Hello everyone!
Please forgive me for being M.I.A. last week.... I should have done my garage sale follow-up post last Monday but what can I say? I was exhausted from the busy 2-day garage sale weekend and I was too lazy, plus things at work have been hectic, my cousin was still in town visiting and I'm also in the process of packing my things AGAIN and MOVING again! ARGH!
Yes, it's true.... I'll be saying buh-bye to my apartment in the sky come mid December... Apart from my landlord going money-hungry wacko and deciding to raise the rent by nearly $1,000 per month should I decide to renew my lease, my boyfriend and I have also realized that downtown is just not for us. We really don't take advantage of all there is to do - we are pathetic city people, lol! To be honest, I'm more of a stay at home person. I enjoy arts and crafts, reading, cooking and gardening.... and of course constantly evolving my living space! All in all, my boyfriend and I are both homebodies and we are okay with it. Now that living in downtown has highlighted that aspect of our personalities, we realize that continuing to live in downtown, especially at next year's exorbitant rental rate is really not worth it to us. So, where will we go? Well, truth be told we're both seriously considering squatting at our moms' houses for a few months to save money and so we don't have to go through the hassle of another exhausting holiday move and December to December lease. The thought of saving 75% of my paycheck every month for a few months puts a twinkle in my eye! Not to mention, I have foolishly procrastinated taking my last couple classes needed for graduating with my double BA in Sociology and Women's Studies and double minors in Religion and Art History. Shame on me, but I'm sure you all know that life has a way of throwing challenging obstacles in the way of your finish line. This upcoming year is about saving money and tying up loose ends and preparing for the future... With that said, I hope to rip past that finish line by 2012! (eeeeeek, I can't believe it's gonna be 2012! I feel so old!!! eeeeek!)
Anyway, back to the initial topic, the garage sale my family and I had on Saturday and Sunday, November 13th and 14th.... It was awesome! And you know it was awesome because I flat out forgot to take pictures of it two days in a row! The pictures you see in this post were taken by my mom, but they were mostly pictures of all of us girls having a blast. [and not of the actual garage sale set up]... which is the real reason why I forgot to take pictures of my own! It was a lot of work, but like we all said.... we work hard and we play hard!!! The women in my family are crazy, so we all had a lot of fun. Plus, lots of other family members and friends showed up to help and shop and the whole weekend ended up being quite memorable. Now, you must be thinking, yeah yeah, what about the money?!?! How much money was made?? LOL.... Well, I made $420 over the course of the two days, my mom made almost $100, my cousin made around $150 I think, and my grandmother and aunt, well I'm not sure, but I know that together we all made close to $1,000!!! Pretty good huh? Better yet, we barely made a dent in our stuff!
Now, I must say that I learned a very important lesson from this garage sale: think twice before you buy something in a store. Why? Because it hurts like hell when someone only wants to pay a dollar or two for something you paid waaaaay more for, especially when it's practically brand new! Everyone that comes to a garage wants something for nothing, so to speak, and hey, wouldn't you too? So that's the rough part about a garage sale, it really forces you to reevaluate your shopping/spending habits and realize how much excess we human beings amass. It's a very bad habit for a lot of us, myself included. However, like I've mentioned in several of my previous posts, I've changed a lot in the past couple years when it comes to shopping. Don't get me wrong, I still like to pay a visit to TJMaxx, Marshalls and Ross from time to time, but now I am way more selective about what I buy. It's almost like I overdosed on buying and it woke me up from a daze! In addition to being more selective about what I buy, within the last few years I've become addicted to shopping for treasures at garage sales, Goodwill, Salvation Army and thrift shops. Not only is it much more affordable, but it's also an environmentally friendly way of decorating your home due to the fact that you are buying something that someone else no longer wants, rather than buying something new. Also, some of the things people get rid of are incredible! I have found so many amazing antiques and vintage treasures, old souvenirs from Spain, Germany, Israel and so on.... Hell, one day last year while roaming through a Goodwill I stumbled upon an official print of Pierre Auguste Renoir's 1879 painting "Little Margot Berard" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art made in the early 1950's, still in its original wood frame and yellowing label on the back for just $4.00!!! I could barely keep the mischievous and triumphant smile off my face as the cashier obliviously rang it up. I'll tell you, whoever they have pricing their stuff is not very astute. It thrills me to no end to think what else I might find some day!
