Back in January, I decided that I couldn’t it wouldn’t be wise to give up Facebook so I changed up my list a little and vowed to go yardsaling with my best friend (and I still haven’t discovered the proper spelling of yardsaling… I should get on that). This past Saturday, I was finally able to make the trek to Maine for some ridiculousness… and to pick up some possible white elephants.
First, a little back story. Katy and I have been friends since 1998, when on a flight for a school-sponsored trip to Spain, we bonded over belly rings and the need for Bactine. Who knew a topical ointment would form a friendship for the ages. Life is equally unpredictable as it is full-on hilariousness whenever we are together. Because I have many friends with the name Katy/ie (we are children of the 80′s after all), her nickname when referring her to my college friends was “Crazy Katy” and for those of you that know her, you know that’s the perfect way to describe her. She’s fabulous, hilarious, ruthless and one of the most amazing women I have ever met. And I am SO lucky to call her one of my bestests.
This trip was going to be nothing short of absurdity.
Katy and her husband go to sales in people’s yards almost every weekend… I knew she planned her attack and as we prepped for this extravaganza, I received an email that looked like this:
What you can’t see in this pic is the way you had to scroll down three more screen lengths and through two more start times. All the sales were broken down by 8, 9, 10 am and “no time listed.” She was serious.
It was on.
I arrived in Portland late Friday night due to a minor crisis at home (Brody was having some severe belly issues but John said he’d stay behind and take care of him so I could go fulfill this part of my list – have I mentioned how much I love that man???) and snuck into Katy’s house as not to wake her and her husband or, more importantly, their sleeping 7 month old. And then, I was awoken by said 7 month old at 7 am the next morning and we were out the door by quarter to 8. As a side note, he was the best alarm clock ever… mama brought him in and plopped him down and his giggling was enough to start any day right.
I think in total we went to ~9 sales and I only made a fool out of myself twice, most notably when I asked “how much for the thing between my legs” referring to the floor mat I was resting between my knees while I was trying to retrieve my dollars from my purse. Awesome. And of course, there’s nothing like playing dress-up at a house who’s owner is not paying attention.
That’s sex right there.
Overall, we had a great haul and I have to say, there’s nothing like watching Katy walk up to a seller with her arms FULL of randomness and say “how much do you want for all of this?” The look on the seller’s face is priceless and there were things in her arms that I’m sure were worth more than what she paid for the whole lot. I think they were frightened of her. Also fantastic? The fact that there are yard sale “friends” that they see regularly, some even have nicknames.
This post wouldn’t be complete without showing off what I bought so, here’s my loot:
The doormats I paid $1 for… and the cause of my embarrassment.
Said doormats in use at my house.
Thule rack attachments – can be used for a variety of things and I couldn’t NOT buy them for $8.
Horrifically tacky yet fabulous advent calendar that I got at the church sale for $2.
Tray I got from Katy’s basement leftover yard sale items.
A planter that Katy restrung with twine for me. I think we paid $2 for that before I took spider plant babies from my mom for free.
There was one more (and probably the best) purchase but I don’t want to say what it is because I might be making it into a gift… I’m still up in the air on that. Bill and Katy got some seriously rockin’ stuff too, for far less than anyone should actually pay for something. All around? AWESOME morning. Plus, we got to finish the day with a cooler full of microbrews, a lake party and time with great friends. And it doesn’t get much better than that.
And cuddles from Katy’s scrumptious little boy…
My experience yardsaling was so successful that I think I might even try it out in my own town on Saturday. But it won’t be nearly as much fun.
Thank you so much for my epic adventure with you C family!
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. ~Old Proverb
