Here is my ezine for September and in the nick of time!  Happy Fall!

Fun Picture from my recent High School Girls Trip!
Left to Right, or Rather Around We Go….Jo Dallas, Leslie Arntzen, me and Kathy Rutan.

Welcome to Lynn’s Latest #011…

September 30th, 2021
Watch for it every Thursday or every other Thursday or Saturday!
Actually, let’s be honest…watch for it whenever I get one finished hahahaha
Volume II  Issue 011

 

Once again it has been a crazy fun month!  It really kicked off with 3 of my high school friends coming to visit Ventura!  FUN FUN FUN.  Jo Dallas had asked me if she could come down from Bellingham for a week and hang out at the store.  For some reason, she LOVES working at the store….Let’s just call her CRAZY!

Of course, I said YES!  Then we invited Kathy Rutan to join us.  And we didn’t think she would say yes, but she did!  Then at my mom’s 85th birthday party, Jo & I were sitting with Leslie Arntzen and suggested she join us…she bought her ticket right then and there!  What a hoot!  Our first annual Sehome High School Girls Weekend was launched.  Well, let me clarify.  There used to be High School Girls trips quite a lot back in the 2000’s before our friend Jodi died of cancer in 2004.

I must share a story from one of my “100 best books” about Jodi before I proceed with this new batch of High School Girls Weekends (which by the way, I highly encourage all of you to do!  Whether it is High School Girls or High School Boys Weekend or a Coed mixture.  Wait a minute.  How fun would the Coed one be?).

This story is #50 from my 2nd 100 Best Book.  “eBay Money Making Madness”.

Here is the item that sold for A LOT of money!

That was the edited “polite” photo for my book.  Here is the fun one where we are all cracking up!  Although, we are missing Marline Gallman.  From Left to right in the FUN one back row first….Karen Harnden Haggen, Nancy Carver Walstron, JoLynn Leech Dallas, Jodi Cadman Chalfont, Lynn Dralle (me) and front row, Karen Young Bass and Monica Farrell Fetty.

OK!  Before we get to the present day “High School Girls Weekend” let me share an eBay score!  I bought these at an estate sale for $25.  Ended up selling for the best offer of $200.  Yipppeeee Skippppeeee!

Check out the auction here.

Glassware, in addition to flatware, are still some of the best categories to make real money on eBay.  Glassware is mostly unsigned so offers some real financial opportunity.  Same with flatware as it can take hours to research the pattern name.  Recently, I have found a super-easy way to identify both glassware and flatware patterns.  I will be sharing more about this in a new video that we are working on now.  ID4$.  Identification for Dollars.  Can’t wait to finish it!

Before the high school girls arrived, my mom called me on September 2nd and said, “I need you to post something on Facebook for me”.  OK…what?

Turns out that day would have been my mom and dad’s 65th wedding anniversary.  How crazy is that?  They waited 10 years to have kids just so you know that I am NOT 65 years old.  Hahahahaha!  Here is the Bellingham Herald newspaper clipping from 9/11/56.

How cute are they?  I sure miss my dad!

In wonderful news, we took 2nd place in the Best of Ventura Contest for Home Furnishings Store!  Thank you to everyone who voted!  We are so excited and honored!

As you know, we hired the best Instagram gal, Rachelle.  She is doing an amazing job.  Please Please Please follow us @LynnsConsignments on Instagram.  Check out some of her recent posts.

Lots going on at the store.  In fact, we have set dates for some classes!  OMG!  It is about time…..right?

We will do the Beginning Basic Annie Sloan Class on Sunday, October 24th from 11 to 2.  You can sign up here.

It has been so strange with my kids living in Marina del Rey.  I really do have an empty nest.  They didn’t really visit at all the first two months, but recently they have been showing up more & more and I must admit….I LIKE IT!

Houston rode his new bike ($4k) home after school from Santa Monica (where he teaches) last Friday night.  I was NOT happy about him riding part way in the dark, but he has assured me that he has super bright lights and reflective clothing.  Still not a FAN!  Here he is upon arrival!

Indy drove up to Ventura the next morning and we went out for a super fun dinner at Casa Bella with our favorite waiter Carl!  Here are the kids getting ready to leave after the weekend.  Cha Cha escaped twice around this photoshoot.

