So my last ezine left off with an invite to our 5-year anniversary party!
It was a blast even though I was soooooo sick (with bronchitis) during it that I basically sat on a reclining sofa with a blanket over me (remember it hailed that day) and had my high school besties bring me cocktails….LOL! Only in my life 🙂
So great to see you all! I will share some fun pics now.
Welcome to Lynn’s Latest #0003…
Thursday, March 30th, 2023
I used to tell you what day to watch for it…but I have decided to be realistic…it will be there whenever it shows up. Hahaha!
Volume IV Issue 0003
Happy Easter if I forget to mention it later! And we will be CLOSED that day!
The store still needs a bunch of stuff….I want to continue to do a mirror wall (it turned out super cute and we have been selling tons) and now want to add a clock wall. So, we need
Mirrors
Clocks
Dressers
Desks
Matching Table Lamps
Floor Lamps
Shelves
End Tables
Side Tables
Coffee Tables
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
Also, I am changing one of the front windows to GREEN….Bring us your Green!
This is a window we did a few years back that had a lot of green and blue in it. Don’t you just love those stained glass lamps. Such a pretty window…Help me make another beauty like this! It will replace the current orange window.
March was another crazy month. Well, aren’t they all? After the Anniversary party it was game on with my high school friends……so fun having them all in town! But first things first, the day after the party I got up at 7 am to put my mom in an Uber back to LAX and BLI. So grateful she was here for the Anniversary party!
If you know me at all, I am not a morning person, so getting up that early to get my mom in an uber was NOT fun.
But, me and the high school besties had a 10 am private Fit Buddha Class with Marc. LOL! I love that my friends are game for anything. Not easy, but super fun!
I love what Marc posted about us. I have been friends with him for almost as long as my high school friends. We met our first day at USC when I had just turned 18. CRAZY!
During my Anniversary party, my high school friends (I think I will just call them HSF from now on) had really bonded with my friend Steve. We actually had so much fun that Steve invited us to his house that next night for cocktails before a dinner out at Rum Fish. The fun NEVER ends!
Here we are at his super cute MCM remodeled home on Live Oak and also out to dinner at Rum Fish. So fun!
OMG, before I forget, as Steve was giving the girls a tour through his home (I have been there before) we stumbled across this stuffed animal. I was like “WTF, did you make that in Middle School?” Yes, he did!
Steve went to Middle School in Texas and us girls (obviously) all went to Middle School in Bellingham, WA and we made the same darn pillow! It totally cracked me up. What a strange, small world!
Such a fun night, but the next morning was a road trip to Vegas with the HSF (remember High School Friends)! Before I get into that, isn’t it time for an eBay score? I think so!
I bought this “creepy” clown painting in the desert a few years ago. I am sorry if I am offending anyone, but I (personally) don’t like clowns. I paid $10 for it. AND it sold for $260.99 less 10%. Pretty good ROI (Return on Investment)!
Even more interesting, is that it was painted in 1980….And me and the HSF all graduated High School in 1981. Serendipity? I think so!
Check out the listing here.
What was really interesting to me was that I got an email after the sale from the buyer. Here is our exchange.
“Got the painting. Thanks!!! Any idea where you got it from? Do you have anything else like this? It is weird and a little creepy.”
I wrote back “It came from an estate sale in Palm Springs, CA. It’s the only piece we purchased there. Thank you.”
He maybe knew something I didn’t know and wrote back….”Was it from Kay Ballard’s estate?”
I told him that I wasn’t sure. I do go to a lot of celebrities estate sales, but Kay Ballard passed away in Rancho Mirage and I remember buying it in Palm Springs.
But my buyer was super happy and wrote back with “Yeah. I got super lucky. Heard about it from a friend and snapped it up.”
My loss is his gain. LOL! Or maybe my loss is my gain!
Time for that road trip! Jo and her husband Jon are remodeling their home in Olympia, Washington, so they decided to rent a VRBO (I call this V-R-B-O and my daughter calls it Verbo….whatever!) The plan was for me to drive us girls out for a few days and then back to Ventura for Leslie and Kathy to fly back home. Turned out it was cheaper for everyone to fly out of Vegas, so I decided I didn’t want to drive round trip and have to return all by myself.
