It has really happened. My kids have moved out, gotten their first post-college jobs and a bitchin apartment in Marina del Rey!
I have an empty nest (aka house), but as my grandmother would have said the store is Chugga Rum Full!
Welcome to Lynn’s Latest #09…
July 29, 2021
Watch for it every Thursday or every other Thursday or Saturday!
Actually, lets be honest…watch for it whenever I get one finished hahahaha
Volume II Issue 09
Last time we met, we were discussing Indy’s Pepperdine graduation, am I right? Well, in this ezine we will revisit Houston’s Notre Dame graduation and a bunch of other crazy goings on this past month. No wonder I don’t have time to write two of these a month anymore!
Since we aren’t going to discuss Goose’s (Houston’s) graduation until later, let me share a sneak peak photo from that epic day…which also happened to be his 25th birthday…..awwwwwww!
Here he is throwing up his cap in front of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart or the Gold Dome on Saturday, July 10th. Pretty cool pic!
I don’t know where to start…Kind of unusual for me, but sooooo much has been going on. The first two weeks of July were all about traveling for me. And boy have I missed traveling!
About 3 years ago, one of my customers (and paint class attendees) Teri Cruz was telling me and my mom about this really cool dinner company. It is called OITF Outstanding in the field and they go around the company and hold dinners in farmer’s fields etc. I was super intrigued as Teri and her sister have followed the OITF dinners from Santa Cruz to Oaxaca, Mexico.
The price for a seat at the table are not cheap, but it was something that I have been wanting to do forever. Jim Denevan who owns the company even had a documentary done about him and it premiered right before Covid up in Santa Barbara. Sandy and I went to see it and it was fascinating.
Fast forward to the OITF line up for 2020 and they announced a dinner at the Hearst Castle Ranch. Well, that was one dinner I was definitely going to attend! It sold out quickly! I bought two tickets and the dinner never happened back in 2020. It got postponed and moved to May of 2021 and finally postponed again and set up for July 2nd of 2021. I was able to purchase two more tickets because of all of the delays.
I was super excited to take Houston, Indiana and Emma to the dinner. Luckily, thanks to Sandy and Doug, we found an awesome dog sitter in Carpinteria. She does not advertise and her property is like a Club Med for dogs. The dogs all go on a hike or beach run at 10 am everyday and we were going to drop Cha Cha off on our way up to Cambria the morning of the dinner.
Here is Indy with Cha Cha checking out the dog’s swimming pool. Life is RUFF right Cha Cha?
After dropping off Cha Cha we headed up to Pismo Beach for lunch. I soooooo love that little sleepy beach town. The kids had never been so it was super fun for me to show them around. We ate at the same restaurant where I had taken my nephews, Zach, Kai and my mom two years prior.
Super fun fact about Outstanding in the Field’s Dinners….they ask you to bring your own plate….WAIT A MINUTE…WHAT? As many of you may know, I am known as The Queen of Auctions, and “Dishes” Dralle (well that is my Las Vegas Mob name during eBay events). You see, I am very well known for selling dinnerware on eBay. It is my forte…my bread & butter…plate hahaha!
In any event, you asked us to bring a dinner plate….I complied. I picked out 20 different plate that I have on eBay and let each kid pick their own. Interestingly enough, Emma and I picked the same plate. I knew I liked her!
So, when we arrived at the Hearst Ranch Winery for the cocktail party that happens before the dinner, they asked us to drop off our plate. Of course, the OITF staff got a kick out of beautiful plates and we even made their Instagram story. A truly proud and epic moment for me personally! And I am being TOTALLY serious!
Now is as good a time as any to share a recent dinner plate score with you! Yes folks, used dinnerware can sell for big bucks on eBay. I sold this turkey plate in June of this year (not even around the Thanksgiving holiday) for over $80. Check it out here!
But back to our dinner. The entire OITF experience was phenomenal. Just a few highlights. The cocktail party at the Hearst Ranch Winery right on the ocean with the great wines and appetizers was so fun!
Then they bussed us almost to the up to the castle where the table was set. EPIC!
