Disappointment of the Week

The greatest disappointment of my day (and it’s only 8:00am) is that I didn’t get to sleep in. So . . . I’m tired, but the reality is pregnancy leaves me tired even after a descent nights sleep.

Mornings aren’t my strength.

Unlike the counselor, who is amazing in the morning. He jumps out of bed when the alarm clock goes off, always cheerful, reliable and sprite (can a 6 foot 5 inch man be sprite?).

He follows through with everything; accurately filling his work bag with client files and carefully picking out his gym clothes in the dark. He sorts through socks, and if he’s lucky he’ll find a matching pair.

I’m the grouch lying in bed, convinced if I try hard enough I’ll fall back to sleep.

I grumble as he starts a conversation, then moan something slightly verbal as he says, “I love you” and opens the bedroom door. The dogs pile onto the bed, wagging their tales like their very lives depend on it.

I do get a kiss good-bye (from the counselor, not the dogs).

I’m tired, but the counselor’s sweet smile cheers me up in no time.

So, I’m no longer disappointed about my foggy state of mind, but I do have some Ebay disappointments. They are as listed:

I found this Burton vest on dollar day and knew it was something special. Once I got it home, I googled Burton and found this dainty little thing sells new for over $100.00. I listed it at $24.99, but no takers. The next week, I listed it at $9.99. Still, no one and it was like the listing had shrunk into some unknown black hole. Was no one in the world shopping for a XS Burton snow vest? Stubborn as I am, there was no way I was listing it at .99 cents. If it sold for .99 cents I wouldn't know what to do with myself! So, I did what any decent person would do. I gave it someone I really, really love who I knew would look gorgeous in it(I hope you enjoy it, Chandra).


I brought home this gorgeous Chico's linen shirt, crisp white, with lovely bright festive embroidery. I paid $4.99 for it, because I knew, I just knew it would be a big seller. After 3 attempts, the last one a desperate hail mary so to speak, never sold, even on .99 cent special.



I find something I've never sold on Ebay. I hold my breath, because the price tag reads $4.99. Is this for real? A fabulous pair of True Religion jeans?


They look great: lowrise, artsy pockets (O.K., I'm not hot about the frontal nudity, but whatever), the zipper works, buttons are all there, and WHAM! Check this out.

These jeans have been cut, shortened and hemmed. HEMMED! What was the original owner thinking (take a deep breath here, Laura)?


This completely ruins the value of the jeans.

Reef doesn't want to hear it, but the truth hurts, little buddy.

Payson's beyond consoling. I've raised him right.

You might as well get a bucket of florescent yellow paint and splatter them with it, then take several hundred nails and hammer them, while angry, into the denim, and finally, soak them in bleach.
So, I begrudgingly place "what could've been" back on the rack and slowly push my cart away, looking back only once with a tear in my eye.
Big girls do cry, they just don't admit it!

Neighborhood Swap by Guest Writer Jeni Gessel

My dear friend Jeni has brilliant ideas all the time, like to paint her house a juicy plum red or to bake me a batch of real butter, pumpkin-shaped, obscenely drenched with candy corn sugar cookies. She's a master of all trades, but being a mom is what she does best. Read about her latest inspiration: a neighborhood swap.


The idea of a swap, an exchange, an even trade fascinates me. Something old can become new, simply by trading ownership! I love it!

My friend, Lou and I swapped. She gave me an edgy little black and white striped sweater and I gave her a creamy yellow jade necklace. Funny how her old sweater became my hot new little outfit and she instantly fell in love with the jade.

My daughter swaps with her BFF daily.


A Webkin for a Webkin
Skinny girl jeans for a pair of boot-cuts
A Milano's music t-shirt for a pair of kitty-cat pajamas
Cheese crisps for a pb&j sandwich
One pink flip-flop for a white one

And I've heard them whisper, giggle and consider swapping brothers.