Jo found an awesome Denali for us to rent and lucky for me (and being so sick) Jo drove! Party on! Here we are being chauffered in the luxe SUV.
That evening when we arrived at their VERBO (hahaha) in Las Vegas, Jon cooked us the most amazing filet minon dinner with grilled mushrooms, potatoes and caesar salad! WOW! Then we watched one of Jon’s favorite movies, The Rundown with the Rock. It was really good and funny!
The next day was Saturday, March 4th and we just chilled at the house. We planned to leave at 3 pm and head to the casino for some gambling and dinner (we ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Chin Chins) and then we got in line for the Keith Urban show.
We had floor tickets so ended up standing in line for an hour and then waiting an hour at the VERY FRONT (still standing) and then watched the two hour show (still standing LOL). SOOOO worth it for literally the front row!
It is time for an eBay score, don’t you think? For fun, I am going back to 2004 and an item I sold for my sister. What makes this story even more perfect is that it is about my HSF (those darn High School Friends)…even though Kathy and Leslie weren’t on this particular trip you can see how important my HSFs are to me!
From left to right back row, Karen Harnden Haggen, Nancy Carver Walstrom, Jo Dallas, Jodi Cadman, me and front row, Karen Young Bass, Monica Ferrell Fetty (who also passed away from cancer in 2012) and Marlene Gallman Thurston.
I just wanted to remind you about our clothing store! If you missed the email saying what we are looking for in clothing…please read it here before you come in. Thanks!
A new change, we will be taking 10 of your items so please bring your best ones!
And just to reiterate….AND in great news. If you are a clothing consignor we have extended the term to 120 days and if we are still showing your items and they have not been donated…you will receive money for them! We want to be more than fair and soooooo appreciate all of your consignments!
Wanted…SPRING Items….think early spring…as we transition here in Ventura!
Call or text the girls to set up an appointment Two appointments per day at 11:30 and 1:30. Thanks!
Land Line 805-628-9208
Cell Phone 805-470-6493
Remember the clothing store is open Friday and Saturday from 11 to 5 and Sundays from 11 to 3. AND in super awesome news…we are testing being open back there from 11-3 on Wednesdays & Thursdays. Come and see us today!
A fun photo from the anniversary party!
But let’s get back to Vegas baby….the day after the Keith Urban concert we were scheduled to meet my good friend Tiki Jason at 10:30 am for breakfast. He picked this really random restaurant that turned out to be really good….The omelet house.
Jason had just had hip replacement surgery and his wife was out of town, so poor guy asked me to put one of his socks on for him when he arrived. Now, let me tell you…that is a sign of an awesome friend! If I do say so myself.
Leslie also asked a friend of hers to meet us, so it was quite the party! Here we are in the parking lot.
Well, it wasn’t really a party yet…as next up we were headed to Frankies Tiki Room, Jason’s favorite hangout in Vegas. We ordered drinks, did a little gambling and chatted. As we were leaving, Jason text me and said “Too much fun for a Sunday morning!” Agreed!
After Frankies we went back to the Verbo (LOL) and watched the Hangover (if you can believe it Kathy Rutan had never seen it) WTF? Then it was time to rally. We were going to Caesars for gambling, dinner and then off to a Magician show. No rest for the wicked.
I did my best gambling at Caesars. I play video poker and I will bet 25 cents when things are going badly and the max $1.25 when a long stretch of bad is due to turn good.
Well, I had just lost a bunch of $1.25 hands so switched to 25 cents. And if you can fing believe it…I got 4 aces and a 3. Ughhh. It would have paid $500 with a $1.25 bet and only paid $100 with a 25 cent bet. I shouldn’t say “only” because that was really good! I cashed out and that left me even for my 3 days in Vegas. Not bad!
After gambling, we saw a really cool magic show. The magician was Mat Franco. Couldn’t take any photos during the show so just grabbed this shot of his warm up video.
OMG, this only takes us to March 5th and I have the whole month to recap. LOL! I promise to speed up the pace. Some of you like these longer ezines and others don’t…so whatever floats your boat.
