Cyber Monday or Flippin’ Sh!t On eBay

So, my bloggy hubby, Scope challenged all of us lazy slackers former bloggers who are content these days just curling up like pampered pets at the feet of Facebook to venture back out in Blogaritaville today for a Cyber Monday post and a link-up with him.  I figured I could handle one measly little blog post.  Sure.  Why not?…. Assuming I could figure out my password.   

Or that Windows Live Writer still acknowledged my existence.

Which it didn't.

Now I'm forced to compose my posts in Blogger like an animal.  No borders around my pictures or anything!  *sniffle*  F**k you, Windows Live Writer.  

But anyway....

I figured that since I have spent so much of my time lately in thrift stores, garage sales, and on eBay, I might as well tell you a bit about my eBay adventures.  Here are some of my better (and more high-five worthy) recent sales:


Out in Seattle last Christmas, I bought this Green Day American Idiot t-shirt in a thrift store for $2.99.  I really liked it, but it was too short on me (What?!  I know!) and my kiddo, Wednesday, wanted nothing to do with any shirt that had “idiot” sprawled across the front of it, so I listed it on eBay and it sold to a buyer in Australia for $18.00.  Sa-weet!


There’s this really awesome local thrift store here in Chicago that I walk to every Monday for their 50% off sale.  I bought this uber-slutty Coogi nautical-themed mini dress there for $3.00 and it sold on eBay for $50.00.   Cha-ching!  (Ohhhh, slutty sailor dresses, how I love thee!).  I wish I could find one of these every day! 


I bought this black, white, and red Anthropologie mesh skirt that had a really cool Tim Burton kind of look to it at my favorite thrift store.  I got it for $2.19 and it sold for $17.50.


Over the summer we had a huge community garage sale where I bought this 1973 Woodsy Owl (Remember him?!  “Give a hoot!  Don’t pollute!”) for $4.00.  The seller wanted $5.00 for it, but Woodsy was pretty beaten up and I tried to talk him down to $2.50, but he wouldn’t go any lower than $4.00.  Arg!  Dilemma!  I crossed my fingers and hoped his damaged spots wouldn’t be too bothersome to scare off any eBay buyers, but I shouldn’t have worried.  Woodsy sold fast and he sold for $27.00, so woo-hoo!


At the community wide garage sale, I also bought these Ninjago Lego minifigs as part of a set of two huge bags of Lego pieces.  The bags cost a total of $20, but I parted the various Legos out and these figures alone sold for $65.00!


These Batman Lego minifigs were part of the same garage sale Lego bags as the Ninjago ones.  This grouping sold for $42.00.   With all the different Lego groupings and sales I made from those Lego bags, I made over $150 in profit so far, and I’m not even done listing them all yet!


Other community wide garage sale finds:  This 50’s/60’s style Girl Scout Brownie plastic figurine which I got for 25 cents.  Yeah, just 25 cents!  I soooooooo felt like I was ripping the lady off!  It sold on eBay for $15.00.


And this little plastic tabletop globe which I got for 50 cents and it sold for $20.50.


And this Tupperware Shape-O-Ball which I bought for $2.00 and it sold for $20.00.


Man, we did great with our summer garage sale loot!  But back to thrift store scores.  I bought this huge Warner Brothers Studio Store Harry Potter snow globe at a thrift store for $2.73.  I about fainted when I saw it.  I know they are hard to find and can go for quite a bit of money.  This one had some minor damage and was missing its box, but I was still confidant it was worth it.  It ended up selling on eBay for $37.99.


I bought these Serta Sheep beanie babies at the local thrift store for $3.28 and they sold for $20.00 in about a day.


I bought this red vinyl snake skin jacket for $5.46.  This one took awhile to sell, but it eventually sold for $25.00.


This old 1970’s Sears Winnie the Pooh teddy bear was sitting alone and abandoned at the thrift store.  I got it for $1.09.   It sold for $20.00 to a buyer in England. 


I also bought this big bag of old Polly Pocket dolls from the early 90’s at the thrift store for $3.38 and it sold to an Australian buyer for $35.00 within an hour of listing it.  


And. lastly, I bought this life sized Jack Skellington Halloween decoration at the drug store for $15.00 and it sold on eBay for $90.00.  Woo-hoo!


And that’s what has been keeping me so busy lately, all the bargain hunting, listing, packing, and trips to the post office.  Whew!  I’m not sure how many of you guys are still around and reading ye olde blogs anymore, but I’ve missed you guys an awful lot.  What’s been up with you?   :-)




© Coracabana

Wait! What? Is…. Is that…. Is that the finish line?

