Look What my Husband Did

So while I was working on the house, by husband stopped by a garage sale on his way to work. He bought me the most romantic thing ever...

A lawn spreader and two cans of chalkboard spray paint! (You think I was kidding about the 'romantic' part?)

No one knows me like my man. I really started jumping up and down when I opened the door and there were these mysterious gifts on my porch.

These Scott's spreaders are like $75 at Lowe's right now. This particular one is only a year old and was only $15. Which is why I love garage sales... and Kyle Hess..

Happy Friday. Tomorrow's Saturday... that means you could go to a Garage Sale tomorrow :) Do it! At least while the weather's still nice and springy!

Hess House Garage Sale

We had a garage sale this weekend! Actually, we hosted a garage sale for six different families; it was kind of incredible. Of course, like the crazy self that I am, I didn't get a picture of the garage sale sign or any of the people at the garage sale...

But I did get pictures of our friends' kids...

And then I let the kiddos take a few pics with the camera (on Auto), showing them how to point and click. Pretty impressive if you ask me... (but I'm sure they are pros at iphone photography by now so it's not much different right?)

We really did have a great time at the garage sale. We weren't ready to throw a lot of pic furniture or home decor items into the garage sale just yet, so mostly for the Hesses we had clothes, t-shirts, sneakers, a semi-functional sewing machine, some of Kyle's extra disc golf discs, our trusty old-fashioned lawn mower, and a semi-broken large glass table that conveniently came with the house because it was too heavy to move...

And the kiln, but the kiln didn't sell at the garage sale. So it doesn't really count. I'm going to try craigslist, but I figured we could take a chance at the garage sale. (For all of you how are wondering why I have a kiln, click here for the full story... For all of you wondering why I'm selling it, well, because I'm way too scared to plug it in and then not watch it for the entire 8 hours it needs to 'cook' pottery... I can barely leave my crock-pot on at home without worrying it will burn the house down...)

Anyways, luckily our friends had TONS of great stuff. I'm convinced it was their stuff and our great location that made the garage sale so successful. See we started with everything in our shop... it was stuffed.

Then the morning of the garage sale we moved all the big furniture outside.

Still though, no pictures of 'the grown-ups" or the crazy yummy barbecue chicken I made for us all to eat for lunch that day. I used my dad's barbecuing tips and my mom's potato salad recipe and the people were happy (happy tummies...).

Love living in a city that loves garage sales. Especially in a city that doesn't require us to purchase a permit for garage sales... which means there's no risk and all reward :)

And let's be honest, I just played with the kids all day and made lunch. And got a sweet desk chair that one of our friends was going to sell... Couldn't be more excited about the desk chair. (But more on that later I'm sure).

But anyways, you should have a garage sale this spring. Who knows what kind of money you could make on  the stuff you don't really even want anymore... or what kind of storage space you may gain :) Post it on craigslist, put up good signs (no one wants to get lost), and price everything (most people are afraid to say 'how much is this?').  And do it with friends, it was like a long fun hangout ending with profits and barbecue for us... #whocouldaskforanythingmore

Happy Monday.

Thrift Shop Challenge

Saturday I made big plans, I spent a bit of time researching thrift shops in the Dallas area, drawing a map, and even reading reviews on some website called Yelp. I love me some thrift shops, but here in East Texas I do better at garage sales. BUT when some of my favorite bloggers (real deal bloggers) over at Young House Love issued a Thrift Shop Challenge last Friday I was motivated. Well, after watching the video I was dancing and motivated... (and I recommend watching the video on their site because just searching for the Thrift Shop music video will probably get your mouth washed out with soap... if you know what I mean).

The YHL Thrift Shop challenge had three requirements, but I saw even more crazy stuff and went home with some great finds! I'm not kidding, one item in the store may have given me nightmares.

Step#1 from John and Sherry: "Go to a thrift shop with - just as the chorus of the song says - '$20 in your pocket' and take a picture." So that's what I did.

I went to the Rescue Thrift Store located on Oates in Dallas. I decided to bring my fancy camera to get good pictures and then realized that it was going to be hard to get a picture of myself and the store sign and my 'twenty dollas.' So I tracked down a nice lady and had her snap a photo for me. I tried to explain but I think she still thought I was crazy.

