Stop. Shower Time!

Today was my good friend Meggles' wedding shower. The husband and I got up early to go to the Public Market, but then didn't really have enough time for a full fledged day of yard sale-ing. So, I decided that I was in the mood to hit up a thrift store instead. I was in the market for sandals, shirts and dresses. As my good friend Meat Loaf says: Two outta three ain't bad. (Actually, I hate meatloaf. My mother would make it when we were little and my brother and I would sit at the table and cry. Real tears. She threatened us with having to sit there all night until we ate it. We chose to sit. And cry. Recently she told me that she had guests over and served it to them. I always knew she was a sadist. I don't know what I'd do if I was visiting someone for dinner and they served me meatloaf. Cry, probably.)

So, let's jump right into it. Lots of deals! First up the neatest Alice in Wonderland T-shirt I've yet seen. I have always loved Alice and I wish I could say that it was from the gorgeous piece of literature penned by Mr. Carroll. That not being the case I will divulge to you that my love for this fanciful tale came directly from the Walt Disney animated feature that both slightly terrified and intrigued me. I especially love the deep shadows in the film. Gorgeous! $1.99- Claire's Boutique, if you can believe it.


Next up is a drool-worthy find. Banana Republic jeans for $5.99 on sale, half off!! 3.00! Now, don't cry when I tell you this but, I'm cutting them off to make shorts. They fit really well on the waist and are way too baggy in the lower leg. They will be long cut off shorts as per the request of the husband.


This next shirt was $1.99, I Love H81, a Forever 21 brand, apparently. I don't think it's ever been worn. It's a very, very light sweater material and I mean, how retro 80's can you get? The shocker is that the husband liked it. He generally does not have a love of 80's fashion in any respect. This thing is tres comfortable. (sometimes I wax a little French)


Next up is a cute black and white (I know, you're shocked. I am too. I'm breaking away from my all black and whi...er...um...hm.) and red sun dress. $3.99 by Tres Chic. I can't find info on this brand so I have no idea where on earth it came from. But, I'm glad I know where it's going to. It has a cinch string in the waist, so it fits so nicely!


Here we have a pair of vintage Levis that have been made into cut offs. This might seem like a weird purchase to you but, might I call your attention to the zipper? All four glorious inches of it! That's right. These babies are not "low rise". These mothers rise all the way to the top. (much like my other good friends, House Of Pain) I repeat: I cannot wait until the highest waisted pants you've ever seen come back into style. I will rock those pants so hard and I will cry in unabashed gratitude every single day.


Last but certainly not least, the vintage 80's Wrangler Tshirt. (Remember those jeans? I want some of those jeans. I bet they have a six inch zipper!!) Oh, yes. Feast your eyes on this baby. Now, it was either this shirt or the oversize florescent pink Tshirt that said "Achy Breaky Heart", I mean, you can see what a dilemma I was in. This particular Salvation Army almost always has amazing 80's clothes. I've seen a red jumpsuit made of parachute material, a vintage Buffalo Bills jersey style Tshirt from when they were in some "The Big Game" and an awesome House of Guitars shirt which I promptly bought the husband, for $1. This place is awash in 80's goodness. If this store had a soundtrack it would be Living on a Prayer, Thriller and Whip It on repeat. The husband also liked this shirt, which is a wonder to me. But, I didn't oppose it, I just paid for it real quick before he could change his mind. $2.99

Six. Inch. Zipper.

Too Many To Do

This weekend there were lots of sales in our area. Lots of streets, lots of neighborhoods, lots of churches. We started at Dunkin Donuts to fuel up. We almost always start there. A little sugar, a little caffeine and we are ready to hit the open road.

In attendance: The husband, HB, Alicia, Sarah Mae and Me.

This is a picture from one of the church sales. I think it might be the exit, what do you think?

Just so you know where we're heading with this I'll give you a sneak peek at our haul:


And we had five humans in that car! For hours. In case you weren't aware, this is what is known as hard core. We are the few, the elite, the yard salers.

Alicia got a new backpack for scooting (when she rides her pretty red scooter) that is from the 80's and has the colors of the rainbow printed on it. It also has the original tag and a set of original mini colored pencils. So you can practice the colors on your own. Educational. $2. She also got an Amerks tote to bring to work with her. She loves those Rochester Americans. Can we just talk about what a rotten team name that is? "The Americans". Although on second thought I'm sure it would inspire tons of fear and loathing the world around, so maybe they are on to something there. Imagine if there was a team called "The Mexicans" or "The Spaniards". Not real nice. That was about a quarter as was the little hand towel with the reindeer on it. It's for Christmas time at her new house what she's going to get. I love that one of the first things she's planning for is Christmas. That's my girl.

