DIGGING IN THE BINS

Have you ever gone to a GW outlet? I have been to one in Lancaster PA and to one in Charlotte NC. It is so much fun.

Don't be afraid to get down and dirty or you will loose out. The one we went to in Lancaster PA one summer during vacation was by accident. There was a regular GW next door and we had finished there and decided to see what the outlet was all about.

Well, we were flabbergasted!!! Bins and bins of stuff everywhere. We went crazy!!! Everything was price by the pound. It was a few years ago and I think it was like 69 cents a pound. We went crazy!!!

More recently during a trip to IKEA in Charlotte we happened to find a GW outlet. We went crazy!!! The prices were higher, I think about $1.39 a pound. Books were 25cents, record albums were 25cents and household was half price of the marked price. I purchased quite a few things (we'll just leave it at that).

I am making plans to go back to the GW outlet in Charlotte before long. Now that I have an ebay store I have an outlet for different things than before. Before I was searching for vintage things to paint. Now I am searching for stuff to sell. I have begun laying the groundwork with SweetiePie for a trip to Charlotte. It is a good  3 1/2 hour drive and I would need to make it round trip in a day. Don't want the expense of an overnight stay. We have the time, just need to have the money.

In the meantime I have been digging in the bins at my favorite big thrift. They have about a dozen bins in the back of the store piled high with stuff. Everything is 4/$1.00. Like most thrift stores you have to look things over carefully. Most just need a good wash.Yesterday I came home with over 75 items, some I splurged on the dollar racks, but most came from the bins. I got all weather coats, hoodies, jeans, shirts, sweaters, pants, skirts and plush for 25cents each. I was in heaven.

Now today the washer is running overtime trying to get it all washed and sorted. As with most things, some will be good sellers and some will be low end stuff. Abercrombie hoodie, Hollister hoodie, LLBean coat, London Fog Ladies coat, Joseph & Feiss mens coat all purchased for the sum of 25 cents each!!!. I got so carried away that I didn't even take time to go through the "full price" racks. I had a 20% discount card that I didn't even use because everything I bought was on clearance.

Hey, I need to go back and use that 20% discount card!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.....

Where has all the time flown?
It was just spring not long ago and then summer and then Halloween and Thanksgiving and now
Christmas is here.
Have you been as busy as I have been lately?
Grandchildren tracked out of school, Christmas shopping, Christmas listing and selling on ebay and finally the big day.

We have our family on Christmas Eve.
Give the kids some food, lots of candy and send them home!!
Works for me.
Not so good for their Mom and Dad!!

Some of us didn't get too stressed

I don't know about all of you out there in cyberland, but I don't like the rush and stress of Christmas. Get this, buy this, go here, do this, do that. I wish we could just take it easy and not feel so stressed to do EVERYTHING perfect.

I didn't have time for a big tree this year. But at least I finally got one up. Small, but it does the job. And the cats have inspected it and it passed.

Our meal of choice for Christmas is lasagna. After the super huge feast at Thanksgiving with all of the rich and bad for you stuff we started having lasagna several years ago.I don't make lasagna very often and we tend to dig in. It is much easier than planning and fixing 7 or 8 different things for the family. Lasagna, fruit platter, veggie platter, salad and bread. And of course dessert.
The princess' don't particularly like lasagna. Don't like the ricotta and all the cheese. Daughter Smarta** came up with this for the princess dining pleasure.

Gingerbread spaghetti!! Got these little dishes at Michaels
one year after Christmas. Perfect for a meal for one.

They liked them, after we peeled the cheese off

 Fun and food was had by all. Of course I needed a nap after they went home, and I just sat down and got one!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
AND TO ALL A GOOD......YEAR





I have a new plan for thrifting next year that I will share soon.
Don't make too many new year's resolutions......

WHAT IS WITH ALL OF THE LISTS?

Every time I log on to ebay (or any other website this time of year) I am hit with a list of some kind. Electronics...games...gifts for him...gifts for her....gifts for your dog...gifts for your iguana...you get the idea.

Why? To get you to shop, of course.

But I have a question.

Am I not smart enough to think of something for my personal friends and family all by myself? Am I not the person who knows them best?

I don't need someone sitting in an office staring at a computer trying to make people BUY more of their stuff!!!

SO THERE....take that you list makers!!!

Oh, if you do need something for your iguana they have a list of sizes over at O.com....seriously!!

WHERE HAVE I BEEN?..... BUSY

Has it been Thanksgiving since my last post?
My, how time flies when you are having fun!!!

It has been a whirlwind of activity at our house. Well, for us a whirlwind. We tend to lead a much to sedate life and it doesn't take much to make a whirlwind.