Okay, so I’m still trying to burn through 2012’s Project 365 picture updates so that the dang thing will finally be out of my hair.  I think there will just be one post to go after this one.  Ready?  Me too.  Let’s do it….


Day 336 (2012-12-01) ~  Scope’s mom had a Florida-themed tree set up for Christmas.  This is a shot of one of the sand dollars she has hanging on it.  I love, love, LOVE how to looks in black and white.





Day 337 (2012-12-02) ~  Just a partial shot of a beautiful light-up house Scope’s mom had set up in the guest room we stayed in when we visited for the weekend.   (Sorry, this pic was really taken on the 1st, not the 2nd.)





Day 338 (2012-12-03) ~  A shot of Christmas lights on a fence that I snapped while running to the train station in the dark.  (Eh.  I know, I really felt like I started to lose my motivation on the whole project right about here.)  I wasn't happy with the quality of light in the shot, so I tinted the whole shot green, which I definitely prefer.





Day 339 (2012-12-04) ~  This is a similar shot to the one the night before—lights on a fence, which I dyed green.  However, I was playing around with effects on Picmonkey and kind of liked how this one came out with the red bow immune to the green tint.  It's kind of striking in a way, I think.  (Pic really taken on the 3rd, not the 4th.  Another boo-boo, I know.)





Day 340 (2012-12-05) ~  So, the neighbors started decorating for the holidays and this was the first guy to go all out.  *snicker*





Day 341 (2012-12-06) ~  Oops.  A ball buster.  While decorating my tree, I accidentally dropped a ball which smashed into a million tiny red splinters of glass all over the hardwood floor.  *sigh*  What a pain!  But at least it made good picture-of-the-day material.





Day 342 (2012-12-07) ~  Ummm….  yeah. So, it was, clearly, a very, VERY hot day at one of the local high schools!  *snicker*





Day 343 (2012-12-08) ~  Wednesday had a weekend school assignment which took us to the Art Institute of Chicago.  This was the first wall of paintings she studied.





Day 344 (2012-12-09) ~  Another shot from inside the Art Institute of Chicago.  (Actually taken on the 8th, not the 9th).  I liked the lines and festivity of the staircases there.





Day 345 (2012-12-10) ~  Okay, so this was a shot Wednesday needed for a computer class she’s taking at school.  She needed me to take her picture, then she would use Photoshop in class to transform herself into a superhero.  I haven't seen her Photoshop transformation yet, but I really, REALLY love this photo of her.  My goodness!  When did she grow up????





Day 346 (2012-12-11) ~  Another one of my 80's Strawberry Shortcake dolls.  This is Lime Chiffon. 





Day 347 (2012-12-12) ~  When I went for my morning walk around the park on 12/12/12, there were police cars everywhere and the buses were being re-routed off their usual street.  Very strange.  As I rounded the corner, I found out why.... a motorcyclist had crashed into the back of a parked car so hard that he caved the back of the car in, shattered the car's back window, and actually moved the car off to the side!  It was an unbelievable sight.  No, the motorcyclist did not survive.  And, no, I didn't see the body; I arrived on the scene after he had been taken away.  What I saw though was a demolished car, a fallen bike, a broken helmet and gloves on the ground in all different directions near the front of the car (as if the motorcyclist's helmet and clothes had come flying off at impact and kept moving forward without the body), and a street that sparkled with tiny vehicle fragments as if it were covered in glitter.  I can't fathom how fast the motorcyclist was travelling to make an impact as catastrophic as that, but it must have been an astonishing speed.  Ugh.  Slow down out there, people.  The hurry just isn’t worth it.





Day 348 (2012-12-13) ~  Another 80's Strawberry Shortcake doll that sits in the glass cabinet in our den.  Crepe Suzette.





Day 349 (2012-12-14) ~  Cute, isn't he?  This is one of this year's new ornaments on my Christmas tree.  It's Mickey Mouse dressed up like the cast members in the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland!  I love him!!!!  (Oh, if only they made a Tower of Terror one like this.... Maybe next year.)  (My days were still off a bit, so this pic was actually taken on the 17th, not the 14th.)





Day 350 (2012-12-15) ~  My kiddo told me (for the millionth time) how much she hates mushrooms and will never, never, NEVER eat one.  Then she opened her advent calendar.... and it was a chocolate mushroom.  (Ha ha!)  And, yes, she ate it.  Never say never.





