A relaxing weekend? Not so much.

Every weekend, I aspire to have a relaxed, errand-free, FUN weekend and every weekend, I find that there isn't enough time to do all that I want need to do. This weekend was no different.

On Saturday, I woke up early and went garage sale-ing :) I called my mom to join me, but she wasn't going to be ready for 45 minutes, so I headed out alone first. I found a great estate sale in Manhattan Beach (a real estate sale, where you go in the house) and made out like a bandit with 3 mason jars, 3 1/2 sets of cloth napkins and huge stacks of blank cards and envelopes - all of this for under $10. I have to admit, I bought the jars and napkins for my.. trosseau. I KNOW, I'm not engaged, but I have wedding on the brain. It's not like I can't use them in the meantime, well not the cloth napkins, but the mason jars make great cups and vases...

After that, I picked up my mom and we headed off to Old Torrance. I always have really good luck at garage sales there, I think it has to do with the long-time residents and maybe the general age of said long-time residents. ;) A lovely Japanese woman sold me these cookie tins for a song and my mom made out with a scarf and some perfume. My mom actually had the great idea of getting these tins and using them as packaging for a few sets of asian-themed notecards. I thought it was a great idea and I'll keep you updated as I start to work on them!

Next was a small garage sale that we almost drove past, but I braked as soon as we saw Pyrex! My mom got a huge Pyrex bowl complete with lid - perfect for a potluck. I found 2 more lotus bowls in white. I currently have 2 orange and 2 green for sale in my shop, but since I love them so much and no one has bought them (though they have lots of hearts!), I may just keep them all and begin a collection.

Our next stop was another estate sale with furniture inside and tons of stuff outside. We ignored the furniture and wandered through the tables in the yard. Man, this family loved clocks! There were alarm clocks and cuckoo clocks and kitchen timers and never-been-opened clocks. There were big clocks, little clocks, red clocks and blue clocks! Haha, seriously! I spotted a turquoise alarm clock with retro, space-age details and fell in love! I have no idea of it works, but I cleaned it up and it sparkles! Also, it has glow-in-the-dark details on the face :) At the same place, I picked up a small recipe box and a wooden basket with flowers painted on it - both with the intention of using them to display cards at the next show I do.

Down the street, we came across a smallish sale but we decided to stop anyway. They had more mason jars! So I bought them all! They also had these great old Christmas ornaments. I don't know that anyone would purchase them, but they made a beautiful picture!

After accumulating all of these goodies, we were HUNGRY! We were still in Old Torrance and my mom recommended Eat at Rudy's on Post Ave. We ordered and got our food approximately 4.5 minutes later. The portions were big, the food was hot and the biscuits! I shouldn't love biscuits as much as I do, but how do you turn your back on a love like that? It was delicious and about $20 for both of us with coffee and orange juice. Rudy's is definitely my new favorite breakfast spot!

Since we were all the way down there and I'm rarely all the way down there, I dragged my mom into Scrampers, a scrapbooking store in the area. I like Scrampers because they have a nice selection. However, they are pretty-overpriced in my opinion and never have any sale items. But I got some paper as well as some asian-themed stamp for my cookie tins. (When I got home, I saw those same stamps online for $4 cheaper, even with shipping!) At Scrampers we got craft knives, but my mom needed a self-healing mat and they only had $13 ones. I knew Jo-Ann's would have them cheaper, so we left Scrampers and headed to Jo-Ann's, where we were in and out in 10 minutes (my limit there!) and she got TWO mats for $10.

I took Mom home after that and I went to baby-sit for Ellinor, a 5-year-old who never stops talking. I told my parents this and they said it was cosmic payback! "You NEVER stopped talking." Whatever. Excessive talking must be a sign of above average intelligence. Hmmph! We had a great time, although I learned that baking with a 5 year old is really hard. I also learned that boys are way different than girls. I know you're thinking, "Um, Anatomy 101?" But I'm not used to girls! I sit primarily for little boys and they are a world away from this little girl. It will be an adventure getting to know her better. And there's not much better than spending quality time with a cute kid and walking away $100 richer.

Oh my goodness, this was only one day of my weekend and it's already way too long. I'll have to save the rest for tomorrow. Thanks for reading!