I am dedicating this ezine to George Kuzma. He was my first “non family” and “non friend” consignor and the sweetest man in the world. He was our 9th consignor, if that tells you anything. He was special.
He passed away last week after a very short battle with cancer. I am heartbroken, as I know everyone is that knew George. Here we are at my housewarming party last May 15th. RIP sweet man.
More about George later.
So my last ezine ended with me getting to spend one-on-one time with my kids. So important! And hard to come by these days. Houston is super busy with school and is usually always with Emma and Indy is super busy with her job at Cafe Luxxe, Groundlings & her comedy shows. So it was a rare treat for me!
So, in honor of my kids, I am going to share a memory that just popped up on Facebook that shows just how much these two love each other!
To put it into context, both of my kids graduated from Xavier College Prep High School in Palm Desert. It is a Catholic High School and the Kairos retreats happen twice a year. It is super competitive to be a leader and both of my kids were chosen 🙂 during their senior years.
It is a huge deal when the kids return from the retreat and of course Houston knew this. So on a Friday night, he drove from Pepperdine to the desert to surprise his sister and of course, I captured the moment!
That picture brings tears to my eyes every time! Just a little back story, I basically raised these two on my own. Their dad and I got divorced when they were 4 and 1 1/2 and he wasn’t around much.
I remember when they were growing up and they would fight like cats & dogs (although my cat and dog don’t really fight LOL) and I would continually say to them, “Some day I will be gone and all you will have is each other so you had better get along and love one other”. I think it finally sunk in!
Oh and here is proof that my cat and dog do get along 🙂
Welcome to Lynn’s Latest #0004…
Thursday, April 23rd, 2023
I have been getting better at delivering these on time…haven’t I??
Volume IV Issue 0004
Can you believe it is almost May? Where has the time gone and so quickly? Crazy! They do say that “days go slow and years go fast” and I would have to agree.
The store still needs a bunch of stuff…..Main Store
Small Mirrors
Clocks
Dressers
Desks
Matching Table Lamps
Floor Lamps
Shelves
End Tables
Side Tables
Coffee Tables
Baskets
Cool Garden Pieces
Metal and Wood items
Green & Yellow for the front windows
We really need Sofas & Sectionals in very good to excellent condition.
Please text pictures of larger items to my store manager Sandy for pre-approval prior to bringing in. 805-628-6025
For the clothing store….
Larger Sizes
Designer Purses (have been selling really well so thank you for those!)
Higher end shoes/boots
Spring colors
Shorts
Short Sleeve Tops
Lightweight Sweaters
Summer Dresses
Ventura LOVES Casual Dressy!
Great Selling Brands: Cabi, Free People, Johnny Was, J Jill, Ann Taylor/Loft, J Crew
And now a fun shot of us all back in Fun Fashions during the 5 year anniversary party. From left to right, Martha, Sendia, Sandy, Mary, Robin, me, Houston, Indiana and Emma.
Looking at this photo brings back great memories and reminds me that we just got in a huge Myra bag order. Sooooooo many great bags to check out. Also, I placed a Summer Pre-Order with Baggu last January and it arrived yesterday. Lots more Hello Kitty etc. so stop in and check us out!
Hours in Fun Fashions
Weds 11-3
Thurs 11-3
Fri 11-5
Sat 11-5
Sun 11-3
To make an appointment please call or text.
Land Line 805-628-9208
Cell 805-470-6493
Also, the gals tell me that we have an amazing selection of Coach Bags and L’Artiste shoes at the moment. We can ship either of these if you are out of the area!
Coach Bag…. $102.50
L’Artiste Shoes….. $65.50 size 9
Well enough about the store, I think it is time to talk about ME. Just kidding, well sort of. For the first time in a long time, this month was relatively quiet for me. I went to one of Indy’s shows on April 7th and it was soooooo fun! I just love all the young up and coming comics who are all so talented, funny and very kind to me. I am usually the only parent in the crowd so they do give me a few “shout outs” and make fun of me… which I appreciate!
This show was crazy though, because as I walked in, I noticed a very familiar looking young man. I couldn’t remember his name, but knew that he had gone to elementary & middle school with my kids in the desert. I also knew that his sister had been one of Indy’s good friends in pre-school and that his mom was a teacher. Couldn’t remember his name though. Darn it!
He came up to me and said “Noah” and “Seeing you brings back so many memories of soccer and baseball fields” as he was Houston’s grade and played sports with him. He was there with his boyfriend who happened to have been a friend of Indy’s and Houston’s from Pepperdine. OK? Small world or Small world? Since Houston doesn’t attend Indy’s shows on school nights, I text him a picture and said “Name these boys?”
