My weekend

OK, this might turn into a long post, now you're warned.
My birthday wasn't as exciting as I hoped it would be, got myself all psyched up for nothing.
Mom and I ended up going to Perry, had to go a different way as there was water over Hwy 30, we had directions, but mom decided to veer off those directions and get us lost a couple times (if we had followed the directions we would have been fine). We get to Perry and go to a couple shops before it was time for our reservation at the tea room for lunch. The one thing that was really good at the tea room was the drink I had, which isn't saying much for them, I guess the soup and the cream puff were pretty good too. I had a quiche which was lukewarm, but since I was so hungry, I didn't complain, then I had bread pudding for desert (if you know me, I LOVE bread pudding), unfortunately their bread pudding had pretty much no taste to it.
After lunch, we hit a few more stores. I was looking for something really cool to buy (I had taken out $75 from my bank acc't and my dad had given me $40), unfortunately I didn't find it. We finally decided to hit an antique mall in Boone before heading home. Now, I did find a few cool things there, including some stuff that I'm adding to the giveaway.
I bought a jar full of jewelry misc for $7.50, this pile is what I'm keeping for myself.

This bag is what I'm adding to the giveaway. There's quite a few brooches, a bunch of metal watch links (this lady must have really loved these because she had at least 2 jars full of just these). GIVEAWAY ALERT

I also bought a jar of old buttons for $5.00. I haven't sorted them out yet, but I guarantee some of them will be added to the giveaway. GIVEAWAY ALERT

I also bought this cute pink silk handkerchief for $2.00, and some green tatting for $1.00

After we got done in Boone we headed home and decided to go to Red Lobster for supper, which was great. I had a mudslide and lobster and shrimp.

Saturday, Kevin took me to the Good Guys Car show, I will add the very few pictures I have from that to my Sweet Rides blog. Very few because even though I brought all 3 of my batteries, when I had to change one, I found out the others were dead. Needless to say I was a little annoyed, though it was kinda fun to wander around and not worry about taking pictures of all the cool ones like I did the last time I went.

After the car show, we went to his parents house in Cedar Rapids and stayed there until Tuesday, having a nice relaxing few days. Sunday, we went to eat at Hu Hot, and then watched the fireworks. Monday, we went to eat at Pei's and then traveled to Kalona for cheese, of course the cheese factory wasn't open, so we headed down the road to an Amana store where I bought dried mangoes and papaya, some caramel puffs, and some multi flavored twizzler things. When I was in Hawaii, I bought some dried mangoes and they were really sweet, I was thinking these might be the same, but they are soo good, I wish I'd bought more than one bag. After that we headed into Riverside and to the casino. This was my first time at a casino, I played some Blackjack and won $20.00. After that we headed back to his parents place.

Tuesday, we basically got up and left, more or less. And then of course we both had to go to work when we got back here.

Wednesday, I got to hang out with my friend Loretta and her puppies, we went to Ankeny to Petsmart. We also took a jump over to Micheal's and I didn't spend any money. That's a huge first for me. I guess I'm still looking for that something really cool to buy.

I know I shouldn't really complain, but I'm little disappointed in the gifts I didn't get for my birthday. I guess the trip to Perry along with some clothes (which to me, coming from my parents are never gifts) were my mom's gift to me, plus going out to supper. My brother sent me a $100 gift certificate for amazon.com, which I sent him my wish list for amazon, he could have picked out $100 worth of stuff and sent it to me, though it is nice to pick out my own stuff, as I did already order a book that wasn't on my list. Kevin took me to the car show and bought me lunch, but still. Ya know, it's a little more fun when you get actual presents. I think I'm just moody, because I did get to do fun things, but I don't know. Maybe it's just because I haven't found that really cool thing yet. Who knows. I also didn't get a single piece of mail on my birthday, it would have been cool to get something unexpected. I did get a card from my aunt, who by the way is great at remembering my birthday (probably other people in her family's too) and sending out cards.