She went flying down the hill on the first escape chasing the birds.  Luckily, one of our neighbor’s front doors was open and she ducked in there.  YIKES!  The next time she went flying off of our concrete sidewall, fell about 12 feet, and landed right on her face.  Ughhhhh!  Luckily, she wasn’t hurt.  OH, the JOYS of puppy ownership!

Houston seems to be enjoying his new teaching position at St. Monica’s Catholic High School in Santa Monica.  Pretty fun Instagram post of him for their Faculty Friday.  I have to laugh because when I took a screen shot of it, I also got an alert that Cha Cha was barking!  Hahahahaha….

I was on the eBay for Business Podcast with Griff on September 7th.  Here is a link to listen to it if you missed it.  He ALWAYS cracks me up!

After the interview, he suggested that I start my own Podcast.  He said, “You would be great at it and I would be happy to help you get it started”.  WOW!  What a nice compliment.  Then he sent an email that said “Thanks again for the great interview. You are a beguiling and engaging guest!”

WOW! How sweet!  For those of you who don’t know who Griff is he was the 3rd ever employee at eBay with Pierre Omidyar back in the early early days and he is UBER famous….. at least in the eBay world!  And I LOVE Griff.

Well, I am going to take him up on his offer and I am currently working on my first Podcast.  The title is…..”Lynn’s Latest” and we will discuss all things Lynn…eBay, travel, the store, my kids, Cha Cha etc.  So excited!  For the first episodes I am going to be playing the audio I recorded for my “100 Best Books”.  Watch for an email with a link soon!

With Houston coming out to visit and dragging Indy with him for a ride home, it was just a matter of time before Indiana came out on her own!  She has come out twice this month and I LOVE it.  She just left again this morning and she made me go to the gym on Monday night and Tuesday morning.  I am exhausted!  But so much fun to have a buddy to go to the gym with.

After our Tuesday night gym we did hit up Rum Fish & Vino for some Whole 30 Approved Dinner and a few “non-approved” cocktails.  Oh well, moderation!

This Friday night, Emma and Houston will be coming out to Ventura and Indiana will join us on Saturday.  Yippppeeeeee!  This calls for a dinner out on the town!  Can’t wait to have all 3 of them here at the same time!

Enough about my kids….although it was just National Daughter and National Son Day…so here are the pictures I posted of them.  With the hashtag, I WON!  I do feel so blessed to be able to call these amazing humans MINE!

OK, now seriously, enough about my kids!  Let’s check out another eBay score before I get to the rest of the girl’s weekend which happened way back at the beginning of September.

This super fun “orgy” vase sold for $135.71 and got shipped to Massachusetts. I think I paid about $20 for it at a local estate sale here in Ventura.  Check out the original listing here.

OK, it is finally time for a recap of the high girls’ weekend! Such a blast! They all arrived on Friday and we decided to leave the Santa Barbara airport and head up to Ojai for lunch. Why not? It was a beautiful day and I LOVE Ojai! Margaritas at the Mexican restaurant….nice way to start a vacation, am I right? or am I right?

On our way down the hill from Ojai, I got a face-time call from Tiki Jason.  WTF?  I can’t possibly answer that and navigate our way back to Ventura safely.  He usually just texts me.  Then I get a text from Sandy, Tiki and Staci are were at the store waiting for us!  What in the World? as my dad would say.  Too much excitement for my high school friends’ first day in Cali.  LOL!

We raced to the store and hung out with them for a bit.  Got a cool pic in the front window.  Soooooo Tiki for Jason right?

After all of that excitement, there was more to come!  That first night we did dinner at Casa Bella in downtown Ventura.

The funniest thing that has ever happened with one of the “flower ladies” who come by the table was that Leslie said “Congratulations!  Who gave those to you?”  She, mistakenly thought that the gal had just gotten engaged.  LOL….

You see, in Washington state, no one goes from table to table selling flowers.  HAHAHAHA….it was an epic mistake and I laughed my …. off.

The next morning, Saturday, we were getting up super early to head up to Paso Robles for a TRAIN concert!  OK, OK, for those of you who don’t know me, Train is my favorite band.  Has been for a really long time.  Patrick Monahan (the lead singer) is such a talented songwriter and amazing performer.

Check out this collage that Indy made me about 15 years ago when she was 7.  You can see the things that are really important to me in her art.  LOL!  USC, Travel, Relaxing, Train, and my kids.  Something I just noticed were the words, “dream, seek, soar,  imagine, grow, laugh and smile”.  It makes me super happy to know that my kids (well Indy) see that in me.  Those are the values that I want to instill in them.  Always dream, laugh, smile, soar, and grow!

