This week I continued to tackle the myriad of decisions that come with settling an estate and taking care of the contents of a household. Although we had downsized twice last year, there is still so much to contend with. I have set the dates for Mother's estate sale and have decided on March 21-23 at Overture Arcadia. I went over the lease with a fine tooth comb and there is no mention of estate/moving sales so they cannot prevent me from having one. A few folks have had impromptu sales but nothing professionally run. I also learned that it is 60, not 30 days written notice that we will not be renewing the lease so as soon as I saw that I put a message in with the building to let them know. Once they tell me how to provide written notice I will let them know when we will be having the estate sale and that it will be professional. Rachel is coming in on Monday March 17, I asked her if she could do the staging if I do the pricing. It is short notice so she will basically need to get it done in a day. If things go well with the pricing I will just start staging early. At least Rachel will be present for the sale, she can greet the customers at the front door and direct them where to go. It is kind of a long walk from the front door but easy to move large items out the back door. There are also several carts available at the front door for anyone's use.
I originally thought I was going to have a garage sale at my home so I had the movers bring everything but the furniture to my garage. Kuochun has been helping me out by running all the kitchen items through the dishwasher and I have been pricing and packing everything to bring back to Overture Arcadia. There are many items already at the apartment and they all need pricing. My priority is to get everything I have priced and then work on the other items after that. Next Friday is cleaning day so everything will need to be out of my home by then. I will also feel better because I do not like clutter. I am excited to finally enter my clutter-free era! I decided to use the Brother P-Touch to price everything. So far it has been great, I can add short descriptions on some of the items (for instance, the vintage Crate & Barrel glass olive tray or the 1975 Fitz & Floyd dinnerware.) I have 5 1/2 weeks so there is plenty of time for detailed pricing and items that do not sell will be ready for my next garage sale.
I made great headway on the estate money matters as well - there continues to be lots of little things to do but one major piece still remaining is to get the car title cleared up so Rachel will be able to put the car in her name once she brings it to New York. We are waiting for a letter from BMW (Mini Cooper) confirming that the loan Mother originally took out has been paid and then I can proceed with the rest of the paperwork. I also have to prepare for tax time and I am hoping the senior center/AARP will be willing to complete Mother's 2024 tax return, as they did for 2023. That would be a big help because my own return is very time-consuming.
I decided to focus on getting Mother's items organized along with any estate sale work that needed to be done and put aside the notion of posting new items. Although I had such great momentum in Tucson writing up so many items, I have not shot any photos yet and therefore could not post anything. I was able to get the stone secured on this pendant and it is now officially available for sale.
I did sell one each of these Easel tops, which makes perfect sense because Valentine's Day is approaching. I only have two left of the T-shirt and one remaining of the pullover, even with selling the one I had set aside for myself and left back in Mount Prospect.
I also sold this pretty white buffalo cluster cuff bracelet. All of the sales this week were on eBay.
On Monday we drove back from Tucson and after unloading the car, still being in away mode we did decide to grab a quick lunch. I suggested DeFalco's Italian Deli & Grocery because it was on the way to pick up the upholstery projects which were ready earlier than expected. Residents all over the Phoenix area just love DeFalco's and we are fortunate enough to be only a few minutes away. I have had mixed experiences there but last time I had an amazing chicken sandwich so I thought I would try it again. This time I ordered the chicken sandwich with spicy vodka sauce and not only was the sauce pretty spicy, the temperature of the sandwich was very hot. The first half of the sandwich seemed spicier than the second half but it was too much, I think I will stick with the pesto sandwich from now on.
We picked up the upholstery but unfortunately I did not love the job. The upholsterer had mentioned that he was going to do 1" foam on the desk chair but for some reason ended up doing 2" foam. I am sure the chair is more comfortable with the thicker foam but it looks very puffy and not period correct. The wrapping around the front looks bulky too. I was not worried because when we dropped off he was working on a pair of MCM chairs for someone else and said the customers wanted them just like the originals.
Unfortunately the dining chairs did not fare any better. The piping is very thick and the pattern is not matched well around the apron. It is also weirdly folded on the top in spots. I had suggested that we use a different fabric for the piping but the upholsterer wanted to use the same fabric. At the time I purchased the dining set I did not know we were driving back to Scottsdale, otherwise I would have had Alfredo reupholster the chairs. I thought I had found a go-to upholstery person - they are close to home and work out of their home which keeps the costs more reasonable but I am not sure if I would trust them with another job. It seems that this Sunbrella upholstery fabric was too thick for them. We used Sunbrella upholstery fabric before on dining chairs for Mother and they turned out amazing, but then again Alfredo recovered them.
My next task is to find a shoe repair place as I would like to make the strap on my new purse removable but now I am kind of gun shy. I love the purse and do not want anyone to wreck it! I bought it on Poshmark, it is by Portland Leather Goods. It has the long crossbody strap plus two shorter straps so it could be carried as a handbag as well. I thought it would be perfect to travel with because it is so versatile. However I did not realize that the long strap was not removable because the photos show otherwise.
Neither of us felt like dinner and Kuochun was in the mood for a smoothie but nothing was open except Whataburger, which is down the street from us. They had a Mexican Hot Chocolate milkshake special so I decided to give it a try. I liked it a lot, and Kuochun enjoyed his vanilla shake.
We did not eat out the rest of the week except that Kuochun has been tracking Princess donuts at The Local Donut for me and he found that they were available a week earlier than he was told (week of Valentine's Day.) It turns out that they are doing monthly specials instead of weekly now and the Princess is available all month. I had one last year and thought it was the best donut ever. It is a strawberry-infused macadamia donut with a coconut cream filling, fancy crumbles and whipped cream on top. I did not remember it being strawberry, just that it was amazing. I think it may have changed a little since last year. This is not my photo, they are much prettier in person. I also picked up a Ham & Swiss croissant and something they called Kolache which was baked dough with sausage and cheese inside. I split the Kolache with Kuochun but next time we need to get two! Those in the know say The Local Donut is the best in Arizona and I totally believe it. And lucky for us, they are only a few minutes away from home. Already Kuochun is planning another trip back there for Valentine's Day but I have Sprinkles Cupcakes on my mind. Again, just a few minutes away from home! I heard that they no longer have any locations in Illinois so this our only chance to get them. After Valentine's Day I need to get back on the wagon so I do not gain the Phoenix 10 again.
Goals for next week are to keep plugging away at pricing for the estate sale and to get back to listing items online regularly. See you next time!
