Short And Sweet

Well it looks like this week's entry will be pretty short and sweet. I have been keeping up with sending a package of jewelry home for the caravan every Monday evening. For $18.95 (Stamps.com price) I can ship a large flat rate box of any weight. Plus as long as we have estate sales there is always someone around the house on Wednesday mornings to take the package in right away. The main post office in Phoenix accepts packages 24/7 and is only 9 minutes from home. I have been unintentionally testing the time limits as to how late I can drop off a package on Monday and have it still arrive on Wednesday morning. The drop box shows pickup times of 5:30, 7:30 and 9:30 PM. This past week, I missed 5:30 but made 7:30 and the package still arrived on time. I was really surprised to see anyone there at that hour but there were people including a couple who literally had 75 packages on two carts who had gotten just ahead of me. Thankfully they let me drop my few packages in.

I have been mixing things up and sending a variety of pieces - vintage silver jewelry including pieces from Mexico and designer pieces, Tucson Gem Show finds and some costume jewelry. Mother is killing it making gorgeous jewelry cards in different color combinations depending upon the collection it belongs to. She bought some wonderful floral stamps on Etsy from an artist in England last year and more recently we made a trip to JoAnn Fabrics to get different color metallic stamps. Our last time here, I found a card stock color story package at Michael's called Coffee & Cream which consists of soft white, silver grey, cocoa brown and black colors. We do not drink coffee but these colors have been great to create collections with. Mother thought the floral stamps would look great with the Mexican jewelry since that is how they were presented on Etsy but it turns out they are totally elegant in these color combinations and are working with every type of jewelry she has tried so far. Above and below are a couple of examples. I sent most everything on the new cards home for the caravan but had a few remaining to photograph. The card in the main photo is hand stamped and hand colored.

I did not post any jewelry lots this week, mainly because I have transitioned back to full-time estate sale work and wanted to keep up with sending packages home weekly. However I was able to pick back up posting items online. I thought I had all of the vintage Native American cuff bracelets posted and then I found two more! But I do see the light at the end of the tunnel with the cuffs at least. Unfortunately since I returned to posting there were two issues with Vendoo. Their customer service is great and they were able to resolve the one issue (which was with Etsy) promptly. The issue with Shopify is site-wide and has not yet been resolved. So the new batch of cuff bracelets are on eBay, Etsy, Poshmark and Facebook Marketplace but not on Shopify yet. I hope they will resolve it soon.

Time is flying by and we are approaching about a month left in Arizona. I started to think of things that I would like to do before leaving, like going to the Desert Botanical Garden which is only 9 minutes from home and is supposed to be amazing (and with a great lunch place as well.) Sue G. had an awesome idea to look into season passes. I found that passes for two for a year would pay for themselves after only two visits, and two guest passes are given too. Even though we would be gone half the year, it is so close that I bet it is a nice place to go take a walk on a beautiful day. Sue G. belonged to the Morton Arboretum when she lived in the area and went quite often, even in winter.

One event I am thinking about attending is the Junk In The Trunk Vintage Market which is a big show in North Scottsdale in April. We were not in town last year and missed it the year before. I am not positive about going because the admission cost is high, they charge for parking and the reviews say there is not a lot of true vintage there but more vintage-inspired items. One review said there are a lot of "mombies" in attendance pulling wagons and carts, oblivious to everyone around them. It would really be difficult to get Mother around in a wheelchair under those conditions.

If possible, I would like to get back up to Carefree and also see Cave Creek. We also wanted to go to Cosanti, they are famous for their beautiful cast bronze windbells. The previous homeowner left three of them behind! Queen Creek Olive Mill seems like a great place to visit on a nice day as well. It has been such a busy time that I have not even been able to walk around Old Town Scottsdale which is only 5 minutes away. I do not know what will be realistic since I have to complete my taxes and lots of estate sale paperwork is on the horizon.

Food-wise, there are always places I would like to get back to. I really enjoy Babbo Italian Eatery which is a great local chain and American Way Smokehouse is a great lunch place attached to an antique mall and has fantastic cookies. One more time at In-N-Out Burger would be nice! I have to cross the Showstopper Shake at ZuZu at Hotel Valley Ho off my list this time. The March shake was coffee flavored which is not for me. I have been patiently waiting for the April flavor and it was just released. It is a Tiki shake which is a cute idea but the flavor is ube which is a purple yam from the Philippines. No thank you! Maybe I will get Sprinkles cupcakes instead. Each are only a few minutes from home.

This past week was the annual sale at our favorite antique store, Camelback Antiques. The sale started Thursday and runs through Monday and their flea market was Sunday. We did go to the last flea market and I found a beautiful Native American pendant necklace but that was it. We totally loved a fish sculpture made out of spoons but it was $1,200! Also, our favorite monthly pop-up store was open for a special day on Saturday to give shoppers one more chance for Easter decor. We ended up not going anywhere because neither Kuochun nor Mother were feeling well. It was a bummer because the weather has been absolutely glorious but there is always endless work for me to do.

Except for Monday Madness, we wrapped up a great weekend of sales and next weekend will be awesome as well. We are very excited to present a sale at this beautiful 7,100 square foot home in Lake Barrington. The home is loaded with the best of the best in household items from A to Z. There will be a separate display with the jewelry caravan - the plan is to have three large cases and two small cases, all loaded with everything that has been shipped home so far this past month. CLICK HERE for all the details.

Well, I promised this one would be short and sweet so I am going to stop here!