We got out of dodge early that morning, dropped off Cha Cha at Camp Love Paws in Carp (aka Club Med for Dogs), and headed up the coast.  We stopped off in Pismo for lunch, but unfortunately, it was Labor Day weekend and we couldn’t get anywhere near the beach or the restaurant we wanted to eat at.  Oh well!  We continued up the coast and I saw the signs for the “Madonna Inn”.  OMG!  I had always wanted to check that out!

We got off the freeway and headed into their parking lot.  What a trip!  We checked out the diner but it was an hour wait for a table.  No time for that!  Luckily, Jo Dallas found us 4 spots at the counter and we were all set.  Seriously, so much fun!  I LOVE road trips and spontaneous adventures and none are more fun than with girls you have known for over 40 years!  Crazy? huh?

Here we are at the lunch counter! and here we are checking out the pink dining room.  Can’t wait to go back and eat in that restaurant!  Gonna take my mom…she would LOVE it!

After lunch, we went to the gift store.  So much fun!  Somehow, Jo and I convinced all the girls to buy the robes that matched the Hotel’s carpet.  What a great keepsake from a super fun weekend.  Here we are all wearing our robes by the matching cow!  Oh, you gotta love your oldest and dearest friends that are UP for anything!

After the Madonna Inn, we headed up to our hotel in Paso Robles.  Did a quick change and met my super good friends from my May Company days, Brad & Beth, at a restaurant for Happy Hour before the concert.  What a whirlwind!  Just the way I like it!

B&B dropped us off at the concert. What an amazing venue! The Vina Robles Amphitheatre. Seriously! We had great seats and got to stand up in front of the stage the entire show. One of my favorite Train songs is “When I Look to the Sky…Something Tells me You’re Here with Me and you Make Everything Allright” because it reminds me of my sister.

I know I tell this story a lot, but it really defines me and my family. My little sister, Kiki, passed away at age 41 and left her two boys Zach and Kai (only 5 and 3 at the time). I miss her every day and wish I got to spend more time with my nephews.

Anyway, more on that later. Here are a few fun pics from the concert.

After the concert, we TRIED to head back to the hotel.  There was an accident in front of the exit so it took FOREVER to get an Uber.  Oh well!  I was a little drunk (I must admit) and decided that I MUST have a Mcdonald’s Cheeseburger.  How many of you have been there?  HAHAHAHA.

In any event, we walked over to McDonald’s, and try as we might (Thank you Leslie) they would not serve us without a car.  Well, seriously?  Who is going to drive after all that?  NO ONE!  Well, it turned out that my BFF from high school, Kathy Rutan had not had a drink all evening.  WAY to go KTR!

She drove me in the SUV about 2 blocks through the drive-through.  What a friend!  The next day another one of my friends posted this on Instagram and I couldn’t have laughed out LOUD more LOUDLY.  LOLOLOLOL LMAO…..What a great end to an EPIC NIGHT!

The next day we headed back to Ventura.  W did hit some thrift store in SLO (San Luis Obispo) and I found some GREAT stuff!  We ended up having lunch in Pismo Beach at the Beach…so much fun!  And made it to Club Love Paws just in time to pick up the Cha.  We decided to have a low-key night in Ventura.  Ate leftovers and watched a movie.

The girls were leaving the next day, but I had arranged for a super fun surprise.  Massages out on my deck.  Mimosas and a full breakfast cooked by yours truly!

I put the girls in an Uber around 3 pm. What a great end to a great weekend! Can’t wait for our annual High School Girl Friend weekend next year. We have already extended invites to some of our favorites and hope to have about 8 girls next time!

Just a heads up. We are hiring. I am looking for some part-time help to get us through the holiday season. Must be motivated, outgoing, and good with people and computers. Just respond to this email if you are interested.

So back to the story of my sister, Kiki, and my nephews who we call “the little boys” because quite frankly that is who they were when she passed.  Kai was 3 and Zach was 5…can’t get much littler than that.  The last time they were in Ventura was 2 1/2 years ago for Spring Break.  As y’all know, Covid hit and they haven’t been able to visit.  I get to see them here and there when I visit Bellingham, but there is just something so special about the times that they get to come to California to see us here.

