Thanksgiving soup

I still in search of the place to rent here in San Jose/Cupertino and it's really important that it has a full kitchen. 

Up in Tahoe the house had a cook's kitchen but with only one grocery store it was very limiting. Now that I'm back in San Jose and close to all the Asian grocery stores, getting the ingredients isn't a problem. The kitchen here is nice but it's not a cook's kitchen. 

I had a drawer full of carrots, celery, onions and potatoes. I was thinking making a carrot cake (with all the carrots) but being a kitchen where they don't bake makes it challenging. I decided to try my hand at making a cream soup. I roasted some chicken a few night ago so I threw that into the pot with all the vegetables. I have to say it turned out really well, tastes like thanksgiving dinner all rolled into one! Not sure I could repeat it again but it sure is tasty. 

My theory why thrift store prices have gone up.

So here is my theory on why the prices at thrift stores have shot through the roof in the pass couple of years. 

Now that you can search on eBay for what people are selling things for, (not to be confused with what items actual sell for) and using apps like Google lens the stores are doing a quick search. 

The only time I find something to flip is something that isn't easy to check online.  Doesn't pop up quickly unless you know exactly what it is. In the photo is the example of what I'm talking about. This is a hand carved piece made from tree bark. A few years ago I found three and realized it was hand carved. I really didn't think they would sell but they were unusual enough to add to my booth at Cottage Crafts. I was surprised at how fast they sold. 

I was at The Happy Dragon which use to be my go to place to thrift but now even the junky stuff is way over priced. They had a sign up of a guy that shop lifted a $3,000 statue. First of all why would you keep something priced high in a store? Why not try to sell it on eBay? The store is run by senior women volunteers so even if they saw him walk out with it, they couldn't stop him. That was the reason when I ran the Thirty Kitty I didn't have any $$$ in the store. 

My Whatnot auction routine.

I've finally found a routine I like for my Whatnot auctions. It's a little out of the norm of what many do but it's working for me. 

I run a short auction, lasting only an hour tops. I list everything in my store so you can preview what will be coming up for auction. I start my auction at 8:00 am, a little early for California but for the rest of the country it works out. I'm done by 9:00 am so I can get things packed up and ready to go to the post office by 10:00. It's part of the agreement with Whatnot that you ship out within two days. You only get paid once your items has been delivered. I head to the closest post office near whatever goodwill I will be visiting that day. I make my thrifting rounds and then head to Cottage Crafts to drop off whatever I've found before heading home. Once back home I prep for the next auction. 

I did a dutch theme auction and it turned out to be my best show yet. I was little surprised on how well everything sold! 

My Monday Morning

My morning breakfast today

Since Ive been doing my Whatnot auctions on the weekends, Monday is the day when I get all my domestic things done. I have the time to make a big breakfast. With all the veggies coming in from my brother, I have all the supplies. Made country hash brown, I really prefer the skinny hash browns but this style take less time to prep. The jalapeño pepper this time around are super hot. As I was cutting it open my eyes started watering up and I started coughing. I so knew better not to touch anything until I washed my hand throughly. I miss dipping toast in my eggs but with my gluten issue I just don't go there. Now off the finish the laundry and then back to prepping for my next auction and head out to the post office. 

WhatNot auctions

up coming auction pearls and perfume

I've done a few WhatNot auctions and I think I got the hang of it now. It's not a money maker by a long shot but it does helping to moving along my large supply of back stock inventory. As much as I don't want to do eBay it looks like I will have to go that route if I want to make a profit. 

During all this I've been looking for a place to call home. I drove down to Pacific Grove and looked at a few place. One place was so tiny, there was no way I could get my furniture (I don't have a lot) into the space. Whoever built and designed this in-laws unit had no idea what people would need to make it livable. Right now it's being rented to single military guys who are training at the language center in Monterey. They don't need a lot of space   because they're always at school.  Downside is once their training is done they go off to the deployment so no long term renting.  The other issue with the place is there's no reliable  street parking. Being close to a heavily used beach area, it can be challenging to find parking, which is important to me. So the search continues!

Busy Sunday

Henk's first birthday!

A lot was happening on Sunday! First it actually rained here in San Jose, haven't seen that in a long time. Wasn't a down pour but it was nice to get the dust off everything outside. 

Then it is was a zoom call to watch Henk figure out what a smash cake was all about. I'm not a fan of zoom calls in general but I guess that's the wave of the future. Can't believe he's already year old! I remember just this year he was still trying to hold his head up!

I spent all day getting ready for my up coming WhatNot auctions. I'm getting faster at entering everything but it still takes some time to get it done. I did sell ten things at my last auction which doesn't sound like a lot but it's a start!

I'm really trying to whittle down all the boxes still laying around here. It's all the little stuff that's hard to toss out but a real pain to tag. 

