V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N... in the Summer Sun!

Of course, there was no sun yesterday and Monday/Tuesdays are my usual day off so it didn't FEEL like vacation yet, and I spent the day doing the usual boring Monday Household Things. Indulged in one of my favorite hobbies, which I call "Ripping off CVS." Calm Down, I'm not doing anything illegal! I'm just a serial coupon cutter who likes to take advantage of those CVS Extra Bucks. One of those adjustments I made when I quit my obnoxiously-stressful-yet-ridiculously-lucrative job to open Salvage Chic. I stopped getting the Sunday paper for a while in a further effort to cut costs, but recently realized that was detrimental when Kenny ran out of deodorant and borrowed the household ATM card to go get some. I should've known better! He's one of those types that favors the additive-free granola-crunchie aisle in the store and came home with some deodorant that was gluten free and packaged in hemp but cost like, 12 dollars. SIGH. Back to clipping coupons... I'm not 100% brand loyal, with most things there are 1 or 2 brands I prefer so I'll tell you the key here to the 'Ripping off CVS' game: Clip any coupons for a brand you would buy; Read the CVS flyer on Sunday. If it's on sale AND you have a coupon, buy it. Even if you don't need it right now; it's not like in 6 months you're suddenly not going to need shampoo. So here's my booty from yesterday, and what do you think it cost?



2 bottles of 32-load Wisk HE detergent
3 cans of Aussie/Herbal Essences mousse
1 bottle Aussie shampoo
2 guy Speed Stick deodorants
1 chick Secret deodorant
2 tubes Colgate toothpaste
1 guy Edge shaving cream
1 box Bandaids
4 tins altoids (a treat for Kenny who eats them in one sitting like they are crack)

Well I'll tell ya... the pre-sale/coupon price was $68. I paid $32 bucks, PLUS I got $11 in Extra Bucks to use next week; so essentially $21. Pretty good, huh?

How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

Turned out, the DOG was not for sale, but everything at Salvage Chic was 20% off this weekend, and it was truly a Smashing Sale Event! The shop opened early yesterday at 9AM and folks started trickling in. I was busy with last-minute things like putting out the flags, hanging sale signs, etc. when I noticed this cute little terrier wagging at me from a vehicle in the parking lot, but thought nothing of it. A while later Claudia mentioned she was getting worried about this little dog out there in the car, as the day was quickly heating up. I figured it belonged to this lady who had been browsing for a while, she was probably just about done, but just in case when she appeared around a corner I struck up a conversation. "Your dog out there is so cute, what is its name?" The woman looked at me blankly and said "I Don't Have a Dog." OOPS, sorry! gesturing at the car... I figured that was your car, it must belong to someone down at the pizza shop; "That IS my car, but I don't... OH MY GOD! I forgot, I am dog-sitting my mother's dog!!" Well BRING IT IN, we said, and a moment later she returned with just the cutest little bundle of wire-haired terrier we ever did see. Holly was a doll and such a polite little customer, sampling water out of a vintage Pyrex bowl we offered her and hopping up on the seat behind the counter when we invited her. Meanwhile her Big Sister/Dog Sitter mentioned that there were several pieces of furniture she was interested in, if she bought them could she pick them up after our vacation? SURE! I said, but figuring she'd want them sooner than later, mentioned that we offer delivery. Then proceeded to follow her around the shop slapping SOLD tags on about 8 pieces of furniture, all the while making small talk only to discover, she recently bought a house on the street where my mom works at a Dental Practice in West Roxbury! Small world. We discussed delivery logistics and I said since she was new to the area, when she needed a dentist she should visit Family Dentistry. "Only, not until after the delivery; if my mom finds out we'll be in the area she'll book me for a teeth cleaning." Her eyes lit up; YOU must be THE BLOGGER! (Sigh... Guilty as charged! and then more Salvage Chick Sarcasm came out: You have no idea how un-nerving it is to get a reminder postcard from The Dentist that you're overdue for a visit... and it's in YOUR MOM'S HANDWRITING!!) We spent some more time with our new favorite customer and then sadly, she scooped up Holly to make the trek back up to Boston. Of course as soon as they left, Claudia said we should've gotten a picture of Holly for the Blog! Duh. Maybe later this week when we make the Special Delivery... but please, don't tell my Mom we're coming.