Step #2 from John and Sherry: "Spend that $20 any way you'd like and photograph your spoils."

And then Step #3: "Find one item (or more) reference in the song and snap a pic."

So as I ventured through the store I had my camera ready looking for: a.) good finds b.) moccasins/keyboards/luggage/shoes with Velcro, and c.) anything worthy of picture-taking.... 

First aisle I found these house numbers. They were nice and heavy and thick and they had some numbers that meant a little bit to us. Since we got married on May 8th, the 5 and the 8 remind us of that. They are also great looking numbers if you ask me. These were $1.91 each then and additional 20% off. I bought 4 of them... why not. I've got the perfect spot for two of them on the gallery wall (that I have yet to show you guys... because the frames are still empty).

Saw some old random medical equipment and then I spotted the luggage section. Step number three: Check!

Rounded the corner by the old golf clubs and realized they had everything here at the Rescue Thrift Store...

Everything AND the kitchen sink...

... and MUMMIES! I'm not kidding. I looked up at the whites of the mummies eyes and about passed out. And there were TWO of them! I should have checked the price, but I was a little too creeped out. Do you see those eyes?!

After I got over the mummy, I spotted the keyboard. That's two items for Step #3: Check! Maybe it's a smaller keyboard than they were expecting...

But then I got to the frame and furniture section of the store. That's what I was looking for. I passed the crazy desk selection and I saw this beauty. It was labeled "TV stand" but I think it looks like a great little side table or something. It even has wheels! Although it was a little wobbly, once the screws were tightened it was pretty sturdy.

And for $10 with an additional 20% off, I couldn't pass it up for $8. Did you see it in the background of Wednesday's Ikea post? It kind of already found a spot in the house...

I snagged a few old picture frames that had good bones. Figure I'll probably paint them white. Funny thing was, I found an Ikea picture frame at the thrift shop that was pretty beat up for like $4.50. That was too much for me to spend on an old frame. I'm glad I passed that one up because I got a brand new white frame (the exact same one!) for $1.99 just a few hours later at Ikea. But I did get these thee frames at the thrift store for $1.53 each. 

So I don't know if you've been keeping up (plus tax), but let's just let the receipt do the talking...

Total $19.64. How nice was that? I didn't even try hard to get it that close to the $20. Ended up with three frames, 4 numbers, a sweet little table on wheels, 36 cents of change... and a whole lot of entertainment. Remember the mummy?

I know, you can't get the image out of your head. I can't get the Thrift Shop song out of my head. I keep singing "I wear your granddad's clothes, I look incredible..." If you decided to skip the video, don't... go watch it.

And if you have a chance, go check out the Young House Love blog today. They're supposed to be sharing their thrift shop finds today along with links to all their readers who went thrift shopping last weekend too!

Happy Thrifting. Really, go check a thrift shop out this weekend... or at least hit up a few garage sales Saturday morning. Who knows what you'll find?

For me, I can't wait to figure out what I'm going to do with all this stuff and the Ikea loot...

Ikea Loot

So the Hess family boys were away at a retreat this weekend and my mother-in-law proposed us ladies head to Dallas for a some girl fun. You know, spending hours at Ikea, dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (Jerk Chicken Pizza anyone?), sleeping in a comfy hotel bed, make your own Texas shaped waffle breakfast, and swimming in the hotel pool...

It was a pretty fabulous weekend. I capped off the weekend with a wonderful lunch with my Aunt Billie. I guess I started the weekend early too by driving to Dallas early Saturday morning for a little thrift shop challenge. (More on that on Friday, really, you will want to see this...)

But today, I'd like to tell you about all the loot I snagged at Ikea. ...Oh Ikea, how smart and genius your people are. How I wish you were closer, but only if I had unlimited funds.

If you've ever been to Ikea (at least the one is Frisco/Dallas) you know you start with the escalator. My nephews LOVED the escalator. Unfortunately there is no down escalator (Smart Ikea) and so the boys may have had to take the elevator down between escalator 'rides.' You know, after we found the elevator, they are very tricky there at Ikea no wanting you to go back the wrong direction or anything...

