Life lesson learned: You can manifest some yard sale finds!
I enjoy summer for a lot of reasons (unbearable heat waves aside), but one thing makes the season particularly fun: yard sales!
I’m someone who gets a kick out of selling just as much as I do shopping, and I’ve already convinced my mom to have a joint garage sale next summer that I’ll help run. She and I are quite the team when it comes to shopping too; we spent many summer weekends when I was younger tracking down the various sales around town.
Not much has changed!
Last summer, I was eager to hit up sales again (though anything I bought went into my temporary storage unit until I found my own place) and was thrilled that our town’s annual community sale was taking place just weeks after moving back home. My college years were the last time I had actually been able to go, and although I rarely had luck finding anything to buy, I still had a good time nonetheless. My parents and I got a late start at the 2021 sale as I spent much of the morning wasting precious shopping time waiting in line at the BMV to get my driving permit (the nerve of them! Didn’t they know we had important things to do?), but I did walk away with a Crazy Cat Lady mug–which I’m drinking from as I write this–and some DVD’s. Considering that was more than I usually found, it was a win in my book!
This year, we were able to arrive at our local library for the sales at a much more reasonable time with shopping bags in hand.
Now, our family often jokes that the more prepared you are to walk away with a great haul, the less likely you are to find anything. In other words, if you bring a bag, all you’re going home with is said bag.
Much to our surprise, that “superstition” never played out yesterday–none of us left empty handed!
DVD’s are some of the easiest things for us to find. People downsizing their collections in favor of streaming means endless opportunities for us to expand our collections for a steal. I snagged so many movies last summer, in fact, that I still have plenty I need to watch!
I found six in total to buy, but one really stood out to me: “West Side Story.” It wasn’t just that it’s a fantastic film…it was the fact that on Friday night, for absolutely no reason at all, I thought to myself, “I haven’t seen West Side Story in a long time! I’ll have to buy that one someday.” Lo and behold, there it was waiting at someone’s table to be snatched up…and in a never-been-opened box. Crazy!
My mom had two similar lucky incidents. After mentioning at the beginning of the sale that she was still hoping to find the movie “The Color Purple” someday (which I found at a sale last year), she came across it at one of the last tables we visited. She also was stunned to find a set of white coasters (for a fantastic price too), after having it on her list to buy for a long time. Talk about fate!
Before leaving with our bags full of even more goodies than I mentioned, we paid a quick visit to the garden next door at my old high school. My mom and I both are both graduates of the school, and I can tell you that no such thing existed at the time. I do think it’s a great thing for kids to learn (speaking as a novice gardener myself!), though I’m jealous it wasn’t offered during my years there. Anyway, we took a few pictures, sighed at the poor landscaping around the rest of the building, and peeked at what was being grown. Upon seeing the tomato plants nestled in their tomato cages, I was reminded (yet again), that I needed to get some cages for next year. (That’s for another blog entry!)
Then, what should I discover at a different yard sale no more than 15 minutes later? Three tomato cages for $1.50. Sold!
My mom and I still would have been happy with just our snapshots of the more unusual yard sale finds throughout the day, but nothing beats having some “new” items to take home with you. If there’s something you’re hoping to find, try speaking it into existence! You might just get lucky!
Life lesson learned: Go for the market, stay for the food
New York City isn’t exactly “yard sale” territory. That’s probably due to the lack of, well, yards.
There are, however, plenty of markets to be found around the city during the warmest months! Many of these are craft or souvenir-based (and, of course, farmers markets), though it can still be fun to take a look. At the very least, you’re sure to find something that’s picture-worthy!
Back in 2017, I was surfing the Internet for weekend happenings around Manhattan and stumbled across a craft market of sorts happening on the Upper West Side, alongside a food fair. Food and shopping? Count me in!
I remember the day was hot, even for June, and I’m certain I was a horrifying mix of sweaty and frizzy by the time I actually got to the event. (Not hard to guess; that happens anytime I walk on concrete for a half hour on a sunny day!)
The event took place at a local school, with tents and tables lined up both in the parking lot and inside the school itself. I didn’t see anything that really piqued my interest (though I appreciate the effort people put into homemade crafts!) and it was a bit hard to admire what was available with sweat pouring into my eyes.
So I moved on to the edible section of the market with plenty of options from which to choose. I first grabbed a burger slider from a Bareburger stand.
The burger was absolutely delicious…if only it had been bigger! (Whose genius idea was it to make tiny burgers that require you to eat a mountain’s worth to satisfy your appetite?) I recall passing some of the Bareburger locations around the city for years after that, and oddly, never had one again.
It’s only right that you balance out sodium with a bit of sugar, so I opted for mini donuts next. Amazing doesn’t even begin to cover it! Looking back, I’d love to know what I was thinking when I chose chocolate topping on a hot day. The heat was so intense, I actually ate my dessert up against a brick wall of the school to try and get some much-needed shade.
It didn’t help. Chocolate still melts in summer heat, makes a mess and we humans eat it anyway because…when you want chocolate, you want chocolate.
As you can tell by this entry, I couldn’t tell you what the most exciting booth was at the Grand Bazaar, but I can still taste the donuts like it was yesterday.
So if you go to an event in NYC and it’s not as exciting as you had hoped…don’t worry; there will be food. There’s always food.
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