SOOOOOOO, in amazing, great, awesome, fantastic, and fun news…. I just got a text from their dad and he is letting them come to visit for Christmas.  OMG OMG OMG….I am soooooo doing the happy dance!  Just bought their plane tickets and am trying to plan a Disneyland trip that won’t cost more than $5,000.  LOL.  Just kidding, but not really.

Here is a picture of them 7 years ago cracking crab on my mom’s deck with my dad, Indy, and my mom.  They were 8 and 6 then.  When they visit this holiday they will be 15 and 13.  I am going to put them to work in the store for a few days, so please stop by and say hi…they are so darling, well-behaved, and talented.  My sister would be sooooo proud!

My sister’s 52nd birthday would have been this coming Saturday, October 2nd.  Two years ago we had a 50th birthday party for her at my mom’s beach house.  Crazy that 9 years after she passed away from cancer that she could rally such a crowd.  That was my sister!  Full of life and I miss her so much!  Here we are at her 50th birthday celebration.

In a Kiki tribute for her 52nd birthday, I would like to share a few of my favorite photos. Thanks for indulging me.

The first one is Kiki and her boys taken before her hair fell out and about 8 months before she passed away.  The next one is on the grass at my house in Palm Desert.  I soooooo LOVE this photo.  The last two are her with Houston (Goosie) and Indiana.  She was my nanny when the kids were first born.  Her kids were born 10 years exactly after Houston and Indy.  Houston was 1996 and Zach was 2006.  Indy was 1998 and Kai 2008.  So weird…don’t you think?

Just a reminder of Our CURRENT HOURS:

Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 5 pm
Sundays 11 am to 3 pm

We took in so much great stuff this week!  Please stop in and see us!  The best way to see new stuff before it sells is to follow us on Instagram.  @LYNNSCONSIGNMENTS Baby!  Please follow us NOW!

Here is a fun look at the new shipment of Baggu that just arrived.  We have pillow cases, bath  towels and all sorts of new Baggu reusable bags!

In addition, we are getting in some of the new baggu hats this week/next week.  They just shipped out of San Francisco.  Soooooo exciting!

We have also gotten in a ton of brand new pillows.  Our pillow aisle is waiting for you with lots of great original prices and markdowns!

For those of you who don’t know how our pricing works….on consigned items…Every 30 days the prices are marked down 20% for two markdowns.  The price tag will show dates and lower prices.  If the date has passed.  Lower price.  Here is an example.

Before I forget, in such amazing & exciting news, I have been shopping for a house for some time now.  One of my friend’s from high school, Marty, went with me this past Sunday to open houses.  Here are our dogs at breakfast before the search.

Here they are after the search.  A day of house hunting, open houses and crazy prices will do this to just about anyone….even a dog!

I must admit that this is how I have been feeling house hunting in this marketplace, but drum roll please! I made an offer on a darling house in the Montalvo area and it was accepted this morning! I am doing the happy dance and we have just bought a HOUSE!!!!! So exciting. We should close mid November, but I will probably wait to move in until after Christmas. I will keep y’all posted!

And, just one final eBay score! These two Cordon Bleu Coffee Mugs sold for my asking price of $67.99. Hard to believe isn’t it? Check out the auction for those mugs here.

For those of you interested in learning more about selling coffee mugs on eBay, I did write a pretty awesome eBook on how to do it. Check it out here.

Oh and one last picture of Carlos.  He has decided that my new “Madonna Inn” robe is the bomb and exactly where he wants to lay his head each night.  LOL!

October is Breast Cancer awareness month and in honor of that, one of our front windows will be PINK!  My grandmother was a survivor of not only breast cancer, but also breast cancer of the lungs and breast cancer of the hip bone.  This was years ago (back in the 1980’s) and I used to drive her to the Group Health facility in Seattle for her treatments.  She had an amazing Doctor (Dr. Toby) who had her take Tomoxifin and it literally saved her life.

Sandy, who works in the store, is also a survivor of breast cancer. All of my employees have become like family to me.  Here we are with Sandy at Dukes for dinner last week before an Improv show at Pepperdine with Colin Mochrie from Who’s Line is it Anyway?

We are so grateful for all of the breast cancer research that has allowed these two amazing women (my grandma & Sandy) to survive.  Sandy is donating this awesome HOT Pink Breast Cancer bike to the cause and we will be raffling off tickets to win it this month with 100% of all funds raised going to Breast Cancer Research.  Come on in and support this cause that is so dear to all our hearts!

Here is what that front window looks like so far….I know I know….I snuck a pink Christmas tree in there. LOL!