I feel as if I haven't really had much time to pause since I got back from my mini vacation. I got home, had to go to work, went to bed, got up did laundry, mowed the lawn, jumped in the car with Loretta, went shopping, went to work, went to bed, got up this morning, went grocery shopping, went to work, came home changed clothes, went to my other job, and now I'm relaxing a bit in front of the computer.

Garage Saleing and other stuff

Guess what? I went garage saleing again. I went to 4 sales this time, one of them claiming they were Dutch and never threw anything out.
This is a cute little doily I got for 50 cents.

Here's a couple Childcraft books I bought for $1.00 each. When I was younger, we had a set of Childcraft sets and mom either gave them away or sold them when we got older. I'm still not happy about that.

This is a cute little book I got for $2.00. GIVEAWAY ALERT I'm planning on doing a giveaway for my birthday and it's going to be vintage stuff, this is one of the things that will be in it.

I got a set of five of these for $1.00, I'm always looking for more glasses, I don't like to do dishes and I hate running out of glasses, I have a great modge podge collection right now.

These are salt cellars, I believe the lady said, I thought I could use them for glitter (that would be when I have a whole room for crafting and could put them on a shelf where they wouldn't get knocked over), I got them for $3.00 all together.

These are a bunch of little jar/containers that were 4 for $1.00. GIVEAWAY ALERT, one or more of these will be in the giveaway.

This is a tiny little pitcher/glass that's a beautiful pink color, I added it to my tea cup collection, it was $1.00

Here's a little pig and a glass jar, I love these tiny glass jars, they're perfect for little vases, someday when I have a house (or at least a larger apartment), I hope to have a place to put them all together. The pig is for a friend, the pig was $2.00, a little pricey, but I believe it's perfect for my friend. The jar was 50 cents.

GIVEAWAY ALERT: Like it says above, I will be doing a giveaway on my birthday (July 2nd), it's going to be quite a bit of vintage stuff, and maybe some other stuff. I will add giveaway alert to posts with something I will giveaway, as well as in my tags, so keep looking here.

Speaking of my birthday, I was downstairs today watching Amelia with my parents (which by the way we all decided was a pretty boring movie), and they asked what I wanted for my birthday, my answer "I don't know", mom asked me about my mattress. A month or so ago, I told my dad (once) that I wanted a new mattress, out of all the things he forgets of course he remembers this, because my has a pretty big divot in the middle, even when I flip it like you're supposed to. I don't even sleep in the middle. Now I want something exciting, yes I need a new mattress, but who really wants that for their birthday, of course it would be pretty expensive if I had to buy a new one myself. My parents bought this one for me when I moved into one of their apartments my sophomore year of college in 2004, so it's almost 6 years old, I don't know how long mattresses are supposed to last, but since I don't have money, I figure everything should last quite awhile.

I suppose I need to email Ross my Amazon wish list AGAIN, because he needs to be told exactly what I want, or given a list. I sure wouldn't want another Tiffany's sterling silver ring for my birthday (If you know me, you know I don't really wear jewelry, I wear a watch to work, and one ring, nothing else usually)

I would love something really cool for my birthday, what that is, that I'd actually get, I don't know. It'd be cool to have a $500 or even $100 clothes shopping spree somewhere other than here, because our clothing stores kinda suck. I'd love some time (more than a couple hours) with Kevin, I'd love to go to the Good Guys Car show that weekend, I've been there twice, but it's always great, I'd love to have a really cool party with my friends, but of course I have very few close friends, and they're not all in IA anymore, not even in Ames anymore.

What would you pick for a gift if you could have something you really wanted, money not being an object?

Weekend Garage Saleing

Seemed to be more of a Bake Sale Weekend. I was afraid people wouldn't have their sales as it had been raining Friday night and was still raining Saturday morning. I finally ventured out at about 10:30, when it finally tapered off. I did find about 3 garage sales (and of course I spent money, which I really need to cut back on, as my bank account keeps getting smaller)
OK, so this sale, this lady used to home school, so it was basically books, but I still found some cool ones. Everything was $1.00, so I spent $8.00 there.
In the back row, there's a game called Block by Block, you have to figure out ways to put the blocks together to make the picture, next to that is a math skills book, I'm having tons of fun filling it out (I'm not that good at math). Next is Mother Nature Goes Nuts, all about natural disasters. Next is a You're the Detective, you solve the picture mysteries, I used to love these as a kid.
In the front row there is More Stories to Solve, another mystery thing. Solve a Crime Puzzles (are you seeing a theme here), Mad Libs the Worst-Case Scenario version, also used to love these as a kid and then Vanished, stories about people who just vanished.

