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Sunday, January 10, 2010

100th POST (Maybe 101)







I have said it before and I will say it again- if you do not shop at garage sales and Goodwill you are insane!!! I frequent our Goodwill on a regular basis- Garage sale time is my favorite time of the year and I know when Target is marking 75% off- I am usually standing by the clerk. They know my name I know all of theirs. If I didn't show up for awhile I am very sure they would send someone to check on my well being. At garage sales, I am the person who gets there early and is waiting at your door. That is how I get the GREAT DEALS. When Ben announces in front of the church that his mom will find it at the goodwill, I am not embarrassed, I am proud. When I run into people"just dropping stuff off" at the goodwill, I make sure I tell them they should stay and shop- I am a regular. The following is a list of 100 deals I have gotten
1. This patio sectional(Sorry about the cushion mess, I do have 3 boys in this house with me.- I ordered it online for 340.00 and free shipping- not my best deal- but a steal in my eyes.
2. Pottery Barn Bedford desk collection- Goodwill 30.00. This is actually the only piece I have resold on Craigs List for 350.00.
3, Pottery Barn Jordan quilt Set new in package Paid 25.00
4. Blues Clues Chairs- I took these off a friends hands. These chairs are selling for 250.oo on Ebay- but I do not do ebay so we sit on them.
5. Pottery Barn wine Shelf-20.oo- Online for 69.00 each- I had been wanting these for a LONG time and Kevin said to me"Mary I have faith you will find them at a garage sale- he was right!)
6. Magnavox 19" LCD T.V- 20.00 I bought this without the cord thinking I would just go buy a cord at Best Buy- Well that's not how it works- I thought I would just return it to the Goodwill, but a week later they called to say the guy who donated the TV brought the cord. The fact that they knew I bought it AND they knew how to contact me disturbed Kevin greatly- but hey he has a great TV for the bedroom)
7. Fisher Price MP3 player Gabe LOVES
8. A whole set os Sausilto Pottery Barn dishes 20.00
9. EMU Boots 15.00
10. Another pair of Emu boots- different style 10.00
11. Black Uggs(new in box) 25.oo Hey- I like boots!!!!!!
12. Storage table
13. Plasma Car
14. Side tables for master bed set(Pottery barn)
15. Gears Set
16. 7 for Mankind jeans
17. Ellie Tahari jeans
18. Gold Sign jeans
19. Big Star Jeans
20. Joe's Jeans Yeah I like jeans too. All these jeans retail for close to 200.00 I never paid more than 10.00
21. Anthropologie Raincoat
22 & 23 J Crew Pea Coats One blue one black- A girl can never have too many!
24&25 LaCoste Polo shirts ( given to my sister)
26- Juicy Couture lounge wear(given to a friend- who said she would like to have it as long as Juicy was not written across the rear- I am with you!)
27- Land of Nod kids table and chairs
28- Ben's Game boy with a ton of games. He used to play with this at his shot clinic every Monday now it has taken a backseat to the new DSi for which I am very sure I will find games.
29. Legos- boxes and boxes and boxes of Legos
30-34- Columbia Coats for every member of the family
35. Gateway Flat monitor computer screen.
36. Pokemon Cards (we could end this list here if I counted those individually)
37. Bakugan- believe it or not I am already finding these treasures.
38. Screamin' Green Machine (Ben's only request last garage sale season- found at sale # 1- when I nearly shoved my neighbor Trish out on the sidewalk to claim it)
39. Littlest Pet shop and My Little Pony items galore(Ben says"these were of course for girl cousins")
40. Whole book collections(Boxcar Children, Magic Tree House. Garage sales are the perfect place to find these. Once my kids are done reading the book I will sell ours. Because of Ben's allergies I have to be very selective when it comes to books)
41. Quantum Leap Globe
42. Lego Train (Not available anymore- could retire on what it gets on e bay)
43. Pottery barn library Shelf
44. Restoration Hardware curtain panels (New in package)
45. Pottery Barn Kasey stripes Crib Set- (used for Gabe- sold for triple what I paid)
46. Prada purse
47- Kate Spade Purse
48- Coach purses(authentic and readily available at the goodwill here)
49- Leather Ottoman
50. 2 Storage ottomans(This was my craziest deal as I almost (I said almost) dove into a dumpster for them- Did you know stores throw NEW things away????
51-100
Now I know this last half is kind of cheating- but any of you who have been in my basement know there is way more than 50 items down there and unless they were a gift full price was paid for NOTHING!!!!
Now for those of you who are think I am a CRAZY lady who buys too much. I am not a hoarder, I have no attachment to anything- I have two garage sales every year. I make A LOT of money at my sales- I know- we kept track last year of spending and what I made from the items- It was SHOCKING TO SEE!!! Last summer we were able to buy a new 42" TV with money from the first sale- something we view as a luxury. For me- I have decorated my home, clothed my family, and laughed all the way to the bank!. I do not have to shop at garage sales and Goodwill (I am sure Kevin would like that to be said. He has a GREAT job and provides for this family beyond measure!!!)But he happened to marry ME- who loves a deal and doesn't care what people think as long as my family is happy and well cared for.
Happy 100th post to me!!!!!- I think I will go celebrate at the GOODWILL




























































































































































































































































































































