Speaking of the 'little bro'...he will always swap the lip gloss or car keys or toothbrush to wrap his tight little fist around whatever new exciting thing I offer, like a dirt clod.

No one can resist a good, honest swap! It's the perfect way to reduce, reuse and recycle. That's why I get giddy and excited about a fun little neighborhood furniture swap i helped organize. Everyone is bringing something, a chair, a lamp, candlesticks, paintings, a set of dishes, whatever and then we swap! I can't wait!

Join us this Saturday (Nov 14 @ 9:00am) for a quick and fun little swap. Come say 'hi' I'd love to see you. Just look for me in a cute, previously owned, black and white striped sweater.
For more information www.fraserfields.blogspot.com

Here is what I'm contributing to the swap. Sign up with Jeni's swap at www.fraserfields.blogspot.com if you want a piece of my trash:

A lovely stained glass Noah's Ark Framed Picture



An antique heave large brass door knocker



And lastly, this lovely vintage set of pantry doors.

Yard Sale

The weather has finally cooled and I’m ready to find some great trash at yard sales.

Yard sales are somewhat of an addiction, like eating chocolate in the morning. It’s an indulgence that leaves a fabulous taste in my mouth all day long.

I’ve raided the counselor’s wallet, and find a couple of $20.00’s. Thanks honey. I’ll bring you home something fabulous.

This time of year, many neighborhood yard sales are held for a good cause, be it the girl scouts or cancer awareness.

With this motive, several families and neighbors pour their trash into one long driveway and you never know what you’ll find. I walk up and down the make-shift isles, bending down to examine piles of clothes sprawled out on old Raggedy Ann bed sheets. Gap, American Eagle, Ann Taylor and more. There’s no price labels, no tags suggesting what I pay, so I get to negotiate.

They say that the number one fear of American adults is not the fear of heights, or death, not even public speaking. It’s the fear of negotiation. Isn’t that somewhat shocking? Did I mention my degree’s in communication, emphasis on negotiation and conflict?

My last stop is at a beautiful home, full of Halloween and Christmas decorations. I spot a large cardboard box filled with Hallmark Christmas ornaments, each ornament in its original box, complete with its certificate of authenticity.

They are amazing: Santa surfing, a raccoon delivering Christmas mail, a crocodile in a red shawl. My kids will love them. I want all of them.

These ornaments are valuable, some have the original price tags at $25.00 new. And I know they’d be a huge hit on Ebay.

But, $5.00 each at a yard sale? It’s not likely the seller will get many takers at this price. There must be about 75 ornaments in this box. At $5.00 each that’s about $350.00. Suddenly, I have an idea.

“Excuse me,” I say to the homeowner. “What will you take for the whole box?”

He’s a nice man, and scratches the top of his head. “How about $50.00?”

I quickly do the math in my head. That drops the price to about .75 cents an ornament. Still, $50.00 is a lot of money.

“How about $40.00,” I say in return.

“Deal,” he smiles. “I have about 700 of these ornaments in the house, but the ones I’m selling here are all duplicates. I just want to get rid of them.”

I reach into my purse to pull out the twenties (Thanks again, honey) when the homeowner asks if I’m interested in a Christmas tree.

I walk into a garage just as his son attaches the last piece of a 10 foot Christmas. The pre-lit tree is gorgeous, in perfect condition and huge.

“My wife wanted a smaller tree this year, so we’re getting rid of this one. We got it at an after Christmas sale a few years ago for $400.00. Originally it was $800.00.”

His wife walks into the garage and realizes I’m interested in her gorgeous tree.

“If you take it off our hands, I’ll only charge you a dollar a foot. $10.00 and the tree is yours.”

So, for $50.00, I pack up my car and prepare for a blessed Christmas.

I was so excited; we put up our new tree this weekend.



Mayer’s certain Christmas is tomorrow and I spend some time explaining to him that Christmas is in about 50 days. He’s confused, even sad, but I divert his attention with a skiing penguin ornament and he cheers up right away.

