Oh the heat :(

I just found out that there's a new, super awesome, biannual flea market in my area, and they're having the first event in less than a month. First thought? Omg. Omg. Omg. I have to do it! Second thought? Oh shit. I can't. For several minutes, these two thoughts fought, but in the end, the second one has won out.

My body shuts down in 100 degree heat. And coincidentally, the past few days have been hellacious. So I'm not feeling very hopeful about the coming summer. I'm concerned that I'm reaching some kind of physical brick wall in relation to my ability to live in a super hot place. It frightens me to think that my body cannot live in the place where I live. Or maybe I'm overreacting, and the past few days have just been a strange response to a strange May heat-wave.

We'll see. But I don't think the flea market is going to happen. The rummage sale was possible because it wasn't hot. Also, there's a big three digit fee to have a booth, and I'm not rollin' in cash. Ok, I'll try to be more positive from here on out.

Post flea market meltdown

I feel so bad right now. The flea market was so much work, and not worth the time and energy in the end, which makes me feel like I can't keep doing this reselling thing. I'm fooling myself to believe that I can continue to support myself this way. I couldn't pay my rent this month. I had to ask for help, and now I feel like this thing that I love so much has quickly become the thorn in my side.

I feel like my needs are exponentially greater than I can possibly meet. I need a job with health insurance, but I don't qualify for jobs that offer it. I'm stuck with a masters degree and now I'm almost thirty and my body is falling apart, and I need health care more than ever, and I'm less able to get it every day. I have less than three months to solve this problem, and now it feels like the sky is falling.

I need to eat, but my body doesn't want to eat because it's hot and I feel sick, but my mood is directly related to my food intake.

That's all for now.

Actual Postscript: Um, I just looked over my posts over the last week and it appears that I am having a total breakdown. I'm not. I'm functional, but graduation has taken the wind out of my sails. This too shall pass, I assume, as it always does.

Flea market pricing?

Starbucks mugs are always a find :)

What a productive day! I edited a paper (did you know I'm a professional editor?) and listed several things on eBay. It feels good to get things done. I always feel better overall when I get things done.

Later in the day, I ate a vegan tiramisu cupcake. It had cream all over the top and on the inside. There was a single coffee bean on top too. Yum :) I had my friend tell me how good the cupcake was before I told him it was vegan.

I am almost ready for the flea market on Saturday. I am borrowing an e-z-up and a couple long tables. I started packaging my vintage sewing patterns so they can be easily handled (some of them are somewhat tattered). I need to start pricing things. I've been thinking and planning a lot about prices. I want to move inventory, and I don't know if I'll make any money if I don't price the exact right way. If anyone has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them. I'm going to go do some research now about flea market pricing, and I'll get back to you about what I find.

Semi-real "to-do" list

Very large vintage Le SportSac duffle bag

In honor of Thrift Core's organizational lists, I'd like to start thinking about the summer and how I'm going to start organizing my life. Mostly I just want to think of fun things to do over the summer.

1. Go to a Goodwill outlet: The thought of this has excited me for so long. I need to get a handle on my apartment before I bring in a bunch more stuff. Maybe if I started hanging things from the ceiling and got rid of some furniture...
2. Get my car situation into a better place: I've been saying this for a couple summers now. Summertime is ridiculous in my area, so pretty much we all just lay around and try not to die of dehydration. So going to the wrecking yard is not something I like to think about. Then suddenly it's March, and I'm wishing that my doors weren't broken.
3. Get rid of everything I don't need (garage sale, maybe?): In a little while, there are going to be a ton of block sales in town. I would love to get on board one of them. The scheduling conflict in a few weekends still chaps my hide, and I don't know if I've really fully decided what to do about it. I think I might look up flea markets, and see where I could go in the next couple months. I sure have enough stuff.

This was so not an exhaustive list. It was just a beginning. In my post-graduation life, I will be linguistically flexible and more organized. I cannot keep living in such a chaotic way. I don't know if that is going to change, in all honesty, but the more I think about it, it may be more likely that I find someone to marry who is organized. I will be the passionate one who makes life beautiful.

Thrift Share Monday :)

Vintage Galaxy mug

I love mugs. I drink coffee every day, and I have a NASA mug right now that I've been using regularly. It memorializes Apollo 13, and reads "Failure is not an option".

Sandra Boynton mug, "Keep Smiling"

I need a new travel mug, but every time I find one, it's not in good enough condition to buy and use. The last one I'd been using was broken to begin with, and then I fixed it, but it was never in perfect shape. Now I'm setting my sights higher.

Artist "Dale", Recycled Paper Products

Every time I see something from Recycled Paper Products, I like it. They're cute and funny, and I always need more smiling in my life. I've been trying to sell mugs lately. They don't always make a lot of money, but in adding them to my collection of tall pants, I have a regular stream of small sales.

