Update from a Barkeeper

Hi there, folks!

Dang, I'm always bad about posting around this time of year. It is called BURNOUT!

Anyhoo, the reason for the title???

The Long Beach outdoor market at Vets Stadium again.

I went last Sunday and I was feeling all chagrined with my mental vacation self because I forgot my hat at school. I should buy another one and leave it in the car or something. I now find that since I used a hat and sunglasses in my trip in 2004, I feel a bit lost without them.

Then again, since I got my new glasses, I haven't gotten a desperately-needed new pair of sunglasses that will actually fit the frames.

Anyhoo!!

I bought some Pyrex. Of course. Because I am addicted to this stuff. There is one bowl I bought for $10 that is a darker blue, and I actually haven't seen too many of these so I don't know what the deal is. I'll either take a picture or snake one off the internet.

For those of you that love visuals, this was $10 also:

That is definitely not a great price, but I'd never seen it before and thought I would really regret not getting it because it is the shade of blue that I really like. I can always resell it, I suppose. I want to use more of this color in the kitchen. Have a Pyrex-themed/inspired kitchen and stuff.

So! I saw this one space that was nearly all Pyrex, and so tastefully arranged according to color. I chatted a bit with the lady and she was very nice and friendly. Their Pyrex was $25-$35, out of my range, and, in my opinion, out of the order of reason, basically. They had the dots Pyrex also, which apparently is rare and always goes for bigger bucks on eBay. I always love hearing about how to clean Pyrex properly since it's a collectible and I want to keep what I have in the best condition possible.

She mentioned this!

I remember hearing about this, probably when I was looking to remove the dingy rust marks in the white porcelain sink, but I was likely feeling all cheapskatey. Another very, VERY nice man that I met at Ola's Antiques who gave me a rare discount from his booth said he uses Softscrub to clean Pyrex. I saw him at a local estate sale last Friday, also. Just seeing him makes me smile, he is SUCH a nice older guy, retired, who just does this as a hobby. I LOVE NICE UNASSUMING PEOPLE! And he had pink glass, which I love. It was a pink Planter's jar. Hee!

So the lady mentioned that she found this Bar Keepers Friend stuff at Smart and Final for $7 a 3-pack, and I walked to the store up the street and got it this afternoon!

I tried it out on the sink and one rust stain it took out immediately, but the other one was stubborn even after three scrubbings. I think I will try some salt and lemon, because apparently that works.

Whee, we love chemistry. :) I should probably have tried this on my big rusty cheapo Kitchenaid ginsu knife before chucking it in the trash. Hmm.

As for the sink? Man, it does indeed look decidedly better. The friend of the keeper of the bar works wonders! I haven't tried it on Pyrex or my bathroom yet, though. But stuff like this makes me like, love cleaning, no easy task. Mmmm, cleaning. I love cleanliness, but not enough to do it every day, because I think I love laziness a bit more. I can't wait to try it on the bathtub, a household area with mondo scuzzy gross-out factor.

Before I hit Smart and Final, I also walked over to the thrift store up the street, because I've had my eye on some Pyrex plates. It is bagged in a set of 4 dinner plates, 4 salad plates, and 3 saucers. But no cups. :(

Originally? $29.98. Haha. Yeah right. It is now marked $18.98 but that is still too high for me. I have been checking for at least a MONTH to see if it will go down further because I can handle $10. These plates would go so well with my kitchen. They are not impossible to find but they aren't always as cheap as I like.

Basically, I was going to walk out with nothing, but I then spied a little mirrored vanity tray, EXACTLY to match the very, very, very first one I ever bought, which happened to be the very first time I went to the Vets Stadium and oopsy walked in through the back entrance and didn't pay the entrance fee. Heh. There was another vanity tray there, which I didn't like nearly as much since it wasn't as pretty, and it was also marked $5.95 instead of $2.92.

I ended up getting a mug as well, which I'd always seen but couldn't convince myself to buy, except that now it had been marked down to 90¢. It is red and it has a gold decal on it that says VIP! It is shaped like a beer stein and is rawther heavyish. Hee. I also hemmed and hawed and ultimately passed on the GREY glass dessert cups - there were two, and I think they were either $2 or $1 each.

And I just found the picture on eBay!



I love this listing, it's so funny. "Picture show 5, there are 8, other 3 did not make it to the photo session." What, were they held up in traffic or something?

Anyway, I did end up getting 4 adorable, dainty, little dessert cups for 60¢ each because they would make for an absolutely stunning berry/pudding/layered thing.

As I was checking out, one of the Japanese people I'd noticed walking in the store up and said, "You got a good deal!" She was looking at my vanity tray. She had picked up the other one, as well as a swirly candelabra. She asked about the price, since her tray was $5.95, and they called over another chick to see if they should both be the same price, but no go.

