Yard Sale Scavenges w/ Deck Update

We all have aims in life. One of my not-so-public ones has been to be a really good yard  saler who can find amazing bargains. I don’t really talk about it because I don’t really do anything to become this person. I don’t want to get up at 5am on a Saturday to scope out the sales, and then have to park on the street to poke around in someone’s junk in their front yard. But with the scent of a good bargain, it sure is tempting. So the other day I happened to see yard sale ads in the newspaper (really, I wasn’t looking for it, it just caught my eye) and happened to see that one was literally just down the street. It was the best kind of sale too, a moving sale! That’s when you know people mean business. It also had the key word “patio furniture” in it. So I thought that if I woke up early enough it would be fun to scamper down there to check it out.
 
Saturday morning rolled around, and I fell out of bed around 8amish. A perfect time for yard saling if I do say so myself! Except that it was a little rainy. Oh well. Maybe it kept some people at bay so I had a better chance of scoring a super-duper deal! The Cube and I putt putted down the street for all of 30 seconds. The place was hopping! My bargain sense kicked into high gear, and I went in with elbows ready. Thank goodness it didn’t come to that. I actually didn’t see a thing I wanted. I was ready to resignedly leave until a woman asked about the patio furniture. I whipped my head around to see what she was talking about. I didn’t see any furniture! I thought maybe it had already sold. The woman replied that it was around back and started leading her to the back yard (I promise this doesn’t turn into a murder mystery thriller). So I scrambled after them, asking if I could tag along. She brings us to their back deck where they have 2-3 patio sets of tables and chairs at prices over $100. Really, you think you can sell anything at a yard sale for over $100? I think that should be against the rules! I didn’t see anything I liked. Then, as we were walking back to the house, I saw a little two seater cushion loveseat. I asked how much it was. The woman looked at me and said, “I didn’t even think about selling that.” Looooooooong pause. “How about $25?” I replied, “Ohhh I have a $20 bill. Would you take that?” Loooooooong pause. SOLD! Sweet!
 
Off it got toted to the Cube where it barely fit., but it did fit  Good ole Cube! I swung into the driveway, ripped it out of the car, and ran into the house, just hoping Eric was already up. Thankfully he was just waking up to go to work so I could share my excitement! He finally made his way out to the driveway to see its dealio in all of its yard sale glory.

 
Ok, stick with me. I know it’s not all that it is built up to be, but just wait until I get it in position and show you the mood board it inspired!
 
But I wasn’t done yet! I was full of the yard sale glee and I wanted to go to others! I jumped on Craigslist to check out the listings and planned out my sales. I hopped back into the Cube once again to live up to my aspirations. This is where reality started kicking in.
 
First sale: I had to park really far away. There was nothing but junk. I left empty handed.
 
Second sale: LAME! I just drove by and kept on going. If you are going to have a yard sale, please build up your stock to make it worthwhile.
 
Third Sale: All kids stuff. Not there yet. Another drive by.
 
Fourth sale (just happened to be on the way home): It started raining. It was like two things on a table. My bagel waiting for me at home called louder than the sale.
 
So, aspirations to be super-duper yard sale Megan were deflated at the end. I think this got the yard sale bug out of me until next year. I also think I will stick to the neighborhood. There is usually 3-4 a week so I should go with those non-committal ones. Heck, sometimes I run by them. Thankfully I had a success story. Let’s get to the reveal shall we?
 
My aim has been to find some bargain priced patio furniture for the unscreened part of the back deck so it can be more lounge-y. I had been perusing Craigslist for a while but nothing in my price range was really doing it for me. So when I found Mr. $20, I knew he fit the bill and budget. The back deck was up for a little reorganization.
 
Mr. $20 made the back deck go from this:

 To this:
 

Here's another view:

Okay, okay, nice but not as nice as my build up. It is all the inspiration that he conjured up that is really exciting! I had lots of fun scouring online home stores the rest of the day. This is what I came up with, although I haven’t bought it yet.

 

Reversible Rug / Pillows / Chair Cushion / Garden Stool

Can’t you envision the nice little seating area now? I like to think about it during my favorite time, at the dusk hour. It is late summer. I hear kids playing outside and a lawn mower in the distance as I relax on the back porch with all our lovely trees and a good book in hand. Stay tuned as I scour end of season sales to try and punch up the back deck!
 

Monday Inspiration: The Battle of the Bulge

Happy new week all! So, as I have been getting deeper into blogging and trying to figure out exactly where I want my blog to go (I know, I know - wasn't I supposed to do this BEFORE I started the blog?!), I think I have finally hit on a good pattern and feel! This is what I am going to try to have my blog look like every week:

• Monday Inspiration post: everyone needs help on Monday's to be happy about the work week in front of them. Why not help get everyone going and thinking happy and positive. It is the type of person I try to be, so why not try to infiltrate the world with more positive energy and thoughts?
• Wednesday Home Life: I love to decorate, craft, bake, and organize. I will share my adventures on the home front!
• Friday Fashion: I have really been trying to let my creativity become more free in my fashion these days and I want to share my fashion ideas (and mistakes!). This may include good buys and finds, trends I am following, and What Not to Wear recaps.

