MoreSpeaking of taxes, right after New Years, I got a phone call from my accountant, Gregg Kaufman. He and I went to grad school together and he was my partner for many school projects. Super smart guy, so of course I hired him as my accountant after graduating. He was calling to say that he and his wife Robin were out in the desert and could he stop by. Of course!
This is a photo of Gregg and I with some of our other grad school friends at a USC party in Malibu. Gregg is the one in the purple shirt. Those were the days!
It was great to see him again. He mentioned that his wife’s mother had been moved into an assisted living facility and that they were throwing away and donating a bunch of stuff. Would my mom and I be interested in taking anything worthwhile for free? Of course we would! And off we drove to Palm Springs. You won’t believe the amazing things I got. Some of these items are featured in the next episode of Trash to Cash Episode #2 (the reality show) which will is coming soon.
If you haven’t seen the Pilot, you can get your copy from these links.
Here is one of the items that we got for free from my friend Gregg. It didn’t sell for a whole lot but it is darling and it was free! Who’s complaining? Not me!
See this listing here.
The best thing that Gregg and Robin gave us was a piano for Indiana! She has been taking lessons and really enjoys it. The piano now resides in the former eBay room. What a nice gift!
I was really struggling about what to write for this week’s ezine article. I have been pouring all of my energy into making LOL the best event EVER and I have been spending most of my time creating new content for this exciting new venture!
I decided to take a break and stop by one of my favorite thrift stores for inspiration. I couldn’t believe it but the parking lot was packed. I drove around three times before I even found a parking spot that was within a mile (just kidding). The store was jammed with people, but I did manage to pick up four little goodies. They were not cheap . Then the salesperson told me my total, $28.28.
It was then that I knew I had my inspiration for this week’s article! 2828 was the address of my grandmother’s antique store.
Don’t miss this week’s article which is called, “Why Did You Buy That?” It will tell you my thought process behind buying these four very colorful, yet expensive, items.
As you know, I have been working like crazy putting LOL together. PowerPoint presentations, special treats and some great vendors are all in the pipeline.
As I have been writing new PowerPoint presentations, I have been able to go eBay item shopping! Yay, my favorite thing to do. About four months ago I noticed a neat dinner set at one of my favorite thrift stores. Guess why? It was a dinner set that I had donated . So every time I go into the thrift store I check on its price. It started out at $65.00, went to $40.99, and is currently at $19.99. I felt like saying, “Don’t feel bad. I thought it would sell also!”
Here is a photo of the set in the thrift store.
The pattern is Egyptian Shell by Royal Limited. Do NOT buy this pattern.
The shopping to prepare for LOL has been a blast. I keep dropping off stuff at HQ and surprise, surprise it magically gets listed. I am liking this!
Some things I have saved out and taken home to write about and photograph for LOL. It has been a while since I have used my photo studio at the house and some interesting events have taken place while I was away. I was out there on Sunday morning taking photos when a hummingbird started to buzz around my head. I thought it was going to attack me. I freaked out!
I did manage to get a photo of her in flight. She kept flying at me. It really scared me so I stopped taking photos.
On Monday afternoon, I was out there again taking photos for this ezine and guess what? She was back. I still couldn’t figure this out. As I went to hang my clothing mannequin on the chandelier that hangs over my photo studio, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
This is going to be very hard to spot in the photo above, but some of you may have already figured it out!
In the crook of the arm of that chandelier was a tiny, tiny bird’s nest complete with eggs. OMG. It all made sense now.
WOW! I said to the mommy bird, “I am not going to hurt your babies, just let me take my photos.” I am not kidding; she seemed to understand and flew away to leave me alone for a while. 
.
I did some research on hummingbirds. They will often rebuild their next nest on the spot where the old nest was. Can’t have that. So once the babies are grown and have flown the coop, I will hang that chandelier (with the nest still attached) in another section of my patio.
The research I did on hummingbirds was fascinating. They build their nests with cotton, soft materials, twigs, etc. and then hold it together with spider webs. You never want to touch one of these as the human scent will linger and will lead predators to the nest.
I asked Houston to take the up-close photos and he did a great job. This one looks like a heart. So, Happy Valentines Day to you all!
We just got a photo of the Hummingbird in her nest. This is soooo cute! She looks just like one of the Nesting HONs (Hen on nests) that sell so well.
As Houston was taking the photos, I said, “That Hummingbird might swoop in at any second and attack you.” You have never seen a kid run so fast!
My baseball player son was afraid of a little tiny bird (of course I was also!) Speaking of baseball, we had the strangest tournament last weekend. It was in Moreno Valley. We did OK on Saturday, but Sunday was the day that really mattered.
If we won the 8 am game, we would have to play at 12:30 pm. If we won that game, we would be in the championship game that was to be played at 5:30 pm. Seriously, what do you do in Moreno Valley for 14 hours?
I have the answer! Watch baseball for seven hours (list on eBay while doing this), go to two different restaurants, spending 1 1/2 hours at breakfast, 1 1/2 hours at lunch, and then look for thrift stores! I found a Goodwill and was able to pass several hours in that store. I bought a ton of coffee mugs and Hawaiian shirts.
Carmen got quite a few of the Hawaiian shirts listed and I am thrilled that one of them already has quite a few bids. It may be a score!
See the listing here.
I know, I know, Mickey isn’t spelled right and there is no Mouse in the title. We will see how it does. So far so good.
Houston got to pitch the championship game and his team won the tournament! He has been working with a pitching coach and it is really helping. I was very proud of him and his teammates.
I have been listing a lot of clothing lately, so it was awesome to have Mel and Steve back for the Insider’s Clothing Teleseminar #3 last night.
And check out this Coogi sweater that I bought recently, thanks to Mel and Steve! I hope it sells for a lot.
See the listing here.
I like using the photo of just the fabric for the gallery. It is interesting and gets attention to your listing.
One last thing, the response to my post about Kabbage  was awesome. As an added incentive this month, Kabbage has decided to reward all of you who sign up for a Kabbage account in February! Yay! Kabbage offers cash for eBay sellers like you to increase your inventory, hire additional help, purchase equipment, or anything else you need to grow your business.
All you need to do is click below and sign up for a Kabbage account this month and they’ll send you a $20 Starbucks Gift Card. With cash from Kabbage and that Starbucks card, you can jumpstart your eBay revenue and your morning!
Click here for your Kabbage.