This next sale had some really good baked goods, I bought a loaf of banana nut bread for $2.50, and a bag of animal cookies for $1.00

These are from another bake sale/garage sale. There is a tin, a doily (which I used my glimmer mists from this post on, will be posting about that soon on The Frog Princess, and a cute little pin, they were all 10 cents each. GIVEAWAY ALERT the tin will be in the giveaway

These are from the sale right above, there's a plate of lemon bars for $2.50, and two scotcheroos for $1.00 each.

These are from the sale with the bread: there's a rabbit that I got for 75 cents (figured I'd give it to my mother) and a little wooden from, I figured I could alter for 25 cents.

Garage Saleing June 5th

I did find another great garage sale on Saturday, almost missed it. It had rained that morning, sometime between 8 and 9, so when I went out to the really good sale, it wasn't set up. I figured I'd go past it again on my way home, I was so glad I did.
This book just sounded good, it was $.25.

I've been on a cookbook collecting mood lately, and these looked good, they were both $.15

This great looking set of stamps was $3.00, I've already tried them out and beyond needing to trim the corners off they work great. I also loved the little heart stamp at the top, I don't have a lot of heart stamps and this one looked fun to play with and for only $.10

A bunch of gift bags for winter time. This way I won't have to wrap as many presents, I got 8 bags for $.50

I also bought a couple bags of scrap fabric and some pieces of fabric at this sale. There was a whole basket of fabric for $.05 each, the lady said if I came back later in the day, she'd give me the whole basket for free, but I don't do anything with my fabric, I just like to collect it, and I was picking out some of it for my treasured tin swap, so I didn't go back.

I spent about $6.00 here.

I got these trucks at a different sale, they were all $.25 each. I thought Kevin might like them. Spent only the $1.00 at this sale.

I got this book at the first sale I actually got to, they had quite a few really cool things from the '50s, only problem was it seemed they were priced for an antique store and not a garage sale. I scored this book for $.50

I got these dog tags, they looked like they were from a dog they owned, for $5.00. I thought they were tags people put on the back of seats like in church or something, I'm sure I can still figure out a way to use them.

I got a whole bunch of bookmarks that looked like they were made from 50's cards. I quickly took off the ugly red yarn after taking this picture. They were all $2.00. I spent about $8.00 at this sale. GIVEAWAY ALERT: I will put some of these cards in the giveaway.

I bought this cute puzzle, that I figured I could pain and turn into a nice piece of altered art, and this cute little piglet stuffed animal for $.50 together. Only spent the 50 cents here.

So, it was a pretty good day, I was thinking to myself that I had spent less than $10, at least until I hit that last sale. Oh well, maybe if I get off my butt and do some artwork, I can sell it on Etsy, and make some money back.

Since I'm losing one of my jobs at the end of June, I shouldn't have any reason not to, hell I don't really have any reason not to now.

Garage Saleing June 4th

Yes, I've been out doing more. This is from Friday, June 4th. I had about 4 sales on my list, I saw the address of this one and thought it was where a friend that I had a falling out with lived, so I decided to wait until I was finished with the others and then walk by it. Turned out it wasn't where my friend lived and had some cool things.
This handkerchief was in a basket full of handkerchiefs, each for $1.00. The lady said I could have them all for $3.00, but I only wanted this one.

These were in separate boxes, the circly thing at the top was a lone clip-on earring for $2.00, the pin, I'm not sure what exactly it was, but it had a cute green stone in the middle, I believe it was $.50, and the leaf was $.50 as well.

These cute little ceramic thimbles each had a flower on the side of them. Sorry about the blurry photo, I didn't realize it was blurry until I took it off my camera. Anyways, they were $.50 all together.