Last month, I bought about ten of one thing: small plastic clocks made to teach kids how to tell time. It was a helpful thing to have a listing that didn't have to be updated, and just kept making me money (however little it was). So I keep that in mind when I'm looking now, just in case.

Linking up with Apron Thrift Girl.

Thrift Share Monday :)

 

 These things make me think of the eighties. I think if I wore anything like this, it would be only in the interest of nostalgia, and it wouldn't be pretty. It's too bad, because I think that some people can pull them off and look great.

Cullottes? Yes please! They aren't just for missionaries.

Why don't people ask me for vintage photos, because I have a lot.

I'm showing an inside photo of this one (Columbia Minerva Ski Fashions) because this sweater is so wonderful and beautiful and I wish it were still winter and I could wear it. OMG! I could keep this pattern book and make it for myself. Gasp. I'm graduating and will have time to knit sweaters. Holy bajoley.

Man sweaters? Lovely.

And now the best for last. Is this not the above sweater in wonderful blanket form? I L-O-V-E this afghan. Again, I think I might keep the patterns and make it myself, but I have no need for an afghan.

Linking up with Apron Thrift Girl.

The lure of decluttering

My apartment is a mess. I signed up to do a flea market in April, but it's the same day as the Mennonite Central Committee Annual Relief Sale, which is an unmissable event, so I think I'm going to have to decline the flea market.

I hate it when that happens. I have to decline one awesome thing in the interest of another awesome thing. What a huge bummer. Now I have no hope for the end of the clutter.

There aren't flea markets in my area worth selling at, so I'd have to travel if I was really motivated. I'm not motivated enough to travel right now, but I might be in six months or so. When traveling becomes involved, I almost wonder if I would be better off with a partner of some sort, or a buddy. But then again, who would I want to spend that kind of time with? Not many people. And since my friends all have their own stuff going on, it's not very likely that I'll be able to find a sidekick. Or maybe, I need a boyfriend who worships at my feet, and has nothing else going on in his life (I just shuddered at that thought-yuck).

Future flea market booth?

I went to an estate sale today that was pretty depressing. It could have been a garage sale, but they spread everything out into several rooms. I got a beautiful tablecloth. I've decided that when I can't think of a price I'd sell something for, because I like it so much, I'll just keep it. Unfortunately, I have a load of vintage tablecloths in my armoire, and nowhere to use them.

On the rare occasion that I get a booth at a flea market, they make everything beautiful, but I haven't been very active on the flea market stage these days. Maybe after I graduate? That decision can't be made until this paper is done though. Until that happens, I can't get a good night's sleep, a day without a stress headache, or a thought about the future.

Peace out buddies.

Chchchch...changes

Yesterday was an amazingly long day, but I think I helped some people, so it was absolutely worth it. Unfortunately, my schedule this semester is feeling pretty smushed, crunched, limited, etc. I'm starting to think that I am going to shift my thrifting a bit. I don't think I have the energy anymore to go every day. I'm thinking more about a weekend gig with focus on estate sales. I will try it out this weekend and report back to you with how it went. I think I avoided it last semester because I wanted the weekend to rest, but I think I can arrange it so that I still get rest and get sufficient shopping time.

Goin' on a bender

I've been on a bit of a candle bender lately. It's so nice to have them burning at night, and my day job is so draining that I need little extra bits of warmth and light at the end of the day to replenish. So I've been thrifting used candles, but have come to a bit of a problem. They burn to a certain spot, and then they're done. So I'm putting up this video to show people how to renew and reuse old candles that they either already have at home, or find whilst thrifting.

You can find plenty more instructions online, so I won't bore you with the details. I was able to find a lot of wick options. It seems like a fun thing to do with kids maybe. Just wrap 'em up in sweats and tape potholders to their hands, and you could probably leave them in the kitchen unattended.

11. Thrift Blogs

So I haven't been around the thrift blog block for too long. I think I started really paying attention to what people were doing this past summer (i.e. I had more "me" time). I was pretty quickly hooked. ATG's weekly round-up of weekend thrifting fun can keep me busy for hours. I wanted in, but I waited until I had something to say and the time to say it. I committed (to myself, at least) that I would post every day, no matter what, and lately that has been challenged, and I've learned to be kind to myself, and not expect my readers (all five of them) to tire of my day-to-day philosophizing.

On my list of favorite things a couple months ago is the wonder of thrift blogs. I do them all a disservice by not digging deep into every one of them as I write this at 9pm, so I'll have to figure out a way to honor them and still get a good night's sleep. Here goes...nothing.

1. Apron Thrift Girl-I occasionally send Selena strange emails, some of which she responds to. I recognize that in the blogging world, we are all strangers with a common love, and I can come across extra-crazy if I don't watch myself. Working on it. Selena is awesome, vulnerable without being creepy. Open without being too open. Sharing endlessly without hoarding her expertise. A gift, that woman.

2. Thrift Core-Vanessa is amazing. She's the first person who started to really make me think about thrift-as-career and expanding beyond the online market. She's also a freelancer, which warms my heart, because if I asked her, I'd bet we'd have a lot to talk about (crazy writing gigs-oh my!).

