GARAGE SALE SATURDAY!!!

Okay... so... Garage Sale numero uno of the season?  Not so much.

Issue #1)  I had mapped out six different sales that I wanted to check out.  Apparently I'm a bigger idiot than I even knew and didn't pay attention to the (ahem!) dates... of... the... sales??  So two of them are actually next weekend.  And one of them only went until noon and we showed up at 12:36.  Aye yay yay.

Issue #2)  One of the actual existing garage sales turned out to be one that we hit up last summer.  This guy has no less than 1 million rusty tools.  AND he is one of those people that keeps talking to you long after you've walked away.  Totally awkward.  Within 30 seconds I whispered to the hubby that we needed to get out of there stat before I ripped my skin off.  Overcast skies threatening to rain on my garage sale parade do not equal a very patient Miranda.

** SIDE NOTE - YES my husband is awesome enough to accompany on my attempts at being a thrifty goddess.  He doesn't even let me see him roll his eyes when I bust out a frickin map like Dora the Explorer and he generally lets me pick up whatever crap I decide is a necessity and doesn't get mad when, in turn, I talk him out of the stuff he thinks he can't live without.  So... kudos to my husband for being a pretty awesome specimen.

Issue #3 - We came thisclose to being the proud owners of a popup camper.  We are avid campers and tented it all last summer.  I'm down with the whole rustic camping bit but I'm not gonna complain if you offer to give me an enclosed space with a bed that won't collapse when the wind blows.  However, the lady had someone already interested who was supposed to come back later to show it to his wife.  Well wife must've liked because they bought it.

So to supplement my need for thrift we went to a consignment/antique shop in town where I found yet another rustic barn star for the house which I have yet to find a place for.  SUCCESS!

Then we went to Hallmark where I actually remembered to use my "Buy one card, get one 1/2 off" coupon AND my $3 off coupon.  DOUBLE SUCCESS!

After that we went to a video store in town that's going out of business where I picked up seven DVDs for about $30.  SUCCESS TIMES THREE!

So here are a couple of today's finds for you to feast your eyes on.  Enjoy!

Rustic star - I'm addicted to these little gems but am quickly running out of places that won't make it look like I need a rustic star intervention ...

These are the 7 DVD's that will keep me on the couch all day tomorrow while it rains. 

1. Someone Like You 

2. Whip It 

3. Juno 

4. Bounce

5. Elizabethtown

6. Beautiful

7. Four Christmases 

BONUS!!  SURPRISE!!  My sister-in-law who is the Thrift QUEEN found this precious little beast for me at the local consignment shop.  I have searched and searched for a Teddy Ruxpin forever.  He even came with a tape all ready to read me a story!  Except... Teddy must've experienced some trauma since 1985 because he refuses to speak :(  Oh and my dogs barked at him for the first 30 minutes he was in our house.  And sometimes I have to push his eyes shut because they freak me out.  But seriously, isn't he precious?!

IT'S TIME!! GET OUT YOUR QUARTERS!!

Time for what??  I'll tell you my friend... Time for GARAGE-slash-YARD SALES!!!

Let me first begin by telling you that I did not quite "get" the awesomeness of garage sales until I quit my previous job.  I was working in event planning which meant for almost five years straight I worked EVERY weekend.  I quit this job in May which apparently is like peak garage sale season around here.

So that very first Saturday that I was free, my girlfriend and I grabbed a coffee at Bigby (NEVER AGAIN - way way way overrated.  I'll stick to Starbucks fo sho).  We then proceeded to hit up the garage sales.  And she took me to, like, garage sale HEAVEN.  A little thing most affectionately call "The Neighborhood Garage Sale."  DE-LIGHT-FUL.  I seriously couldn't believe this fun little thrifty world existed and I had no idea.

So I'm jumping the gun a bit this year but the weather's been decent so I think I'm ready to start dabbling in the garage sales.  I've decided to break into them real slow through the month of April.  Then at the end of May I'm planning a garage sale season kickoff event like no other.  The plan is that the weekend after Memorial Day I will actually hit the road bright and early with a real actual map in hand because I will tear the streets up looking for crap I don't need.

Last year my compulsive list-making even got the better of me.  I actually started a spreadsheet to list the things I bought, compared to what they'd cost at the store just to further solidify the fact that garage sales make me feel like a thrifty rockstar.

That being said, I want to show off some of my best finds.  And if you're not a garage sale lover I swear on a stack of .50 cent books in a musty smelling box that you will be when I'm done flashing my used goods in your face.  Brace yourselves for..... GARAGE SALE SATURDAYS!!!!!!!!

And if you've never heard of http://www.garagesalefinder.com/ - ummm... go there right this very instant and bask in its awesomenes.  Wanna know the bonus of garage saling?  Walking a ton that's what.  So what are your Saturday plans?  Any good garage sale stories?  Any die-hard garage saling tips?  Have a great weekend everyone!

DOMINICK CALHOUN

I know I haven't posted in a few days... and there are many things I could write about... but my fingers and my heart will only let me write about one thing.  Dominick Calhoun.  The innocent 4-year old child who's life was taken much too soon. 