The bulldog door stopper was $2 and the colossal and gorgeous vintage jewelry box was only $5.

HB got a ton of stuff. But, she didn't win the most or the biggest. She did get another ceramic tree (it does have plastic lights, not pictured) and this one is blue and was $5. A vintage Christmas light cover for a quarter, vintage scarfs for herself and for her Etsy shop (a quarter each), a mug for her mother who is an avid sewer, that says "Stitch-n-Bitch", some pounded pewter cups to use as vases (10 cents each) and a pair of earrings. They are hands with the middle finger sticking up. So sweet. So cute. What a perfectly appropriate subject for dangle earrings! We have a friend who will think so! (at least they were only a quarter)

The wire stand is what I thought (hoped?) would win "the biggest". I think it cost her $2 and was winning for quite a while. It has two baskets in it and she will probably use it outside to put flowers in. After a good coat of crazy bright spray paint. She has a collection of dramatic ship images: paintings, books and now, tins! The parrot clip on was a quarter or something. She loves birds, too. Especially ones that clip on. The large green glass ornament is Alicia's and cost a quarter at one of the church sales.

Here we have the winner of "The Most". You might think by these pictures that she must have won "The Biggest" as well. But, no so! All of the crazy hats are for her Etsy shop. They were about $1 each. I'm sorry to tell you that we planned a picture where we were each wearing a hat, and it was good. I was wearing the Q-Tip hat, second from the right. The yellow one seems to be made from genuine Muppet skin, and you know how I feel about that. The husband was even wearing one...the leopard skin hat. So, you can imagine the delight we had prepared for you. We even went so far as to ask a random lady in a church parking lot to take the picture. Then we even believed her when she said she wanted to "take two, just in case". She shut the camera off, instead. No picture. Sorry kids. You'll just have to use your ample imaginations, I guess.


The Bert and Ernie picture frame is vintage, adorable and was $1. The two leather purses were $1 each and the vinyl on with the ship was like 50 cents or something ridiculous. I told her that some hipster chick is going to love the shit (ship?) out of that one. There is a white metal tin with a rainbow graphic on it hiding back there. It's from the 80's. I used to have one just like it and I kept my crayons in it. Can you imagine the delight? The vintage Ray Ban mirror was $3 and she likes it so much she just might keep it. As for the nightmare rabbit...we'll get to that in a minute.

The cabinet was meant to house a record player...we think. There are holes in the back to that effect. We saw it at a church sale and sort of looked at it for a minute and then decided it was too much for the shape it was in. At checkout the guy from the furniture shed found us and asked if we'd take it away for like $2, Sarah Mae said she'd give him $1 and that was that. It's made of real wood and has nice brass feet. It's right up Sarah Mae's mid century modern alley. She loves tapered legs and clean lines. If you've ever seen the movie The Incredibles then you've seen Sarah Mae's dream house. She'd love to live in an atomic ranch built in the 50's.


So then, back to this...thing. I have a theory about toys from the 20's-50's. There is a very large time period where toys seem to be built for the express function of terrifying children to their little souls. Case in point. This fuzzy pink nightmare has a human face. It also plays music. Demon music rabbit. I think drinking was the national pastime during those years and it shows. What child is going to like this? What child is going to want to see this sticking out of his/her easter basket? No child, that's who. It's worse than Ralphie's pink rabbit pajamas.

Finally. The winner of "The Biggest". (Get your minds out of the gutter! You guys are seriously filthy.) The husband bought the biggest and what will surly end up being the most profitable. A Bridgestone bicycle from the early 90's. Originally marked $30. He waited until the end of the sale and went back to see if they would take less. Turns out they would. The grand total was $5. FIVE DOLLARS. That's no joke! Look at him all suave trying to control his bursting pride. Hopefully he really ends up selling it and doesn't add it to the menagerie of bikes that seem to be multiplying of their own volition on our porch. Hopefully he'll list it on Ebay and sell it really soon. Unlike the Doc Martins.

A few more shots for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing.

