My summer vacation with boyfriend Drew Lachey (and others)

Here it is September already and I've neglected - tsk tsk - to share my vacation pictures with you.  I know you have been patiently waiting.  We took another California trip earlier in the summer with a side trip to Vegas baby.  While in Vegas I got to spend more time with my online boyfriend Drew Lachey.  I told him about our relationship (in case he wasn't aware) and he seemed ok with it.  So here are a bunch of pics.  I will do a Part II tomorrow with more pics - you know - just typical vacation pics like of me rubbing elbows with with the cast of Storage Wars etc etc.

My favorite pool at Mandalay Bay.  Two years ago when we were there I did not know about this off-the-beaten-path pool (South Lagoon Pool).  I don't feel the need to be around screaming 2 year old tourists at the main pool.  

 When driving around, I spotted the sign for Rick's Restorations so we stopped in and got a free tour.

 Me and Drew Lachey again.  It was like we hadn't even been apart.

If you spend money, you can can spin the big wheel at the Price is Right Live! Show in Las Vegas. 

Went to the California Science Center which was near the coliseum. 

 California Science Center

 Santa Monica

 Santa Monica. The drive back from Santa Monica to San Pedro (where we stayed) was sucky. 

 The pool at MIL's condo.  Catalina Island in the background.  Never got tired of going swimming there.

Somehow I convinced my DH to go to a flea market.  It was something, that's for sure.  I did not buy a casket.  

Also convinced my DH to go to the Torrance Antique Faire, which I liked.  I have a video of it that I need to upload to youtube.

 At the flea market.  Jacob's butt is drawn to empty chairs.  

At least he doesn't feel the need to lay down at the flea market.

Lots and lots of spray paint.  

Another chair not going to waste. 

 Palos Verdes

 Wayfarer's Chapel in Palos Verdes.

We had a stowaway with us on vacation.  Our local Chick-fil-a is having a summer vacation photo contest so our plushie cow got lots of photos taken.

Part II coming soon.

$2 Le Creuset Cookware - oh yes please!

Last week I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I went to a thrift I usually don't get to very often (because of the distance). But last week, Jacob had a dentist appointment and the thrift is nearby.

Even I amazed myself - haha. The first thing I spotted was a big red glass vase for $3. I turned it over and saw a Target price tag of $34.99 on it.

Then I spotted the Large Canvas Floor Tote Storage bag. Then looked and saw the tag said "Pottery Barn Kids".  Pottery Barn Kids stuff is pricy, if I spot it cheap at a thrift store, I will buy it.  The tote is embroidered with a "B". Maybe I'll take a Sharpie and write JACO in front of the B. Or do nothing and just use it as is. It's in very nice condition and sells for $55 on the Pottery Barn Kids website. If I was to spent $55 on a tote bag - someone please get my head examined - because something must have snapped in my brain. I paid $2 for it.  Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that there are people in this world who will pay $55 for a Large Canvas Tote Bag, gently use it and then donate it to a thrift store.  But it's not something I would do.

Last but not least I spotted the Le Creuset cookware on the floor next to where a customer was standing. I bent down to pick up one of the lids, and was expecting the woman to say "those are mine". But she didn't. Since most things are not priced at the store,  I had to ask the cashier the price.  She looked at them and said $2 each with lid ($4 total). One has a cracked plastic handle which can be replaced. And the other has a small defect on the enameled handle. I'm thinking these were purchased at a "seconds" store, but never used - since they are spotless.  The black thing on the larger cookware is some sort of plastic spacer thing so it doesn't get damaged while it was in the box (or something like that).

Not bad for a short trip to the thrift store.  I was in and out of there in less than 10 minutes. 

Pawn Stars - I know one of the customers

Well it's happened - I personally know someone who will be appearing (tonight) on a new episode of Pawn Stars.

Here's a pic I took earlier in the summer when I was hanging out with some of the cast of Storage Wars. You know, just another typical day in the life of the yardsalequeen. My friend Phil is the guy on the left, he's the one who will be on Pawn Stars. He writes a column for Storage Treasures And of course, if you watch Pawn Stars, you'll recognize auctioneers Dan and Laura Dotson. Laura and I share a love of large handbags.

A Lesson in Yard Sale Pricing 101

Don't do this.

This photo is a blast from the past. I just saw it again recently in my files and wanted to share in case you missed it the first time around. I took this photo while hitting the garage sales in my old hometown in upstate NY a few years ago.

First for Women magazine - yard sale success

Hey, if you find yourself standing in a long line of the grocery store, browse thru the current issue of First for Women for another piece of yardsale literature on page 90. They used me as one of the experts for the article, and they gave me credit for things I know I didn't say. And there's stuff in the article (from other expert) that I don't agree with. Selling used men's blue jeasn??? NOT a good seller.

