Yikes! This post comes a solid six months after my previous post. I have fallen into the category of “bloggers who don’t blog.” Thank goodness I’m not trying to make a living off this site!
Since my yard sale, just a few other exciting and notable things have happened–
Completed two triathlons
Completed my second marathon sub-4 hours
Signed up for a 2010 Half Ironman event
Have been off and running with great clients in my own business
Got to see major growth of my ‘niece’ at Thanksgiving
Have supported friends who have been laid off from work, started new jobs, moved, taken major leaps in life
Turned 30
Worked to get the first house my husband and I bought on the market (only a couple more days and she’s for sale!)
Celebrated births, engagements, and lots of other 30th birthday moments
The life list goes on. I’m going a million miles a minute (along with many others I know) and am doing my best to soak in all that I am able to experience. You’ll see what I mean soon enough.
I have a love/hate relationship with stuff. On one hand, I’m rather sentimental and also optimistic that one day I will have a use for the various things I’ve collected over the years. On the other hand, clutter drives me crazy, I feel bad for things that never get used or clothes that never get worn, and I prefer that everything have its own ‘home.’ I also have a problem assigning value to my things–some stuff I’ve held onto because I think its too good to just give away to Goodwill but other things I’m ready to hand out for free should probably have a price tag on them.
My solution to decluttering my world is to have a yard sale. Summer yard sales are an American past time and I believe that regular yard sale goers have their own early morning rituals and missions to accomplish that allow those throwing the yard sale to succeed. When I realized the solution to getting rid of my stuff is to have a yard sale I got rather excited about putting it all together. My husband, who I fondly refer to as a pack rat, made it very clear that I am only allowed to sell my stuff and so I began an inventory of all the things that will be tagged for sale.
Items that I will be putting out range from knick knacks to clothing to jewelry to home accessories to books and items that don’t even have a category in which they fit. There should be a good variety of things for sale, all of which will be in good condition, and pricing on my things will probably range from an easy 25 cents perhaps up to $50 or more. As far as I know, yard sales are all about bargaining so I will be happy to discuss different price points if someone sees a “must have” item. In keeping with yard sale tradition, I will start at the crack of dawn (8 a.m.) on a Saturday, August 15th to be exact. My driveway, yard, and the sidewalk in front of my house will hopefully be covered with stuff that dedicated yard sale goers and passersby alike are just dying to buy.
Part of my desire to have a yard sale (in addition to decluttering) is to know what my stuff is really worth. My plan is to donate whatever is not purchased because I will finally know what things aren’t worth paying for. Either way, at the end of the day I will have a little more room in my closets and on my shelves and other folks will have some fun “new to them” stuff.
If you’re into yard sales or you just want to see if I can pull this off, drop me an email and I’ll send you the address: nataliefriton [at] gmail [dot] com. (I’m sure you can appreciate why I am not putting my address in this post.)
I noticed recently on Facebook that you can become a fan of Thunderstorms. Of course, on Facebook you can become a fan of essentially anything but for some reason I thought it hilarious that Thunderstorms now have their own fan page. They’re not a brand, or a product, or a company, they have nothing to sell, they will never know that they have fans, and they will never invite you to their next tweet-up.
In real life, I am also a fan of thunderstorms but I do not feel compelled to proclaim my love of rumbling thunder, striking lightning, and torrential downpours on Facebook and I take no issue with those who do. Instead, I have chosen to give my tribute to thunderstorms here on my blog.
For whatever reason, this June has been filled with storm after storm, some just simple rain and others that are a mess of high winds, sideways downpours, and incessant claps of thunder. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of the sunshine and weather that allows me to be outdoors. But during the workday or evening hours, especially bedtime, I love a good thunderstorm. Read More »
One of the first bonfires I recall was when I was probably 5 or 6 years old and it was the Fourth of July and my family was at a summer cottage on Lake Erie. Family friends were also there and the cottage had a great little beach where we had a bonfire to roast marshmallows and make s’mores in between dancing around with sparklers in our hands.
Perhaps ever since that first bonfire I have always loved sitting, standing, crouching, and just being around a blazing outdoor fire. I don’t consider myself a pyro but I take every chance I can to be involved with collecting wood, making a fire pit, getting a fire to burn, and keeping it going. From camping fires in high school to neighborhood bonfires on the weekend to box burning parties, Christmas tree burning parties, more camping fires, and bonfires on the beach, there is nothing like being in front of mesmerizing flames. Read More »
Bananas are an interesting topic as they are definitely not all created equal and if you ask anyone who eats bananas, they will likely each have a personal preference for the type of banana they like best. I recently felt as though I was in Jack Johnson’s song “Banana Pancakes” as I ate banana and walnut waffles on the deck of my friend’s father’s house in Atlanta. My friend’s dad pulled a frozen banana from the freezer and stuck it in the microwave, peel on and all. It created a lovely aroma that reminded me of bananas foster.