Indy’s dinner plate was chosen (haha) for a featured display on the table where you went to pick up your dinner plates and find a spot to sit. The only part I didn’t like was the “mad scramble” to find a seat. Everyone wanted to be closest to the edge with all of the amazing views. We didn’t have much luck and ended up way down the line. You can see us (if you get out your magnifying glass) where the black arrow is. But quite honestly, there wasn’t a bad seat in the place!
Our seats for dinner actually turned out to be awesome as we got to sit next to Jim and Debi Saunders who own the Hearst Winery with Steve Hearst. Pretty cool huh? Debi runs the gift store at the winery so we had a lot to talk about. She gave me some great ideas for new gift lines. I’ll share those later!
I was really proud of my kids and their gift of conversation. Houston and Indy asked some really great questions. One of Houston’s questions to Jim was “What has been your favorite wine tasting experience?” Jim really had to think about that and told Houston “No one has ever asked me that before”. I emailed Debi a quick note after the dinner and here is her email back.
” Hi Lynn,
So sorry it took me so long to get back to you. It was great meeting you and your family last Friday night. Such nice kids and fun to talk to.
Enjoy the rest of your summer.
All the best,
Debi”
That made my day! The dinner was phenomenal and the wines they poured with each course were excellent. My favorite was the Hearst Ranch Chardonnay which sells for $75 a bottle. Gotta buy some of that someday……
That is Jim, Debi, Indiana, Houston, Emma, Patty and Tim at the table. Then Houston and Emma with Jim Denevan (the founder).
A wonderful time was had by all and I can’t wait to attend another OITF event someday soon! OK! Let’s get back to the store and see what is going on there!
Before I forget, would you please do me a HUGE FAVOR?
We need your vote for Best of Ventura County! Voting ends on July 31st so there isn’t much time! We are nominated in the “Best Home Furnishings” Category and are so honored!
Our first year in business we took 3rd place in that category. Our second year in business we took 2nd place! But Last year we didn’t place at all! So PLEASE help us this year to make the top 3!
We are in category #15. Thank you soooooo much!
We finally finished the Indigo (Navy Blue) vignette that sits right by the back roll up door. I think it looks fantastic!
We have yet to finish the Violet vignette. I will try and work on it this week. Gotta finish that ROY G BIV Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet for the rainbow! Indy did work her magic on the pink vignette so at least I can show you that!
A LOT has changed for my kids since the last ezine. AND I do mean A LOT! Houston, Emma, Indy and their friend David all decided to live together in the Santa Monica area. Indy attended a party hosted by one of her Pepperdine professors at her apartment home in Marina del Rey. Well, Indiana fell in love with the apartment complex. She told Houston about it and the next thing you know they have applied for an apartment!
The apartment they applied for was on the ground level and facing a parking lot. Houston thought that was no big deal, but I insisted that we go down and tour all of the other units available. I was not going to have the girls (Indy & Emma) living on the ground floor where they couldn’t even open their windows.
Well, we found a bitchin unit (but of course it cost more money) and I agreed to supplement them for the first year. We secured the better unit which they wouldn’t be moving into until after our Chicago trip. Here is Indy at the complex. Nice right? And off we went to Houston’s Notre Dame graduation!
Chicago, Chicago, Chicago. I can’t tell you how much planning went into this 6 day trip, but it was A LOT! No one flies into South Bend during the “non-school”year so we decided to fly into Chicago and spend a few days in the windy city. Instead of wasting a day traveling, I suggested we take a red-eye. Why not?
The hardest part to coordinate was making sure that my mom flew in and out from Bellingham, WA around the same time we did so that she wouldn’t be alone. Mission accomplished and we all headed out on Tuesday night, July 6th (my birthday)! Here is a cool shot as we started our descent into Chicago. Check out that time stamp….YiKES! 3:50 am LA time.
We all arrived about the same time to O’hare! Yippeeeee! We collected my mom, grabbed and Uber and headed to our hotel on the Navy Pier. We arrived to the hotel about 8 am Chicago time and unfortunately none of our rooms were ready. Ughhhh! Luckily, they had a wheelchair we could borrow and off we went for a lovely breakfast. Here we are heading back to the Sable Hotel. It was like staying on a cruise ship with floor to ceiling windows over the lake.
Not even one room was ready after our breakfast. Ughhhh. I was beginning to think that my “red eye flight” experiment was not a very good idea. We hung out in the lobby until 11 am (9 am our time) and finally decided to have lunch in the hotel’s restaurant.