I did not know Dominick or his family personally.  But when a story like this comes to life in your own backyard you can't help but ache each and every day for the precious little angel and his family.  As such, I'll let you readers read the story for yourself as I do not know all of the facts myself.  A forewarning to parents who may read this blog that this is a disturbing story but little Dominick deserves to have his story told.

Click HERE to read the news story.

Once you read the article please seek out the Facebook pages "Justice for Dominick" and "Dominick's Law."  The first is simply a page to show support for the family of Dominick.  The latter is an attempt at bringing this to the front step of the Michigan/Federal legal systems and amending the laws accordingly. 

As you read, the "mother" of this little boy was held and quickly released from jail.  As stated by many on the Facebook pages, if that woman is still alive then she didn't do enough to save her child.  It is the hope of many in our community and across the country that she is charged at the bare minimum as an accessory to the murder of her son. 

I ask that all of you please post about Dominick on your blogs, suggest these pages to your friends on Facebook, Twitter, etc.  And in honor of Dominick and in support of the cause we are fighting please show this ribbon on your pages.  Thanks!

BANGO JANGO!!!

Howdy ya'll!!!  Well we successfully made it back from our trip down south.  We did NOT get swallowed by the potholes going through Kentucky.  If you haven't driven through Kentucky I strongly suggest you add it to your list of things to do in life (just hold on tight and look out for potholes).  But it is seriously Beau-ti-ful.  There comes a point south of Cincinnati, just crossing into Kentucky where the road winds through the hills and you feel instantly relaxed.

Our trip was pretty nice.  The weather was mostly beautiful (80 degrees and sunny).  We did some fun things such as fishing at the pond behind my relative's house, visited Reelfoot Lake with all the cypress trees growing in the water, went to the flea market where my Papa wheels and deals on the weekends, had lunch at Sonic (sweet Jesus if you've never had a lemon-berry slush and a chili-cheese pie then you HAVE NOT lived).  We also sipped on the sweet awesomeness that is peach flavored Nehi (its a peach flavored pop).  We roamed the streets of the neighborhood I lived in for 10 months when I was little, visited with family, took a barge down the Mississipi and drove into Missouri to a fun joint called Lamberts "Home of the Throwed Rolls" - a restaurant with amazing southern cooking where they throw hot rolls to you from across the room.  We visited with oodles and oodles of family and finished off the trip with a down home fish fry with even more family. 

The downfalls of the trip consisted of me getting sick mid-week with a sore throat and major sinus drainage mmmmm....  We forgot the air mattress and therefore slept on the rock hard floor at my aunt's house which was okay except for the fact that:
Day 1 - I couldn't sleep because of a migraine
Day 2 - I couldn't sleep because my ARMS ached really really bad.  I know that sounds crazy and it IS.  But they did and I'm pretty sure this exact thing happened when we went camping last time.  I think I must fall asleep on them and the poor things get squished between my body and the hard ground.
Day 3 - I started having the horrible sore throat and drainage issue
Day 4 - It got chilly and we pretty much had all of the blankets in the house beneath us for "cushion" and I was too tired and out of it to actually get up and pull one out from underneath us so I shivered, rolled over, slept, shivered, rolled over, shivered.... all night... long

The other downfalls of the trip pertained to family.  First, and foremost, there's just too many of them.  I end up feeling like I'm not spending enough time with one or the other and come home guilty.  I find myself wanting to spend every minute with them but at the same time want it to be a VACATION and get some quality alone time with the hubby.  I know there are sensible ways to resolve this but everyone's on different schedules and I try not to appear control freakish so I try and go with the flow and end up feeling, like I said, Guilty (with that capital 'G').

And the last downfall is going to sound a little selfish but hear me out.  There is a lot of dysfunction down there amongst my family.  I won't get into all the little details but its heart wrenching to say the least and usually ends up feeling more like a mission trip than a vacation.  Make no mistake, I love and adore my family, ALL of them.  But its hard to see some of the sad things I see when I go and being a natural born "fixer" its difficult to detach and enjoy yourself when you want so bad to fix their world in the week that you're there.  So taking the first "vacation" in five years, the first week-long vacation with my hubby ever... it was a bit disheartening coming home and not feeling recharged whatsoever.  But I wouldn't give it up for anything.  All in all it was a good trip and lets face it, some of my elderly relatives aren't going to be around forever so it was great to spend time with them.  Oh and we picked up a little southern twang after the first 24 hours.  We also added the phrase 'bango jango' after everything we said to reinforce the southern-ness of it all and cracked up at ourselves. 

So there you have it ya'll - our trip in a little ol' nutshell.. Bango Jango!  Now please... if yer so inclined... do take a little ol' minute and fix yer eyes on these here photos... Bango Jango!

Check out that southern scene - fields and sky...

This little gem sat outside the hotel in town... only in Tennessee

The decor inside Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston, MO.... Check this place out if you ever get the chance.  I swear this place is awesome - food, environment, the little old lady playing "Git away" music on the piano... everything...

The hubby with a candy cigarette in his mouth - trying to fit in with the locals.  Good heavens...