I swear, EVERY time I go to Vets Stadium I am seeing more and more Japanese people. I never encountered one in a thrift store before, though. I asked her if she was out here buying old stuff, and how long she was staying, and I recommended Vets Stadium to her, but she was only staying a week and the next one is on the 30th. She didn't seem to interested in hearing my suggestions for other local thrift stores, though. Her loss! She mentioned she's coming again in May, so I don't know WHAT is up with these Japanese people coming over and buying the stuff. They must be rich, firstly, to be all flying over here. Secondly - is it popular over there, coming to buy antiques?? The dollar is so lousy trash now, they may as well.

Speaking of which, I totally noticed a trio of Japanese women scoping out a white-painted foldable dessert tray server when I was at the antique market on Sunday. Jibber and jabber in Japanese, and they ended up not getting it, but one girl seemed to really like it. It was priced $29. I about died.

Because I got two of those at the big local thrift store for $2.95 each. WAZZAAAA!

The mark up I saw on stuff was seriously incredible this time.

There's a wire basket I use in the bathroom to hold extra toilet paper; it's on the toilet tank. I got it at about 30% off at Target, I think, for $6.98. On Sunday, I saw the SAME thing (I love to ask the prices of stuff for which I already know the ballpark price :P), finally found a little handmade tag, and it said "antique iron wire basket - $29.50". What on earth! No way.

It certainly isn't antique, much less vintage, and it's not even nearly as adorable cute as the other bigger one I got at the thrift store for $3.95. THAT one just has class and panache.

Later, I saw a cake stand. TOTALLY not old glass, NOT even that fancy, but it had the basic aura of old time with some glass beading along the edge of the foot and the plate. Made by Anchor/Hocking. $9.99 at Target. I bought it in December. SHE TOLD ME THE PRICE WAS $49, "And I believe it's [insert some random obscure American glassmaker whose name I don't even recognize but it probably starts with an H]."

Yikes, man.

Lesson? You now need to really know your stuff when you go to this market, or you will get totally hosed! :)

Lastly, there was the rag lady. Or, the rag couple. Except, the lady is the one that is really in charge and she basically calls the shots. They are an older Mexican (I think, but I ought not to assume) couple who buys rags, I guess, sorts through them, cleans them very nicely, and she has aprons and napkins and sheets and pillowcases and table runners and other nice linens.

I bought a beautiful redwork-type flat sheet (seriously, it was absolutely COVERED in gorgeous embroidery) for $35 in October or something. I was a bit pissed because the price tag said $25, but I have a feeling she changed it on me after I asked her to hold it for me. I got over it, though, because she charged me less than half on a couple other table runners I got, which were amazing french knots and stuff.

Anyhoo, she mentioned that she had matching pillowcases and I wanted to scream. Turns out she didn't bring them, but she said she would next time.

And I haven't been able to find these people since! They always have the same spot, and I missed a couple markets, but they said they at least hadn't sold them and would look again for them. They may be shams, because the lady said she separates shams since there aren't usually as many of those.

Anyway, the man was very nice, and ended up letting me have one pillowcase for $1 instead of $4 since it was fraying on one seam. It is basically a loss as a pillowcase anyway, but the embroidery is gorgeous and I want to use it on a craft or something.

What was a totally crazy altercation was this pair of women, and the guy/husband they went and got after spying a big crocheted bedspread. The chick with the Brit accent wanted it, they consulted with the guy after asking the price (which they thought was a bit steep), everybody was helping them with measuring, etc., I guess they couldn't agree on the price, and the next thing I know, there's this argument back and forth with talk of being "babied" and calling each other a-hole and whoa!!! Bad vibes, man.

But the man was nice to me since I am nice to him and I think I will keep doing that.

The only bummer in an otherwise lovely lovely day? I missed out on a Blue Willow (total reproduction, but still - I wanted it to match my cups and saucers that I have already!) teapot with sugar bowl. Missed out by 2 minutes. Walked up to the table just as another lady started looking at the teapot. :(

I walked away, hoping she would leave and I could come back, but she was thinking about it too, and finally, when I asked the seller about the prices, then looked at the sugar bowl, she decided to take it. Darn it! It was only $10, the bowl was $5, and they matched. Made in England. :(

But Marshall's and TJMaxx and freaking HOME GOODS are my new fixes for the pretty tea time pottery stuffs. Those will have to do.

Home Goods. Wow. Love that store. TJMaxx got me into the tea stuff (I should have gotten that pink teapot, darn it!! $10, Valentine's line), but now Marshall's and Home Goods are on my radar. I guess they are owned by the same parent company or something.

I DID find the teapot eventually, at Marshall's, on clearance, but it was missing the lid!! I bought it anyway, then regretted it and returned it. And it's still there at the Marshall's where I returned it. But after church the week before, I found the giant cake plate on clearance for $5. Yippee!!

When I checked eBay for the teapot, it was listed $9.99 with $7.40 shipping. Poo. I passed. Then it was relisted for $5.99. And I totally would have bought it, except I forgot to bid and be by the computer when the auction ended, since I was on the phone with my future sister-"in-law". Grr. And then it was relisted for $12.99 Buy It Now. Nooooooo.

I gave a best offer of $5 (hee, lowball), she's counteroffered for $8, and I need to think about it.

Not sure what to do.

Except go and watch Mad TV now!! Yippee.