Day 351 (2012-12-16) ~  Another filler picture of an ornament on my tree.  It's a limited edition Harry Potter Golden Snitch from Hallmark.  When they came out, Chicago sold out of them instantly and I couldn't find one anywhere. Scope and I went from store to store, but they were all gone.  *sniffle*  Luckily, I whined about it enough to my mom that she found one back in Seattle and gave it to me for my birthday that year.  Yay! : -)  My favorite part of it is on the front where it says "I open at the close" just like in Deathly Hallows.





Day 352 (2012-12-17) ~  The flag at the local high school was at half staff due to the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  At first I was standing there wishing the wind would whip up into a frenzy so I could get a picture of the flag billowing, but then I realized I actually like it better this way some how.  The air was still in the Windy City.  Completely still.  Somehow that just seemed fitting in a way.





Day 353 (2012-12-18) ~  Sometimes Christmas feels JUST.  LIKE.  THIS.





Okidoki, just one more Project 365 post to go and then we’ll be done with them. 






© Coracabana

Don’t stop believing

Yep.  Here’s ANOTHER update on 2012’s Project 365….


Day 323 (2012-11-18) ~   This particular day (Nov 18th) was the 8th anniversary of my beating death and beginning the process of re-learning how to walk again.  (Y’all remember that whole blood clot in the spinal cord mess.)  Somehow this shot seemed fitting for the anniversary of the start of that journey, I think.  :-)





Day 324 (2012-11-19) ~  Another picture I took in the local community garden. I liked how these puff-ball plants looked in black and white.  (Oppsie.  This pic was really taken on the 18th, not the 19th.)





Day 325 (2012-11-20) ~  Ready…. set…. go!  Scope, Wednesday, and I were all packed and ready for our Thanksgiving trip to Disneyland.  This was the night of November 20th and our suitcases were all lined up against the kitchen wall because at 2:30 the next morning we had to get up and bolt out the door to get to the airport in time.





Day 326 (2012-11-21) ~  This was taken our first night in Disneyland.  We had never seen Sleeping Beauty's Castle all decked out for the holidays before.  It was so gorgeous!   This shot also seems fitting because by the point this was taken, we had been awake and on the run almost 24 hours!  *yawn*  Sleeping Beauty, indeed.





Day 327 (2012-11-22) ~  This was taken our second day in Disneyland.  While walking down Main Street USA, Mickey (literally!) ran right by us.  I was SO loving his Christmas sweater!  (Hee hee.)





Day 328 (2012-11-23) ~  This was taken our third day in Disneyland.  It is Jack Skellington laughing down at us from the ceiling inside the Stretching Room in the Haunted Mansion Holiday ride.  This was, by far, Wednesday’s favorite ride!





Day 329 (2012-11-24) ~  This was taken our—*sniffle*—last day in Disneyland.  It’s the outside of the Haunted Mansion Holiday.





Day 330 (2012-11-25) ~  The morning we flew back to Chicago from LAX, it was very, very foggy in LA.  But a minute or so after take off, we burst up through the fog below to find sunny blue skies all around us.  I kind of like this shot because of the shadow of our plane on the carpet of clouds just below us.  That's not something you see every day.





Day 331 (2012-11-26) ~  Okay, so I messed up my days a bit after our DL trip.  In my defense, I took over 3000 pics in DL (yes, really) and I had a LOT of editing to do in a hurry (because Snapfish had a promo where all 4x6 prints were only a penny each!  Ohhhhhh, what simultaneously fortuitous and cruel timing!)  I was so busy editing and deciding which pics were print-worthy, I really wasn't motivated to take my 365 Project seriously (nor to add more pictures onto the pile!) for awhile there.  So, this was taken on the 30th, not the 26th.  It's a Christmas-y park I often walk through near our house.





Day 332 (2012-11-27) ~  Uh-uh.  I know.  I couldn't believe it either.  Sitting in a tree outside a local high school the morning of the 27th, there was an owl, just watching all the arriving students walking by.  (It must have been looking for Harry Potter.)  Only two of the kids (my daughter and her friend) seemed to notice.  All the other kids (Muggles!) there were oblivious to the watchful owl.  It was hard to get a decent shot of the owl because it was high up in the tree, branches were in the way, and I only had my point and shoot camera with me—plus, I was afraid to get too close and risk scaring the owl away.  But, all in all, I don't think the shot ended up too shabby, considering.