It actually turned out to be fun (as we were forced to hang out together) HAHAHA. Indiana finished writing her thank you notes for her graduation gifts, I gave my mom a lesson on Instagram and we had a few cocktails. Why not? It was still technically my birthday!
The gals look pretty darn good for surviving a red eye!
Speaking of Indy’s graduations, I must share her grad announcement because it is soooooo cute! The front is one of her new head shots for auditions and the back was a cartoon strip of her time at Pepperdine that my brother did (I helped) for her senior page.
After 2 hours in the restaurant we finally adjourned to the lobby….AGAIN! After another hour, at 2 pm Chicago time, our rooms were ready! Praise the LORD!
We all took naps and then Indy, Houston and Emma met up with one of her Pepperdine Improv Troupe friends who now lives in Chicago. We LOVE Corbin and the kids had a blast going to a comedy club with him.
My mom and I ended up eating dinner in that same hotel restaurant (after walking the length of Navy Pier and finding no open tables) Hahahaha and watching the fire work show.
Day 1 was in the bag! It was actually a pretty fun day! The next day we were going to hit thrift stores, have some deep dish pizza and I had reserved a table at Gene & Georgettis for a fancy dinner to celebrate both mine and Houston’s birthdays.
We ended up at Gino’s East for lunch because back in the day there was a Gino’s East in Brentwood where I lived after college. We used to go there A LOT. Here we are at the old Gino’s East in LA circa 1990. That’s me, Jay Payes, Marina, Melanie Souve and Bart Miles. I miss the old crew!
Fast forward 30 years later, here we are earlier this month at Gino’s East in Chicago!
After lunch we took an Uber to a Salvation Army (gotta thrift when you are on vacay) and let me tell you Uber’s are UBER expensive these days. It cost us $30 each way to only go one mile. Yikes!
Here is the gang at the Salvation Army waiting for the Uber to take us back to our hotel. They looked thrilled don’t they? You can see the Gino’s East Pizza Box on the table. Hahaha!
I did find some pretty decent flatware at that store. I got an entire set of Towle Stainless for about $10. Well, you have to add in the cost of a checked bag ($30) for me on the way home…I couldn’t take those knives through security!
Here is a link to one of those listings. I should end up selling the set (all individually) for about $400 over the next few years. FUN!
That night we headed out to Gene & Georgetti’s Chicago Steak House for a fun Birthday celebration. Such a cool family run business! The original owner’s granddaughter runs it now and her name is Michelle Nicole.
We had such a blast with her & her husband (and the entire staff) that she bought our dessert! Such a fun time! Here is my mom at the bar with Michelle Nichole. And then Michelle with our server JJ and finally the chef, the pastry chef and Michelle after dinner as we gave them a round of applause!
Speaking of family businesses and Illinois seriously reminds me of my grandma! She was born in Abingdon and lived there until her mother passed away when my grandma was only a baby. Such a tragic story and one that my grandmother never got over.
Five years ago, we were in Chicago for eBay business and my mom and I added a road trip to our visit. We headed down to Galesburg to see where my great grandmother, Maybelle, (Cheryl Leaf’s mom) was buried in a mausoleum.
Here is an excerpt from that ezine about our trip…And a link to the ezine if you care to read it in it’s entirety.
“The next day, my mom and I would be heading to Abingdon, Illinois where my grandmother was born and also to Galesburg where her mother, Maybelle, was buried in the Hope Abbey Mausoleum. It had always been my dream to visit that to honor my grandmother.
Cheryl Leaf missed her mother every day of her life as her mother passed away due to complications from childbirth at age 34 when my grandma was just 15 months old.
Here is a photo of Maybelle with my grandma on her lap and my grandma’s brother Houston standing next to them. See, Houston is a family name! We are related to Sam Houston (battle of the alamo) and we named my son after my grandma’s brother to honor her!
My mom had been in touch with her second cousin, Clifford, who lives outside of Chicago and he had emailed us this information.
‘When you go down to Galesburg, I would suggest that you find out ahead of time how you can get a key to get into the mausoleum. Even though I have always wanted to, I have never seen May Belle’s crypt, either, mainly because I didn’t know how to get into the mausoleum.