So we got a map. Which kind of helps. But I LOVE it, it's like a store adventure through all those small little houses and living rooms and kitchens then down to the world of a million awesome things to buy. If you need a map in the store, I consider it entertainment too...

I don't know how they do it, but things just look prettier at Ikea. Maybe it's because they are prettier... or maybe it's the low prices...

They even sell live plants at Ikea. I had no idea. I've even been there before. But I feel like that will happen every time I go; I'll be amazed by something new and great. Kind of like the people that keep going back to Disney world again and again... right?

Although the boys spent some time in the kiddo-land at Ikea, they were beat. I was too, but I was hyped up on "oooh look what I just bought," and Landen wasn't so lucky...

See?? How do you not get excited about this basket of awesomeness... even though that's some of my sister-in-law's stuff in there too.

But let's unpack. Here's the loot I ended up with. Sorry for the poor lighting, I took these pictures a little later in the day than I should have...

First this was an impulse buy. I saw this cool figurine man and I couldn't take my eyes off him. I've always wanted one (he's fully poseable) and I thought they were like $30 or something so I never looked for one. But then Ikea said $4.99 each and I said, okay I'll take TWO! I figure (pun, lol) I'll put one one my desk at my new job, and one in the living room. I can't seem to find the name of them, but they were on sale and don't seem to be available on Ikea's website anymore either. But I'm sure Kyle and I can pose them all crazy like and it will be a fun game of something.

Then there was the rest of the loot. I maybe should have taken individual pictures of everything because it's harder to see the details. But once they're in place in the house I'll update you guys on where they ended up and how...

Starting on the right: First we have magazine rack/dividers called Knuff (Ikea names most of their items, and they all are kind of funny actually). They were on my list. I know it looks like one, but it's actually two. I've been looking for a way to sort the 'piles of files' on our desk for mail sorting, and I think this may do the trick (more on that system later). There were some made of cardboard for 2/$4.99 but I like the wooden ones. It was the look I was going for and they seemed sturdier so I sprung and paid 2/$9.99.

Second in the lineup is the striped napkins: Matta. These were also an impulse buy. But they were fancy and LSU-colored and 49 cents for the whole pack. So spendy...

In the middle are the red dish scrubby brushes called Plastis and I'm kind of in love with them. They were also on the list.. We have the exact same one now and it's about dead and needed replacing. They're $1.49 each and they have a suction cup on the end of the handle which means they just suction right to the sink when you're done.

The blue lamp you see may have been my third and last impulse buy (if you count the two figurines as one impulse...) and it's called Morkt. See I told you the names were funny... Anyways it's a tea light lantern and the color is unbelievable. And it's cute, and I think I may hang it on the wall... 

Then last, but never, ever least are the frames. I could not believe the prices for these frames. AND they were already white, which meant I didn't have to spray paint them white like I did the last cheap frames I bought from Target.  They're different size and all white except for one silver one that I thought would be fun.

See how many I got?? From top to bottom: one Ribba 5x7" in Silver, four Ribba 5x7 in White, one Virserum 4x6"in White, one Ribba 4x6" in White, one Ribba 4.75x6.75 in White, and two Nyttja 8.5x11in in White  And they all have cool mats except the Nyttja frames (which means without the mats the frames can hold larger prints or with the mats they look very, very cool. All the frames seem to have real glass, and get this... ALL the frames (except the Ribba 4.75x6.75) were $1.99 each! Crazy, crazy, crazy! The 'expensive' one was only $4.99.

In case you lost count, that's ten brand new, already the color I want, with mats, and glass, and ready to hang (once I put stuff in them) for a total of $22.90 (without tax). I think I can swing that. Or I did, I guess I already did...

So I've got a whole lot of stuff and a few projects up my sleeve, if you can't tell. And I've got some pretty fun stuff from my thrift shop hunting too... so tune in Friday for the Thrift Shop Madness again, inspired by these guys and a little bit of crazy music.

Do you live near an Ikea? Do you wish you did now? Or maybe when you have a ton of cash and can redo you're entire kitchen with Ikea stuff and their awesome butcher block counter tops?? ...okay, maybe just me...