The next day, I flew home to Burbank and it was back to the grind. In HUGE news, while out to that Las Vegas breakfast with Tiki, he shamed me about my iphone 11 (or whatever old model it was). He talked me into getting a new phone for many reasons. But most importantly, the 3 camera lenses would help me take better eBay photos. If it is about business, I will probably do it. Check her out!
Y’all who shop in my store know that I have AWESOME employees! In fact most of them feel like family members. And none more so than Val, Sandy and Peggy who have been with me since the beginning.
So on Saturday, March 11th (see we are making progress and are almost halfway through the month LOL) Sandy and I were going to see Marc Kettles in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” musical in Simi Valley. For those of you who don’t know who Marc is, he and I went to USC together and he owns Fit Buddha. And he had the lead in this show. So cool!
Sandy suggested that we invite Val because her husband Ron had just had major surgery and was still in the VA hospital in LA and her father had also just passed. OMG! Why didn’t I think of that? What a great idea! AND it was Val’s Birthday on March 14th.
Yay! Val agreed to join us and off we went. We first had dinner at a fun restaurant in Simi and ordered her a desert with a candle and then it was off to Marc’s show….where he killed it! So proud of him! In fact, Indiana and I are going to see it again this upcoming Saturday.
And if my month couldn’t get any more fun, I was super excited to see another one of my VERY best friends from high school who was finally coming to visit on March 14th….drum roll please…Tina Burke Brown!
For those of you have been reading my newsletters/ezines (pronounced EZEEN…like a magazine) for the past 20 years you know who Tina is because she and I spent a lot of time hanging out in the desert. I lived in Palm Desert for 16 years raising my kids and Tina and her husband Jerry had a home there…so I got to see her a lot.
They sold their home in the desert 5 years ago and as you know, I moved to Ventura about the same time and I hadn’t seen her in over 5 years. So super fun to have them come to my new home town on their road trip to rent an air bnb (not VERBO LOL) for 6 weeks in the desert.
Here are Tina & Jerry and Bobbi when they first arrived to my house right before Tina and I were going to Fit Buddha (check out Cha Cha behind them). If you haven’t figured it out yet, I will drag any out of-towner to my favorite work out in the WORLD at Fit Buddha!
And then there is a photo of Tina and I after Fit Buddha in the RAIN when we had to buy umbrellas at a thrift store. For those of you who are from Washington, we never owned umbrellas. Rain is a fact of life and you just run from your car to the store to your work and back again etc. No time for an actual umbrella.
So the funniest part of that photo of Tina and I in the rain was that she insisted upon us having a photo to commemorate one of the WORST rain days ever in Ventura history.
So Tina randomly grabs these guys off the street and asks them to take our photo. Hahahaha. Unbeknownst to us, they took a photo and a video of themselves as well! LOL.
What Goofballs…although if Tina thinks you are funny she calls you a Gooner…so I am going to have to go with that….what Gooners!
Tina and Jerry were literally only in town for 48 hours…but we made the most of it. Tina got to hang out and shop in my store and we had dinner at Lure. So much fun! And again, this goes back to my premise for this ezine…”Are High School Friends the Best Friends?” Maybe?…right, but so are college friends and new friends. My mantra in life I guess is that old nursery rhyme…”Make new friends, but keep the old..One is Silver and one is Gold”.
So Tina & Jerry headed out of town on Tuesday, March 14th (Val & another employee Mary’s real Birthdays) and I realized that my puppy hadn’t eaten in 3 full days. Oh Crap! Her stomach had been making weird noises all month so I knew something was up.
$3,000 and a South Carolina 2000 Quarter later, she is just fine. To read more about the adventures of Cha Cha you can get the entire story in this email I sent out.
Once my puppy was saved, I was free to leave for a weekend in the desert. I had arranged to drop of the Cha at Houston, Emma and Indy’s condo in Marina Del Rey so did that on my way out of town on Sunday. Luckily, Maureen had both Sunday and Monday off, so we were able to do a lot of thrifting. I got some really cool artwork for the store as well. Come on in and check it out!
And I got to see Tina Burke again in the desert. We all walked down from Mo’s condo to El Paseo for Happy Hour one night. Super fun, but it was a quick trip and I headed back to Ventura via Studio City on Tuesday to exchange the “package” (aka Cha Cha).