A relative (Robert) told me how your grandfather, George Sussex, purchased a casket for May Belle which had a glass window over the face so that the face could be seen when the casket was closed. The idea was that your grandfather someday wanted to have the casket pulled out so that he could show your mother, Cheryl Leaf, and Houston what their mother looked like.
In some papers written by your grandfather which Lynn copied, your grandfather mentioned that he someday wanted to take Cheryl and Houston to see what their mother looked like, so that would verify what Robert had told me.’
Is that crazy and a bit creepy? And oh so sad!”
Here is a photo of the flowers we placed on May Belle’s Crypt that day.
OK OK, back to present day Chicago. I do so love to reminisce and am fascinated by history. Especially, my family’s history!
The next morning we were packing it up and leaving Chicago. I rented a car (an uber would have cost us $400 Yikes!) to get us from O’hare to South Bend and our next journey began! We checked in to the Morris Inn on Campus where I had stayed back in 1991 (30 years ago) when I was participating in an MBA Case Competition with USC. Crazy! And such a handy location!
There was to be a prayer ceremony and cocktail party that evening, but first we had to grab Houston’s Graduation Regalia and get some grub (lunch)! He picked up his cap & gown by the ACE (Alliance for Catholic Education) offices and I snapped this cute pic! Then we had a late lunch and “some” of us tried a beer flight at The Evil Czech Brewerey.
While at lunch Indiana took a phone call from Paul who runs the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine. I could tell from the conversation that he was offering her a job. NOOOOOOOOO, I don’t want my super artistic talented daughter to ever get a JOB.
I want her to pursue her acting and a JOB was not gonna help that. Turns out it was a temporary position to run the Box Office at Pepperdine and the pay was great and it is only for 2 months so she took it. Ughhh, I was also hoping she would be working at the store a few days a week but whatever it gives her some structure as she transitions in the “REAL WORLD”.
The graduation pre-ceremony was held in the meeting rooms of the football stadium. Pretty darn impressive! I had to share this photo of us sitting outside with appetizers because of all the many pictures I took, Houston just looked so pained in all of them. Poor kid! Staring right into the sun. Hahaha
Then we took one HAPPY photo in front of the Touch Down Jesus and it was off to wrap up our first day at Notre Dame. Poor Indy was hidden in all of these photos.
Next day was graduation and Houston’s 25th Birthday! Yikes! What an incredible coincidence that they would happen on the same day. We couldn’t have missed it!
Super fun fact, while Houston was getting his Masters at Notre Dame in Education, they would attend classes on campus during the summers (well not last summer but at least he was there on campus for the first one) and then the students were assigned schools all over the country where they would teach during the school year.
Houston was placed in OKC and taught at Mt. St. Mary’s Catholic High School. He lived in an old Victorian House with 5 other ACE students. They became super close. Since it was his birthday they called a brunch for the kids and the family’s and even bought us all birthday hats. It was so sweet!
Whenever I travel, I make it a point to visit an Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Stockist. I get such incredible ideas from these store owners. This trip was no exception. After Houston’s birthday brunch, we all jumped in the car and headed to Elkharst, Indiana to visit “Birds Gotta Fly“. Seriously, this was my FAVORITE Stockist (Pam Hoffer( that I have ever visited. Her store is what dreams are made of and a model for what I would like my store to be someday.
Doesn’t this look like a magazine shoot?
Not kidding, she has her business in a HUGE old brick warehouse that just lends itself to an incredible shopping experience. I came home with so many ideas and am currently looking for a HUGE old brick warehouse that I can either move my store into or open up an auxillary location.
Any of you know of such a place? It does NOT have to be in a retail area, it is definitely going to be a destination so please help me think outside the box.
Pam, the owner, was so gracious and took almost 2 hours to walk us through the store and show and tell her best sellers, ideas for marketing, etc. It was such a treat! Here are Pam and I standing in front of the Annie Sloan Display.
Here is my mom with some of the sales girls and Pam in the boutique section. She also has a coffee shop in there! Please people, help me find a location (that I can afford) to expand my business! I need the space 🙂
I can’t believe that Houston let us stay at Pam’s store for almost 2 hours! I know he was anxious to get back and get ready for the big graduation ceremony so we regretfully called it a day and headed back to campus.