The boys loved the ornaments, each picking out their favorite.




I try to keep those cute original boxes in some sort of order, after all they are about 25 years old, but with four boys ripping through them, well, I’ll have to see how bad the damage is when I try to put the ornaments back after Christmas.

Dollar Day

The rush starts the minute I open my eyes and I jump out of bed. Dollar Day at Goodwill.

I get there early, it's just 9:00 am and look at the full parking lot.



My philosophy has always been there's plenty to go around, and trust me, there is.

I've never been one of those mean spirited shoppers, pushing others aside with my cart or jumping in front of a sweet lady only to grab the item that's just within her reach.

Where's the fun in that?

I'm the annoying shopper who's complimenting other people in line:

"Wow, that's a great lamp."
or
"How cute. I love the dress."

I can't help it. I love to shop and I have happy vibes the whole time.

Purple tags are a dollar. Let's see what we can find.


This is a strange t-shirt. It says: FYASKO - You are what you eat right
This shirt is just odd enough to sell.




Ah! My dear friend, Chico's Travelers. 95% acetate and 5% spandex of pure joy. These pants won't wrinkle and they stretch to fit just about any size body.





The martini-inspired print usually doesn't sell to well, nor does the citrus print. Any takers?



Sweet sister! Coldwater Creek Plus Size 18W Navy Pants. Perfect.




My inner-vintage child comes out when I spot items like this. If only I was a size 8, I think as my bulging belly bumps into the clothing rack.



J. Jill black career pants, are you for real? Let me pinch myself. I swear I see J. Jill in my dreams.



Did anyone really think these boy's were cute? Actually, I really like Justin Timberlake. I think he's a genius.



Somewhere out there, in this great big world, someone wears the Ferrari inspired clothing and I say "More power to you." I hope your dreams come true and you get a real Ferrari someday.



I'm happy to pay $4.99 for this FLAX shirt. Flax is a linen, artsy shirt that has a huge following. They're made in Europe and have a friendly positive affirmation on the inside tag-label, something like "Believe in yourself. You are beautiful." I'm sure this shirt will be one of my top sells this week.



Well, it's time to check out. Thank you, Goodwil, for giving this stay-at-home mom my weekly dose of roller-coaster riding thrill.

The Talented Kelly Biggs

I asked on of the most talented lady's I know if she'd share some of her trash with us (and let me tell you, she find's some great trash). Thanks, Kelly and can't wait to see what else you have for us in the future.

I’m so excited to be guest bloging on My Dear Trash. I’m Kelly, mother of 6 beautiful daughters age 9 months to 20 years. I was a junior high drama teacher for 13 years and recently retired to be a full time stay at home mom. I love to yard sale, bargain and get things cheap! My specialty is buying things for a few dollars and painting them to look expensive. This week I ‘ve redone a wood candle holder that I picked up at Goodwill on 1.00 day.

First I sanded all the edges down.

I’m not sure if you can tell in the picture but it has scalloped edges that make it look a little westerny (is that a word) After the edges are nice and square I painted it a creamy white. To age it I used a technique I learned here (http://shanty2chic.blogspot.com/2009/09/ashleys-large-vintage-looking-dominoes.html)
on Shanty 2 Chic (http://shanty2chic.blogspot.com). Check out their blog, it’s fantastic. To start the aging process you’ll sand down the edges , then apply stain to the exposed areas. After the stain is dry, apply a nice coat of Ralph Lauren's faux technique glaze in smoke. Rub off the glaze and you have a beautiful aged finish. I found these $1.99 pumpkin candles at American discount foods (http://www.americandiscountfoods.com/store/Qstore/d000010.htm ) which if you live in Mesa, Arizona is a great place to get bargains.



I added a little garland I had laying around and whala- A thanksgiving centerpiece for just $3.00.

