Estate Sale RECAP

As you know, we had the estate sale this weekend. It was a lot of work, but we got rid of a LOT (even though there's still a lot left...). I definitely feel better about things going to a good home. Although I don't really want to think about what's going to happen to the stuff that's still there...

We all seemed to have our things we were reluctant to let go of. Mine were these two large dolls Meamaw always had out in the living room dressed up for whatever season or holiday it may be... they were Cyndi and Megan (me and my cousin), and they've been around for most of my life. I was the one who sold them, and even carried them out to the woman's car. That was hard, but I knew I didn't really want them and I'm glad someone actually took them and we didn't have to get rid of them some other way. AOB hated them (she says they freak her out) and probably would have gladly taken them to the dump! Or set them on fire or something. Lol. I'm only half kidding...

Anyhoo - I thought I'd share a few pics I forgot I had. This'll give you an idea of the borderline (or not so borderline) hoarding going on here. These pics were taken in 2008 right after my Meamaw died. You can see her love of dolls... and other things.

Garage

Back Porch

Doll Room

More Doll Room

Meamaw's Bedroom

More Bedroom

Oh, right... did I mention it SNOWED for the second day of the sale?? In Maryland? At the end of March?? It didn't even snow up in Philly/NJ last weekend! Well, I guess that's because my mom brought it down with her. We woke up to a winter wonderland on Sunday morning.


We pretty much thought we were doomed, since we got about 3 inches of snow, but it cleared up around 11am and we had a ton of repeat customers who had been by the day before who came back, and a couple of newbies, too. I guess you know you've got good stuff if people come back for a second day, right??

And since I'm still alive and typing, you know I didn't bring that much stuff back so my hubby didn't kill me.

-C
xxx

Estate Sale

This weekend we're having an estate sale to try to find a good home for all of Meamaw and Grandude's belongings. I know some people (*cough* AOB *cough*) would easily just take everything to the dump or the thrift store and be done with it... but personally I'm much more at ease with finding another home for things, versus throwing them out. Of course I've already taken some things, and will be holding on to a few key furniture items, but there's still so much stuff. We basically need to clear the house out so that it can eventually be sold. You have no idea how much stuff has been accumulated in this house over the years. Meamaw may or may not have been a borderline hoarder. At least as far as dolls and pretty household items are concerned. This also may or may not be genetic and passed down to me and my mom... AOB and Grandude have already held several yard sales, but there's still so much left. And obviously he wasn't going to make his house empty while he was still living in it. It's hard to think of someone walking down the street the new owner of something that reminds me of my childhood or my grandparents, but, truth be told, that's going to be everything, and I'm just going to have to deal with it. I can't take everything. I want to, but I can't. It's probably a good thing we don't own a house yet, or I may have ended up with more stuff than I am. Also, hubby would probably leave me. (No, really.)

I've been watching Cash & Cari lately, and it's helped me get motivated for the estate sale. Have you seen it? I wish I could be Cari.

Photo from HGTV.com

She gets to have estate sales for other people, make money off of it, AND she gets to buy cool old antique things for a living (to resell in her store). So basically she gets to be at and go to estate, yard, and garage sales, for a living. I want that. That would be awesome. (Well, for me.) She even gets to call herself "Treasure Hunter". As in

Cari Cucksey
Treasure Hunter

How cool is that?

FYI I'm calling it an estate sale because I think by definition we are selling more than just would normally be at a yard sale, since typically you sell certain things you don't want or need anymore, versus trying to sell pretty much everything. Sure, things will be outside in the yard, but some furniture will also be left inside since there's no way we can get it all outside. Most people think of estate sales as being inside the house. I think this is probably usually the case since there's so much stuff, some would just rather leave it inside and have people look through it in there versus bringing it outside. Also, some people think an estate sale is mainly antiques and valuables, but it's really not. Sure, it can be, but it's basically just selling whatever you can from a person's estate (not necessarily one that is deceased either). I'm telling you this because I didn't know until I did a little research on it, and I'm sure others don't know either. I also read some good advice for people going to an estate sale the other day (in case you're planning on it). Don't think of it as looking through someone's beloved belongings and being sad about it, think of it as helping the seller move on with their life by giving the items a new life and a new home. I know I'm the seller here, but that actually helped and made sense to me.

-C
xxx

Where Art Thou Green Shoes??