Take care and we hope to see you soon!  Sandy, Peggy, me and
Val!

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.

 

I have been remiss in my ezine writing!  Well, I do have some excuses lined up for you AND I did get sick, but I am getting one written just in the nick of time for August.

I know I know, I said I was going to write one every week or every other week, but in reality, it seems like it may just be one a month…I hope that is OK?

Fun Picture from my Mama’s (Mor Mor’s) 85th Birthday Party!
85 and Fabulous Baby!

Left to Right, Houston, me, Indy, Mor Mor, my nephews Kai & Zach and my brother Lee.

Welcome to Lynn’s Latest #010…

August 31st, 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 010

 

Where to begin?  It has been a month!  The last ezine came out on July 29th (a Thursday) and that day I drove to Pepperdine with the Cha Cha to pick up Indy after work and head to Marina del Rey.   Indy is temporarily filling in as the head of the Box Office for the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine and boy am I proud of her!

Here is Cha Cha during her first visit to that amazing campus and I must say, she really bonded with George Pepperdine!

I was going to take the kids out to dinner and spend the night at their new awesomely adorable apartment with them and the puppy.  It is our goal that in the future Indy has her dog (yes it is her dog) with her more so this was a trial run.

We ended up at Tony P’s and were able to take Cha Cha with us.  The food was excellent and we had a blast!

Turns out the trial run with Cha Cha in the apartment went pretty well.  I was in charge of her that night (actually when am I not in charge of her?  that would be NEVER).  The kids live on the second floor so it is quite the trek to the dog area.  I took her out at 11 pm and nothing.  Brought her back in and she proceeded to start peeing on the floor in front of the door….UGHHHH!  So I rushed her back outside and nothing…..of course!

Thanks to my friend Candy’s advice (she has an awesome golden retriever named Peaches) we had invested in some bells for our door at home.  Cha Cha has learned to ring the bells when she needs to go and they are portable so I take them whenever we travel.  So at 3 am, I heard those bells ringing and out we went.  Success!

Relived to know that Cha Cha can go to the apartment whenever we need her to and it is all good!  Here she is chilling on their deck….Aaaah a dog’s life!

So that was Thursday night of my weekend and I also had plans for Friday and Saturday.  It was going to be FUN!!  But I will tell you about that later.  Time for an eBay score!

One of my favorite consignors, Deda, brought this into the store and I told her I thought we could do better on eBay with it.  I was right!  It was a signed Tommy Singer Native American Indian Bracelet that got 14 bids and sold for $348!

Here is a link to the auction so that you can read more about it. 

The neatest part of this sale was the email I got from the buyer a few days later.

“OMG-I knew the man (Ron Millam) who originally sold this bracelet! I burst into tears when I saw the stickers inside of the bracelet-Ron was such a wonderful man. To see his handwriting made me so very happy❣️

Thank you very, very much~
Gayle”

eBay really does make the world a smaller place and I have had a blast making a living by selling on eBay.  Y’all know that I raised my kids as a single parent by selling on eBay when we lived in Palm Desert.  This was after we closed my grandmother’s store in 2002 and before I opened this one in 2018.  eBay has really changed a lot of people’s lives!  Mine included!

OK, enough about that.  Time to share what we did on Friday night of that last weekend in July.  We went to a REAL concert and saw Rodney Atkins and Scotty McCreary.  It was awesome!

Scotty’s song, “Five more Minutes” totally reminds me of my Dad (aka Papa).  Scotty wrote the song for his grandfather’s and my dad was the best grandfather ever to my kids… He was more like a dad to them than their own dad.

In Scotty’s video there is a video of his Grandpa watching him play ball and he is in a wheelchair and has his arm around Scotty’s sister.  This is sooooo my dad as he would sit (not in a wheelchair) with Indiana and watch every one of Houston’s baseball games.  This song always makes me cry!  Here is a link to the video if you want to watch it.

On the left is the photo from Scotty’s video and on the right my dad with Indiana at Cooperstown back in 2009.  I miss my dad!

OK, thank you for that trip down memory road.  Now onto Saturday night!  It was the gang at the Saloon to celebrate Jeff Carolan’s birthday.  A fun time was had by all!  Happy Birthday Jeff!

But let me tell you after three nights out in a row, I was exhausted!  And that Monday I woke up with the worst cold ever!  I was sooooo sick for about 8 days.  I took 3 covid tests and all were negative and it turned out to be a really bad bronchitis that took some serious antibiotics to knock out.  I was literally in bed from August 2nd to the 10th!  What a waste!  Although, I did watch a lot of Criminal Minds.