Second WhatNot auction

Today is my second and hopefully successful auction on WhatNot.  I'm auctioning off these pin cushion half dolls that I got when I was in Paris and London. They don't sell well in my booth because I have to have them under lock and key. The few times I did put them out in the open, they were stolen!

I went to the Happy Dragon thrift store in Los Gatos this week and boy have the prices jumped up!  I was amazed at how high the prices are on the houseware stuff, even things that have no resale value. Someone must be Googling everything. 

Stopped off at the GoodWills on the way home and it's the same thing, nothing worth flipping. :( I do have plans to drive down to the Goodwill bin store in Salinas now that the weather has cooled down. That is really hard core picking but really the only place to find any deals. 

Wish me luck in my auction today! 

Finally a successful whatnot auction!

My very first package

My first Whatnot auction was a total disaster!  I really wanted to quit but I know I have to start selling online if and when cottage crafts lose their lease. The shopping mall land has been sold for several years now and the plan is to build yet another high rise of apartments. The shopping mall spans the boundaries of two cities (built back in the day) so there are legal issues that have to be sorted out plus the neighborhood fighting the new build. 

The WhatNot tutorials just don't work for me and their customer support is fast to respond but it's always, "just watch this video" auto response. If their videos worked, I wouldn't be ask for help! So I went and searched for you tube videos (and I really had to dig to find them) of real people showing how to start an auction with out hyping themselves up with how great their sales are etc.

My second official auction went very smoothly and super fast. I still have to learn how to do a give away and how to package up my items but with practice I'll get better. So I'm pretty proud that I stuck it out and hopefully build my follow up so I can make a profit. :)

Learning to walk

No, Henky didn't leak through is diaper, he's just messy when he drinks from a cup. He's very proud of himself when he stands up which he's doing a lot of lately. He's not walking yet but he's getting close. He's very different from Mees at the this age. Mees was always black and blue for falling and hitting his head. Mees really wanted to run before  he could walk.  

Henky likes to stand but hasn't taken that first step yet. He's birthday is coming up soon and so sad I won't be there to celebrate with him. :(

Flipping 101

Yesterday I drove down to my storage unit in Gilroy to straighten things out. Boxes and things were thrown into a few weeks ago because it was 113 degrees in the shade when I had to move everything. Overall it wasn't too bad. It's an outside unit so on one hand it makes for easy unloading, on the other hand it does get very dusty. 

On my way back I stopped off at the Gilroy Goodwill. I was very surprised the prices there were much high than the stores in Cupertino and Saratoga. There wasn't anything worth flipping so I left empty handed. I also stopped off at the Goodwill in east San Jose, only because I put the wrong address in my GPS. I was close enough to the store so I stopped by. I had a nice conversation with another flipper about this table. It's new (still has the wrapping around it) and he scanned it for me to find out the resale price. He sells on eBay so we chatted about all the changes that are happening. I picked up the table for $20 and I'm flipping it for $30. I was thinking of keeping it but if I can flip it fast I'll do that. It resells for $40 online (shipping would be super $$$) but I want it sold fast. I can't believe all the people that have asked about it and if  I would take $10 for it. I'm practicing the Daily Refinement method of not holding out for all the money. Get your investment back as fast as you can on the everyday items. You don't need to wait for the right buyer as you would with antiques. 

Update: Just sold it in less than 8 hours. 

Another Day of Tagging

I really tried to take yesterday off from all the tagging I still have to do but I just couldn't handle staring at all the boxes. I bagged and tagged over 300 hanks of vintage beads and I'm still not done!  I switch over to carding some of the jewelry just to give myself a little break from all the bagging. I still think the pearl necklace in the middle is real. The feel and weight just seem right. The little pin in the corner is sterling silver so I would guess the pearls are real too. Pricing is now the issue since I can't confirm what's real or fake. 

I've been making smoothies every morning instead of coffee. Just made more sense during the heat wave. I made the mistake again in getting the wrong frozen fruit at Costco. This batch has kale and spinach which makes my smoothie taste like grass! After my time in Hawaii, I did enjoy smoothies more than coffee so I don't know if I'll go back to the bean. 

Taking a break today

Jewelry waiting to be tagged. 

It's been a marathon of packing and unpacking for the past two weeks during the hot temperatures California has ever seen! I decided to take a few days off from all the tagging that still has to be done. The jewelry is the last of the things but it take a super long time to process as everything has to get put on card. I decided to get the place cleaned up and just do something fun. Haven't decided what that will be but it won't be looking at all the boxes of stuff that still has to be processed. I was thinking of driving down to my storage unit to get it organized but that means moving more boxes around. 

I was a totally failure at whatnot yesterday so I'm regrouping and hopefully can find someone to help me as I struggle along. 

I have so much good stuff to sell off and I would really like to get it moved along!

