Last Chance To See The Jewelry!

This week there is not a lot to report on the jewelry front as I needed most all the time to catch up with estate sale work. Things are all caught up now and Mother and I spent some time during the week organizing the consignment jewelry and the budget-friendly costume jewelry. I cleared up a shoebox filled with random earrings and was able to match up lots of pairs. Mother made cards for the pieces that were cardless and also grouped them into wholesale lots of about 25 pieces each that I will post online to sell. I will be taking the same approach with this jewelry that I do with the Native American pieces, except the lots will go to a different Facebook group. I have seen mixed results in this group but it is definitely very active and worth a try. I am sure it will take a bit to make a name for myself, as it did with the Native American groups. We are through about 90% of the jewelry, with just a couple of shoeboxes of random items left to go.

Kuochun wanted to go back to Pinstripes for Sunday brunch and although I was hesitant because we have plenty to eat at home before we leave, we ended up going. This time we did not make it there until 1:00, brunch ends promptly at 2:00 with the restaurant continually open straight through dinner. I preferred our experience going earlier as there were lots of kids this time and adults that were acting worse than the kids - grabbing food with their hands instead of using the provided utensils. A guy just ahead of me dropped bacon on the floor, thought about picking it up and then just kicked it under the table. On our way out at just after 2:00 we noticed that the staff piled all the food on top of each other, for instance throwing all of the pieces of pizza on top of other food in a warming tray. It appears that they just throw everything out which is really a shame. There are so many employees there you'd think they would love to have a free lunch but I have never worked in a restaurant so I do not know what the protocol is. I think this is a place where once or twice a year is good enough. I am up a few pounds for the first time all year after being able to maintain but Kuochun's birthday is next Wednesday. We will need to have one more dinner out before we leave!

Mother has been on Seattle Sutton ever since she came home from rehab and it seems to be going very well. I noticed that they have added some new meals since we last subscribed and they look great. They do so many things well - at breakfast the sweet options like the Orange Berry Waffle above are amazing as well as the yogurt and granola combinations, lunch has delicious salads like this Curry Chicken Salad and I enjoyed most of the dinners. Some of them have too many cooked vegetables for my taste but I get it. I would not touch a regular pot pie but their Turkey Pot Pie is really good. It is a very light sauce with tiny cubes of turkey, pearl onions, carrots, celery and peas.

I will probably subscribe again once we come back as it is so wonderful to have nutritious fresh food all ready to eat and I just go down the street a little past the post office to pick it up twice a week. The only drawback is you cannot choose your favorite meals but I understand why they do that. They do not repeat a meal for five weeks and the menu is very balanced, for instance they alternate sweet and savory breakfasts. Now with every pickup they include a suggested plan for eating the meals each day. They said this is to balance the calories out but this is an excellent idea. I used to eat my favorite meals first and then be left with the least favorites to eat all in a row. It may seem pricey but I tried making a grocery list to make a couple of menu items and the list was a mile long!

I did some research this past week on Phoenix-area meal prep companies for Mother. They have so many choices, way more than here! But in the area where we live people have a lot more disposable income and are totally into healthy living so it makes sense. I found Lean Lifestyle which is heart healthy and low sodium which is how everyone should eat but especially Mother and Kuochun due to their heart issues. I thought the food looked attractive and there was a much better variety than some of the other companies I was considering. I filled out a questionnaire which asked about food preferences and every meal can be chosen or we can let them make the choices. There was very little Mother wanted to eliminate (she has an aversion to kale for some reason) and we will try their selections to start. One difference is that Lean Lifestyle includes beef and pork while Seattle Sutton does not. They are going to deliver three times per week in the late evening, it could be as late as 1:00 AM but I am always up. Kuochun is thinking about signing up for some meals as well and I hope he gives it a try. A tidy kitchen will equate to a peaceful household! For me, Lean Lifestyle is too cooked vegetable heavy so I will put together some different healthy options for myself. This time I will definitely use the breadmaker and Heritage Flour to make some wholesome bread.

Switching gears, we needed some of the supplies I used for the pop-up sale for our estate sales this week so the pop-up is a bit dismantled but I am offering appointments through Wednesday of next week. The plan is still to pack up all of the Native American and Mexican jewelry, new and vintage and leave all of the estate jewelry in Mount Prospect for the caravan. This should be more than enough to put online this winter. Unfortunately many of the boxes of jewelry I shipped to Mount Prospect should have just stayed in Scottsdale because I did not have time to get to them. One more trip cross country and that will be it! Please remember that no matter where the jewelry is, I am happy to ship for no charge.

I was able to do some jewelry cleaning this summer but not as much as I hoped. But I cannot be too hard on myself, I also bought a ton of silver jewelry while I have been here! Hopefully I will be able to clean and price some more for the caravan next week. I will bring the rest with me and send it back eventually but will likely try to sell it at the holiday pop-up sale and winter garage sale in Scottsdale before I do. We will see how our estate sale schedule goes but so far most of the potential clients contacting us are looking to have sales this year. There are many more events around Chicago than Phoenix so if needed, I will send the jewelry home!

I am looking forward to getting back to more of a regular schedule with the combination of estate sale and jewelry work. I think it has been about a month since I have posted anything online. I sold several pieces this past week on eBay, Etsy and Poshmark but I would like to get some new pieces out there and keep things fresh! The Native American jewelry is starting to back up, I have some amazing pieces to show coming up including an incredible beaded necklace.

Until next time!