This cute little plate was $.75 as you can see with the sticker I left on it.

The top cup is more ceramic looking and painted blue it was$1.00. Both the bottom cups have cute little gold handles and were $.50 each.

I also bought a couple books at the sale, one of childhood jokes for $.25 and one with some great pictures of America for $1.00. So I spent about $7.00 at this sale.

I've noticed (or at least it seems) that I only find one really good sale a weekend, but as you'll be able to see in the next post, I was wrong.

More Garage Saleing

So, I spent almost $32.00 at one garage sale today. And I found out a couple things aren't going to work for my purposes, but oh well.
This is a miniature piggy bank, it was $.50

This is an earring and necklace set, unfortunately, the necklace is a little tight for my neck, I figured I can always pass it along to someone else. It cost $2.50

Here are some pretty cool looking beads I picked up for $1.00

The four tiny boxes at the top I got for $3.00, the plate of grapes was $.50, the egg man was $1.00, the tiny group of items was $1.00, and the two fuzzy bears were $.50 GIVEAWAY ALERT: at least 2 things in this picture will be in the giveaway, one of them being a bear.

The two flowers were $1.00, I figure I can use them as embellishments on something, they're a really cute green and white plaid, the Hello Kitty clip was $.50, and the leopard clip, which I figured I'd use as embellishment was $.50

Am I the only person that buys necklaces and pins for the charms on them? The two necklaces on the ends were $2.00 each, and the one in the middle was $1.00

All these earrings were 2 for $1.00. I bought them all to use as embellishments.

You can't really tell, but the first pin is a bear with balloons and the second one is a mini angel with a sold sign on it, they were $.50

These were all $.50 each. I thought they'd make cool embellishments. I bought a smaller rose pin like the one above just last week at our antique mall, they match pretty well. GIVEAWAY ALERT: At least one of these will be in the giveaway, tell me what you like.

This little Christmas cup was $.50, add that to the cup I bought a few weeks ago, I now have a collection.

This shirt was $1.00, I tried it on after I got home, it doesn't fit that well, but if I start my 4 mile walks and doing sit-ups in the mornings like I plan to, it should fit nicer.

***EDIT*** If anyone wants this shirt, I will send it along in the mail. If there's more than one person I'll do a drawing. The lady said it was between a small and a medium. The reason it didn't really fit me is of the nice little stomach I've put on. The arms were a little tight on me, but I think it might be closer to a medium. The sleeves are probably 3/4 sleeves, the color's a little bit lighter than the picture. The white tank is connected to the shirt so it's all one piece.
***EDIT***

This skirt was $1.00 as well, the tag says XL, but it must be a child's size, because I could barely get it up over my legs, but once again, if I start my 4 mile walks again, it should fit me next summer.

***EDIT*** If anyone wants this skirt for their child I will be happy to send it along. If there's more than one interested party, I'll draw someone.
Like I said, the tag says XL, the colors are pretty much the same as in the picture. When I shimmied it on, it sat about my knees, I'll measure it when I get home and edit this again. It's really cute, the lady said it'd never been worn.
***EDIT***

I also bought some strands of beads, and some tiny wooden hanging signs. There were 2 reasons I went to this sale: 1. Jewelry galore, she did have a ton of this and 2. buttons, my Treasured Tin Swap partner likes vintage buttons, so I thought maybe there'd be some, there were buttons, but they weren't very cool. This sale was yesterday and today, I'm glad I didn't go yesterday, there probably was much more stuff there, and I sure didn't need to spend over $30 there.

I'm going to a couple more tomorrow, hopefully spend a little less. I did get $50 out of the ATM today, after taking $40 from my paycheck before depositing it, but I do believe I get paid from the library today, so I can handle it. I do need to step back on my spending, I will be working less at the library, unless I pick up at least one more weekly shift, or substitute for people going on vacation. We'll see, I like garage saleing though. Kevin got me started on it again last year, and it's not as much fun by myself, but it's still fun.