And here are my treasures. A free Encyclopedia from the 40's full of glorious pictures and illustrations. Another beer glass, this one from Dave & Busters which I thought was a made-up place from one of our favorite shows It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (50 cents) and what has got to be the world's ugliest Gonzo doll. I picked it up specifically to laugh at it. I thought there was no way it could be a licensed product. But, it was. Shame on you Disney! Shame on you Henson. You shouldn't sully your good names with sub-par character pieces like this! And what exactly is he wearing? A disco outfit? For the love of god man! But I bought it for a quarter because I'm a good collector. Or a sucker. One of the two. Geez. The thing is even wall-eyed. *shudder*


Then there's this little girl for a quarter. Vintage coy polka dot Christmas fiddle player. Flocked. Yes, please.


A few things for my Etsy page. Do you remember Nosey Bears? I didn't ever have one, but the popcorn one was my favorite! Better keep Lilah away from this little dude.


These things are both gifts. If you know much about me, you know I love Newsies. My friends love Newsies. We sing it, watch it and pretty much bond over it every chance we get. The gloves are for a friend that collects...gloves. I'm not sure that she has a pair of magenta in her stash of over 100 pairs.


This is my favorite find of the day. The fox lamp. I got it for a friend of mine but had she not wanted it, I wouldn't have walked away from this guy. I mean, just look at his little face! It reminds me of Fantastic Mr. Fox. A book I fell in love with many years before the movie came out. I love the movie, too.

The shade is a bit messed up, but...

I refer you back to this mug. Are you gonna say no to it? And at $5, it was a steal!

Big Dreams, Big Weather

This was supposed to be it. The big one. The dream maker. IT. Two major routes: 5 & 20. Three towns: Caledonia, Avon, Lima. Three days: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I had built this up in my mind to ridiculous proportions. I'll give you that. I was picturing similar things that I had seen between the covers of Country Living and magazines like that. Miles of tents and tables, vendors and craftsmen. It was going to be epic. And it was right here. Right in my back yard. Thankfully, I decided not to be too hasty. I didn't go whole hog, if you can believe it. I chose only to do Saturday and see how things went. Do a little research and be prepared for whole hog next year. It turns out the hog wasn't as big as I thought.

Plus there was the fact that it rained. And thundered. And lightninged. Wow, lightninged is really a word, who knew? One sale here, another down this road and one three blocks away. No tents, no vendors, no craftsmen. We went to a church sale and a rather large lawn sale. Then we got some brunch. Then we went home. A pretty sad state of affairs for The Big One.

I did come away with some trophies though. So did everyone else. In attendance: Sarah Mae, Andrew, Lilah, The Husband and I. Since I didn't get ANYTHING last time, I'm going to show you my finds first.

So, I'm going to be honest and tell you I don't really know what the thing on the left is. I do know that it was $2 and that I had to have it. If I had to guess I'd say it was some kind of a fairy tea party set for kids in the 50's. I have no idea if that's true. You could only put the tiniest amount of liquid in the cup things, so it can't be for real use...can it? If you have an idea of what it is, let me know. For now it's taking pride of placement on my jadeite cake plate. The tiny plastic couch is retro, red and priced right at a quarter. Who could refuse?


Wow. Check this stuff out, will ya? Skull? Check! Koosh ball mouse? Check! Vintage E.T. toy? Yes indeed! All of this stuff cost me $2. The Santa mug is for a friend, the Koosh and E.T are for my Etsy page and the skull is obviously for my Halloween decor. I mean, come on, that is going to look good next to the dead doll casket vignette. The crazy rabbit is for me and I think I'll fix the green...cat?...thing's eyeball and give it to a friend who I hope will love it.


Nick's finds, all for 60 cents. You can see what they are, no explanation needed, eh?


Mom's lot. The boots were $1 a pair and I think everything else was like 50 cents total. She also got an aqua plastic couch, on a larger scale than my little red one. Very cool. Here is a close up of the vintage wallet:


Sarah Mae and Andrew got some T-shirts, a tiny watch and an Infant of Prague statue that came with different dresses. It wasn't a doll, just a statue. With wardrobe changes. It was the first time I'd ever encountered that. It reminds me of people who have duck statues in their lawn that they dress up for different holidays. It makes me wonder if people like that wanted kids and could never have them or something. Or maybe they just love accessorizing. Anyway, I didn't take pictures of their stuff because it was pouring rain and they were in the other car.

Luckily I threw out the idea of consoling ourselves at the Avon Flea Market the next day. And we did. And it was sunny and 75 degrees. Stay tuned.

