It was sunny on Saturday and for the first time this year, there were plenty of sales listed. I finally feel like the season has kicked off (Phinney neighborhood sale rescheduling be damned!). I put a list together and headed over to Meghan’s a little before 9 a.m. Our first stop was an estate sale which sounded decent, but it was mostly a bust. Although we did get to behold this amazing commemorative plate.

Next up was a sale with a ton of books, priced to move – most of them were 25 cents! Meghan went totally nuts and filled up a box. For some reason I wasn’t feeling it and only picked up about three. I did snag a children’s book with Basquiat paintings for illustrations, which seems like something that shouldn’t actually exist, but I’m glad it does.

I was very excited about our next stop: part two of the “avant-garde” sale that Meghan and Karl hit last week. She’d put out a lot of new items, with everything from last week now at half price. I grabbed some great ’50s ceramics (vases, planters, trinket boxes) and shelled out $32.50. Meghan was hemming and hawing over an awesome little deco table. The price was right – $60 – and it was super cute, but she had no idea where she could actually put it. As she deliberated I found myself drawn to a German-made blue and red ceramic pitcher that was priced at $40. It seemed like a fair price, but did I really need it? Finally I said screw it and handed over more cash. I think this prompted Meghan to take the plunge and get the table as well. Our funds were depleted at this point so our next stop was an ATM.

After that was a very boring sale where almost everything was baby/kid stuff … with this exception.

I honestly am amazed when people are selling their old unmentionables at a yard sale. Do you really think someone wants to pay for your old bras and panties? People don’t want to see that stuff at your sale. Unless they’re pervs, in which case do you really want to know that they now own it? Seriously, just throw that shit out.

One thing I have noticed lately is a lot of sales listed as “estate/garage” or “estate/moving.” Make up your mind, people! At one such sale we pulled up and even if we couldn’t tell if it was a true estate sale or not, they sure had a lot of stuff.

Unfortunately, it was bad stuff. “There’s more inside,” someone said, and I thought okay — maybe the crap is out front and the good stuff is in the house. Wrong! The house was packed, but the stuff was bad. It looked like someone had a bit of a shopping problem as many of the items still had tags from Goodwill and other thrift stores. Nothing we wanted at all. It was mostly pretty boring, but there were some standout items, like this insane decorative plate.

We trudged back to our car, which was parked right by the house where last year we spotted a latch-hook owl and a cross made from styrofoam egg cartons, among other regrettable items.

We headed off to a sale whose ad stated “priced to move baby, like a jackrabbit.” We debated for a while what the hell they actually meant by this. The whole ad sounded pretty hipster-ish, and the first thing we saw when we pulled up supported this theory.

We weren’t sure what that was exactly — it looked like a mattress, but it was too thin, with no cushion. Turned out it had been used to create a loft bed. “Know any students?” the guy asked. Meghan explained that we were about 20 years too old for that. This was by far the most interesting item at the sale. Most of the clothes were pretty boring, although I did like the way they arranged a few pieces to create a complete look for some would-be buyer.

I couldn’t figure out how their CDs could be so terrible. I mean, Backstreet Boys? It was grim. Meghan picked up a few free magazines but all in all it was a dud.

Next was a sale advertised as “bitchin garage sale”. We’d seen someone putting up signs for this earlier and were excited to find that one of the sellers was one of our favorite garage sale regulars. We met him years ago when he used to work for a local estate sale company, and we always run into him a few times each summer at some sale or another. We all exchanged hugs and he excitedly introduced us to his fellow sellers as “the girls.” I’m guessing he has no idea what our names are, which is OK since I have unfortunately managed to forget his as well.

Their sale had been pretty picked over at this point, but they still had some great stuff, like this picture helpfully labelled as “Eyes Follow You Jesus.”

I didn’t buy it, since I think Jesus’s eyes following me around the room would be a little bit creepy. Nor did I buy the “Chubby Kat” cat door.

Someone had already snagged this paper towel dispenser. SCORE!

Meghan bought a great framed picture (for her vintage group photo collection), but I walked away empty-handed.

Our next stop was an estate sale. We pulled up and parked near this beauty.

The lawn was scattered with a few odd items. It didn’t look promising.

Inside was an assortment of ancient items. Some of them were cool, but everything was dusty, crusty, and/or musty. Some of the stuff was flat-out insane, regardless of condition.

Along the wall of one bedroom was the largest collection of CB radio equipment I have ever seen in one place. (By far.)

Most of the stuff was really in icky condition, and I got kind of skeeved out to the point where I didn’t really feel like touching anything. But Meghan boldly foraged through the closets, eventually amassing a small pile of vintage items. She did limit herself to only items that could immediately be thrown into the washing machine. This sale sort of reminded me of the crime scene sale, and Meghan even said it made her think of a sale we went to a few years before starting the blog that has lived on in our memory as “The Apocalypse Sale.” (Some day we’ll recount that one in a post of its own!)

We went to another estate sale that was completely boring, then on to our last stop: a combined plant sale and garage sale. When we pulled up we remembered going to her sale a few years ago, when Meghan was on a gardening kick and loaded up on plants. This time it was my turn to do the same. While I was debating the pros and cons of day lilies and strawberry plants, Meghan snapped this photo from the non-plant area.

All in all, not an amazing day but much better than we’ve done in some time!