The ceremony was short and perfect and held in their basketball arena! Here he is crossing the stage!
There was an hour long mass afterwards…not so short nor so perfect but whatever! Then we finally got to see the graduate and get some photos!
Then we headed over to the football stadium (again) for the dinner and dance. Notre Dame really goes all out!! Although, we did have to pay for it. On the way in were cardboard displays that the house mates in OKC that were not graduating made for the graduates. So fun to see photos from their 2 years living and working in OKC.
Here is a shot of our dinner table company. It was a really fun event…not sure where Indiana was when I took this pic.
It was about time to call it a night when I realized that they were showing the kids photos from when they got their school assignments outside on the jumbotron in the football stadium. Had to get a photo of that! Houston Wilson OKC Mt. St. Marys!
And of course we couldn’t call it a night without sharing a photo of Indiana dancing in Houston’s robe. Hahahaha
Well, that recap was exhausting and the trip was not over yet….we were still in Notre Dame….had not even left to drive back to O’hare to fly out which we did the next day. It was raining and traffic was terrible. WAZE ended up routing us off the freeway and down some side streets.
All of a sudden we were in some really sketchy neighborhoods. All the businesses were “out of business” and boarded up. The houses were also boarded up and had graffiti all over them. SCARY! Especially because we have all been binge watching Criminal Minds. Check out this picture that Indy took of one of the billboards at a former restaurant and then can you guess where we were?…..
OK, you guessed it! Gary, Indiana! So of course everyone in the car broke out in tune singing Broadway show tunes. Ughhh. And on Instagram Indy was able to tag it as Gary, Indiana Murder Capital. So sad what happens when manufacturing/steel etc. goes overseas. It ruins small town America.
On a better note to end this crazy Chicago trip, we ended up getting into the Admiral’s Club at O’hare because I belong to the Alaska Airlines Boardroom and I can take one person in with me, which was Indiana. Houston and Emma were behind us in line trying to get in with their miles (didn’t work) and some nice gentleman sponsored them. A nice relaxing place to chill before our flight home. And that’s a WRAP!
But back to the store……Can’t wait to see you in the store! Don’t forget we have gotten in 100’s of new consigned unique items. You WON’T want to miss out!
This amazing silver vanity just arrived. I LOVE it! Priced at $495.00 it looks great with the red velvet swivel desk chair $149.50.
Just a reminder of Our CURRENT HOURS:
Tuesday through Saturday 11am to 5pm
Sundays 11 am to 3pm
Last week I was pleasantly surprised when an ezine reader from years ago stopped in the store to say hello! Liz Rubin and her husband were coming down the coast from SLO on their way home to San Diego and stopped in to say hi! She is a long time ezine reader, class taker and product buyer who still sells on eBay. Super fun to see her! Here we are in front of the Annie Sloan Paint display.
We will be announcing some Annie Sloan and IOD design courses soon! Watch your email in box for the notice in the next week. So excited to be back teaching. Check out this amazing dresser that was in Instagram today done by one of Annie’s favorite painters using her green colors…Firle, Antibes, Amsterdam etc. Isn’t it gorgeous? Stop in and let us help you with your next paint project 🙂
Speaking of eBay and Liz’s visit, don’t you think it is time for a score. Especially since 4 years ago today (as I write this) I was in Las Vegas for eBay Open doing my last interview with Griff & Lee for eBay Radio. It was their swan song and boy do I miss eBay radio and those great events they used to have!
I love this eBay score because I sell a lot of coffee mugs which I pick up for anywhere from 10 cents each to $3. I usually won’t pay over $5 but have on occasion. This one I got for 50 cents and it sold for a best offer of $30 last week. Pretty good ROI (return on investment)! I think mugs sell for so much because they remind people of places and people in their past. A lot of what we are selling on eBay are memories!
So my month has been CRAZY! The day we got back from Chicago, the desert girls arrived for 3 days of fun in the sun! Actually, they were escaping the 120 degree weather in Palm Desert and I love having them in town! We had a blast, days at the beach, dinners downtown and a day trip to Ojai. Here we are out to dinner at Water’s Edge.
The girls headed back to the desert on Thursday which gave me a few days to work in the store before…..drum roll please….the kids big move to Marina del Rey which happened that Sunday.