Why is it so hard to find green shoes? Clearly they're only the most awesome colored shoes in the world, so why don't designers make more of them? Is it because they're so beautiful that they want to keep us wanting more, and if they mass produced them, versus only making like 8 pairs available at a time, we would quickly tire of them and it wouldn't be such a hot commodity?? Because I'll tell you right now, I would not tire of such a thing. I would fill my closet with them.

Whenever I finally find green shoes that I love, they're sold out in my size, or are uber expensive, or were from 3 seasons ago and impossible to find! Yes, I do know that my wedding is over (*tear*) and I don't need green shoes for any real occasion anymore... but I want them! That has to be a good enough reason, no? No? Ok, then I need beautiful green shoes to match my beautiful green Kate Spade work bag.

Yes, she's mine. And I got her at Marshall's. It was meant to be. Be jealous. (photo is mine)

Ok, that's not the only reason. I don't have a realistic reason for needing green shoes. I just want them. And I get excited every time I find beauties like these:

Seychelles Light on Your Feet, photo from DSW

I'll admit, spending $55 on sandals is a bit out of my comfort zone... I mean, they're sandals. I can't even wear them to work! But I was thisclose to making an exception for these beautiful babies until I saw that they were sold out of my size/color combo. Oh yeah, and I was even willing to go a half size down OR up, if need be, but nope. Sold out in those, too. Which, of course, makes me want them even more.

I'm also going to vent my frustrations with shoe websites in general for a minute here. Because in addition to designers clearly not making enough green shoes for my liking, I have another issue.

Dear DSW, 6pm, Endless, and every other online shoe store ever:

I love you. I really do. I love buying shoes online (or in person, let's be honest). I love your prices (most of the time). But there's one major lesson you all apparently missed in kindergarten.

BLUE ≠ GREEN. Blue is blue. Green is green. I'll give you turquoise, and understand why you might have that pop up in both green and blue shoe searches. (Although I'd really like you to add a turquoise section so as to prevent any issue whatsoever! People who want turquoise shoes are looking for them. If you have a turquoise option in your search, the people who want those shoes will look there! The only reason they look in blue AND green is because that's where you put them.) BUT when royal (or robin's egg) BLUE shoes pop up in my GREEN shoe search, I see RED.

Unacceptable:

Acceptable:
(at least until you make a turquoise/teal section)

Also, while we're on the topic, you need more green shoes. I know, I know, you don't design them, you just sell them. But when uggos like these pop up in a green shoe search, you know you don't have enough green shoes in your supply.

Photos from DSW and 6pm

Yours truly,
C

******************************************************
I came across these while grabbing all the photos for this post:

Nine Granite, photo from 6pm

They're not exactly every day wearable, though... ok, who wants to get married and have green as one of their wedding colors so I can wear these? Hm? Any takers? Please?? Totally would have bought them for my wedding (I do love my wedding shoes, but always wished they were a little more kelly or apple and less lime).

-C
xxx

For Japan With Love

We've all heard about the devastation in Japan. With all the "aftershocks" that equate to what we would consider earthquakes over here (at a 6.0 on the Richter Scale), and a nuclear disaster looming, I can't even imagine what they're going through. With the death toll already over 5,000, and still 10,000+ missing, it comes as no surprise that there are relief efforts left and right. You can text donations to the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army (where you can also do online donations). Personally, I donated to For Japan With Love, a disaster relief fund started by Utterly Engaged and Ever Ours. They started out with a goal of $5,500, and already have over $11,000 raised!

In addition to this initiative, both have declared tomorrow Bloggers Day of Silence, in memory of the victims in Japan.

Please donate what you can, if you can. Every little bit helps. Information on how to help is on any of the linked pages above.

-C
xxx

Bolero! Ole!

(as Nyla would say) :)

Bonnie Quick of Un de Six and 6prints fame was awesome enough to make a bolero not just for MY wedding, but for my friend from high school Nyla's wedding as well! She did mine off of measurements she did once, and we had one more fitting after that. She did Nyla's from like 500 miles away! Check it out!

awww and this is my other friend from high school, Nan!

I ended up being so warm and... well, I had bridal brain like WHOA the day of my wedding and am ashamed to admit that I forgot to wear my beautiful bolero. :( *tear* It still makes me sad that I didn't wear it. But I DID wear it for our day after shots and I will wear it again! I mean, it is black, and uh, kind of goes with everything, so I really will (I already wore it with a dress on New Year's Eve). Now where else to wear it... happy hour? Doing laundry? Bonnie's rehearsal dinner?? Whatever, I know I'll wear it a million more times! :)

At least I have me in my wedding dress with it on… even if it's not actually on the wedding day.

