Monday, August 8, 2011

Theme days!

Okay, I've been so slack in listing items for sale (although not slack in shopping for items) that I now have a pretty substantial backlog of stuff to put up. Looking over the merchandise this weekend, it became pretty clear that the backlog could be divided up into several categories, which means THEME DAYS!

I love nothing more than a good theme. I'm the kind of person who has themed dinner parties. Well, I don't actually have them so much as plan them out in my head, but when I finally get around to making that mid-century nuclear Holocaust pot roast, you're all invited. There's going to be a JELLO mold that will blow your mind.

So, this week is going to break down like this:

Monday: Bags.
Tuesday: Vintage Pyrex.
Wednesday: Vintage Dresses.
Thursday: Plus-size Vintage Dresses.
Friday: Skirts.

According to my calendar, today is Monday, which means BAG DAY! I have several vintage bags going up for sale today, but two in particular that are so awesome that I must talk more about them.

The first is a retro bowling bag available here.

I picked up this bag at an estate sale. It was in the basement of a house full of fabulous stuff from the 50s and 60s, that was mostly overpriced. In the bag, there was a 20 pound bowling ball, a pair of blue suede ladies' Brunswick bowling shoes (watch for those to be for sale in the future), and a couple of pairs of dirty ladies' socks- the kind with the puffy little pink ball on the back of the ankle. I tried to negotiate for just the bag and shoes, but the seller required that I take all the contents and I was like "Sure, whatever." So, I left with the whole package, then took it home and laid everything out on my bed. I lovingly cleaned the bag, tried on the shoes (they are a 7.5 and I wear an 8), touched the sock puff and then forced myself to throw out the socks. I mean, they were charming, but keeping someone else's dirty socks is bordering on hoarder territory. The bag, I knew I would sell since I already have my own retro bowling bag in yellow that was a gift from my fabulous friend Sarah last year for my birthday. The shoes... I'll probably sell those too. I do need bowling shoes, but honestly, they are just a little to snug and I wouldn't want them to throw off my game. That's hysterical to you if you are in my bowling league and happen to be reading this. I'm looking at you, Norm.


So, then I was left with the ball. How to you dispose of a 20 pound bowling ball? Can you recycle them? No. I thought about just putting it in the trash, but I didn't want to inadvertently kill a sanitation worker. I mean, I don't know what they do with trash, but it's not too hard to imagine a scenario where some hard-working family man is moving refuse from one location, like maybe a dump truck, to another location, like maybe a landfill, and my bowling ball comes crashing through the Hefty bag, even if it's the kind that employs new Flex Force technology, and kills him. And I just couldn't live with that, so I set it in my closet, next to my awesome Madden Girl black knee boots with the buttons up the sides. And then it disappeared in the the Bermuda triangle which is the floor of an over-crowded closet.


Then I moved last weekend and took the ball, along with a red and green Christmas wreath with faux trumpets stolen by my former roommate from his parents' basement last holiday season, my VHS copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula, a glass vase, and some other stuff to Goodwill. Naturally, all the stuff was bagged up, except for that ball, which I just handed to the guy. I only mention the vase because last weekend, when I gave it to Goodwill, I literally thought, "Like anyone's ever going to give me flowers!" And then yesterday, my boyfriend gave me flowers. Awwww. :) They are in a drinking glass.


The second bag I'm going to talk about, I got at a church yard sale. Church yard sales are either hit or miss. Everyone knows old people have the best junk and old people are also seemingly really interested in church, probably because they are close to death and having issues with mortality. In any case, that would make a church yard sell seem like a can't miss, but for some reason that I can't really figure out, it seems like church yard sales are just a lot of broken toys and microwaves. Shrug. Before I go to a yard sale, any yard sale I do a drive by first. If I can see toys from the street, I don't go. It's a pretty hard a fast rule. Usually someone selling toys is not also going to have a C. Jere' sculpture that they don't understand the value of or a pill box hat, you know? But Sarah was with me this morning and she was lured in by a mid-century dining set that she saw from the road. So, we stopped and I found this purse.

I bought this purse for its condition. It's in almost perfect condition. The interior is pristine. The wool outside is spotless. The gold trim isn't rusty and worn. And I know why. It's because this was someone's fancy purse. It's the purse they never used because no occasion was ever good enough. Like my eggplant purple python Vera Wang shoes. I don't wear them. I've never worn them. This isn't the kind of purse that you casually toss on the floorboard of your car for your kid to eat crackers all over. It's a designer purse. It was made by Crown Lewis and it's so awesome and available here.


So, that's the best of what Bag Day has to offer. I'm also listing a hot pink little number and a burgundy clutch with an awesome lining.


Tomorrow, we take on Pyrex.


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