Black Friday 2012

So I actually wrote a post ahead of time about Black Friday, then after it happened I realized I'd have to write up the real story.

First of all we're up in Oklahoma. So if you're saying that "you should be spending time with the family on Thanksgiving," you don't know the Hesses, lol. Spending time with the family on Black Friday means heading out to the stores together, fighting the crowds, yelling at each other across the store, cheering one another on, holding a place in line. It's hilarious, it's family time, and we did it big two years ago last time we were here.

The stores opened early and while everyone was saying "oh they open so early," we were saying, "wow we can get in and out of the stores and then get back to sleep at a decent hour." It was kind of incredible.

So to give you the best representation of how things went, I thought I'd share my texts to my brother last night. He's known me since I was born, so poor thing he usually has to suffer through any situation I have to suffer through via text message. Mostly because I can hear him laughing even though I can't really here him.

The sales started at 8pm at Walmart and there were lines starting for some of the items going on sale for 10pm.

8:32pm Brit to Jared: So I'm sitting in a line at Walmart lol I'll be here until they give me a special tag when the sale starts ... at ten pm. I told Kyle to go find me a book in the store to read.

8:36pm Brit to Jared: The line is in the auto section ... So I'm starting at cans of fix a flat. Wouldn't be a better time to have an iphone.

8:37pm Brit to Jared: And the teenagers next to me are talking about making deals making deliveries splitting cash and hiding whatever it is they're selling...

8:39pm Brit to Jared: Yep. Something that comes in bags. They are totally drug dealers. And fifteen. Or maybe sixteen because I guess they drove here.

(Note: I can't confirm they were breaking the law... just for anyone who says "you should report them." Maybe they were delivering pizzas... in bags.)

8:41pm Brit to Jared: I think they're taking bets on if I'm under or over 40. But I hope I misunderstood. :(

(Note: To clear that one up, I'm under 30...)

8:42pm Jared to Brit: Hahaha sounds like you're having quite a time! You shoulda brought your camera. Don't get drug into their mess. You'd hate to get arrested!

8:42pm Jared to Brit: They think you look forty?! They must be on drugs.

(Note: That's my brother... making me feel good :)

8:44pm Brit to Jared: I know. I have my skinny jeans on, my LSU sweatshirt and even my cool yellow flats. Maybe it's my phone ... :)

(Note: this is my phone:

8:45pm Jared to Brit: Haha maybe that's it!

8:45pm Jared to Brit: We're playing spoons and someone just drew blood! My finger is bleeding!

(Not: My brother was at home in Louisiana. Not sitting in the auto department of Walmart.)

8:50pm Brit to Jared: Oh man. I'm in a store full of crazy shoppers and you're the one who is bleeding lol.

8:55pm Jared to Brit: Haha let's hope you don't bleed tonight.

8:57pm Brit to Jared: True. Ive seen both of these guys' moms come by. They were both in fancy workout clothes and in great shape. Makes since that they'd think I'm forty, lol.

(Note: Then my phone started to die. Had to stop updating Jared every few seconds. He was probably grateful. I knew if my phone died I may never find Kyle in all the crowds to get home...)

9:30pm Brit to Jared: Kyle brought me a Pioneer Woman cookbook to read. I think I'm going to survive.

9:39pm Brit to Jared: Hahaa I know you'll enjoy that!

(Note: I finished the cookbook pretty quick. And then I was hungry for anything with chipotle peppers. And then I went back to looking at this:

9:50pm Brit to Jared: A guy has been talking about himself for about 30 minutes ... He just compared himself and his life story to Babe Ruth... only ten more minutes.

9:58pm Jared to Brit: Hahaa.    Please.   Babe Ruth.

9:58pm Jared to Brit: Get Ready!!!

Then the line started to move. Then I got my life back. And then I returned to the crowds.

In bed before midnight and I'll say Black Friday Thursday was kind of relaxing. And for me at least, quite entertaining...

Much love to you all on Black Friday. I hope you're full of yummy turkey and dressing and read to see some good football today. As always, may the odds be ever in your favor (that is just so fitting in so many situations). Well, unless you're the Razorbacks, then may the odds be in our favor.