And I did manage to get myself out of the house to buy Cha Cha some treats for her 1st birthday which happened on August 5th!  She is truly an 805 dog.  Do you get it?  She was born on 805…how cool is that?

The bummer about all of this (me being sick) is that I had planned to throw a one year birthday bash for the old girl on Saturday, the 7th.  I was going to invite the usuals and all of their dogs.  DARN IT!  The kids didn’t realize how sick I was and thought I was still having the party so they planned to be in Ventura on Saturday evening.  Surprise!  No party!  But they did come and rescue me and the Cha Cha.  They took her on a walk and helped clean up the house.  What a relief!

I was finally better and able to return to the store on August 11th….just in time to leave for Washington on August 12th for my mom’s 85th birthday.  Seriously?  That is how it played out, but let’s check in with the store and see what has been going on!

I was never a huge fan of the Contemporary front window display we did.  What is really hard about contemporary is that it is totally evolving as we speak…… as opposed to Mid Century Modern which I totally get and is rooted in history.

This definition is from Elle Decor….

“Contemporary is, by definition, what’s happening in design at this very moment in time. This definition makes it more fluid and hard to pin down. Modern design (Mid Century), on the other hand, has a distinguishable aesthetic that emphasizes crisp lines, warm neutrals, and balance”.

So, it isn’t just me…Elle decor even says it is hard to pin down…no wonder I struggle with this window.  Check it out.  The inspo for it was this amazing sofa and matching arm chairs.  We have sold the sofa, but the chairs are currently still available at $794 each.  They retail for $1,499 and are brand new.  Seriously, these are sick (in a good way) and so comfortable!

On a super fun and exciting note, we have been nominated for a very prestigious Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Award, The Barb Skivington award which showcases outstanding customer service in helping people with Annie’s Chalk Paint.  We hope that we are always there for you when you come in with paint questions and are always striving to do our best and better for you!  If you agree, please vote for us here. 

And now another fun photo from the store!  I have been trying to hire a social media coordinator for a few weeks now, and our friend and customer, Piper agree to help until we could find someone permanently.  She did such a great job and we hope she had fun doing it.  Here is one of her recent posts.  And if you don’t already follow us on Instagram, please do so….the store’s instagram is @lynnsconsignments and my personal one is @lynndralle.  Hopefully, both will keep you laughing and inspired.  That is all we want from you!  To laugh and be inspired!

OMG, the biggest news of this past month is that my mom (Mor Mor) turned 85 and somehow (by the grace of God) we all managed to turn up for the party!  Praise the LORD!

It was quite the ordeal to schedule and plan for flights as both Houston and Indiana have JOBS now!  NOOOOOOoooooooo!  Actually, I am very proud of them, but I do miss the flexibility that we used to have.

It had to be a quick trip to accomodate everyone.  On Thursday August 12th, I dropped off Cha Cha at Club Med for Dogs in Carp and then headed to Pepperdine to grab Indy.  Pretty fun picking up my girl from her work.   The plan was to head to Marina del Rey and park my car at their apartment and then (hopefully) Houston or Emma could take us to the airport.

We headed up the coast and decided to stop at Gladstones for lunch.  Oh, such great memories here!  Back in the day when I lived in Brentwood with Juliette & Pamela (this was right after USC) we used to head down to Gladstones almost every Sunday.  Sit on the deck, have some drinks, eat their peanuts and get in trouble!  I just came across this photo of the three of us at a party back in 1990.  That is Pamela, Juliette and me.

The last time I had been at Gladstones was back in April of 2015 when I took the kids to visit Pepperdine for the very first time.  Crazy how much Pepperdine has changed and enriched all of our lives since then.

Only fitting that Indy and I would stop there for a nice lunch now that they have both graduated.  Time flies!

After lunch we decided to stop by Houston’s school and see if we could get a tour.  It is so cool that he can bike from Marina del Rey to Saint Monica’s Catholic High  School every day for work.  We finally found him….on his bike hahahaha where else?  and he was getting ready to leave for the day.  He was gracious enough to throw on a button down shirt and head back to the classroom with us for an informal tour.  So exciting!

So much fun and then it was off to LAX. Indiana and I were arriving late that Thursday evening and my mom and my nephews, Zach and Kai came to pick us up! Love these little guys. Well, not so little anymore. Here we all are eating a late dinner.