3. The Recycle-ista-Seriously changed the way I'd been selling. I looked at what she's sold on eBay and it was all green, meaning she sold things before they expired! I wanted that. I wanted movement. So because of that, I've been way more willing to part with items for less than my asking price. That is what I have "Best Offer" for after all!

4. Parsimonia (Secondhand With Style)-I could look at her photographs all day long. I don't know what it is. I just love them. She does this thing sometimes where she takes a theme and expands on it in different ways, like How to Celebrate National Elephant Day complete with photos of all of the different elephant things she's found and loved. Always lovely.

5. Thrift Shopper for Peace-My kindred spirit in Canada loves MCC and thrift and on top of that, blogs about it! She recently went to Scotland, where there happen to be a ton of great thrift stores. I need to tell her that I met someone last week who lives in Germany and hates their thrift stores, but happens to know that the ones in Scotland are fab. How funny is that?

Biggest Freakin Yard Sale Ever!

I walk out my front door this morning to a street fair, also known as the yearly yard sale that spans the mile of my street. The place is packed with people, and strollers, and cars. A man asks if it's okay if he can park in front of my driveway. "Um, no". There are four families in my front yard. A ten-year-old girl asks about a bed that's already been sold. I tell her that someone has already bought it, and she responds with appropriate pre-pubescent attitude, "Well who bought it?" Um, I don't know, not you?

I walk a couple doors down and see a boxer mix puppy that I instantly fall in love with. He's adorable, and licks my face. He's only $25 because they're trying to get rid of him. It seems that he doesn't get along well with the female in their home, or the female doesn't want him on her turf. I want to take him home and make him mine SO bad, but there's just no way I can get a dog that big. My place is not big enough.

Another block down is a couple selling pomeranians for $650, then another block after that is the man with the yorkies for $350. I miss my dogs so much (We went on a walk a couple nights ago then snuggled for a little bit. They were alone in the house when I got there and they both had baked bean breath from going through the trash).

I start walking in the street because the sidewalk is so freakin crowded. I begin to think that there need to be rules like in a really crowded marathon: no dogs and no strollers. Every other house has a restaurant in the front yard. Most of the food is Mexican, but I saw some chow mein, and I think I'm going to walk down in another hour or so. I was really wanting Chinese food last night, but ended up eating cake instead (Whose friends made her vegan cake for her birthday? This girl!). I also had vegan cupcakes for lunch because I thought that would be my birthday cake for the day. Ha! My nutritionist would be so proud of me for meeting my caloric goal for the day.

At the end of the street is a Spiderman bounce house with a sign that says, "Bounce for Free". I don't quite know how making it free does anything for their yard sale, since it took up the whole yard. Right next to that house was a full-on Earth Festival-Bob Marley-Reggae tent.

Mostly, this thing is one street-long flea market. I've been to better street-long yard sales in my city. This one is mostly food and crowds and nothing I want to actually purchase. It is important to note that I hadn't eaten breakfast yet, and that I'm just overloaded in general, so even though I had a good time walking up and down the street, I'm much happier now in my quiet apartment listening to Car Talk. Honestly, I don't even want to answer the door, but then I would have missed one of my favorite people, so sometimes life is not exactly what we want.

Speaking of wanting, and the state of my crazy life over the past month, well, not much change and still a lot of heartache. But life goes on, and work goes on, and the sun keeps rising and setting, and sometimes, even when it seems like God couldn't possibly let one more thing through the floodgates, they pour through unbidden anyway, and the void remains...it remains.

How do you feel about Bartering?

In white US culture, it is uncomfortable to barter. We'd rather pay full price than accept the shame that comes with admitting that we'd prefer to pay less. We'd rather go to another store entirely than request special treatment. Bartering is shameful. Bartering is for poor people who don't have enough money to pay full price. That's why the local flea market is only filled with Mexicans and Hmongs, right? Imagine how your skin would crawl if you walked into a place with no prices, where you said what you wanted. Ah! The mere thought terrifies me.

But thrift culture requires a good sense of bartering, the ability to say what you want, the ability to argue a little. If you can't grab a bunch of stuff from a flea market vendor, look it over, and name your best price, you're not going to get what you really want. And who wants that?

When I lived in Brazil (and I also saw this in Peru), everyone bartered taxi fare before they got in. And if they couldn't come to an agreement with the driver, they would send it away and wait for another. Today, is surprises me how shocked I was when I first saw this. In a capitalist society like the US, where we pride ourselves on the power of competition, we don't utilize the power of the barter.

I think a safe way to try bartering is to use the eBay Best Offer feature. No face time required. The seller can accept, decline, or counter your offer. You may get a great deal, or you may save a few bucks. Either way, I think it's always worth a try. Sellers often set the Buy it Now price at their perfect selling price, but they'll accept less if offered. Selling an item is better than not selling.