Happy Black Friday Thanksgiving!

Garage Sale Find!

I've taken some advice and perused pinterest. Funny how I found way more stuff typing "desk" into the search box rather than "office."

Will share later.

But this weekend we found some amazing stuff at a huge garage sale. I told a ton of people because there was so much stuff we wanted to buy it all.

Actually we walked through and were about to leave, but decided to give it another walk through.

Then we bought TONS of stuff.

Gun Replica and Frame (Kyle): $10

This awesome mirror with a huge frame. Kyle actually found this one: $5

Then we found a ton of old bottles, dirty, dusty, but great: FREE, because the lady thought we should have them for our new house ;)

Got a never been used electric ice cream maker: $1 And I know people say they never use these, but my family used to use ours a lot, and I LOVE that ice cream. We didn't register for one when we got married and there have been multiple times when I wish we would have.... $1, we'll take it.

Got a large green vase and a large green bottle for $3. Love the color; they had more green and colored glass but I didn't want us to get all cluttered.

And then Kyle got a rocking chair for $15. Good condition, solid wood. And apparently he's always wanted one. (And it has already been used to rock sweet Baby Pettigrew, so it's already worth it.)

That's our loot. Total $34. We're on our way to decorating a house. (And having yummy ice cream.)

Dance Moves and Coupons

So I feel like I have extra time this week... but see that's what tends to get me into trouble. You know how when you have 5 extra minutes in the morning use it to relax, it seems you get up 10 minutes later and then you're 5 minutes late! That used to happen to me all the time in college: one teacher would let us out 10 minutes early so I figured I had time to go (fill in activity here) before the next class started... oops! misfigured and ended up late to the next class.

So this week I need to be working on my thesis proposal and I really did plan to; however, I forgot that the school is on break and my professor won't be responding to my emails :(  So while I'm sure there are things I could do to work on it, I guess my 'motivation' found out and decided to vacation...

But this week I've been starting a few new things thanks to some Christmas gifts...you won't believe it... get ready...

I'm going to use coupons!!

So for Christmas, in the spirit of saving...Kyle got me a book written by 'the Coupon Mom' who claims that you can save tons of money and spend 15 minutes or less on coupon-ing by using her methods and free website. She's got the mom hair an everything! I've been reading and the book sounds promising so far. I probably should go to the store to get more food into the house, but I want to learn all there is about coupons before I go. Anyways, I'll share the tips as I go, and I'll let you know if her claims are true. (I've tried coupons before, and I was not impressed, so even skeptics... join me, we'll see!)




New thing number two would be: Working Out!

Remember what it was like when you were in college and your schedule was super flexible and you had a free gym membership to a gym right on campus... oh I remember the glory days! But now, I don't see the sense in paying $30 to join the local gym if I don't even make time to just run around the block.

So I got a few new Wii games this Christmas that'll put me on the way without having to go out in the blistering cold! (It's like 28 degrees here, and me and my southern blood get cold at 65 degrees...).

The Biggest Loser Challenge: It's great so far. Although my character doesn't look much like me, I get Bob and Jillian telling me not to stop when really I cannot do that many push-ups! The great thing about the game is that it tests your fitness level at the beginning so you know where to start. The hard part is that you don't get to start at easy-breezy if they know you can do more than that, whew!  Fun part is that you get to stand on that big scale each week and watch it beep... although I'm not there yet, so that's just what I think happens.

 Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2010: This one Kyle picked out for me (because I asked for workout games) and when I opened it made sure and said sweet things so it didn't look like he bought it because he thought I was out of shape... he's so funny. So this one is next on my list open up and pop into the Wii. It's just Jillian in different "all-new exotic locales" and I can't wait to really see what it is.

 Just Dance: Okay so this isn't a workout game, but really... it is. After playing it one day for a few minutes I was soo sore. Shows you what kind of shape I'm in. But it's fun, you can compete alone or with a partner up to 4 people at one time and it really gets you moving. A lot of the songs are oldies with a few new hits, but the Just Dance 2 has newer songs and from what my Aunt Pam tells me, a built in workout program.