How Sweet It Is

or rather, How Sweet it WILL BE this weekend at Salvage Chic... As if a 20% off Store-wide Sale weren't enough to tempt you to visit, we're sweetening the pot with some Salvage Chic Signature Cookies to be provided by Hayley & Chris of the fledgling bakery Sweet Inspirations. For some serious Food Porn to get you salivating, check out Hayley's Blog "Buff Chickpea" on the list at the right. I'm not much of a sweet fiend but one look at today's Vanilla Layer Cake with Bittersweet Buttercream post made me want to go ransack the pantry for a Twix leftover from 2 Halloweens ago. Our friend Maddie (of the "Madly Patch" Blog) visited us at Salvage Chic today and informed us she was in on tasting the Salvage Chic cookies in Hayley's Test Kitchen, and they are 'adorable' and 'to-die-for'. Can't wait to see what Hayley & Chris will have cooked up for us on Saturday!! Sweet Inspirations is currently accepting small catering orders; we'll have the Details for you at Salvage Chic this weekend... Be THERE, or Be SQUARE!

A Day In The Life

Many people ask me what I do on my days 'Off' so being remiss in Blogging of late, I thought I'd regale you all with tales from Behind-the-Scenes. This rainy morning found me as most Monday mornings do, lounging in my PJs and looking forward to a Whole Day with Nothing To Do. Just as Izzy, Duff and I were hunkering down looking for a good Bad Lifetime Movie... Suddenly there was an email from a woman in Duxbury that Claudia was slated to deliver furniture to today, asking if another piece she had seen was still available and if so, could it be included in the delivery? Of course it could! So I headed off to Salvage Chic to help Claudia load it into her van and then decided to tag along for the ride. A short while later found us at the Cutest Little Beach-House in Duxbury - in some very nasty weather. Sort of like the weather that hit that same beach in the No-Name storm of '91 and inspired the movie "A Perfect Storm." Those houses aren't built on stilts for nothing! But I digress.

Soon we were back at Salvage Chic and I decided to take a ride to the Registry of Motor Vehicles because (and I really hope my Dad is not reading this...) I was recently informed that my Driver's License is expired! A whole other story but suffice it to say, I would board Dalmatian Puppies at Cruella DeVille's house before I would try to pass off an expired license to the Nasty Lady at Citizen's Bank in Halifax. To cash a check made out to ME, from another account owned by ME, no less. I guess being ME expired along with the license, according to the Bank Sheriff. But I digress.

Much like Ellis Island, down at the RMV I found a lot of tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to break free; or at least have their number called. The estimated wait was one hour and 20 minutes so I decided to hit an Undisclosed Location nearby to kill some time. Managed to waste a little over an hour and pick up some fun goodies, one of which (a 1982 Pac-Man mug!) has already been commandeered by my Husband. Apparently his 4th birthday at McDonald's in Marshfield, where he was gifted with Pac-Man for Atari was Quote: "My BEST PARTY Of My WHOLE LIFE" Umm, OK, I thought our wedding was a pretty cool party, but if Pac-Man does it for ya... Once again, I digress!

So back to the RMV. I whittled away so much time at the Undisclosed Location I all but raced back to the Registry (as much as you could dare race with an expired license) only to find there was still some waiting to do. There were no seats to be had, but OH GOOD, there were magazines! Specifically, Woodworker's Journal and Trains Magazine. SIGH. You'd think Duval could give up those pricey curtains in the Governor's Office and spring for a TV or 2 at the RMV. FINALLY another hour later my number was called, and soon I was again legally licensed, skipping to the Jeep thinking "I can't believe my Helpful Harry Dad did not remind me on my birthday to check my license expiration; like he's always so quick to notice when my Inspection Sticker is expired..." and then blinked disparagingly at the number 5 glaring at me from the sticker on the windshield. SIGH. Guess what I will be doing tomorrow??

By then it was edging on 4:00 and I had just enough time to go home and let the dogs out before meeting Claudia to venture out on our Monday Night Auction Date. You never know what you are going to find at this Auction Hall and tonight it was really... empty. Normally we are able to scoop up some good buys at Auction because the 'Real Antiquers' are so distracted by the mahogany and crystal that they fail to see the beauty of the 'Salvage Chic' Junktiques. But when pickins' are slim, people bid through the roof on ANYTHING just because they want to go home with SOMETHING. Tonight, however, the stuff was so bad the Auctioneer couldn't give it away. The Highlight of the Night? We sit in the front row and I was scarfing down my over-salted popcorn when this one particularly bad item came up for bid, and I reached up to wipe my mouth with my napkin. The Auctioneer exclaimed "Claudia's Friend! I almost thought that was a BID!" then muted his mic and said "but I realize you were just wiping your Cake Hole." THAT was funny. And we didn't leave completely empty-handed, so all was not lost.