Thanks Bonnie!

-C

xxx

Nyla's photos are personal photos provided to me from her. Photos of me are from Hughes Fioretti Photography.

Gorilla Glue ≠ Elmers Glue

Via Google Image Search

My drawer-o-undergarments finally broke under all the pressure yesterday (there's a lot in there, not gonna lie), and I had to glue it back together. Well, not really back together I guess, just together since it didn't appear to have been glued before, but I needed to add some reinforcement in the form of Gorilla Glue yesterday. I normally heart Gorilla Glue, but it definitely ≠ Elmers Glue! Do not let this stuff sit on your hands and just think "Oh I'll just peel it off later, no biggie." Ummm yeah. Don't even let it sit there for 15 seconds. The stickiness will go away, but apparently it stains your skin?? Who knew?? Ok, well, they knew because it's clearly written on the back of the bottle, and they even include the intelligent suggestion of wearing rubber gloves while using it, but who really reads that stuff? And it's a clear liquid - how could it possibly stain your hands any color but clear?? Yeah, my hands officially look like I played in dirt this morning.



And this is after I scrubbed, peeled and picked at it all night. Boo. Oh well, lesson learned.

Also, yes, I know these pictures suck. I don't have my real camera so all I could get were camera phone shots. My b.

-C
xxx

IT'S MY FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR!

No, it's not my birthday.

It's St. Patty's Day!

Yes, seriously.

Really? Are you that surprised? Let's take a quick look here...

Green beer...
I get to wear LOTS of green...
Have a great and silly time with friends...
And did I mention I get to wear lots of green... to the point of ridiculousness??

Yeah, St. Pat's is my favorite :)

CONFESSION: I even have clothes that I specifically hang on to/keep in my winter clothes tub with the sole purpose of being potential St. Patty's Day wardrobe material. AKA lots of green clothes... for whatever the weather and my mood may bring that year! Which reminds me... I need to find that green skirt!

Sláinte friends!

-C
xxx

P.S. Yes I know it's not quite St. Pat's yet, but we're celebrating it tomorrow since St. Pat's is on a Thursday and last year when it was on a Wednesday and we celebrated the weekend after... no one else was out. Lol. So this year, we're doing it the weekend before!

Wedding Movies = Involuntary Tears

So I'm convinced that I've always been a sucker for any movie with a wedding in it, but can't actually remember if I was this way pre-wedding or engagement. I KNOW I never would turn OFF a movie with a wedding in it, but I'm not sure if I've always cried at them. Either way - I do now! Doesn't matter what the movie is. If there's a wedding, proposal, or anything wedding-related really, I have an involuntary reaction - tears just start flowing. I mean, they're happy tears, don't get me wrong, but I seriously have no control over it. We went to see How Do You Know a while back, which, for the record, I thought was HORRIBLE, but there was a proposal in it (not the main characters) and tears just started flowing. Couldn't stop it. But I seriously hated the movie, and the characters getting engaged. Tim makes fun of me and doesn't believe I hated it because I cried. It's involuntary! But I promise you I hated it. And I love a good cheesy chick flick, so you know it was bad.

Oh man, you should've seen me watching Father of the Bride (with Steve Martin) recently.

Via Google Images

Isn't that such a horrible-but-in-a-good-way (aka cheesy) fantastic movie? I love it. And I also loved it even more watching it after having our wedding at home and watching them do it, albeit on a MUCH larger budget and majorly over-the-top everything. Still fun to watch and relate, though! And lots of tears at random times. Luckily I was watching it alone.

I'll admit that I also don't really mind it... honestly, if Tim were out of town, and I had nothing to do all day, a perfect day for me would be to sit at home and watch back to back movies with weddings in them, and cry. Is it too much to say I wish I could do it in my wedding dress?? Ha! I'm glad we got it "preserved" so I don't get too tempted to hang out around the house in it. LOL.

Oh, did I also mention that I don't really cry, like, ever? That I didn't cry on my own wedding day at all? I almost did once when I was "given away", but no tears actually came out. Same can't be said for Tim :)

Courtesy of Hughes Fioretti Photography

See? Told you. That's me handing him my handkerchief in front of everyone when he choked up during his vows. I'm such an a$$. Lol!

-C
xxx