VeggieArtGirl: Going out with a bang...

Though the leaves are turning vibrant hues of oranges and my second favorite, (and pumpkin themed) season is upon us (aka “sweater weather”), sadly I have to say goodbye to my absolute favorite time of year: Yard Sale Season. (That is a season right? In my book, there are four New Hampshire seasons: Yard Sale, Pumpkin, Mud and Freezing Cold!) Anyways, it will be easy to trade in early morning iced coffee runs and bargain hunting for the taste of apple crisp and hot cocoa knowing I gave Yard Sale season a better-than-good effort. Ok, I mopped up this season. Between a couple of town-wide extravaganzas and a scattering of flea market appearances, I made out like a bandit. With my new upcoming gallery space in the works (more on that later…I’m getting excited!), I have been in search of practical ways to display my art, as well as some nifty vintage finds to decorate my space.
So when I found out the Canaan town-wide yard sales were last weekend, I immediately called my best friend to see if she wanted to make the trek with me. Last time we went, our adventures ranged from meeting a lady who followed the Grateful Dead while bargaining over a hand-knitted wool sweater, to a $10.00 dresser score, to finding a beautiful Red Sox tabletop that came from a sports bar at Disneyworld. She was in. I told her to be at my place by 10:00 a.m. At 9:55, she knocked on my door smiling…bananas and Capri Suns in one hand, a camera in the other.
Man, what a fun day. We hopped in the purple van and drove all over Canaan in search of…well, whatever we saw that we wanted, really, which ranged from furniture to vintage clothing. At the first stop, we not only happened upon our buddy Jim, but we scored a handmade, vintage bar, originally marked $25.00, which the lady sold us for $8.00 (still to be determined who is going to receive this groovy piece of furniture for Christmas) and we knew it was all uphill from there. (Yard saling tip: if you want to creatively bargain over an item, just stand in front of it for a long time, verbally express your love for it, scratch the head a bit, invite a buddy (if available) to look at it with you and have a conversation about how you “love the piece so much, but you don’t know if it will work” and maybe scrunch the eyebrows a bit. They’ll give in and the price will drop.)
Best scores of the day: vintage teal green baby scale, 2 plant stands made of sticks, giant red velvet lampshade, yards of swirly printed fabric, one plastic lobster, the $8.00 bar, a box of 50+ records in a groovy metal case, retro red lamp, spinning card rack, lime green raincoat, old sheet music from the 1800’s, giant jewelry box, and some vintage sconces.
Favorite people we met: a toss-up between the dude who told us about the first time he got drunk off of whiskey in his basement and the lawn-full of shirtless beer-drinking men, trying to sell a $35.00 refigrator.
I give the day four stars. :)
And then, it got even better. Spyboy and Stema reunion at the Lucky Dog. Amazing music. Glowsticks. Good times.