I have been busy on ebay. That puppy just sucks the life out of you.
You need to list to sell.
When you sell you have to ship.
When you sell you need to acquire inventory.
When you acquire inventory you need to list.
One vicious cycle.

It has been fun trying to guess what will sell and what will sit forever. Sometimes I guess right and sometimes I watch something sit forever until the right person comes along.

Take these surprises for example.

1992 Hasbro Pony Surprise...guess what the surprise is

1992 Hasbro Kitty Surprise

My girls were too old in 1992 for this kind of toy so I completely missed these. I was at the GW this week and found these. When I picked them up I thought they were unusual because they have vinyl faces. But that isn't the surprise. Their tummy's have a velcro pouch with the babies inside. I know that kitties have multiple babies, but I think it is kinda rare for ponies to have triplets!! My daughter said they were creepy. Well apparently creepy sells. The pony sold in 14 hours and the kitty was sold in 25 hours. Now that was a surprise!! A nice one.

This was another surprise I found the same day. Who would have thought that women would want to relive the torpedo days. But these were new and still in the package. After checking ebay, apparently there is a market for them.

Madonna, eat your heart out

I can't wait to see what I'll find at the thrift store next week. You find something every time you go that you didn't know you needed.

THANKSGIVING ADVENTURES

Did everyone eat too much turkey? Too much punkin' pie? Too much chocolate pie.I tried to be good, really I did. I only had one plate full of food and two pieces of pie.

We had 15 for dinner on Thanksgiving. Not the biggest crowd we have had, but big enough. Adults, teen-agers and children. Quite a mix.

After dinner at 1:30, SweetiePie wanted to go down to the park in town so the kids could expel some energy instead of bouncing off the walls at our house. Good idea! Some of the adults went along and got a nice little stroll around the baseball field. Some of the bigger children went horseback riding.

Daddy needs a few last minutes tips on how to win this race.

ready....set...GO

SweetiePie was a close second

After the adventures in the park. We came back for dessert. I don't know about your family gatherings, but here at out house we have almost as many sweets as we do food for the main course. I put the coffee on and we dug in.

As we were cutting the desserts my daughter noticed water on the floor in front of the sink. Not a good thing.
Looked in the cabinet and there was water EVERYWHERE. Not a good thing. The drain pipe under the sink picked Thanksgiving to finally let go. The metal section of the pipe, where the dishwasher water comes into the drain had eroded and there was about a 2 inch hole in the pipe. Lovely. All of the dinner dishes had been washed and only the dessert dishes were left. Lovely, all sticky and sweet.

I'm pretty sure that this is NOT where the dishes are
supposed to be washed. Complete with peanut gallery!

After dessert it was entertainment time. Some went on a magical unicorn ride. Some serenaded us with their guitar.

giddy up

After all of the fun and games it was time for peace and quiet. Why did I clean my house before everyone arrived? I found chocolate cake crumbs in lots of places and glasses and napkins and forks and.......

But it was fun and can't wait to do it again next year....minus the sink thing.

I did get a new faucet out of the deal. As long as we had to fix under the sink, SweetiePie decided to go ahead and replace the old leaking faucet. Yeah....bonus.

WHY SO EARLY?

Hey!!! What's everyone doing up so early?

Oh, I see. Everybody is coming to your house for Thanksgiving.

Me too.

So, get off the computer and go clean the bathroom and get the turkey in the oven.

Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Don't eat too much pie!!

I'VE CREATED A MONSTER ....... OR SOMETHING

Who woulda thunk it!!

I have created a thrift shop monster. No, not the Halloween costume kind. The real kind.

If you lead someone to the thrift store you can't make them shop. Or can you?

My SweetiePie has become a thrifter. Now, if he knew I told you he would take away my car keys or something like that. Like that would work....

On Wednesday I had several packages to got to the post office and he volunteered to take them. I was knee deep in inventory that we had picked on Tuesday. Before he left he asked if I wanted to go with him. Oh, and maybe go by the GW while we are out.  Hmmmmm.....let me see. It is 1.5 miles to the PO in town and another 5.5 miles to the closest GW. It's kinda hard to GO BY the GW by accident.

What caused this turn around?

He has found some good goodies.

A Brighton belt, those are expensive.
A real Armani shirt, those are expensive.
A Tiger Woods golf shirt, those are expensive.
A fancy, smancy pair of ski pants, those are expensive.
A Ermenegildo Zenga shirt, those are expensive.
A Dale Earnhardt SR cap, not expensive but HTF.

I  have always told him he has an eye for the good stuff. (He married me didn't he?)  He He.......

Now he has proven me correct.