Uh, that's my stuff." She asked me if I had paid for it!! Since I had, I said yes!! Did that mean if I hadn't, she wasn't going to put it back? I've never experienced something like that before at a sale. Usually when someone has a pile or box of stuff, if they mention it, people will walk away-no questions asked.

I really shopped at this sale! I had quite a load to drop off at home before I could take the boys to lunch! We tried the sale that didn't open until noon before we went to lunch, but the only things that were vintage were being bought by someone else (a dealer in my mall, I'm pretty sure) as I was walking up.

Lunch was a LOT of fun! We went to a local Chinese restaurant that we all really like and since they just started $5 lunch specials, it was even better!! Now, Adam is off to work, and Eric is off to play video games as he enjoys house-sitting. After wearing out the new puppy (Lucy) and the old lady (Maddie), I am enjoying a very quiet house!

I think the BEST sales I've ever been to are the little sales that are not advertised. The sales by older ladies, who just at the spur of the moment decide to have a sale! I think they are like reaching your hand in your coat pocket after not wearing it for several months and pulling out money!

Here is what I picked up...

All of these Little Golden Books are bar code free. Some of them have the dark binding that came before the leaf pattern. All of them are before the shiny "gold" binding. One of them is a first printing edition. She gave me a lesson on what to look for to help identify their age.

 I actually got two of these, one has a dark blue binding, which I was told is a lot older than this one.

 

 A vintage doll coat and hat-I couldn't resist for only a quarter!

A doll apron made out of a vintage hanky! She thought it was worthless, so she gave it to me for free!

 More cute doll clothes and a tiny pair of doll socks!

 A 9 piece set-four napkins, four place mats and a table runner.

 A beer cap trivet, a pair of gloves and an aluminum measuring spoon set. Someone took the time to cover the caps with foil before they made the trivet! 

 This is a cloth book...it was only a quarter!

 Inside view of doll case. 

 Couldn't keep Lucy out of the photos, she really was interested in this doll case!

This was on a table just like this...I couldn't believe my eyes!

 It was the first thing I looked at, and the first thing I picked up!!

This is what they look like out of the tissue paper and box!

 This is just to show the chairs-not a great shot, but they are just old white chairs. I got 3 of them. I'm hoping to use them as extra guest chairs when we have company!

Last, but not least...an old washboard with glass!!

I sure wasn't expecting to find any more sales this weekend, but I'm glad I did!!