Skipping Town

Oh bliss! It's church sale time. Today was the opening night, and I felt positively giddy as I lined up early, waiting to enter with my two gigantic Ikea bags and a walletful of cash. It did not disappoint. I came home with both bags full, plus a trunk full of larger items. My haul: a Plasma car (and I got another at a yard sale last weekend, so now I have 2) 2 sawhorses for Andrew 5 large trucks and fire engines for Luca a handful of Matchbox cars for Luca 6 dinosaur figurines 2 shark figurines a handful of Littlest Pet Shop animals a handful of small animal-squirters for the pool/water table/tub a bag of Little People-type animals a bulk bag of adjustable metal kids' rings to which you can hot glue any number of items (perfect winter-day activity, making a hundred rings from coins, buttons, stones, etc etc) a dinosaur puzzle a poker chip spinner full of poker chips (another winter-day keeper) a pile of fabric remnants and samples to make pillows (to put on the b...

I’ve been inconsistent in recording my garage-sale finds this summer. Rest assured, I go to garage sales every weekend that we’re here; and rest assured, I always buy something. My greatest joy, however, is the church rummage sale. I’ll do anything to ensure I make it to a rummage sale, and already this summer my determination has caused marital unrest. A case in point: three weeks ago. Sure, we had eight people coming from Brooklyn for lunch; sure, we had to get everything ready; sure, the girls were whiny that morning, trading meltdowns. But a synagogue nearby was having a rummage sale, and I went, leaving Andrew and the girls behind, just an hour before our friends arrived. Andrew wanted to kill me. Moral to the story: Andrew got over his anger, and I got a pile of great kids’ books for 10 cents each, several hundred envelopes (white and lavender) for $1.50, plus a large, eclectic mix of butter-yellow Fiestaware for $10. My true love is the annual “turnover sale” at a church ju...

Had some good luck at garage sales this morning. My haul: tricycle an armload of pouffy dress-up clothes rain boots for Lucia a large ziplock bag of misc (tiny dolls, cat figurines, etc) ---$15 for all of the above a stack of antique metal molds of some kind, which look like metal muffin cups, which I'd actually been looking for in stores for the girls to use for sand-box cupcake-making ($1 for 6) Pretty good, I have to say. Lucia is fixated on her current favorite dress-up things right now, but Greta seized on an adorable pink getup involving a pink velvet leotard, a puffy tulle tutu attached, and puffy tulle cap-sleeves. I put it on over her clothes, and in this getup we spent the morning outside. Word spread among our neighbors that Greta was outside in a tutu, and we drew a small crowd as she toddled up and down the street, doing her best to follow Lucia, who was zipping around on her scooter.

It's garage sale season. Whoo-hoo! I know my excitement over this is incomprehensible so many people, including Andrew. But the thrill of the search--the unknown at the end of each driveway--the sparkle of promise laid out on blankets on front lawns all around town--Perhaps this is how some people feel when they anticipate the beginning of a sports season. Two weeks ago, I went to my inaugural garage sale and came away with three bulging black garbage bags full of--well, I had no idea, really, because I didn't look inside. I heard the woman say they contained her daughters' Barbie collection, and that she'd give me all of it for $5 total, and that was that. I stuffed them in my trunk and began the excavation on the front porch when I got home. And--it was a bust. I don't often say that; I don't often gamble so unwisely. My mystery purchases are usually rewarding, often amazing. But this time, even I had to admit it was a lot of junk. Much-loved junk, to be sur...