To Mom, with love.

Originally I hadn't intended to post about my Mom.

it just kind of happened that way.

You see, I went Garage Sale'ing this morning.
And I wanted to show you what I found.
But...I just can't say the word 'garage sale'
...without thinking of my Mom.

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Ahhh...garage sales.

yard sales.
junk sales.
Whatever you tend to call them.


I grew up going to garage sales.

If Garage-Sale'ing were a professional sport...
my Mom would be the Tiger Woods of it.
...the Big Papi
...the Michael Jordan.
the....Peyton Manning


Mom rises early. REALLY early.
She's out at the mailbox waiting for the newspaper guy to get there.
She then rushes inside, lays out the classifieds
and ATTACKS the newspaper
with a red pen.

My mom doesn't have the best memory, and she'll be the first to tell you that.
...but somehow she manages to remember where all the good sales are year after year.

In fact, she can recall what items she bought years before at what house.

I'm not sure if that's really cool...
or just really weird.

But it comes in handy.

So after she circles all the sales she wants to go to with her red pen...
she then maps out her route according to these important factors:

- neighborhood: golf course? ritzy subdivision?
- previous sale by that owner: now what did I buy last time?
- what time they open: should I go there first?
- location: how far away are they from the rest of my route?

All of this precise calculation in under 5 minutes.

no joke.

because after that 5 minutes is up she is out the door and if you ain't ready by then...
...she's leaving you.

Garage Saleing ain't a game for sissies ya know.


So...at 5:45 a.m. my mom begins her Saturday.

And if what I've told you so far isn't funny...
then think about this..

My mom never speeds.

well...hardly ever.

When it comes to Saturdays at 5:45 a.m...
that whole speed limit sign thing really just gets thrown out the window
and ran over.

Most days I have a hard time getting my mom to reach the posted speed limit in her minivan. Let alone exceed it by ten to fifteen miles an hour.

But Garage Sale'ing is a tough game to play.

yesiree.

You better NOT get in momma's way when it comes to garage sales. She knows the regulars by their vehicles. She knows if they're heading to the same sale she is. She KNOWS they will take every single item she wants if she doesn't get there first.


My mom doesn't think she's very athletic.
...she just hasn't seen herself run up to those sales.


Yep...that's my mom.

I could write a book on her ya know.

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So today I went on my own garage sale'ing venture.
I figure SOME of that intuition has to be in my blood, right?

WELL...I don't get a Saturday newspaper...so I relied on craigslist for the most part.
I picked out a couple that sounded like they were in good neighborhoods and had stuff I was looking for. Funny thing is...I was looking for good deals on baby stuff and didn't find a thing for the baby. The one place I went that had nice baby stuff was waaay too expensive. And I AM my mother's daughter so you know I'm lookin' for a bargain.

I almost felt a little of my "garage sale'ing with Mom" coming back...
this one woman seemed to be following me to every garage sale.
it was a little freaky...so I figured she probably looked at craigslist too.
THEN I thought...maybe she's been doing this awhile and knows where all the good ones are! So I thought of following HER around...
and then I shook myself awake and realized that I was starting to scare myself.
So I kept to my original route.

Which ended up being a good thing...
because I ran across a few really good ones that were only advertised by signs...

Ninety Minutes and Six Yard Sales later...


My first purchase at a major junk sale: a solid wood crate
(which Noah sneered at..psssh. He has no vision)
But seriously..these are all over the pottery barn catalogs!!

Second purchase at a random sale: 4 wood frames
I could do tons with these...fabric...baby room...sigh.

Third: A Sign.
I really don't have much on my walls...and its amazing what these little accents can do to make your home homee homie.

I bought these with the other sign. Still new..and they match my paint.
yesss....

And last but not least...
my favorite.
Perfect condition Pottery Barn shelves with the tags still on.
Originally 29.00 but I snagged em for 2 apiece.

woof.

I spent well under 20 bucks so I'm feeling pretty thrifty.

And I owe it all to my mother..
for flipping my mattress on Saturday mornings..