The next night, Friday, we had made reservations at Anthony’s for an early dinner as opposed to our late dinner!  Hahaha.  We LOVE Anthony’s and they have a sunset dinner special that ends at 5:30 so Indy, my mom, myself and the boys arrived right on time at 5 pm.

Turns out one of my mom’s neighbors from her beach was sitting right next to us.  Small world!  Dinner was delicious and afterwards the server came out with a desert and a candle in it and started singing to my mom.  My bad, I had forgotten to tell the server.   So, who had?

I asked the server for the check and all she said to me was “Christmas came early this year”.  Huh?  What did that even mean?  OK OK, it finally dawned on me and my mom that her sweet sweet neighbors, Mary Ellen and Howard had paid for our dinner.  OMG!  You have got to be kidding me.  Soooooo sweet that my mom even started crying.  Aaaaawwwww!  Here is my mom with Howard and Mary Ellen.

After dinner we headed home to prepare for our next arrivals.  Houston would be arriving that night at 8 pm and my brother would be arriving at 10 pm.  This meant two trips into Bellingham International Airpor but it was the best we could do.  Party was Planned for Saturday, August 14th at 2 pm.  Here are the cousins chillin on the couch the night before the party!

My mom never gives me a birthday list so I am always scrambling.  On Wednesday night before our trip I hopped on Amazon and bought a menagerie of items that I thought she would use/enjoy.  My mom sells on eBay and does about $3,000 a month!  Pretty amazing for an 85 year old.  If she can do it….y’all have no excuses.

For her gifts, I bought her a few crossword puzzle books (she loves the ones by Merl Reagle), a trivia book for seniors (hahaha), a case of printer labels (for her eBay packages), a tiara, a sash, an 85th birthday sign for the house, some sticky post it notes, a wine glass that said “eighty fing five”, a poster card that showed what was going on back in 1936, and a huge box of freezer ziplocs for her flatware (that she sells on eBay).

I couldn’t believe it, but they all said that they would NOT be delivered until 10 pm Saturday.  That wasn’t going to cut it, but I held my breath.  Lo and Behold at about 2 pm the day of the party, the boxes started arriving.  I was saved!  Here she is wearing her tiara and sash!

Here are some fun pics from the party!

After the party, Indiana had me take some fun photos of her on the beach.  I love the way they turned out!

Behind Indiana in that last picture you can see my two high school friends, Leslie Arntzen and Jo Dallas.  The stayed til the bitter end with all of us and we had a blast!  So much fun, in fact, that they are flying down here to hang out in Ventura for this upcoming weekend.  Hahahaha!  I LOVE my high school friends.  In fact, Kathy Rutan will also be joining us and we are headed up to Paso Robles for a Train concert (my favorite band at the moment)!  So exciting!

So here are Jo, Leslie and I.

What a whirlwind of a trip! We left the next afternoon to head back to LAX. I took the kids out to dinner at a super fun Italian restaurant in Marina del Rey/Venice C&O Trattoria. It was delish. Then Monday morning Indiana and I headed up to Carp to pick up the puppy. Boy did we miss her! Took her to the beach that evening.

OK, enough of that trip, time for an eBay score!  Check out this Royal Copenhagen Christmas plate that I picked up in SLO (San Luis Obispo) on our way back from the OITF (Outstanding in the Field) dinner that we attended in July.  I paid $2.  We started the auction at $124.99 and it got 7 bids and ended up selling for $162.50.  That is what I call a SCORE!  Check out the auction here.

Side note…many eBay sellers are afraid of RC (Royal Copenhagen) and B&G (Bin & Grondahl) Christmas plates.  The reason being that in the 1970’s supply was off the charts…it was when everyone and their mother had these blue & white plates on their walls.  Hahahaha…true though!

Unfortunately, the demand today does not justify the oversaturation and some of these plates are not even worth $5 now.  However, some are worth much much more.  I grew up in this business and am thinking about doing either a Collector’s plate video, eBook or teleseminar to share my secrets.  Anyone interested?  Which format?  It won’t be until after I finish Antiques from A to Z though…..working on that like a fiend!

The week after I got back from Bellingham, I decided to make a quick trip out to the desert to source and drop off stuff for Mo (my “original” eBay assistant) to list for me.  I headed out on Saturday morning and met Indiana in Sherman Oaks to drop off Cha Cha.  The kids were going to watch her at the apartment.  Let’s see how that goes…..