Indy randomly picked a restaurant in Studio City (The Front Door) for us to have lunch and do the exchange. We walked in and OMG, there was Lauren Burton one of her favorite friends from the Pepperdine Theatre Program!
Indy didn’t even know she worked there. If you missed the entire Serendipitous story from one of my last emails, you can read it here. Crazy how small this world really is!
In more Ventura news, one of my favorite customers, Kami Marshall, is the founder of Jolly Boy and Jolly Girl. What she does for the children of Ventura is sooooooo cool! Here is their Mission….
“Jolly Boy is proud to be partnered with the Skate Wild Foundation to sponsor kids to attend camp.
Every purchase gives a deserving child the chance to experience an unplugged, wilderness week in nature.
The smell of a campfire, a blanket of stars, winding tree lined trails…we believe these moments can be life changing. Jolly Boy has sponsored 7 children to date and look forward to sponsoring more. Thank you for joining us!”
We will be carrying Jolly Boy/Girl merch soon. Watch for an email with details! And Kami had her grand opening with the Chamber of Commerce last Thursday. I was so happy to attend and surprise her. She has a heart of gold!
If you can believe it, we actually had a staff meeting this month! OMG! It is so hard to get all of us together, but so important. I make it a point to always have a gift waiting for my employees who do show up. This time I got the cutest Hyacinth bulbs at Trader Joes.
Time for an eBay score. I bought this 1/2 doll at an estate sale in Palm Desert last year. I paid $20. Just sold it for $148. Yippeee! Check it out here.
In awesome news, I actually got to spend some one-on-one time with each of my kids this past weekend. Saturday, Houston and I met at Pepperdine to watch a Pepperdine/Gonzaga baseball game. Gonzaga won, but we had a great time catching up and eating hot dogs! I post so many photos of Indiana I was beginning to think that y’all wouldn’t even remember that I have a son. LOL!
The next night (Sunday) Indy had a show in West Hollywood. I met up with her before for dinner at Spartina. Just the two of us. So nice to catch up. She killed her set and it is always fun to see her fellow comics as well.
And now for some new arrivals….Cal-Style Furniture 1975 Table with 4 Yellow Chairs. Grab this amazing Mid Century set for $1,295!
Alpendale Fabric Power Reclining Sofa with Power Headrests Light Grey $1195.00
Super talented Sandy (my store manager) did this darling table….check out Small dining table – Old White w/ On a voyage transfer $295.00
Check out this heavy and high quality Carolyn Kinder Large Rope Gold Mirror. At $245.00, it’s a stunning statement piece. And with the rope design it is very nautical and Ventura beachy. For those of you who want to consign items, remember that beachy and nautical always sells well here in Ventura!
Indio Fabric Pushback Recliner Ivory $495.00
Zele Zebra Rug Plate $14.95
Dottie Fish Plate $18.95
Here are some of the new books that just arrived! Come in-store and check them out!
The Color of Roses
Sacred Spaces
Arranging Things
The Cheese Board Deck
A History of the World in 100 Limericks
Do One Thing Every Day to Sleep Well Every Night
Unfortunately, my mom had another fainting spell in Fred Meyers this week. Luckily, some paramedics who were shopping found her. We have got to figure out why this is happening. I am flying up there after Easter to go to some doctors appointments with her and help with other things.
I will get to hang out with more of my high school friends when there…so this ezine is really all about HSFs and if they are the best friends? LOL! Can’t wait to see them all.
This picture was in our yearbook. From top to bottom, Tracey Nockleby, Tina Burke, Jodi Cadman (the one who passed away from Cancer), me, Vicki Cratsenberg and Melanie Souve.
Oh and one last photo from our anniversary party. This gal and her wife read my ezines and I really wanted to feature her, but lost her name. I think it is Nancy. If you know, please let us know so we can give her a shout out. How cute is she in that Baggu hat?
I LOVE it when y’all appreciate the ezines and want to be included. Makes my heart happy. Have a great week!
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
22 https://tinyurl.com/LynnsLatest22
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26 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest26
27 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest27
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29 https://tinyurl.com/lynnslatest29
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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