So there you have it, A Day in the Life. And Now, like most days, I'm sitting here at 10 PM messing around on my computer, wondering "What did I DO all day?"

All the News That's Fit to Print

and apparently, there is a LONG WAITING LIST... but my Press Agent Claudia managed to wrangle me an interview with Reporter Julie of the Patriot Ledger, to be featured in the "South Shore Entrepreneur" column! Julie and her photographer Greg arrived at Salvage Chic early yesterday morning; (OK, so 10 AM is not THAT early.) The fact that I had had one of those "Final Exam Today and Didn't Attend the Class All Semester Let Alone STUDY" dreams the night before was surely a sign that I was anxious about the interview - but the ice was quickly broken when Claudia asked Greg where he was from and he answered 'Marshfield', to which I replied my Husband was from Marshfield... Greg took one look at my last name on the business card I had just handed him and promptly launched into a litany of stories about my father-in-law. Claudia and I almost wet our pants when he regaled us with the story that Big Kenny once won a Cadillac in a raffle and then refused to claim it because he didn't want to pay the taxes on it. Sadly, my Husband later informed me that was actually ANOTHER branch of the Family Tree Greg was referring to but still, it made for a good time. My rehearsed answers to potential questions went right out the window and when Julie asked me how I liked my newfound career in comparison to the corporate rat-race I left behind 3 years ago, I blurted out "Well, my EYE doesn't TWITCH anymore..." Luckily Claudia maintained her composure so I hope between the 2 of us there were enough Sound Bites for Julie to piece together an entertaining article. South Shore Residents - Look for it on a newsstand near you on July 7th!

True Confessions

Time to unload a burden that's been weighing on me for quite some time. I've been trying to make a concerted effort to clean out the shop's back workroom; I've SWORN OFF buying anything that requires paint, repair, or any other kind of 'work'. But sometimes... the Pickers come by with a gem too good to pass up and in order to get it, I have to buy the whole load. Stuff that requires WORK. I made a solemn vow to Claudia that I would complete at least ONE PROJECT a day, and have been chipping away at my backlog... but as they say, the Road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions. A day at the shop is filled with paperwork to do, website updates, clients to wait on, phones to answer... but Nonetheless, the backroom has been slowly clearing out. If you weren't worried about getting paint on yourself, you could probably do a cartwheel in there. I'd venture to say Claudia is even pretty proud of me and the way I took a vow, stuck to my guns, and labored full speed ahead toward a clean slate. If she only knew... where it's really all been going. (GULP) To my Storage Shed. Everyday when I leave I take something home; and drop it off in this grandiose shed the former owners used
as an art studio. To the point that when I opened the door (where I fully expected to meet my Husband and Candy & Jeff from A&E's INTERVENTION show every time I opened it) I could not possibly cram another thing in.







Monday I decided it was time to grab the bull by the horns. I took EVERYTHING out of the shed, organized all the Seasonal Stuff in bins and put the Christmas items up in the overhead, loaded the more desirable 'Projects' back in an organized fashion, then called Yard Sale Buddy to come get the rest. Some of it, even HE wouldn't take! He graciously made a run to the Dump with some of the Recyclable Items; the rest went curbside.









I was so excited that when Kenny came home I hurried to show him my newly organized Storage Shed; "I don't know if you knew how BAD it was in here..." He cut me off - "I did. I caught a glimpse of it last weekend and it was HORRIFYING. I wondered when you went to get the folding tables for my brother's graduation party why it took you 40 minutes to get back. And about the GARAGE..." SIGH. Baby Steps. That's NEXT WEEK'S project...

Sage Advice: Take a Road Trip this Weekend!

Just a reminder for all the folks who enjoyed the 4/30 "Market Fresh" Blog about my trip to the Sage Farm Antiques Monthly Marketplace in North Hampton, NH; This weekend is the June Market, "White & Breezy". All of the stock from the previous month's market has been removed and replaced with vintage Home & Garden Accents in White and Shades of White. I'm told it's one of their most popular themes each year, and regret I won't get a chance to check it out myself.

Market Hours Fri 10-7, Sat & Sun 10-5 THIS WEEKEND ONLY, and then they close to prep for the July market. Located just 4 miles off of I-95 Exit 2 in North Hampton, NH - visit www.sagefarmantiques.com for more info.

Oh and if you do go - Please report back to us all via the "Comments" page!!