He text me right back with Noah (on the right) and Logan (yellow). The boys got a big kick out of being identified so quickly 🙂 Here is that picture!
The show was super fun and Indy pulled out a new red notebook with “Jokes” written on the front. Too Cute!
Before I get to an eBay score (which is long overdue) I must share that I did absolutely nothing for Easter. It was wonderful! I was leaving for the desert and Bellingham the next day and did not want to drive into the Marina to see the kids and they were too busy to come out to Ventura, so I stayed home and watched my new obsession, Succession! OMG, that rhymes. Such a great series. Don’t know what I am going to do when that ends. Ughhhh.
But in honor of Easter, I must share this darling photo of my kids at Desert Willow in Palm Desert all dressed up for Easter Brunch back in 2007.
When I went to get the actual date from that photo, I got sucked down the rabbit hole reading the ezine from April of 2007 that the pic appeared in. If you want to read that entire ezine, here is a link, but just for fun I am sharing this excerpt.
April 12, 2007 Volume III, Issue 14
Dear friends,
As this ezine hits your inbox I am boarding a plane to Nicaragua. How exciting! I do have a six hour layover in Houston today, so I will be listing on eBay and writing some stories. Once Peter flies in from Albuquerque to meet me, I am putting the computer away and taking a break! I really need one and even though the trip is for business, I am going to relax.
Our Easter was one of the best I can remember. My brother came out and first we had our Easter baskets. Then we all got dressed up for church and went to a 10 am service. Houston wanted a white suit for Easter and although I didn’t think it was the best choice–he sure looked smart. I even found him a gorgeous Egyptian cotton button-down striped shirt at a charity sale (for $2) . Indy always looks pretty but I loved her in her white Easter bonnet.
During church, Houston and I snuck out early, because as an Easter present he got a one-hour private lesson with Mark Cresse. Mark is an amazing teacher and was a coach for the LA Dodgers for over twenty years. My mom, Lee, and Indy joined me to watch and it was so much fun! As we left, Houston said, “His metaphors really make sense.” My ten year old knows exactly what a metaphor is; I would have said, “His examples really make sense.”
Houston with Mark Cresse
After the baseball lesson, we met my mom’s cousin Gwen at Desert Willow for Brunch. It was a lovely day and the food was delicious. After brunch, we all went swimming at my house. After swimming we played tennis. After tennis, my brother and Houston went on a bike ride. It was a crazy, athletic, and great day.
Reading about Nicaragua brought back a lot of memories and one of my 100 Best Stories from Home Run is about that trip. So I think I will share it here.
Here are Peter and I when we arrived in Nicaragua and were picked up by my friend John’s brother-in-law Paul.
Enough of that walk down memory lane, it is time for a current eBay score! If you have been following me for very long, you know that I preach that sometimes the “parts” can sell for more than the “whole”. That is why I never pass up lids, stoppers etc. if priced right.
This stopper turned out to be a Blenko stopper to their very rare Mermaid Jug and I sold it for a best offer of $60! Whooweeeee! You can check out the actual listing here.
Talking about selling parts reminds me of a story from Money Making Madness back when I was selling prisms on eBay. Here is that story!
eBay has been cracking me up lately. Check out this offer I recently got from a very creative buyer. I had to laugh out loud and then accept their offer. LOL.
OK, enough about eBay! The day after Easter, I drove Cha Cha up to Carp to “Club Med” for dogs and then headed out to the desert. I do like to fly out of Palm Springs whenever I can. There is a direct Allegiant flight from PSP to BLI (that is Palm Springs to Bellingham) and it makes my life so much easier than the LAX BS.
I immediately started thrifting when I arrived and found some great stuff! Then I headed up to La Quinta to Kel’s house. I was staying with her, instead of Mo, since Mo’s son Kelly was in town. Can’t kick out the kids for your friends….no way! Kids always come first!
Kel and I had plans to go to a party at the Dunphy’s house and then meet Tina Burke (one of my really great high school friends) for happy hour. Well, the party at the Dunphy’s was too fun and Kel didn’t want to leave.
So I headed over to Stuft Pizza to meet Tina. We always have sooooo much fun and it has been great to see her and her husband Jerry 3 times recently. I hadn’t seen them in over 5 years. And in even better news, they just bought a vacation home in Palm Desert….Yay! I will get to see her even more now. Here we are in the streets of Old Town La Quinta.