So as it is a Monday, let the inspiration begin. This week my inspiration stemmed from one of my best friend's from high school and fellow blogger Caitlin. Cait is one of those people who I bonded instantly with in an English class in high school. Our dumb jokes and silly behavior in high school blossomed into a life long friendship. She was also one of the people who inspired me to start a blog. She started Cait Strides this year and spurred me to go ahead and start one too.

Her incredibly honest and thoughtful blog she posted recently is worth the read. It is all about her struggles with something that we all know about: weight. I can totally relate with Cait. When I was in high school I was always crying to my mom about how unhappy I was with my weight. I was always comparing myself to all the beautiful, popular girls in high school with the perfect complexion and super skinny waists. Even as an athletic vegetarian, I couldn't seem to drop the pounds that I wanted to.

Then start the challenge of college with the alleged "Freshman 15", late night study breaks, and hours sitting in the library. It was a time that I gradually gained even more weight without even knowing I was.

Long story about the whole Walmart thing, but this was mid college.



Then came my life changing summer. It was the summer between my junior and senior year of college. I had just come back from our China abroad, which completely changed me as a person. I went to China a questioning, worrisome girl and feel like I came back a strong, confident woman. It was a time that was wonderful, powerful, challenging, and awe-inspiring. It made me confident and a person who was motivated and happy to be herself.

In China, where I think I started losing the pounds.

So when I left China for summer break, I was excited for the next three months. I was living by myself for the first time and working full time at my high school job at The Forest Cleaners (a dry cleaners) which I actually loved. It was summer that was perfect. I worked hard but also got to govern my life completely for the first time. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted; took time to do things I loved (like scrap booking about China); and I exercised every day.

That summer I realized a few major things about eating. As it was the first time that I could eat without anyone else's schedule in mind, I ate only when I was hungry. So if it was dinner time and I wasn't hungry I didn't feel obligated to eat because everyone else in the household was. I would just wait until I was hungry. Since I was on my own I could cook whatever I wanted. As someone who likes to eat healthy, it wasn't a time for me to binge eat, but to try all the weird healthy meals I liked. It included a lot of salads with lots of yummy toppings, heaping veggie pizzas, and dessert every night (I can't help it - I blame my mother the sweet tooth!). Oh yes, the other huge part of this. I was supremely happy. I loved myself and wasn't constantly judging myself but accepting myself.

So summer ends and I go back to school and I get this huge reaction from my peers that goes something like this: "Megan! You have a waist!" I had lost about 30 pounds and was at a weight that made me happy. I didn't really think about food obsessively anymore. I ate my correct portion sizes when I was hungry, worked out regularly, and didn't beat myself up about everything.

At my happy weight.

So that is my success story at that point and what it took to get there. That was about 3-4ish years ago. I have been mostly able to maintain that weight, but life sometimes works against you and I still struggle with this now. It does take eating healthy and regular exercise. Life does get harder when you have a desk job. Talk about sitting all day long! I am having a slight struggle with getting balance back in my life with junk food and exercise. I have struggled to find a way to fit in exercise regularly with my desk job. I didn't do a good job with it my first job out of college. That job stressed me out totally and completely. Working out was the last thing on my mind when I came home. I was too spent. I would try to work out on the weekends and sometimes in the morning before I came home. Unfortunately, I think I stayed thin by being unhealthily stressed and overworked/too busy to remember to eat. So when my new job rolled around this August, I had more time to think about leading a balanced life. I actually joined a gym but it unfortunately closed forever LAST WEEK! So working out has been on my mind recently, as I have struggled to let go of the holiday pounds and find a way to fit exercise into my life again. Since I had gotten into the pattern of working out after work by stopping by the gym, I shopped around at gyms last week. There wasn't a good fit nearby. So I decided to take those gym membership dollars and funnel that toward building my home gym. Hello Craigs List! I scored this $200 elliptical machine off Craigs List the summer after college:

This past week this is the machine I have been hitting up after work. But no one is going to be able to do the same workout in the basement every day forever. So I began perusing Craigs List again. I came upon a rather sweet workout DVD listing. So I met a man in a public parking place in the light of day with my husband in the car (you can never be too safe with Craigs List) and scored these TEN DVDs for only $35 (he was originally asking $40 - it never hurts to bargain!). So here goes the workouts in the home gym after work!

So after a long and long winded post I will draw some conclusions.

• Being healthly is more about a lifestyle and making it a pattern in your life.
• Only eat when you are hungry.
• Find out what your really portion size should be and let go of those super-sized American ideals.
• Love and accept yourself as the beautiful person you are. Because you are. We all are.

I hope this helps and gives you a little inspiration on your Monday to both be happy, healthy, and LOVE YOURSELF! Please share with me any of your struggles, ups and downs, and successes. And be sure to go to www.caitstrides.com to support my awesome friend Cait in her healthy goals of 2012!