Once the banana was defrosted it slipped nicely out of its peel and into a yummy batter for our waffles. This whole episode of course launched a banana conversation. I’ve never frozen my bananas peel on or defrosted them in the microwave, but it seemed to make perfect sense. Typically once my bananas are too ripe to eat, I peel and slice them and save them in tupperware containers to later make banana bread. Read More »
How much would someone have to pay you in order for you to shave your head? How about $1200 or maybe even $2000? What if you were then to give all that money to charity, to help fund research for children’s cancer? If you saw all the people that shaved their heads recently at Fado’s in Annapolis, you would agree that it’s worth it.
My camera phone took terrible photos so I'm grateful for this photo by "Erin is a Star."
The first concert I ever went to (not counting the Raffi concert my parents took me too when I was little) was to see the Allman Brothers at Merriweather Stadium in ninth grade. It was summer; my friends and I had older friends with cars. We piled in with coolers, food, and mixed tapes. We left western Maryland mid-morning turning the drive to Merriweather into a road trip and making an entire day and night out of the concert.
I loved everything about that concert–being outside, surrounded by extremely happy people, sitting on the lawn, dancing barefoot in the grass to live music on an outdoor stage–it was like being in another world. I don’t consider myself a groupie of any one band and I am not exactly a music connoisseur, but I definitely appreciate the chance to listen to live music. There is something about live music that I find captivating. I could watch an entire concert and potentially not hear any of the lyrics because I could get so sucked into the movements of the drummer, guitarist, or lead singer. Or I might never know what instruments are played because I’ll spend my whole time dancing. Read More »
Let me start this post by apologizing if I share too much information for your tastes and also let you know that I am perfectly fine. I did, however, have a recent experience that I feel compelled to share if for no other reason than to promote awareness. I realize I seem to be on a bit of a charity kick lately and while not intentional, I guess growing up has made me more in tune with the reality of the world around me which means counting my blessings and recognizing that there are many less fortunate than me who need help, awareness, and hope.
This week I had my yearly appointment with my “girl doctor” which is just about the only time I go to the doctor. Regular maintenance is a good thing. As I lay on the table telling Dr. Seuss about my new business she was doing the routine breast exam starting on the right, then moving left, then back to the right. I noticed instantly that she went back to the right and felt my heart go into my throat. She asked if I had noticed the bump before and if I had experienced any pain or tenderness; no, to all of the above. She put my hand on the bump on the right so I could feel it and then compared that to how the left breast felt and there was a subtle, but obvious difference. Read More »
No, I don’t mean St. Patrick’s Day, though that is also a great thing to celebrate. I do indeed mean to say celebrate St. Baldrick’s. A friend of mine recently told me he was shaving his head which threw me a little off guard. He followed up by saying he was doing it for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an incredible program that has been fundraising since 2000 for childhood cancer research. The Foundation is entirely volunteer based and raises money through volunteer efforts to collect donations in return for shaving their head for the cause.
Children who suffer from cancer and endure chemo and radiation treatments for their disease often lose much of their hair or end up completely bald. Those who shave their heads for St. Baldrick’s do so in honor of the brave children who fight each day for their lives. Read More »
For as long as I can remember my family has had a tradition of making Christmas wish lists at Thanksgiving. Once each person’s list is made, we pass them around to the rest of the group and we “dot” items on each list that we plan to get as gifts. Once you’ve passed on your list, you aren’t allowed to see it again so that you don’t know what you’re getting. Last year my dad asked for a pair of khaki pants, pretty easy. I “dotted” that item and sent a not-so-subtle email after Thanksgiving asking for his pant size.
I am not a huge fan of shopping at the mall and during my Christmas shopping I chose to buy my dad his khaki pants from Fawcett’s Boat Supply, our local Annapolis marine chandlery which I thought would be cool because we’re a family of sailors and I prefer to buy from local stores when I have the chance. I found a pair of practical, comfortable, and reasonably priced Royal Robbin cargo-type pants which were a hit with dad on Christmas morning.
My parents live a mere 20 miles from me yet our busy lives make scheduling regular get-togethers difficult at best. We usually succeed in at least a monthly dinner. Since Christmas though, I’ve seen them just once when my husband and I went to their Kent Island home early February for dinner. We often have some sort of exchange of items since the last time we saw each other whether it’s articles, tupperware, or books, but this time I was handed back the khaki pants. Alas, they were one size off from what my dad needed. My parents don’t often have a need to come across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge so I offered to make the return. Read More »
