Saturday, June 4, 2011

The Most & The Biggst

I've been forcing people to yard sale and collect for years. We've always gone out in hordes and descended like locusts. After doing this year after year patterns emerge. There are certain people who buy "the most". They are buying something at every sale. Though there might be two tv trays of baby clothes and a few old tires, this person will find something to purchase. The items in their bag might not be big and flashy, but there will be a lot of them at the end of any saleing day. Then there are the people who buy "the biggest". A chair, a bowling ball, a 14 foot toboggan? Yep, they're getting it. All. By the end of the day everyone else in the party has become a pack mule and is trying to jostle a baby car seat, a television and three shelving units.

HB frequently buys "the biggest". A giant dresser three drawers wide and three drawers tall, a chaise lounge, a kitchen table, a massive painting and an oven hood all stand in her past as pillars of testimony. This woman is not afraid. (I'm omitting all statements like "this woman likes it big". We all know that you'll just start making "that's what she said" jokes and things will deteriorate rapidly from there. I like to keep it clean, folks. Obviously)

I've been known to buy "the most". Not every time, but a lot of times. There was a period of my life where I was selling vintage items on a website and at two different antique co-ops. I was buying a lot of stuff. The second floor of my house is a testament to that. Bags and boxes of leftovers. *shudder* I've pawned a lot of it off on to friends for their Etsy shops (That reminds me, I have to do a post on all of my awesome friend's awesome Etsy shops. Awesome.) so it's clearing out up there little by little. But, we've all learned a valuable lesson about "the most". This weekend both awards went to one person. Sarah Mae. She bought the most stuff by far and it was all huge. Nick got a few choice deals, Alicia put in a good show, HB got only a few things and I...I.... I bought nothing. Nothing. I'm terrified of winning the award for people who frequently yard sale and have nothing to show for it. It's a hollow, fearful experience and I don't recommend it to a friend. The day was so nice, the sun so bright I hardly even realized what had happened until we were on our way back to the car. Nothing!!

Present: Sarah Mae, Andrew, Alicia, HB, the Husband and I.


Nick got these for the Christmas lights since it's his job to string them up and take them down every year. The going price was a quarter each. He got them both for a quarter. The fever. He's got it.


Then there's this. A milkshake maker. It wasn't marked. Nick asked the guy how much he wanted for it and the guy said, "I don't know, what do you think?" The silence was lasting too long. "Say something! Make an offer!" I hissed at the husband under my breath. "I'll give you 50 cents!" he pronounced in true Nick fever fashion. The guy sort of laughed and said that he'd take a dollar. It works. Boy, does it ever! We're gonna get nice and fat this summer. Similar versions (though not the same, amazing color) on Amazon are $30!

So, I forgot to take pictures of the other stuff that everyone else bought. In lieu of actual photos, I present to you some horrible drawings:

HB bought a shallow clear glass dish/tray to corral her kitchen sink soaps. She also got a white pie bird and fully intends to use it. I fully intend to be there at the trial run. I love pie so much more than cake. Her purchases totaled under $3. Oh, wait. I just remembered that she also got a beautiful retro aqua colored gravy boat with a great graphic of some yellow and green flowers.


Alicia got a tank top that promoted some sort of liquor (she's a bar tender) involving the name baby. It was so hot out that HB ended up actually wearing said tank top soon after it was purchased. Alicia also got and was very excited about a vinyl cooler from the 80's. It looks like a box of Kodak film. Since Kodak is a Rochester brand you'll often see this kind of oddity at sales. Employee incentive gifts and whatnot. I was confused by her amount of excitement. But then, i like plastic and glitter so I'm not casting the shadow of judgment on anyone, here. She also got a beach wrap skirt. It's made of thin cotton and can be worn any number of ways as a cover up and also used as a beach blanket or towel. Multi-use. Functional, practical...if you go to the beach. Which, she does. It had Asian dragon symbols on it. See how awesome I am at drawing those? I enlarged it there, for you to really get a good look at. Maybe you'd like one as a tattoo? I have one of these wraps that I hijaked from my mother when she came back from a cruise. It's batiked and has dolphins on it. Yes, it was in the 90's, funny you should ask. No, I never went through a marine biologist phase, but I did own my fair share of dolphin tail necklaces, rings and the like. We all did. Don't try to get out of this one.


Then we have the biggest and the most. Sarah Mae. Yes, she did get a pair of skis. ($40) Yes, she did get a book shelf ($3). And an adorable white metal shelf/cupboard thing what had scroll work on the top and sliding doors. (Good thing too, or I was going to have to buy it and where on earth was it going to go?? $3) Andrew bought an old book about something. I want to say it was related to science. And a sliding rule and a sweater stone. I want one of those now, holy handy!

Then, a picture of what I bought. Oh wait...

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