Tina knows how hard I have been hitting the gym, Fit Buddha baby, and she was like “Girlfriend, you have abs!” LOL. It is super funny because back in the day (high school), she, Tracey Nockleby and I would go to “Disco Fitness” in the gym at Western Washington University on the regular. We had these weird little round tokens that we wore on the laces of our sneakers. I have been working out my entire life. OMG!
The next day was Tuesday and I hit the thrift and consignment stores hard. Found a ton of great stuff for the store and for eBay. That night we all had plans to celebrate Kel and Mo’s birthdays. It started out with a dinner at Las Cas which was super fun with a big group of us.
Here we are at dinner from left to right me, Candy, Kel, Zach (Kel’s son), Ellie (Zach’s wife), Jacob Clark (Riley’s boyfriend), Riley (Kel’s daughter), Madhuri (Jacob’s mom), Dave (Kel’s cousin) and his wife Susie. OK, now I am officially exhausted from identifying all of these people. Hahahaha. Just kidding and such a fun night…with more to come!
After dinner we all headed up to the Living Desert to see the “Glow in the Park”. The Living Desert (for those of you who don’t know) is the most amazing zoo in the desert. I became a member back in 2002 when I first moved with the kids to Palm Desert.
Some of our favorite memories are at this place! I remember one of the first years I took Hous and Indy up for the snow that they trucked in. After visiting the giraffes, elephants and other amazing animals we headed for the “winter” festivities. The kids had snow ball fights, hot cocoa, went sledding and it was so much fun. Another of my favorite photos of them (EVER) was taken that night and here it is.
Sorry, again I digress. Back to “our” night at the Living Desert. Here are a few fun pics. It was a blast!
The next day I flew from PSP to BLI. As I was boarding the plane, there was a kid in front of me wearing a Sehome High School backpack. I couldn’t resist, “Did you go to Sehome?”
He said “I do go to Sehome” Hahahaha. I told him what class I was (hard to say out loud) and the guy behind us was also Sehome High School class of 2013. What a small world! I got the youngin to take a photo of us and I said to him, “Maybe I know your parents?” He said, “I don’t think so since they are 40 years old. But, you might know my grandpa (Ouch!) Kurt Swanson.” And yes I did know his grandpa!
When I landed in Bellingham, Leslie Arntzen picked me up and we headed out to Anthony’s for happy hour with more of our high school friends. Too much fun! From left to right, Vicki Cratzenburg, me, Leslie Arntzen, Kathy Rutan and Marlene Gallman.
My trip up to Bellingham was to help my mom get organized. I started in the spare bedroom (I claim it as mine LOL) that is filled with eBay listed clothing. I painstakingly went through each bin to see if it was listed or not. Took all 5 of the days I was there, but we made tremendous progress. Here are some before photos.
Turns out that about 50% of the items were not listed. Yikes! But it allowed me to clean up that room so that you can easily got to everything without moving mountains. My mom is thrilled with the progress. Here are some after photos!
I took my mom to several doctors appointments while up in Bellingham, got to see my nephews (who aren’t so little anymore…Zach just turned 17!) and hang out on my mom’s deck….when it wasn’t hailing. It actually hailed the last day I was there. OMG!
I posted a video of the hail on my Insta story with the caption “Calgon, Take me Away” because that is what my sister always used to say. I miss her! She would be so proud of her boys. They have turned out so amazingly well. Such beautiful souls!
As my Bellingham trip came to a close, I hadn’t been able to see my good friend Audrey Angel (who was my first employee at Leaf’s Antiques), so she offered to drive me to the airport. Done and done! It was great to see her and reminisce about my grandmother’s store and many other things.
Back to reality! It was great to pick up the Cha after 8 days away. OMG! Too long! And I jumped right back into the store and eBay. Went to a super fun estate sale at one of our consignor’s houses this past weekend and got this table full of fun items.
Here is one of those items listed on eBay right now. How fun is that? From the back shipping table in my store to eBay and then to it’s (hopefully) forever home. LOL. Check out the listing here.
I am going to wrap this portion of the ezine up with the NICEST post that one of our customers put up on Instagram. And after this, we can get into the new arrivals! Probably your favorite part of these behemoths (meaning huge) ezines….LOL!
It is so funny to me, some of you LOVE how long these are and read them from start to finish (usually with a glass of wine) and others (very few) complain. Anyway, I appreciate any of you who actually read them!
Here are some of our new arrivals and they’re not to be missed!
Introducing our latest addition to the collection – the stunning Whistler Grey Clear Wax IOD Redoute II Desk $195.00 Painted with one of the newest Annie Sloan colors by Sandy!
Walker Edison Mid Century Modern 2 Drawer Nightstand Walnut $75.00
Groovy Girls Wall Decor $125.00
Check out our new collections of doormats retailed at $34.95 and give your doorstep the upgrade it deserves!
