Exactly According To Plan

There are those weeks when you find a couple of sales that post pictures of some of their stuff for sale and you drool...over things at more than one sale and you know that you have to make a tough decision. What do we want more? What are we more likely to get at a good price? Will the dealers also want this and get there first (well, the dealers ALWAYS get there first). This was one of those weeks. Two sales approximately 30 minutes away from each that started around the same time. Plus, our saling time was limited this week because Rob's sister was having a barbecue to celebrate his mom's 73rd birthday. Hmmm...where to go? After much discussion, we made a plan...and off we went! 

Our first stop. This was not one of the two sales we agonized over but it was only six minutes from one of the sales and started an hour earlier than either. The description of this sale looked good and we figured that, strategically, this was our best course of action. It was the second day of this sale but it still had some great stuff and the house was fun to explore. Lots of rooms and relatively cluttered (which is what we like to do...dig! ). We spent about 40 minutes here, found a few good items at a great price and had plenty of time to get to our second stop.

We arrived at our second stop (as the sign brightly told us) and found a line outside. We were number 16. We skip this Tag Sale Company's sales at times simply because they are overly accommodating to the dealers. They allow (almost encourage) the dealers to begin a number list the day of the sale. One dealer will get there very early, start the number list, take the first few numbers and then leave. He will then hand out the numbers to his dealer friends, thus allowing them to get in first without waiting on line. Grrrr...this gets us annoyed but we went to this sale because it sounded so good AND because one of the items we wanted most was at this sale. 

Monica standing in front of the cool downstairs sink and stove! And those cabinets! 

There was a great downstairs bar too. Rob searched through it all!

Look at the floor and the old kitchen table and chairs!!! 

We got a lot of great stuff here for a very low price. Oh...and as for that item that we really, really wanted? Dealer#1 grabbed it as soon as he got in. As we were checking out, it was sitting on the couch. Rob asked about its availability and he was told it was not taken. Evidently, because it was missing two fairly insignificant pieces, the dealer did not want it. What was it? The Monkees board game! We got it!!!! What was missing? Two little plastic stands that hold the playing pieces in an upright position. That was all! Go To The Head Of The Class has very similar plastic stands and we have lots of those stands!  

We arrived at our third stop which was run by a Tag Sale Company that we see at least twice a month. This was the other sale that had pictures of some coveted items though we arrived here two hours after the sale had started. This was another great sale with lots and lots of older items and lots of rooms to explore!  

The main floor had a great kitchen divider and lots of original knotty wood cabinets...

...and an old stove built into the wall...

...and an old intercom system that still worked!!!

We spent over an hour here and found so many great things. The rooms were packed and almost every room presented us with an opportunity to explore. So what did we see in the pictures that we wanted so much? Old Christmas lights still in their original boxes. Lots of them! When we got to this house, that was what we searched for first. Almost everything we saw in the picture was still here! We grabbed what we wanted and then searched the rest of the house. Everything seemed to go exactly according to plan! 

Here are some of the things we got today:

A couple of records

Some books

Lots of old Christmas lights still in their original packages!

Some more Christmas items including some old Gurley Candles and a kneehugger elf

Miscellaneous bar and party items. The glass in the back is another "drunk" glass with a goofy face on it. We have several of these and they always make us laugh! 

Old party picks, candles, a vintage pink rolling pin with turquoise trim and lots of heavy-duty old Gothamware plastic utensils.

An old teabag rest, an old plastic Halloween pumpkin, a ceramic figurine featuring two Scottie Dogs (made in Occupied Japan) and some old Easter and New Year's Eve items.

A couple of great vintage aprons

The Monkees Game!!!

This was the surprise find of the day and we found it at the last sale...an unused turquoise Pyrex casserole dish with warmer in its atomic holder. It even came with the original directions! We got it for just $5 !!!!

Although we only had time to go to three sales, it was a fun and very successful day! We went home and got ready for Rob's mom's birthday barbecue!

Rob, as a baby, with his mom. Happy 73rd birthday!