It's On the Bag!

I wish I could tell you that the reason I haven’t been here is because of all the work I’ve accomplished, but that wouldn’t be true. There’s a been a fair amount of lollygagging going on, especially yesterday when I indulged in a four hour lunch with my neighbor Linda. It was her birthday so we went to Sully’s Irish Pub for lunch and then to Limeberry for frozen yogurt which we ate while sitting on a bench on the sidewalk like we had nothing to do but watch the people with agendas stream by. I wish I’d taken my camera as Medina sparkled in the sun like a glossy Chamber of Commerce ad.

One funny thing did happen though. For some time now my friend Darwin has been encouraging me to view estate sales as a venue for buying  things other than books – nice things, practical things that can save you a ton of money. So this winter I finally got into the swing of it and bought two vintage purses (I have quite a penchant for these, but used to pay top dollar from vintage clothing people), a tape dispenser, and a giant basket of acrylic paints, for which I paid $2, $1.50 and $5 respectively. As it happened, it was January  when I bought the gorgeous straw purse shown above, so I stashed it in the closet and pretty much forgot about it But just as we were leaving for lunch I remembered it, raced upstairs to get it, and quickly dumped the contents of my old purse into it before I flew out the door.

I had to go to the post office to ship books (Eric has been in Indiana for a week), so I decided to get that odious job out of the way first. Going to this particular post office is an ordeal for which one would be well advised to chug down a bottle of pino grigio in advance . I had no choice though  because the one sole foreign order zapped the possibility of going to the branch at the grocery store where life is good and people are nice. But – surprise, surprise! – behind the counter stood  a new young man, a young man who smiles at you and will even read the numbers on the address for a Woman of a Certain Age who’d forgotten her glasses and was squinting to fill out the customs form. I can’t tell you what a rush this was. I was so happy with the whole thing  I even snuck an admiring look at the new purse when I put my checkbook back. That’s when I saw it – the small $2 price tag facing out on display for the long line of customers to view! At least it was a major good deal. These straw purses, especially with a label, do not come cheap – unless of course you buy one for $2 in the back bedroom of a house in Wooster. My fashionista friend Jessica (the only friend  I have who carries a dog in her bag) stopped by this morning and declared it a major score.

Despite all the fun and games I did manage to get a lot of books listed this week and even sold some. Sales seem excruciatingly  slow to me, but when I look at the numbers I’m doing better this month than last, thanks in part to three vintage children’s books Eric got when I was sick from the woman who used to be an antiquarian seller and belonged to NOBS. I even tossed a little virtual confetti over the one pictured below, as it’s fairly scarce and commanded a good price on my secret site (it also sold in two hours!). Actually I sold FOUR books over there this week, but I think that streak’s deader than Gingrich’s run for the presidency.  Even my Alice Under Ground which, as you may recall, had been lost for months in my mall  booth where someone had deliberately hidden it, failed to dazzle them. If they aren’t charmed by THAT (see photo below) than I doubt I’m going to be winning any popularity contests soon. The only real bright spot is the chairs. Remember the pair of fabulous green leather designer chairs (oh, Saturday Evening Post, ye of little faith) I took to the mall? Well, I sold them for $425!

Eric’s been gone all week though, so that’s been a bummer. He’s coming back tomorrow (not soon enough!) and perhaps then we’ll do that thing we used to like – estate sale shopping (I need serious furniture for the mall again). The estates sales have just been dreadful here of late. I can’t recall going to anything since before the antiquarian show. We’re also thinking we might take a little road trip to Cincinnati next week. Two years ago we hit a nice sale there where within two seconds I’d found a pair of rare Knight Errant magazines that sold  here on my blog a year after I wrote about them. We’d planned to go last year, but my friend  Jessica (she of the dog in the purse) gave us tickets for Jersey Boys for my birthday and – wouldn’t you know – it  coincided with the sale. It’s a long haul to Cincy though and requires a hotel which makes it expensive, but Eric is pushing to do it, so I guess we will.

I’m not expecting much though. Lightning, or so they say, never strikes twice. When it comes to computers that's actually a GOOD thing! But with book sales --  not so much.