Dirty Church

The husband and I started our day out at the Public Market at 8:00 am. I don't know if you know this about Rochester, but we have the #1 Public Market in the country! In the entire US of A, Rochester has got the best Public Market. It seems unbelievable, but when you arrive at 8:00 am and have to park two blocks away because the place is so packed, you start to understand. We had our veggie and meat grocery list and were able to get almost everything on the list. I swear to you, it seemed like every single thing was $1. I can't wait to go to Wegmans and find out how much our three bags of produce and chicken would have been.

Then we went to two neighborhood sales that are across the street from one another. It's been years since I've been to these particular sales. Last time I went it was a mad house. Swarms of people the likes of which you might witness at Woodstock or NYC on New Years Eve. Call me crazy, but I just felt like living on the edge today. There were plenty of other great sales to go to, but these were closer to home and gas is $4 a gallon. Not that I drove. But, you get the point. Anyway, it ended up that the crowds were thinner and the pickins better.

In attendance: Lilah, the husband, Sarah and Sarah. We started at a church sale. Innocent enough, or so one might think. We found gobs of 80's stuff. Including "Yo MTV Raps!" trading cards still in the box and stickers wanting to know, "Where Is The Beef?" Not where's the beef. Where. Is. The. Beef?! Then things started to get a little...kinky. There was a gold necklace charm of a couple...coupling and a photo frame with factory photos of men in the buff that showed you exactly where the beef was. Two other gems did not elude us:

Sarah pities the foo' who doesn't cure virginity...hound dog.

The husband is pretty pumped to use this on his desk at work next week. Jealous? As we were checking out Nick mentioned that he thought churches were supposed to burn things like this. The man collecting the money said, "Not this church, we're awesome." How can you disagree with that? Lilah scooped up a vintage folding lawn chair for 50 cents and Nick took it's match. Then of course Lilah wondered if she should have gotten both and they spent the rest of the day keeping their respective chairs out of reach of each other.


The vintage still in the wrapper message board is for someone who likes that kind of thing. It has felt pieces on it. Authentic 1970's felt. We're talking high class.

The husband got two Beach Boys records. One has NEVER BEEN OPENED. They were 50 cents each.


Lilah scored a tiny little turkey (she has to be the only person I've ever met who loves turkey things) for a quarter, a vintage silhouette jar for 50 cents, two plants for a buck and ...popcorn. She was eating it before we even realized it was there. My mother is a popcorn fiend. She can smell popcorn three miles away. She can also eat her weight in popcorn. She housed that junk. It was fresh popped, too! Right in someone's front yard. Two things to know about my mother: Do NOT get in between her and popcorn OR her and fresh oranges from the tree. You will be chewed.



I got several things as well. The first to tempt your imaginations is: the dog air freshener or "Air Refresher". It's fuzzy, it's green, it's a dog...apparently. This one is for a friend. Obviously. What are friends for? Plus, it came from Dirty Church.

I love tiny. I love cute. I love holidays. Put those hands together.

I had this book when I was younger. I just started to think about it last week and I missed it. I remember the pictures so vividly. Glad to have it back.


This vintage black purse was $1 and came with it's original change purse. The leather pouch is for a friend who loves horses. And probably leather to some extent. But definitely pouches.


I've been all about the 80's stuff lately. Even more so than usual which is bad news. I looked at plastic 80's jewelry online the other day for about an hour. I was then gifted with this for like a quarter. Now, I used to have a ton of these when I was a kid and then again when I had the 80's toy website: 80's Twilight. (calm down, that was at least 10 years before The Twilight Saga came to be) I forced the collection onto a friend. For her own good. (who, me?? Never!!) But, I think I'll keep this one. At least until my nostalgia fades away. I bet you recognize some of these charms from your own necklace, don't ya?


Stay tuned for more yard sale-ing adventures on the high seas! (or on land, in the suburbs)

Marathon Weekend...Literally

Well, I guess it's a half marathon weekend, if you want to get technical. The Flower City Challenge, to be precise. One million things are happening. Check it out: Friday we went to a church sale. We go every year. Never find anything too epic, but we feel compelled to go since it's pretty close to where we live. Also, I have to support church sales that start on Friday and stay open till 7 or 8 pm. That's just rad. All those old ladies staying out past their bedtime. I'm talking about me and my friends, of course.

We're not going to mention the fact that HB looks drugged in this picture. Or that she's wearing some conglomeration of pajamas. I don't think she reads this, so what she doesn't know can't hurt her. Anyway, the Millhouse sisters have a love of moody sea/ship art. Alicia is in the market for a place of her own and she found one of these at the Friday sale. In the middle of debating whether to keep it for her new place or give it to her sister, she noticed a second one. The same. Twinsies. Boom. I think they were like 50 cents each.