We have a lot of catching up to do, don't we? I know you are patiently waiting for our California / Las Vegas vacation pics that we took in June. And after that I can show my pics of our recent trip to Delaware and Williamsburg, VA.

School starts two weeks from today! Hooray!!!!

And a bit of sad news to report. Get your kleenex handy. Walgreen's will be going to a loyalty shopper card sometime in September. No more Register Rewards.

Sorry, I gotta run, I am getting all ferklempt.

ps. That is not me on the cover of First for Women. I can see how it can easily be mistaken, but I am a brunette.

Got yogurt?

Well holy moley, I sure do. I saw that my grocery store had clearanced certain varieties of yogurt. At only $1 each! Yes, $1 for a 12 pack of Dannon Activia - which of course I had a $1 off coupons for. $1 for Stonyfield. (Secret coupon tip - stay alert to find coupons in odd places. I scored a bunch of Activia coupons because they had a display in my doctor's office! I also got a bunch of coupons for Jack Links jerky when I took Jacob to Great Clips for a haircut - they had jerky coupons just sitting there on the counter. Great Clips and Jack Links are doing some sort of cross promotion. The jerky coupons came in handy when Walgreens had a BOGO deal on them recently. Anyhow, I digress)

Without further ado, here is my wall of yogurt with awesome receipt.

Shutterfly Long Live Summer Contest

I recently found out about a facebook photo contest thru Shutterfly. Thru August 12 they are having a multi-week summer themed photo sweepstakes with instant win prizes.

It's call the Long Live Summer – Facebook Photo Contest (US residents only) from 7/9 – 8/12/2012.

Just go here click here to get all the details on Facebook and to enter.

PRIZES:
Instant win prizes just for submitting a photo!
Weekly prizes (contestants can enter one time/week)
Weekly featured photos: up to 5 weekly entries will be selected from the gallery and featured on the Facebook fan page.

Grand prize: trip for 4 to Bahamas, 4 nights, family photo shoot

If I win, I will take my husband, my son and my boyfriend Drew Lachey. If my husband has a problem with that, he can just stay home and sulk. Personally I think Shutterfly should just save some time and declare me the winner cuz of my awesome photography skills that routinely grace this blog. Have I ever mentioned that I am a published photographer and my work has appeared in a national calendar that people actually bought? Well that my friends, is another story for another time. (I did not take the photo below, but if I had I would have told that boy to quit making a silly "too much cheese" face)

Oh hell no. A definite yard sale don't.

A yardsale don't. I hope I don't need to explain why.



And a follow-up to my post from the other day about pencils become obsolete supposedly. I was at yardsale today when an older male customer asked a seller what something was (it was an electric pencil sharpener). The customer responded - "people still use pencils??"

The world needs more Garage Sale Song Music Videos

Here is garage sale song video for your viewing and listening pleasure.



and again, here is my favorite thrift store video (if you missed it back in Feb. 2009 when I shared it with you)

Pencils are obsolete

"Pencils are obsolete" - that is what one yardsale seller told me yesterday as he sold me an electric pencil sharpener for a quarter. Personally I believe pencils will be around for at least 2 or 3 more years, so I bought it.

I did do some decluttering the other day. I recycled Jacob's baby wipe containers that I've had stored away for the last decade. And my husband thinks I never get rid of anything. Yeah right.

Vacation pic - what do you see?

I will try to get my pics organized from our recent trip to Los Angeles and Las Vegas. I took over 400 pics and I don't think you want do see them all. So maybe I'll just show 350+. Until then, here's one of the pics I took. What do you see? If you answered the Mandalay Bay hotel, you would be correct. If you thought of something else - shame shame on you!

Finally - here is Bret Michaels

Finally - here are the Bret Michaels pics I promised. (You may remember that I saw him back in May, but in case you haven't noticed, I am an expert in procrastinating.) Maybe in a few months, I'll show you the pic of my gorgeous red Kitchenaid blender that I bought for $40 at a yardsale a few weeks ago. (I will probably resell it since my vintage avocado green Kitchenaid blender ($8) works just fine).  This is probably the first time in history that Bret Michaels and Kitchenaid blenders have been discussed in the same paragraph.













This is not Bret Michaels, but I loved the pic.










Me (circled)


and a few videos:

Dos and Don'ts for Throwing a Successful Garage Sale or Yard Sale

The subject of whether to price things or not price things at a yardsale was recently a popular topic on my message board so I thought I would just publicly state my sage advice on pricing and some other Do's and Don'ts.

Do's:

Price things. People want to know what things cost without having to ask. Buyers like seeing prices. As a seller, it's a waste of time to have people constantly asking you prices on every little thing. And then there are the people who can't be bothered in asking prices, so they won't and they will leave empty handed. You can put group prices on things that you have a lot of. A sign that says "cd's $1, hardcover books $1, paperbacks .50" and so on.