Now, I must say that I learned a very important lesson from this garage sale: think twice before you buy something in a store. Why? Because it hurts like hell when someone only wants to pay a dollar or two for something you paid waaaaay more for, especially when it's practically brand new! Everyone that comes to a garage wants something for nothing, so to speak, and hey, wouldn't you too? So that's the rough part about a garage sale, it really forces you to reevaluate your shopping/spending habits and realize how much excess we human beings amass. It's a very bad habit for a lot of us, myself included. However, like I've mentioned in several of my previous posts, I've changed a lot in the past couple years when it comes to shopping. Don't get me wrong, I still like to pay a visit to TJMaxx, Marshalls and Ross from time to time, but now I am way more selective about what I buy. It's almost like I overdosed on buying and it woke me up from a daze! In addition to being more selective about what I buy, within the last few years I've become addicted to shopping for treasures at garage sales, Goodwill, Salvation Army and thrift shops. Not only is it much more affordable, but it's also an environmentally friendly way of decorating your home due to the fact that you are buying something that someone else no longer wants, rather than buying something new. Also, some of the things people get rid of are incredible! I have found so many amazing antiques and vintage treasures, old souvenirs from Spain, Germany, Israel and so on.... Hell, one day last year while roaming through a Goodwill I stumbled upon an official print of Pierre Auguste Renoir's 1879 painting "Little Margot Berard" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art made in the early 1950's, still in its original wood frame and yellowing label on the back for just $4.00!!! I could barely keep the mischievous and triumphant smile off my face as the cashier obliviously rang it up. I'll tell you, whoever they have pricing their stuff is not very astute. It thrills me to no end to think what else I might find some day!
But anyway, we live in a highly disposable society (hello, has anyone seen that commercial about how many bottles of water the U.S. used and discarded last year? Enough to wrap around the earth several times!!!! MADNESS!) and it's important that each one of us pay mind to the small things we can do to help change that. Buying used things is just one. Granted, there are a lot of things I just won't buy used, but when it comes to decor I am all for it!
Back to the garage sale again: we want to do another one before the end of the year. Another fat chunk of change would be great, especially with the economy the way it is and Christmas rapidly approaching! Plus, we still have a lot of stuff to get rid of. Once again, I wish I had taken more pictures of the crazy garage sale bazaar, but it just slipped my mind, so this is all I have....
It's the week of Thanksgiving (can I get a WOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!!) and I can already smell the turkey and stuffing... mmm mmm!!! Stay tuned for a post on fall decor!
This was late in the day on the last day of the garage sale, too bad there aren't any pictures of what was behind the person taking the picture, there was so much stuff!!!! Also, too bad there isn't a good picture of all us crazy gals in various hats and vintage aprons! We looked cute... Oh well, lesson learned for next time!
And this, my dear readers, is my grandmother's amazing Arroz Con Pollo (chicken and rice) dinner that she graciously whipped up for the whole garage sale crew at the end of the weekend!! My mother and I weren't thrilled about the entire can of peas that my aunt dumped on the platter at the last minute, because we hate peas, but it was still amazing!
Oh, and how could I forget!? A big group of us (my mom, aunt, uncle, brother, 3 cousins and one of my long time friends) went to the Blood Sweat and Tears concert at the Magic City Casino the same Saturday night as the garage sale (yes, we are energetic troopers!!). I really have to be honest.... THEY SUCKED! Really, they had us sweating, crying and perhaps even on the verge of drawing some blood - like ripping our ears off! They only really have one popular song, which I like, but the rest of their set was unbelievably boring. But, there was a silver lining in the cloud: the opening band, The Grass Roots! Ironically, they should have been the headliners for the whole concert because they were AWESOME! They have so many great songs and the crowd loved them.... but then came Blood, Sweat and Tears and put us all to sleep. Oh well, it was still good times... my cousin got up and danced in the isle with some crazy drunk lady and we all had a great laugh!
Anyway, this picture is of The Grass Roots during one of their songs.....
(All images in this post are my own personal pictures)
