SALE SALE SALE 20% off everything in the shop!

Today through Sunday, take 20% off everything in the shop. Just include the code LIBRARY20 in the note to seller. I will send you a revised Paypal invoice. Yahooo!

May I recommend for your sweetheart...

Green with envy

Can I just say how insanely awesome, gorgeous, ridiculous this whole room is?! If I could ever live in a space this colorful, filled with crap (good crap), and bright and lovely I'd never take my ass off the (really cool) couch. Wow. They just finished that kickass green shelving. From the people of Something's Hiding in Here. When I enter my apt tonight I'm gonna cry.

Old School

I'm sending off this awesome blue train case to my old friend from middle/high school. Found it at a flea in NJ, and inside were old stockings and socks. The woman looked mortified, so maybe they were hers? But I love the frilliness and mirror.

I like having friends buy my things. I'm gonna fill this with my old stockings and socks and send it to her.



...kidding! She's getting some old photos and Spanish conversation hearts for Vday.

Finds from the Flea Market on W. 25th Street

Library drawer that I just WD40'd, mini paper cutter, Dewar's White Label Scotch Whiskey. YEAH!

Craigslist freakout

NYers: Has Craigslist been working for you guys lately? It's been very wonky, at least on my computer. I'm up early and want to hit garage sales! Aughhh! Do I have to go out and buy a paper or something?!

Still sick, but I've got thrifting to cure me.

Is it bad when I call out sick from work (because I am) and instead of sleeping I Google Maps all of the Goodwills in Queens?

Meanwhile, I really shouldn't leave my bed but the only view is my cluttered room and the junk I already have in it:
I spy with my little thrifty eye: 3 metal floral frogs, folding ruler, air mail envelopes, building blocks, vintage children's books, a Love is...1970s glass, Fiesta flatware (in the flower pot that looks like a giant white pencil cup), some old stamp books...this is just the 1.5'x1.5' table directly in my line of sight. Help.

Some finds at an Upper West Side estate sale below. I haven't been to too many estate sales (I think mostly because the city is filled with so many new people, and the Rockefellers and whatnot don't advertise their estate sales on Craigslist), but I feel a little weird digging around through a family estate, especially when it's not a company running the sale.

This one was ran by I think the son of the woman who owned the apartment. He seemed younger than me, and I'm 25. I thought it was an incredibly sad situation and felt uncomfortable until he told his friend who was helping him that "the dog paintings in the hallway were appraised for 3 thou each." Then...I stopped feeling bad. I don't know. How do you feel about such scenarios? Onto the finds:

UGhuhuhghughghghgh

Sick. It's cold out, I had to buy an extra hat from a street vendor because I left mine at home and it's ugly. I feel gross. Blarg.

Upside: 2 estate sales this weekend, a new flea market about 2 blocks from my office, and I really hope to win this on ebay:
I'd wear it around town and pretend I was part of the New York Cultural Elite.

Etsy shop update...

I tried really hard to take as many photos as I could while the sunlight was still streaming through the window, but I also really wanted to make myself a decent sandwich. Decisions, decisions.


View shop things here.

A bit of yellow in each

It's Wednesday and my sweatshirt smells funny.

It's one of those days that I want over and done with. Annoying things to do at work, it's bonkers cold outside, it's weirdly cold in the office (which is normally sweltering) and my sweatshirt that isn't completely office appropriate smells like cooking oil, cigarettes (the bf), and I think old Christmas tree, which we hauled to the curb this past weekend. Ugh.

Something to cheer me up (neither timely, appropriate, or related at all to anything):

Hope your Wednesday is going better than mine...

Orla Kiely for Target! Orla Kiely for Target! Be still my heart...

If you're into bright patterns, lovely design and cheapness, the phrase "Orla Kiely for Target" makes your fists pump in excitement. Orla Kiely is designing housewares for Target, including mugs, carafes, aprons and...oh, just look at the photos! Via sfgirlbybay and Apartment Therapy-NY. I'm only going to stop jumping for joy in February 09, when I will then hop on the R/V to the Target in Elmhurst. Yesssss!

First Estate Sale Adventure of 09

The holidays and the cold had been preventing me from going on my usual Sunday thrift shopping. NYCers: Housing Works' 50% off sale this week.

Yesterday was a question of either cleaning up my apartment or taking 2 trains and a bus to an estate sale in Rosedale, Queens. Guess which one I picked...lalala.

Turns out the F was running local, so I got to take that to Parsons Blvd (um, I didn't realize quite how far away that was) to catch the Q43. The long-ish rides, for me, are a way to catch up on reading or NPR, or Rachel Maddow podcasts. I listened to her '2008 Awards for Excellence in Areas TBD', which included "News Event Most Suited to be a Musical" (the Spitzer situation won).

I finally reach the stop for the estate sale, and the thrifting adrenaline starts pumping. I walk in and am immediately scared - some glass vases, picture frames and ugly dolls are in the front living room. However! Turns out there is "something in every room, including the basement." SCORE.

The house was really lovely and made me yearn for a house with space (read: not an apartment in Astoria.) There was some beautiful furniture - sewing cabinet, chest of drawers, scrolly desk - and I wish I had the means (car, storage space) to take, restore, and resell that kind of stuff, but not right now. I did a lot of looking, but in the end, not too much buying.

$7.00 for everything in the photo, including unused Japanese salad servers and S&P shakers, some Shiny Brites, an old nut chopper (teehee), and an atlas from 1940 with some great colored maps.

A decent start to my 2009 thrift shopping, and I'm already checking ads on Craigslist for next weekend.

Etsy Gift Guide - hooray!

My lovely floral suitcase has been selected for the Etsy Gift Guide for Travel. The photo's a little fuzzy due to my (incredible?) MS paint job, but you can also view it and other travel picks here. Makes me want to get in a car and take a drive!

Balance of the Universe Returning....

Ok, I've slowly gotten over the whole Pyrex fiasco, mostly due to all the booze consumed over the New Years break. (I had friends in town, so New Years festivities stretched through last night.) The Thrift Gods took some pity on me, and gave me a little gem, in the form of this Snoopy Fire King mug:

Found this guy in a Goodwill for a buck. Another one on ebay is going for about $80, and the orange version is going for over $180. This is my first sale on ebay, so I had a big dilemma about when to post (is the other auction going to affect my sale, am I affecting theirs, etc) but since I've heard that Sunday night auctions do the best, I went ahead and did it. I'm hoping I make more than a buck. Cross your fingers!

Update: I made a 12,000% profit on this mug. That is a pretty awesome start to the 2009 Thrifting Season. (The money is mostly going to my mom, who's going on a trip to the Philippines to see family...thanks Snoopy!)

Cursed! Foiled!

I'm a little/lot embarrassed to realize how nutty I've gotten over thrift shopping. I went out thrifting this morning, figuring since a ton of people donated to Goodwill/Salvation Army before the year end for tax purposes, a bunch of new things would be put out in the stores. I get in, look around, and my beady little eyes focus on a girl's shopping cart: PYREX. Not only Pyrex, but a complete set of Cinderella Butterprint bowls. (Near) murderous rage courses through my veins at a near instantaneous speed. My eyes narrow. My cheeks redden. My fists ball. I go to this store all the time. The employees know me (scarily enough). HOW COULD THIS GIRL HAVE GOTTEN THE SCORE OF THE YEAR?!?! I followed her around, trying to see if she'd ditch them. She didn't. I ended up leaving with an Escada Couture party dress for $15, and a whole lotta jealousy. Am I bitter? Yes, yes I am. It's the One That Got Away.