Happy Camper Doormat
Hey Honey Door Mat
Pink Velvet Side Chair $125.00. We have 2 of these lovely chairs.
Uttermost Rectangle Decorative Wall Mirror Gold $156.00
Watercolor View from Summerland Yellow House $395.00
Jeanne Down Original Oil Painting Children $495.00
We’ve also got some gorgeous new planter pots in the store. Which one will you take home?
Mermaid Tail Hanging Planter Pot
Purity 6-Face Planter Pot
Shades of Blue Butterfly Garland 4 x 78″ $20.95
Teal Butterfly Mesh Green Glitter Garland $28.95
Monarch Butterfly Garland 4.5 x 78″ Orange $20.95
Mesh Pink Glitter Butterfly Garland 78″ $23.95
And for some Fun Fashions…. Check out the Conklin Furs Reno Beaver Long Jacket, perfect for keeping you cozy and chic!
Get it for $695.00
The Coach Blue/Beige Leather Strap Purse AS IS is here and it’s the perfect accessory for any occasion. Upgrade your style with this beauty! $64.50.
These shoes will keep you looking and feeling your best! Grab a pair before they’re gone!
I started this ezine with George and I will end it with George. When I first moved to Ventura over 5 years ago and needed consignors, I put an ad in the classifieds asking for “pickers” to bring us great stuff. George’s wife, Cara, saw the ad and sent him in. He was the “gentle giant”. So kind, soft spoken and so polite that even though we didn’t always like his stuff, we just couldn’t say “no” to George.
George would always show up right at closing with his truck full of stuff. He kept a stash of our small stickers at his house, so the items already had his #009 on them and we would roll our eyes, but still take it all. Then he would leave and always say “You all have a great day now.”
He had ideas about pricing though and Val and I were reminiscing and he would say to her “I think that should be about $19” and Val would say “I think it should be $29.50” and George would say “I like the way you think”.
Peggy remembers his presentation and how he promoted his items…Some of his favorite words were “Rare, Desirable and Collectible.” He would say to Peggy, “I think $89.50” and Peggy would say “How about $29.50” and George would say “Sounds Good!”. He was a sweetheart.
Here he is with my mom on that first day he came to see us.
His wife Cara passed away this past December from cancer and we knew he was heartbroken. Sandy and I attended her service on February 11th, but George wasn’t there. It was then that we found out that he had cancer as well. He was too sick to attend the funeral. Ughhhhh!
Luckily, George still felt well enough to entertain visitors and in March, Sandy and I went to see him and brought him his favorite Chick Fil a. Being the most amazing “picker” that he was, he sent us all over his house to find things he wanted to consign.
For those of you who have ever bought a really cool item from us….I guarantee that some of them come from consignor #009, George Kuzma. There are still plenty of his items in the store and I hope when you do find a treasure and we point out to you that it was something George brought in, you will smile along with us.
Here is a more recent picture of Val with George. You will be greatly missed George. And in the words of George Kuzma, “You all have a great day now.” Oh shit, I am crying now…Damn.
Thank you all for supporting me, my family and my businesses as I work on expanding….as you know I am building my empire!
eBay with Heart
Decorate with Heart
Dress with Heart
I try and do everything in my life in a big way and with a lot of heart! Thank you for joining me on this super fun journey. Take care and we hope to see you soon! Some of my current crew. Kimberly asked us to be crazy in this photo! Lol!
From Left to Right (kind of) Sendia, Pamela Cole, Robin, Cha Cha, Indiana, Leslie Arntzen, Martha, Kathy Rutan, Candy, Me, Jo Dallas, Houston (with his eyes closed), Valerie, Adolio, Emma, Grandpa, Peggy, my mom and Mary!
Thanks for reading my ezines! I appreciate it….as always!
eBay with Heart, Design with Heart & Dress with Heart………Lynn
BTW, we now have a blog on the website where you can read all of our past newsletter
Link to Blog.
Past Newsletters
1 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest1
2 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest2
3 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest3
4 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest4
5 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest5
6 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest6
7 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest7
8 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest8
9 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest9
10 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest10
11 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest11
12 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest12
13 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest13
14 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest14
15 https://tinyurl.com/Lynnslatest15
16 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest16
17 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest17
18 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest18
19 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest19
20 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest20
21 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest21
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30 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest30
31 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest31
32 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest32
2nd Year….Volume II
01 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest01
02 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest02
03 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest03
04 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest04
05 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest05
06 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest06
07 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest07
08 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest08
09 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest09
010 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest010
011 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest011
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