It is crazy to me, but every time I go the the desert I run into someone I know.  Well, we did live there for almost 16 years and I did raise my kiddos there so that could explain in.  In any event, I arrived to the desert about noon and Mo and I headed to an estate sale on Fiddleneck.  I was just mentioning to Mo that a gal that I used to go to the gym with used to help at some sales at a house on Fiddleneck.  Lo and behold, it was the same house.

I was walking around and a gal says, “I know you”.  I looked at her and it wasn’t my friend Janet from the gym so I said “Really?”.

Turns out it was Janet and I didn’t recognize her because she used to wear wigs because of alapacia and her condition improved and she has her own real hair now!  So fun to see her!  And she helped me get a screaming deal on a set of china.  I only paid $100 for the set!  Had to grab a selfie with her……

And then after that shopping extravaganza we had to grab lunch.  We decided on Cactus Jacks and our favorite bartender was there, Mel….so had to grab a photo with her as well.

The dinner set I bought at the estate sale with Janet was called Wedding Ring by Susie Cooper and was made in the 1940’s.  Here is a link to one of the auctions.

I left Palm Desert early on Monday the 23rd as I had to pick up Cha Cha in Marina Del Rey on my way home (that added an hour to my trip and routed me through Buena Park…wth?) and make it back to Ventura in time for her 1 pm grooming.  Oh the joys of being a pet owner!

HAHAHAHAHA  I LOVE it!  What would I do without my Cha Cha and Carlos now that the kids are gone?  And for those of you who want to know how the weekend went with her in Marina del Rey…Here is a screen shot of Indy’s Instagram post.  I would say it went pretty well!

So back to the store and the front window.  I was super happy to redo it from the “contemporary” to my new found inspiration “beachy”…now that wasn’t hard at all right?  It is Ventura and I believe that we have the “endless summer” here so instead of going all hard core fall and holiday on Y’all I decided to extend that summer.

Let us know what you think.  Val and I think it turned out super fun and playful.  The Blue Crush Surfer Movie poster sure add some interest don’t ya think?

Piper helped me find a local gal to take over the Lynn’s Consignments instagram account this week as a test.  So far, I think Rachelle is doing great.  Please follow us @lynnsconsignments and let us know what you think.  Here is one of her first posts.  I LOVE how she is using the outside wall with the rustic weeds at the base for a backdrop.  Looks pretty cool!  This darling folding shelf is down to only $119.  It won’t last.

Here is another of Rachell’s posts.  I love that she is showing what is going on in the store!  Super fun!

I haven’t mentioned much about Carlos since he has become an outdoor cat.  He is really happy doing his thing.  He did hurt his leg a few days ago so I have been keeping him inside.

Here he is helping me do an eBay for Business Podcast interview with Griff last week.  You can see my huge Yeti mike and Carlos just chillin on his back.  The interview will air next Tuesday so I will shoot out an email to let y’all know.

In my timehop this week, up popped a photo from 4 years ago.  We had just dropped off Indiana for her freshman year at Pepperdine and my mom and I headed up the coast to check out Oxnard and Ventura.  That was a life changing day.  I had NEVER been to Ventura and immediately fell in love and decided that Main Street would be where I opened my store.  Fast forward and yes, we are still here!

Check out my mom crossing the street after we went shopping in the Goodwill.  Crazy how one day can change your life!

Just a reminder of Our CURRENT HOURS:

Tuesday through Saturday 11am to 5pm
Sundays 11 am to 3pm

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.

And, just one final eBay score!  This Anthropologie coffee mug sold last week for $42.49.  Hard to believe isn’t it?   Check out the auction for that mug here.

For those of you interested in learning more about selling coffee mugs on eBay, I did write a pretty awesome eBook on how to do it.  Check it out here.

Oh and one last picture of Cha Cha.  I think she is pissed off that the kids moved out.  Why, do I think this?  Let’s just say she has gotten a little bit overzealous in chewing things up.  Waaaaaay worse than when she was little.  Here she is with the aftermath of one of her toys….a little car that Emma gave her.  I texted this photo to my family members and my brother wrote back…..”Cha Cha’s stuffing is falling out”  HAHAHAHA!

Take care and we hope to see you soon!  Sandy, Peggy, me and
Val!

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.

 

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!

Here is a link to the VOTING!

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!

Check out the listing here.

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/

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