All of the little animals are Alicia's of course. As is the picture frame. Maybe she'll put a mirror in it. Maybe she'll paint it a rad color and put it over her new peep hole. Who knows? the wooden spoons are for her new place, too. HB bought the embroidery hoops, the bobbins and the great vintage Christmas tags. Now, I'm going to show you what I got. You might want to sit down. Because this is good. Almost overwhelmingly so.

Right?? Mouse pad! I'm using this bad boy at work. Goodbye plain red mouse bad. Hello love of my life! The whole shebang cost me 75 cents. Beat that with a stick, if you can! But maybe not, because I think it would break my new wine glasses. I sort of just realized that I don't have stemware. So, I'll be on the lookout all summer long. So then on Saturday morning the husband and HB teamed up for a duathlon. She ran, he biked, she ran. Team Chick and Nick placed 13th out of 49 teams! Not too shabby! We got up at like 5:20 am they did physical activity, I waited around a took pictures. It was nice out. And sunny.

After they finished we went home to clean up. I took a nap, you know, since all that looking around was such hard work. Nobody else napped. That's just how my lazy ass rolls. Literally. That's how I'm maintaining such astounding rolls. Take note. A few minutes later we headed out to a neighborhood sale. It was glorious outside. Just as we started to get hungry we discussed the potential for us to come across someone selling hot dogs. Just at the same moment we spotted said person. The combo was $3. Hot dog, bag of chips and a drink. I opted for Fritos and water. I gotta watch my waistline. The menu said that gossip was free. I'm not sure why I didn't document this in photographs. Too much eating, I guess. Then I belched up hot dog for the rest of the day and remembered why I don't like those little mothers. They don't even really taste that great the first time.

The husband got vinyl.

Sarah got a very cool green bag and a Pennsylvania Dutch Unicorn plaque. Which, makes perfect sense to me. Andrew got a tea bag squeezer outer. I'm pretty sure my family used to have one of those.


Alicia got the hoodie she's wearing and it came in handy right away. Babe the Pig is a toy for her dog. Something about that makes me cringe. Don't worry Babe, it won't hurt for long. That dog will have you ripped apart in four minutes flat. The totally unauthorized Michael Jackson trivia book is nice because we can all learn a little something from it. I don't know if the thing draped over her arm is a rug or a blanket. Knowing Alicia, it's a blanket. Because if it's not a garbage can, it's going to be a blanket every time. Or a small animal statuette. With jewel eyes. I can't wait to see her new place!


HB got the skirt for a quarter. Ridiculous. She wears skirts all summer long, so I'm sure she'll get her monies worth out of it. More vintage Christmas labels which were free and a glass what says "Norma" if you can believe it. The Millhouse sisters have an aunt Norma (Normie) and she enjoys a nice cocktail every now and again. So this is the glass she'll use when she comes to visit.


This is my haul. $1 for the mug which I'm giving to my aunt. She loves cardinals and she also likes cute cartoon things. I think she'll get a hoot out of it. That would have been a funny pun if it were an owl mug. Pretend, ok? The strawberry shortcake things will be listed on my Etsy page shortly and the linen was ten cents. Ten cents, ok LuLu?!? So no guff from you! It's awesome and you are getting it and I don't want to hear about rules! Heather made me do it! She made me get it for you even though I tried to tell her about the rules! She doesn't go in for rules and she's a bully to boot! I blame her.

Then on Sunday morning HB and a bunch of our other friends ran the half marathon. Right after that we went to the public market for their yard sale day. It was so nice out. Perfect weather for running. I would imagine. Not that I know from experience. But I do have a pretty good imagination, so just trust me on this one. Below you will find the things the husband and I bought. Just the wine glass is mine! (25 cents) This is the most that the husband has ever bought in one saleing event. I think he had a tinch of the bug. The fever. He didn't want to pay full price for anything and ended up getting a $4 plant stand that our friend Mae had been wanting for $2 instead! He's gettin' good at this. The belt buckles were $1 and $2 (he's going to try for all 50 states. The funny part is that the Arizona buckle was made in Colorado.) and the movies were $5 together. Great way to finish off the weekend. I'm proud of you, my son.

OK, time to go get ready for brunch! So many good things! Hearts and bellies full of joy!