Day 333 (2012-11-28) ~  On an early morning walk through a local park, I was struck by how pretty the blue sky was with all the trees in silhouette.  And then I noticed all the squirrel nests perched in the trees.  It's quite a bustling squirrel city we've got going on there!  (Pic really taken on the 30th, not the 28th.  Sorry, I was still recovering from the Disneyland trip!)





Day 334 (2012-11-29) ~  Absolutely no thought nor effort went into this shot.  Clearly.  I just realized I had messed up several days on my Project 365 and just snapped random shots on the run on my way to the train station one night.  Blah.  This was really taken on the 30th, not the 29th.





Day 335 (2012-11-30) ~  Yeah.  It's a fake spider lurking in the corner, mid-way up the wall.  Poor Scope wasn't feeling very well for a few days after we got back from our trip....  But once he pulled this stunt to try to freak out Wednesday and me, well, that's when we knew he was on the mend!





The rest of Project 365 is coming soon!






© Coracabana

Yeah, it’s January and I’m still posting pictures from Halloween. Your point is….?

And now for another update on 2012’s Project 365….


Day 305 (2012-10-31) ~  Halloween night, Wednesday dressed up as Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Scope was Jack Skellington, and I was Oogie Boogie.  Here's Sally and Jack heading out to go trick-or-treating.





Day 306 (2012-11-01) ~  Our pumpkins, all baked by tea-light candles, the day after Halloween.





Day 307 (2012-11-02) ~  *sigh*  I got an emergency call from Wednesday at school.  She had broken her glasses in PE class.  Somehow I hadn't expected it to be quite THIS bad!  (Oops.  This was taken on the 1st, not the 2nd.  My bad.)





Day 308 (2012-11-03) ~  Wednesday and her friends in a limousine on her 16th birthday party.





Day 309 (2012-11-04) ~  This was Wednesday’s family party for her Sweet 16.  I can't believe I'm the mom of a 16 YEAR OLD.  Seriously, where does the time go?!





Day 310 (2012-11-05) ~  When all else fails, draw a picture of your thick-skulled, non-listening, jackass-y nemesis on a left over birthday balloon…. and then beat the shit out of it!!!!  That’s a valuable coping tool Wednesday picked up this particular week in November, which she found to be extremely satisfying!  :-)





Day 311 (2012-11-06) ~  And the winner is….





Day 312 (2012-11-07) ~  We picked up two new Halloween decorations this year.  I figured they deserved to star as picture of the day once before being shoved away in storage!





Day 313 (2012-11-08) ~  Since changing the clocks, my walk to meet Scope after work is A LOT DIFFERENT.  Soooooooo dark and kind of creepy.





Day 314 (2012-11-09) ~  This is a partial shot of a Harry Potter display item I bought on eBay.  I owned one when I lived in Seattle, but I got rid of it (along with a TON of other stuff) when I moved to Chicago, and I always regretted not keeping it.  *sniffle*  I wanted to replace my long-gone one, but I couldn't find one for sale online anywhere, then suddenly there one was on eBay for MUCH cheaper than my original one!  I bought it and when it arrived I was thrilled—it was in even better condition than the one I originally owned.  Sweet!





Day 315 (2012-11-10) ~  My old skool 1970's Mickey Mouse doll.





Day 316 (2012-11-11) ~  This was the night that Wednesday discovered the joy of Jiffy Pop!





Day 317 (2012-11-12) ~  So, you leave Wednesday alone for a couple of hours in the house with a camera, paint, and some clay, and look what you'll come home to:  A stop-motion/claymation movie in progress!  WOW!





Day 318 (2012-11-13) ~  There was one spot of light snow on the ground at the park this morning.  ONE spot.  There was no snow to be found anywhere else.  Weird.





Day 319 (2012-11-14) ~  Out of time and out of ideas.  This was just a super-quick shot of some red leaves and a street light in the dark as I was running to the train station.





Day 320 (2012-11-15) ~  Blue light special?….  Anyone?…. Anyone?….





Day 321 (2012-11-16) ~  Yep.  We ran to several stores to stock up on Hostess cakes the day we heard they went out of business.  This was what we managed to hoard.  Mmmmmm.





Day 322 (2012-11-17) ~  Just a shot of some flags I saw while taking a walk through the local community garden.  (Taken on the 18th, not 17th.  My mistake.)






That’s it for today, but the rest of the project is on the way soon….






© Coracabana