Some purchases

OK, these are a little out of order, as I still haven't figured out the order to upload them.
I've been pretty busy running around since Saturday. Saturday I went to 5 garage sales and found some pretty good deals, those pictures are further down. Sunday, my mother and I went to a scrapbooking store in a town about 30 min south of here, I will be posting those items on my Frog Palace blog. Monday, Kevin and I went back to Ankeny to go to a really good Chinese Buffet, then we traveled to a park/dam and really wished we didn't have to go to work that night. Tuesday I went to the Salvation Army where I was very disappointed in what they had. This is the 2nd time I've been to the store in their new location and I was disappointed the first time as well, I thought this time I might be surprised, not so much.
Then I wandered a little further on down the street to Target and picked up 5 shirts that were on sale. I've been on the lookout for t-shirts lately, as I found out we're not allowed to wear tank tops at the library, which is most of my summer wear. I also bought these cute sandals pictured below, we're not allowed to wear flip flops either, so I've been looking for some cute sandals, I saw these and decided to buy them. There's only one slight problem that I'll have to get used to.
Aren't they just cute on my feet?

My problem is that they have about 4 inch heel on them. I don't walk around on heels that much, but I decided they were really cute, and I asked a group of ladies what they thought, they agreed that they were cute, so I bought them. I do have a pretty long dress that I bought in Hawaii, that would look great with these, and I know Kevin will like them. I've been practicing walking around my apartment in them, and today, I'm planning to wear them to the store (I'll also bring along a pair of flip flops in case they prove to be too much for my feet), I think with practice I'll be OK. My mother never encouraged me to wear heels, I never played dress up in her high heels because she never wore any. It makes me wonder if she had encouraged me and I had been getting used to walking on them throughout the years if I could walk fine in them. Who knows?

So, I just succeeded in gathering my mail in my new sandals. I live on the 3rd floor of a Victorian house, so that's down and back up 2 flights of stairs, one being a curvy one and the other being kinda steep; out the back door, down 4 more steps, walk through my backyard, past the driveway and up to the front porch, up 4 more steps and back. It was a little slow, but I wasn't in a hurry, I may have to change my plans of wearing them to work tonight as it's a little chilly and it looks as if it might rain, and that will definitely spell disaster on my walk home.
Anyways, here are my purchases from Saturday, I don't know exactly what I'll do with a few but they were just too neat looking to pass up:

This is from the last sale I was at, it's a velvet painting. It's a painting on velvet. Unfortunately, it's got a couple spots where the paint came off, but it's still really gorgeous looking. I have it propped in my kitchen at the moment, as the hanger on the back needs to be replaced. It was $1.50.

This cute little tea cup I found at my second sale. It was only $3.00 with the plate. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I've been reading Tales from an OC Cottage and she's showed some of her tea cups, and I think the idea of just having a cute one jumped out at me. I kinda wish I had a glass cabinet in my kitchen to put this in, I may have started a collection, uh oh, I sure don't need more of those.

These beads were found at the same sale as the tea cup, I don't know what I'm going to do with them either, but I'm sure I can come up with something. These were 10 cents.

These, I'm not exactly sure what they are, but you shake them and they make some kind of musical noise. I honestly didn't know they were in the box. I just bought it because the box was cute. GIVEAWAY ALERT: I might put these in the giveaway, it depends on what kind of box I decide to use, because they're kinda heavy.

And here's a picture of the cute box. It was only $1.50

On Saturday, I spent a grand total of $6.35, that is $3.00 for the tea cup, $.10 for the beads, $1.50 for the painting, $1.50 for the box and $.25 for a vase that's not exciting, but I decided I needed another small one.

I did end up spening about $70.00 at Target the other day. The shoes were $25.00 and the shirts ranged from $4.00 to $11.00, and they were all on some kind of sale, I'm glad I didn't buy them when they weren't. I also bought a $5.00 movie I've been looking for for awhile.

I know I shouldn't be spending $$, but I needed t-shirts, I believe the sandals were a good investment, you can't pass up a good deal at a garage sale (even if you don't know what you're going to do with an item), and a $5.00 movie once in a while isn't bad.