Visit yardsalequeen.com for tons of info on things you should do and don't do when you throw a garage sale.

Don'ts:

Don't price your suede leather coat by writing on it with a permanent marker like this:



Don't leave your old yardsale signs up littering up the 'hood after the sale. Take your signs down, otherwise the yard sale gods will send you some bad karma.

Don't say your sale is "huge and multi-family" when it's just you and your mom sitting out in your yard in front of a card table of dollar store items.

Don't just start leisurely pulling boxes of stuff up from your basement at 8:05am, when your sale should have been all organized and ready to go at 8am.

I am back baby - from Vegas and Southern California

I haven't purposely been blog-lazy - but I will partly blame it on vacation. I just returned to Maryland this morning from Southern California with my entourage. We were gone a week and a half and part of that was spent in Las Vegas.

I got to see my boyfriend Drew Lachey again in Las Vegas. And had fun partying with the folks from Storage Wars - Dave Hester, Nabila Haniss, and auctioneers Dan and Laura. And a trip wouldn't be complete unless of course I popped into the Now and Then Thrift Store to do some shopping. While there, I got to met Jarrod.

more later,
chris

Woman's World magazine July 2

Just a quick note to let you know that yardsalequeen.com is in the July 2 issue of Woman's World magazine (usually seen at supermarket checkouts) - page 23.

Easy way to haggle (for those who hate haggling) and Bret Michaels tease

There weren't many yardsales in my area yesterday so instead I went to the county fairgrounds - which turns into a Saturday-only flea market. My fav find of the day was the above lighter (for .75). That's another great thing about yardsales, you see stuff you never knew existed. The flame comes out of the tip of the middle finger. I could tell you what the inscription on the ring says, but I like to keep this blog family friendly ;)

Anyhow as I was walking around browsing the various vendors, twice I had a seller lower the price on something, without me saying a word. I would pick something up that I wanted - asked the price - and then after hearing the price I set it back down. Two different sellers were quick to offer a lower price than the price they just told me. I'm going to start doing that at every yardsale (where stuff doesn't have a price already marked) and see how I do. Of course I wouldn't do that when another customer is nearby hovering - just waiting for me to set something back down - but it may be something to try at uncrowded yardsales.

In case you didn't recognize me with Bret Michaels in my previous post, here's a pic that will make it easy for you to spot me amongst the commoners.

I will post some more pics of Bret, but until then, here's just a few (stay tuned for more)

Photo of Bret Michaels and me

I did my volunteer bartending last night for a Bret Michaels concert. My bar area had closed up early so I was able to enjoy the entire show (right next to the stage.) For some reason Security did not shuffle us along like cattle in the photo line like they usually do. So here's a pic of me and Bret Michaels (unfortunately a few others got in the photo too). Let's play where's waldo, but instead where's the yardsalequeen? (hint: next to stage, camera & black bracelet on right hand). More pics to follow.

JC Penney's - I told you so!

Back in February I blogged that JC Penney's new pricing strategy would stink. But were they smart and listen to my unsolicited advice? Nope, and what do you know - "Bottom line? Customers accustomed to bargain hunting don't much care for the changes the former Apple impresario has wrought." Well duh. You can read the entire article here on MSN Money

Got cheese? Why yes, yes I do.

I stumbled across a cheesy deal today at a grocery store - Cracker Barrel cheese cuts (7 oz packages) at a buck a piece! Plus I had a $1 off any Cracker Barrel product (boo hoo, just had the one coupon). But even at a buck a piece, it was an awesome deal. I heart cheese.

I didn't clear the shelf (I came close) but I did leave some for others. The shelf price said it was discontinued product and had a $2.47 price. But when I scanned them, they scanned at only $1 each, so obviously the price had been lowered but it didn't have a new shelf tag. I love using the scanning guns at my grocery store.

NYC pics - and goodies

Well finally, here are some pics I took last month. One day my sister, Jacob and I took a train to NYC for the day. We left my mom's house around 8am and got back at around 11pm. Busy day! I haven't been to NYC in many, many years. It was Jacob's first time and he loved it. We couldn't see it all in one day, so the only things I definitely had on our "to-do" list was to go to Times Square and also go to the observatory at 30 Rockefeller Center.

Outside Good Morning America studios.  Jacob watches GMA every morning before school. No, I hadn't read the news of the day when I took the pic.

Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant on the Hudson River.  You know I love me some nuclear power plants!!! I saw this on the train ride down. (I don't dare try to re-arrange the photos here (after the fact) since I hate the way blogger has changed the editing feature here)

Walgreen's Times Square

Directions to Sesame Street please.

Grand Central Station (no, we didn't have time to go to the Statue of Liberty, but Jacob wanted the foam hat anyway)

Not NYC but in upstate NY.  An awesome,  authentically vintage bakery. Note to self: buy more poppy seed stollen bread!!!