Yard Sale Saturday

I booked most of my day (pre-work tonight, which I agreed to do to help out some other staff who wanted off) on checking out yard sales in my town. I had found three on Craigslist- one supposedly a multi-family one in a housing development or apartment building. I also found someone selling a bunch of books, many of which I hoped to read, so today is a whole day of acquiring used things! :)
The first sale on my list turned out to be a bust. There wasn't much that interested me, but I did see some fabric scraps- I should have asked if she quilted. If I had kids or collected stamps, baseball cards, or Beanie Babies it might have worked well. On Beanie Babies: I feel like someday they'll be on Antiques Roadshow or in books as this great fad that then died and now you can still collect them in various states of wear. Someday, though- not anytime soon, but in like a few decades. And they still won't be particularly valuable.

It's okay that it was a bust though- it was a short walk and on the way back I discovered a few more streets in my town . On the way TO the yard sale, though, I passed ... you guessed it.. a yard sale! It seemed to be a few neighbors together. And here I scored some neat loot (still, though, no pictures, this is becoming a blog I'm going to be too bored to reread myself):
- $2.00: A smokey-clear Pyrex ovensafe (not stovetop-safe) covered dish, about 10" across
- $3.00 A bright pink reversible (to pink on black) mandarin jacket, silk or satin brocade. The pink side is missing a closure & the other closures are worn, so I think I'm going to remove those & replace them (probably with store-bought frogs instead of making my own). It's fairly well made, for that sort of cheapish kind of Chinese "traditional" clothing. There was another shirt that might have fit me as a tunic (or a dress for a child) with one layer of fabric, unline, unfinished seams- that's what's expected of that type of clothing, but this jacket had finished seams & even a bit of padding. The sellers said they got it in China & one of their daughters probably wore it once. It looks like more than once to me, but I wasn't going to make a fuss about it! Their daughters are adopted from China, which made me smile.
- with the jacket: An orange beaded coinpurse with clamshell closure (beaded to look like an orange) with a sticker inside that says "HANDMADE IN KOREA" -unfortunately that sticker will probably come off as I use it. I also saw a Liz Claiborne beaded purse with a C monogrammed onto it, but it wasn't as much my style.
- $0.50- A short aluminum water bottle, orange-yellow, SIGG style but not SIGG, with the WWF panda on it. Cute, even if I usually use Nalgenes.
- $2.25 for the box (an old glove box!)-A box of scarves, some polyester & acetate, one labeled "100% silk", several made in Japan.

All together? $7.75!

After coming back to unload & get 15 books (the guy was willing to meet me where I asked in town and the spines are nearly perfect, so I think a dollar a book was fair), I hit a bunch more yard sales- the majority of the ones in walking distance today, definitely- and got quite a bit of loot. Within sight of my apartment, one of my bags broke! It was just holding clothes & a few padded pieces of kitchenware, so I was all right.
I saw a yard sale on the way to another yard sale, and made it back without getting lost at all. A bike still would have been nice!
I scored:

$15- 15 books. 5 are part of Asimov's Foundation series (there are 7 in all), The Sea Wolf by Jack London, Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, The Complete Poems of Anne Sexton, Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Death of a Salesman by Herman Miller, As I lay Dying by William Faulkner, MAUS- 1 & 2, in a boxed set, and a book on the Guggenheim- with two postcards!

$8- Two dresses, one is Ann Taylor & the other might also be, that or Banana Republic. One fits great & the other is a bit blousy, it'll need a belt or something, but if I ever need to dress nicely AND eat a big meal I'm covered.

$7- A bunch of clothes for even cheaper! A dollar each- I could hardly believe it. I got a pair of 7 for all mankind jeans that fit great, another pair of American Eagle jeans that need a new button (& maybe a re-hem, but that's simple stuff), a sateen black trench by bebe, a silk dress by Banana Republic that fits.. a little strangely, but I'll work it out, a coral silky shirt by BCBG MaxAzria- I had been looking for more coral and orange clothing, although this shirt opens way low in the front, I hope I can fix it without stitches showing, and a cute cotton cropped sweater. Oh, and a tweedy wool blend (the wool is only about 10%, but it's also well made & fully lined) suit set- a skirt and jacket. I might splurge a bit more and have this taken in at the tailor shop- there is one below this apartment and he's apparently been there for several decades now!

$5- An old-school Corningware bowl, the kind you could put on the stovetop. Also a pin and a pair of grey rose earrings- I was looking at an Etsy seller the other day and considering a very similar pair, same color- and she threw in another pair of earrings.

$2- A shoe hanger for a closet, will be great in a tiny apartment

$20- A used-once Wilton cupcake tray ($3), Monk Season 5 ($5) and the rest went to Alex's Lemonade stand. I got a cup of lemonade AND I got to pet her awesome dog- a dachshund (possibly mixed, adopted) named Watson!! He was the best part of the day.

$3.25- A Pyrex baking pan, quite scratched but totally serviceable- no deep gouges, as well as a DVD (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson and a bowl with a chip in the rim but an English maker's stamp on the bottom- it's a pretty shape, & a pretty blue color, & if I get the cottage I am hoping for it will go well in the very-very-blue bathroom.

$5- I almost bought a Pyrex mixing bowl, but I was already carrying a lot (haha, this is BEFORE I got the large bag of clothing), and it was a bit chipped. Instead I got a cool piece of glassware- it's a wide squat cup, like a sherry or brandy snifter but wider, with a bowl that fits in the top. You can put ice in the base and then a dip or shrimp cocktail in the top little bowl. I thought it was neat, delicate, and could also make a good scotch glass -with a glass lid to hold in the vapors! I am excited to show Dan. The ladies at this yard let me have the $1 small Pyrex sauce/dip bowl with a pretty rim, for free with the fancy glass.

All of those little things did add up, though- to $73.50. An expensive day! But at the same time, considering that would be the cost of ONE new silk dress at Banana Republic or Ann Taylor, and not even the price of the 7 for all mankind jeans... and that I got some really neat stuff and I could walk to all of it- I think this was a great shopping day! We'll see what other yard sales come up this summer. It'll be fun!