Monday, January 4, 2010

Tough Boy

This is Gabe's best tough boy expression. Cute isn't it? Gabe got his first official black eye tonight. He came home from wrestling- announced his eye turned black when he wrestled the boys head- and is now sitting with his daddy and a ice pack(That I JUST bought- how do mothers know these things?) Is it because when you have kids things like this are bound to happen? Anyway- he is now a member of the Kahl "tough Boy" club and he is ready for his first tournament- Oh- and don't let this make you think wrestling is a "dangerous" sport as we so often hear- He could have done this tripping over a ball.
On a completely separate subject- I just noticed by next post will be my 100th post. In blog land that is a big deal. Most people write about 100 life goals, 100 things they love about life, etc. But not me- I will write about 100 DEALS I have gotten by shopping SMART. It may take awhile to make the list- so if I don't blog for a couple days- I am still alive!!! I am making THE LIST!






Friday, January 1, 2010

TUBING

We braved the snow storm today and went tubing at a local park. The kids had so much fun and completely surprised me by trekking up and down the hill a million times(OK Maybe 50) I went up ONCE screamed the whole way down hit a patch of ice, had snow in my face and was DONE!! I headed directly to the warming house- I do not think I even returned the tube!!! We are in the midst of the GREATEST SNOWSTORM- We are getting A LOT of Lake Effect snow- I hope for tons more!!!!!! Every time our friends from Iowa visit they bring they snow with them.






















































Tuesday, December 29, 2009

SLEDDING

The boys spent 3 hours outside today sledding. They made a jump and were having so much fun. I really wanted to walk outside to take pictures but decided my warm fireplace was a better spot. So thank you to our friend Klaus who took these amazing pictures of the kids sledding. It was so great to open up my e mail tonight and there they were. (Merry Christmas to me!) Tomorrow- we have a wrestling tournament- and await the arrival of our friends from Iowa!!! OH HAPPY DAY!


























































































Sunday, December 27, 2009

FINALLY

It has finally happened- we had enough snow to play in, sled and shovel. I know it sounds crazy especially to our Iowa friends and our friends on the East Coast who are still digging out- but we(I mean Kevin and the boys) enjoyed the day in the snow- not just looking at the dusting of it!. We fired up the coco latte machine after coming inside(If you do not own one of these RUN to Bed Bath and Beyond to get one- They make The PERFECT cup of hot chocolate!!!!!) It was so nice for the boys to get out in the fresh air and running- you can only play so much inside before you get stir crazy!- Fresh air does them good and they will definitely sleep well tonight!