12 Hours and counting

25 boxes of crafting supplies

It's been a marathon of unpacking and tagging hundreds of things to go into the ZZ booth at Cottage Crafts. The ZZ booth is a section of the store crafters can sell off their unwanted craft supplies. It's a great place for those who resell on eBay and need to find inventory as everything has to be priced very low. Don't think if you have a craft room of stuff you'll get full retail or if your trying off load super old stuff that you couldn't even give away it just won't sell there. 

I had to tap out at 1:00 when the outside temperature hit 110 (even in the shade) as we were working outside. I had to bring several boxes home to finish tagging.  There's still boxes in the back I have to go in and finish tagging for my booth but I think I got all the ZZ booth done. 

It's show time!

It's been an endless cycle of packing and unpacking for the last 6 months and there isn't any sign of a light at the end of the tunnel. I spent all day yesterday waiting to for the delivery of the 25 big boxes of things to go into Cottage Crafts. 

Today is the day it will arrive and of course it will be over 100. Because the boxes are so big and so many, I'll have to unbox them outside. I do have help for a few hours which will help out a lot but it's going to be a long day. 

I don't know about you but I like to watch (really just listen too) movies I've seen about a million times. The Sing movies are a favorite so I play them a lot when I have nothing productive to do. 

This morning I'm prepping myself for having to be out in the hot weather all day. Packing extra water (gallons) and high energy snacks. Wish me luck and if your local to San Jose, stop on by to say hi!

Self feeding?

These pictures just crack me up! This whole "let them feed themselves" method, you never know how much they actual eat! There's also a ton of wasted food at every meal. If they don't like it, it's tossed on to the floor. 

Henky is out in his Opa's garden which is a wise thing to do as Henky really enjoys his food! Spending the day getting things cleaned up on my laptop and waiting for the call the 25 boxes from Portland has arrived. Have the labels made  (there's a tons of stuff) and fingers crossed it happens tomorrow. 

Finding my auction backdrop - live auction 9/10/22

As I'm getting ready for my WhatNot auction, I was looking for a backdrop. On Tuesday during the massive heat wave, I had to do some banking and look for a reusable straw. I'm still making smoothies but had no straws, which are very hard to find now. I'm trying really hard not to try and order anything online as not to over work the people that have to deliver everything out in this heat wave. Finally went a party store where I had to buy a whole pack. 

I did a quick stop at  the local GoodWill store as it was on my way home.  I picked up this  XXL picture for my backdrop, $8.81. It's over 4 feet tall (you can't tell from the picture) and barely fit in the car without having to put all the seats down. I decided to set up my auction now before the big Portland deliver arrives. I know process outside in this heat will take its toll.  

My first auction is this Saturday 9-10-22 at 10:00 am. 

Life in Holland

As sad as it was for my grandsons move to Holland, it was the best thing for them as a family. The boys are totally enjoying having their grandparents and more importantly having their mom around full-time. So many more things for them to do in a safer environment. Opa (dutch for grandfather) has a very nice garden out back and the boys are spending a lot of time out there. Henky is getting ready to walk and Mees is trying out so many new things. 

Dealing with this heat wave we're having in unbelievable!  It got to 111 today. Having lived in this area my whole life, I've never experienced this before. I'm bracing myself for when the big shipment of 25 boxes get here from Portland, as I'll have to process it outside.

Moving boxes during a heat wave 2022

It seems I spend most of my time packing and moving boxes! The very last of my boxes that I held back when I made the big move out of Alameda, I stored at my niece's house. I wanted to be able to get to it instead of driving all the way to Gilroy. My niece decided at the last minute to sell her house (because she found a house she liked) so needed the basement space cleared out. It wasn't the best time to move anything with the current heat wave hitting the Bay Area but I had no choice. By the time we got the truck down to Gilroy it was already 103! We only had about 20 minutes to get the truck unload before the extreme heat (inside the truck gets super hot) would force us to stop.

Good thing my storage unit is big so we didn't have spend time trying to squeeze everything into it. At some point when it's a lot cooler, I'll go down and put things in order. 

So now the search continues to find a decent place to live and hopefully set down some roots. Still looking at moving back to Cupertino if I had choice. 

Lots of spinning wheels

I'm on the move again. There have been and will continue to be a lot of spinning wheels in my life. I flew back from Hawaii and six hours later was on a plane to Portland to help a friend downsize and pack up all her paper crafting supplies. All that is being shipped down to Campbell this week. 

I also got accepted to sell on WhatNot, so my first auction is next Sunday. It's a little scary as I don't know what I'll be doing but it's one of those things you just have to dive into and go for it. I've been cleaning up my booths at Cottage Crafts, now that I'm in town. I'm pulling all the dead inventory out to sell on WhatNot. I'm also getting ready for the 25 boxes (big boxes) of stuff coming in from Portland. It will take a long time to tag everything and get it put out. If you want to see how well or bad I do in Whatnot, down load the app. I'm Louloubell, there are a few other people with a name close to mine but I'm the only louloubell, no numbers after my name.