I am seriously exhausted just writing this all down! Luckily, I hired a moving company out of Ojai and they were great. We just had to haul all of the kids stuff from the house down to the store for a 9:30 am pick up. Thanks Sandy for letting us use your truck! Here we are with the piles out behind the store.
Here are the guys loading the truck seen through the back of the store! You see anything you like? It is ALL for sale!
We managed to fill up a 17 foot truck and off we went to Marina del Rey. I was going to stay home and let the kids handle it (as I was paying) but Indiana asked me very nicely to join them. I will share a few photos of their progress. It has turned out to be such a cute place! LOVE IT! I am also enjoying having an empty nest!
So before I get toooooo lonely and miss my kids, less than a week later on a Saturday I was sitting at my dining room table listing on eBay when the phone rang and it was Houston. “Hey, what are you doing today”? Not much.
“Well Mom, I just crashed my bike in a canyon above Malibu”. OH shit! Those canyons are scary. I made sure he was OK (no concussion) and I was off to pick him up. Apparently, Emma wasn’t answering her phone. It was so scary driving up there–the canyon dropped off to NOTHING. My kid is one scary cyclist. AND I had just bought him two nice pieces of Rapha bike wear for his birthday and it is NOT cheap.
Check out the road where he hit the rocks and went sideways. Also the holes in his new Rapha wear.
I brought him back with me to Ventura since he & Emma had planned to come home Saturday night to do laundry and grab dinner with me. See, they never REALLY leave the house. I was just relieved that he was OK.
Indiana wasn’t around as she was up in Humboldt, CA visiting a guy she is dating. Such a cute picture of her with Patrick on their road trip.
OK, before I wrap this up, I had better update you about the pets. Crazy, not much about them in this newsletter. But there is some HUGE news!
Carlos is now an outdoor cat. Not my choice but honestly, I had no choice. He is always escaping when I let Cha Cha in and out but it has gotten even worse. He cut a hole in the screen in my bedroom and I found him hanging out (1/2 in and 1/2 out) about 2 weeks ago. Yikes!
Then I walked into the family room the other day and he was hanging from the top of that screen door and swaying his body back and forth until the screen door opened and out he ran.
I made a deal with him. As long as he is in by dark, he can go outside all day long. It seems to be working. Here is Cha Cha keeping tabs on Carlos!
In more store news, I am looking to hire someone very part time to do our Instagram and get photos of new items up on our website. Lynn’s Consignments Instagram is very unloved. The most recent post was from Christmas. Pathetic! If you know of anyone or are interested yourself, please let me know!
We took in so much great stuff this week! Please stop in and see us! Also, here is a photo of those amazing purses that both “Hearst Winery” and “Birds Gotta Fly” told me to carry. They are flying (just like the birds haha) out of here, so please come in and check them out. Prices range from $24.95 to $59.95.
Well, we have survived July! August is going to be a bit busy as well. My mom turns 85 on the 18th and we are headed up to Bellingham for a Beach Bash at her house! Hope to see you soon!
And, just one final eBay score! This picture frame sold yesterday for about $50 plus $50 in shipping to Switzerland. Wild huh? That someone would pay over $100 to receive this item. eBay still blows my mind. You can check out the auction here. It was listed on eBay back in June of 2017. Only took 4 years to sell it. AND seriously, that is not bad. Sometimes special items can take a while to sell.
Maybe the guy in Switzerland bought the double frame to put photos of special memories in. Just like the ones I made this past month.
And as I wrap up this ezine, I realize that even though I have an empty nest (well it has only been a week now) it doesn’t mean that I will stop making memories with my kids. Here’s to making memories!
And a great shot of my crew as I say Adios for this month! Ktea, Sandy, Indy, me, Val, Adolio, Peggy and Mor Mor!
Thanks for reading my ezines! I appreciate it….as always!
eBay with Heart & Design with Heart……Lynn
P.S. All of the professional photos I use on Instagram, Facebook and in these newsletters were taken by my friend Denise’s daughter, Jaclyn Sabo. She is amazing! To learn more about Jaclyn….https://www.jaclynszabo.com/
P.P.S. If you have a friend who wants to sign up for this newsletter.
https://lynnsconsignment.ricoconsign.com/