April In The Burbs

 One of the biggest things I've learned after having kids, especially Dot - was to speak up and advocate for my children, myself, my friends and loved ones.  Dot at her most recent MRI. We have them yearly due to her CVR surgery at 11 months old. More coming in that in the future! I didn't know when I was asking the nurses and doctors in the NICU, that what I was actually doing, was advocating for my child.  When our primary nurse (who I simply loved) commented on how involved I was with Dot while she was in the NICU, it kind of struck me as odd to be honest. Doesn't every parent question what these doctors and nurses are doing to their kids, and why?  Dot was a mystery case for the first two of her almost three month stay. At a certain point it's almost like some twisted Badge of Honor - MY kid is the one y'all can't figure out? Sounds about right.  She was chuffing when she was born, so I told my mom who was holding her as I was on the operating table - that

 I've seen these  Back to the Roots kits the last couple of years at Target, and always thought that it would be a fun experiment for the kids and I to grow our own mushrooms !  Since I've recently gotten way more into plants, I thought now was the time to seize the day and grow ourselves some of the cutest mushrooms I've seen in a while. Lockdown has been an excellent time to focus on more intentional and time consuming projects.  I didn't notice when I purchased my kit originally until I got home and checked out the box a bit more, however Back to the Roots donates 1 kit to a classroom for every kit purchased. It's called Grow One, Give One and is the most excellent idea ever. I love the idea of schoolkids getting to watch their very own mushrooms grow - and wow do they actually grow so fast!  I decided to have my donation kit sent to Dot's kindergarten teacher. I emailed to give her a heads up and she was so thrilled to hear about the kit!  Our first set of

 🪵 A solid wood desk.  🧢 Adidas Shorts, Hat, Hoodie - All in black.  🪴A cool plant stand, or large plater/pot.  🤠 Pink Cowgirl Boots in whatever size Dot is currently in. (I've had good luck with these so far, so I hope to keep that momentum going.)  🪑An oversized chair for the livingroom. 🏠 A nice solid wood rocking chair or two for the front porch.  💅🏻 A Barbie Dream House for Dot. I did see one recently for a great price, but I couldn't fit it into my car, and I had no legit excuse to buy it for her at the time.  🛼 A pair of old school rollerskates. 

There are many factors when it comes to pricing vintage items.  What kind of quality is it in? How rare is it? What era is it from? The materials?  One of the quickest and easiest things you can do, is to Google the particular item you're trying to sell and find comps on eBay and Etsy . This will give you an excellent idea of what that item is worth in today's market - versus what we think it should cost just because we have some attachment to it because it's a neat thing to sell.  The way I price my items, to sell, is typically undercutting what I see everyone else listing said item for. This method has worked for the majority of my buying and selling career and continues to bring me happy customers whenever I have new product to showcase or sell.  This works in my favor in two ways;  1. My customer is getting a better deal than anywhere else and therefore the chances of me selling that item is pretty high. 2. I buy vintage at such a low cost that it doesn't make sense