So for those of you who know me, I don't think I'm fat and need to lose 50 pounds. But after working with my elderly patients all day I realize that the ones who keep active are doing the best later in life. That whole "use it or lose it" and I thought, 'other than diet what am I really doing to keep my heart healthy?' because let's be honest, I'm not going jogging in 28 degree weather!

So I'll have to get on top of that thesis soon, real soon. But this week, I'll be working out, trying to figure out coupons at the beginner level, and getting geared up for 52 at Sky Ranch! Woo, if you're coming I'm excited!

Go ahead, be active today... or check out the coupon section :)

Thanksgiving Marshmallows and Black Friday

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I know I'm a day late, well two days late.  But we've been busy up here in Oklahoma.  We've been fooding for Thanksgiving, shopping for Black Friday, footballing for all the big games, and of course leftovers, rubber band wars, and marshmallow gun fights! 

You really wouldn't believe the things you can fit into two days, especially when you stay up all night shopping. So for anyone who doesn't participate in the day after Thanksgiving shopping, here's how it goes down with the Hess family:

1. Grab the ads. Get the kiddos to choose what they want for Christmas from what's on sale! Perfect!

2. Make your own Christmas list, some sale items, some not. And make copies for everyone in the room.

3. Make your gameplan! What time do all the stores open, what's the best deals, who do you have to buy for, what do they want that's on sale. Cross compare the ads, to the lists, to the plan. Figure out who's going to what store and who can grab something for you (even if it's what you'll be giving them for Christmas).

Example Plan from Kyle and Brittany:

11:30pm  - Be at Walmart, find the deals you want to grab and make sure to be at the front of the line.

MIDNIGHT - Time to grab and go mad, and run to the number 2, 3, 4 priority item on the list.

12:30 - Dash to the front register as everyone else grabs the last items and meets you in line!

1:00 - Head to Old Navy for jeans for $15 a pair!

1:15 - Leave Old Navy realizing that the line literally goes up and down every aisle and is 3-4 hours long!

1:45 - Head to Walgreens for wrapping paper at 1.99 a roll plus 1 free rolls! Then realize that has been the sale for like 5 days, oh well.

2:15 - Go by Norman's second Walmart looking for a particular toy for a particular nephew that sold out in like 10 seconds at the other Walmart. Go up and down every aisle looking for that toy someone may have set down and decided not to buy...

...keep looking...

...keep looking and find Toy Story 3 for $10!

...keep looking and find the toy in pink and purple :(

...keep looking...

3:00  - YES! Found the toy in boy colors on the floor on the greeting card aisle! Wooo!

3:15 - Head back to home base to check out the online Old Navy sale for jeans and realize I am not a size 0 or size 16 so no jeans for me.

3:30 - Pack up and head to Target! Lady in the parking lot tells us the line starts in the back of the store... the line goes from the South entrance, past the North entrance, past the Motherhood Maternity store, past the Verizon store, past the AT&T store, around the dumpsters and back around to the AT&T store. WOW!

Picture taken by Emily Hess real early in the Morning!

4:15 - Run into Target, get everything we were looking for and race to the checkout to get a great spot in line and out in like 15-20 minutes!

5:00 - Head back to Old Navy just in case... and they have even more jeans available, the line is short, and we score jeans half off! Woo!

5:30 - See a line outside in the mall and wonder what people are waiting for. Hop in the line. Get a free gift bag with a "sport ball" in it. But the lady in front of us got a $50 mall certificate! Good for her, she was very cute!

4. Rest

6:15 - Make it back to home base, SNOOZE!

Can you say, wonderful, adrenaline, and whoa tiring! But we're officially done with all the gifts for Kyle's family. We'll wrap them today and leave them here!  So I encourage everyone to get out and do that next year, really because at least at 2am there's some fun involved as opposed to 2 weeks later when the stores are just as packed, you don't get any sales, and you don't seem to think it's quite as exciting.  And now we can focus on decorating! right? (and buying for the Kingsley fam of course).

More to come soon on our fabulous fall! My trip home to Lake Charles with the fam, our trip to College Station... and SOON to come decorating the house for Christmas!! (once we do that :)

What did you do this Thanksgiving? and what are you thankful for?