{Life & Musings}

To sell or not to sell

That is the question of the moment, here.

My local scrapbooking store recently announced that they will be having a flea market in September.  I've participated the in the past two flea markets they've hosted and done very well.  With the announcement today, I'm trying to decide if I want to participate or not.  Would an lss flea market do very well in this economy?  Do I have enough stuff to that I want to get rid of to make it worth my while?      Questions, questions, questions.

They do charge a non-refundable fee of $10 to participate, but I think that is fair since I don't have to work it and they rent another space to host the flea market.

I'm thinking that people will be REALLY looking for bargains in this economy.  So that might be good, in that there will be a lot of foot traffic but then bad because they don't want to spend much.

Ultimately, I guess it comes to do I have enough stuff to sell.  I figure, I probably need to have about $100 worth, to make it worth my time. I did start cleaning/reorganizing my supplies earlier this summer but I never got too far on that project.  Guess what I will be doing tomorrow?

Any thoughts on LSS flea markets?
Peace. Out.

Wave of the Future?

I wonder if I've stumbled upon a new trend in scrapbooking marketing -- having customers pay to get in on a sale. 

I received an email recently from a store that I've purchased from, announcing that they were having a big, private sale.  BUT to be able to purchase from the sale, you must first buy one of the limited amount of $10 tickets.  I didn't purchase, but I thought that was an interesting idea. 

Then I just got an email from one of my lss, about a savings pass that you could purchase to use over a certain time period at a few different scrapbooking stores in the area.  That seems a little more reasonable to me because make and takes are included in the pass that you purchase. 

But this brings up a question...are stores going to have to charge us so we can spend more money on discounted merchandise?  Doesn't it defeat the purpose of a sale?

I'm just rambling today.
Peace. Out.

What I'm Loving Right Now ....#3

Whew! 
Time flies.  I'm coming off of an 8th grade graduation and end of school festivities and I realize that I haven't updated my blog in a while.  So it's time for another installment of what I'm loving now...

 Last weekend, my mom was here and I received a discount coupon to the coach outlets.  We went down there and I got this: 
 
It's the Coach Hamilton bag in white (with a green bow and lavender inside).  LOVE IT!  I know that I can only use it for a small part of the year but it's GORGEOUS and it feels like BUTTER! 

(If you look closely at this picture....I didn't pay full price for this.  I got an incredible deal--40% off of the outlet price)

I think I have think with the color white right now.  I just planted a white climbing rose in my yard.  This past weekend I had white floral arrangement on my dinning room table.  White just looks so clean, classy, summery.

I've discovered a new drink at Starbucks....It's the iced coffee with milk and hazelnut. 
YUMMY and it's CHEAP!  
Has anyone tried the coffee at McDonald's?  I'm tempted.  The idea of being able to go through the drive thru is interesting.

Father's day is coming up and I recently found these mesh pans that would be a great gift for the BBQ-ing dad. 
 I think Max might be getting one of these baskets.  Shhh! They also show a pork roast cooking in this pan (How cool would that be??)
But maybe Max will be getting a weed whacker instead--that would be more practical.  :-)   Do you have any ideas for Father's day gifts???
What are you loving right now?

Peace. Out.

Tripods

Do you have a tripod? 
We have a big old tripod that we've had since college.  I think we drag that thing out at least twice a year and use it. 

I have a mono-pod too, that I got last year as a present for all of the sports photography that I've been doing.  I have to say that I'm not a big fan of it though--I find it kind of cumbersome to use. 

While we were on vacation, Max brought a long a little, flexible tripod that he got somewhere.  I have to say that we used that thing all of the time with his smaller digital camera.  It was great for taking pictures with long exposure like this one:

Or using your camera's timer to get pictures with both of you like this:

{Can you tell that I uploaded pictures from our trip to my laptop finally?}

I was inspired to write about this topic when I saw this at photojojo.com

It's a little tripod that you screw on top of a water or soda bottle.  I think we always had a water bottle with us when we traveled.  This would be a great thing to throw in the camera bag if you travel this summer.

I did a quick search and found a tripod similar to what we took on our trip.  Its called a Gorillapod and they have them available in different sizes.  {hmm.  I wouldn't mind one of those for my DSLR.}

So do you have a tripod and do you use it?

Peace. Out.

How to Dress Parisian

I've just been in Paris for a day and I've already noticed some fashion trends.

1.  You must wear black.  Everyone wears black.  Yesterday when we were at a cafe observing people enjoying their Sunday afternoon, you definitely noticed the absence of color.  

2.  You must wear a scarf.  You know that trend at home, you saw this winter with women wearing scarves not just outside when it was cold but inside too.  Well, EVERYONE (and yes, this includes men) are wearing scarves here.  

3.  Footwear.  Either high basic pumps or flat ballet type of shoes are acceptable.  

4.  Everyone wears jeans.

5.  Belted trench coats are good.  They don't have to be black--khaki is ok too. 

6.  Hair.  I've noticed that everyone has dark hair.  Not too many blondes here, so I totally stand out.  You should either wear your hair in a pony tail or long and all over the place.  I hate that my hairdresser just trimmed my bangs before I left because they will not stay tucked behind my ear for the life of me. 

Of course, I didn't pack anything appropriate based on my observations.  So I'm just going around and looking like a tourist.  

Peace. Out. 

What I'm Loving Right Now ....#2

It's time for another installment of things that I'm loving right now.

Around my house, everyone knows that I have, what we like to call, trucker hands.  Yes, my hands are frequently cracked and dry.  I've discovered two things that have been helping me.  1) Dawn Hand Renewal dishwashing soap.  and 2) Eucerin PLUS intensive repair hand cream.  My hands are in MUCH better shape, Thank You!

As a Christmas present, I ordered a chef's jacket at Amazon for Uncle Franco.  It came with a free subscription to Bon Appetit for me!  (Got to love it when you get something for nothing!)  The first issue just came and WoW!  We subscribed to this YEARS ago and it was a really stuffy magazine that didn't fit the way we lived at all.  Boy, have times changed.  Both Max and I really enjoyed this magazine and I found a few recipes that I want to try.

I'm trying to be really cost conscious when I grocery shop lately. One thing that I noticed is that my local store, Safeway, has on their receipt this "Total Savings Value" line with a percentage and a dollar amount.  I've taken it on as a personal mission to see how high I can get that percentage.  Today, I got my highest percentage savings to date---39%.  Woo Hoo!  In this quest, I've started clipping coupons, not fanatically, but just here and there and only on stuff we use.  Did you know that your local grocery store may have coupons on their website?  I've also found coupons online at boxtopforeducation.com .  Where have you found grocery store coupons online? 

One final thing.  I can't let this  installment go by without mentioning that I'm totally in love with scarab solitare on facebook.  I think I'm going to give myself carpal tunnel, if I'm not careful.

I guess that's all for right now. Did I hit on anything that you are loving?
Peace. Out.