Hope you all enjoy your friday, Maybe I’ll see you out yard saling (I’m the one who’s car is so full I can barely shut the door)

Top Sells of the Week

I have a pile, a huge pile of clothes in my garage.

Before we go any further, I don't want to scare you into thinking I'm going on Oprah next week, for her special on hoarding.

It's really nothing like that around here. I can see my kitchen counters, my hallways are free of clutter and I do have company quite often. But I do in fact have a huge pile of clothes in my garage that's somewhat discreetly placed near the boxes of stuff I haven't unpacked since moving last year.

This pile accumulates with substance each week; growing like a hybernating monster. It contains out of season clothing or clothes I'm just not sure what to do with. More than not, I go through the pile and find something that makes me ponder "What was I thinking when I bought this?"

I do buy some funky items; sometimes good and sometimes bad. This little item I found last week in my garage stash, the week before Halloween and I thought I'd missed the prime opportunity to sell it.




Notice the maker is actually Carebear. So I look on line to see what a Carebear costume is selling for and what I find is this (selling for around $300):



So, the Carebear item I have is not actually a costume, but a hoodie sweatshirt. I post said hoodie around 11:30 at night and the next morning I have three emails from potential buyers, all asking if I'll place a "buy it now". At this point, I'm laughing, shocked that there's so much interested in this somewhat interesting article of clothing. I place the "buy it now" at $24.99 and that Rainbow Carebear Pink Hoodie was sold to the highest bidder. Congratulations!

The next top sell of the week are these Men's Ecko Unlimited 1972 36 x 32 Jeans.


I listed them at $7.99 and to my surprise they sold for $32.00. There's something special about these jeans that I didn't see.

Lastly, this Harve Benard jacket, a beauty, purchased this summer for $1.00, sold this fall for $24.99.

I'm sure the lovely lady who purchased this will be flooded with lots of compliments.

Thrift Store Culture

Thrift Stores attract a variety of interesting people, all of which are looking for that great deal or special bargain. You may find the person looking for that one vintage piece, like the man asking the cashier, “Do you have any guitars right now?”

There’s the man (a different man) in railroad overalls who’s looking for tools, or the lady in need of a folding desk, the kind her grandmother owned.

I can always tell a first-timer, usually a young someone with the look of shock and amazement on her face, holding a pair of designer jeans she just found. Then, there’s the person whose cart is full of junk. No matter how I look at it, I can’t imagine what they are going to do with a stained old ottoman, a broken ceiling fan and a water-marked portrait of Weird Al.

There are book junkies, old record collectors and jewelry must-haves.

I’m a stereo-type too: the girl who buys tons of clothing. I always get a comment from someone.

“My, you must have a big family!”
or
“Wow! You found some great stuff.”

And when the cashier rings me up and I owe her $23.00 for 6 stuffed bags of clothing, I usually get more comments about the great bargains I’ve found.

I’ve become so accustomed to the incredible value of thrift store shopping; I find it difficult to shop retail. Here’s why.

At a thrift store, I get to indulge when ever; however. Most days, I can purchase anything I want and anything I find:

a) because it’s priced many times cheaper then retail
b) because it’s a one of a kind; unique or unusual
c) because for $1.99, I can decide what to do with it later

Shopping retail means being more selective, going over my budget and rationalizing the money I’m about to spend is worth it.

I am friendly with most thrift store employees. Many ask how the pregnancy’s going or how the boys are. Thrift store employees aren’t allowed to shop at the store they work at. Talk about torture!

This weekend, I browsed at a few thrift stores in Sedona.

I found several books for the boys and a few collectables for me. There isn’t the selection of a Phoenix store, but it’s quaint and I know there’s something worth searching for on these racks. Small towns don’t celebrate dollar days, but the prices are usually reasonably, meaning I can purchase what I want.

The counselor finds something to read and a nice chair to sit in while I shop. Ah, yes, another part of thrift store culture: the husband waiting patiently for his wife while he reads a 1980’s edition of Arizona Highways. Thanks, honey!