Tag Sale Totals, not quite ready...

First of all, I discovered "Tag Sale" is a New England term.  It just means yard sale or garage sale.  I don't know why we call it a tag sale and I don't know why the rest of you guys don't know what I am talking about!  I also learned that only we call poster board "oak tag" and again no one, even my husband, knows what I am talking about.  So let's say I say to him "let's pick up some oak tag to make signs for the tag sale" and he looks at me with a blank expression- now I know why.  He says weird things though.  He says "these cookies were boughten" which means they're not homemade. 

So the tag sale update:
I haven't posted totals because we are still waiting for some items to sell.  We were surprised how much people low balled us on items.  We had a photocopy machine and people wanted to buy it for $50, we listed it on Craigslist and had dozens of offers for $200+ in minutes.  We listed all the furniture and big items on Craigslist.  That was very successful.  We had some nice stuff and odd items (a stuffed deer head) and we got better prices that way. 
I took the clothing to consignment stores.  I had never done that before, I usually drop off things we don't use anymore at the thrift shop for the local hospital.  It works like this: you drop your items off, they price them and if they sell in 60 days you get 1/2 the sale price.  If they don't sell you can take them back.  We had some nice clothing that friends had donated- designer brands and purses.  One consignment shop listed a bag for $160 and its matching wallet for $50- so if it sells I will have $105 from just those 2 items, while at the tag sale people were offering $5.  If it doesn't sell, I can pick it up and try another shop. 
I would recommend to anyone trying a tag sale fundraiser, to try consignment.  Invite a few fashionable friends over to go through the items.  I am not familiar with many of these designer brands.  I thought consignment would only take designer labels, but they took Gap and Ann Taylor Loft.  Pick a consignment shop in a trendy, hipster area.  I found 2 consignment shops right next to each other.  One catered to a younger crowd- they took all my Abercrombie, Gap and roller skates and denim.  The other one took Coach and Kate Spade purses and clothes from Loft and Banana Republic.  They also took 2 pieces of Wedgewood and a Mother's Day plate.  They both get a good amount of traffic, so I'll see how I did on August 20th (60 days from when I dropped the items off.)  They would only take in season items, so in fall I will drop off all the sweaters and jackets.  I also had some Indian and Asian friends donate some traditional clothes, and both shops were very interested in these items.
Baby items sell really well, but they have to be new and in impeccable shape.  I had some audio baby monitors, but they will only take video ones.  The baby consignment shop turned down all my items- we didn't have too many kids' items and many were out of season.  If your last child grows out of things, consign them right away.  We had a couple drop side cribs donated, but had to toss them- they are illegal to sell.  You shouldn't sell car seats or helmets either.  We had people donate other items, but remember baby items trend- no one uses strollers that we all used 15 years ago.  No sense hanging on to them- no one will want them in few years. 
Even though, many items were turned down and I don't know if anything sold yet, I would recommend consigning items.  If it doesn't sell, you've lost nothing and if it does you've earned more than you would at a tag sale.  If the items don't sell, I am bringing them to the hospital thrift store and using it as a tax deduction- which would be more money than selling clothes at a tag sale. 
So far we have made $2400 on the tag sale, we'll see if the rest of the items on Craigslist and at consignment sell.  I hope to make $3000 all together. 

Birth Certificate has Arrived!

Almost have all our dossier documents ready to send out to CHI! 
I was really beginning to feel nostalgia for the New York attitude:  "You want a record of your birth and you have your original birth certificate, so alls I gotta do is pull it up on my computer and mail it to ya?  Forget aboud it!"  Well just 12 short weeks later and $60 my birth certificate has arrived.  I thought I was going to have to drive to Albany to knock some heads.  That's right you heard me Patacki, err Spitzer, I mean Patterson- wait who is the governor now?  I still have to travel up there to get it apostilled, but we'll be in NY for a wedding next week. 
Chris's experience was a little different: "Ok, we'll send your birth certificate and apostille it and it should be in 2 weeks.  Oh and that will be $15, sorry to inconvenience you, sir."  Those Northerners, so polite, might as well be Canadians. It came in just 2 weeks. 
Now we're putting the pressure on the home study agency to "get her done."  Our social worker has now lost documents three times. 
Then the dossier goes to Children's House to be translated and sent to Bulgaria.  Then about 6-12 weeks later we'll be registered with the Ministry of Justice!  And just 12 to 18 more months until the little guy comes home after that.  Wait, are you telling me we still have to wait 2 years!  No, no this is progress.  We're a huge leap closer!

Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there- especially mine and Chris's.
Yesterday I said to Chris "Happy Father's Day minus 2" to which he responded "maybe minus 1."  An optimist, I could use more of that!  Chris and I started this tradition when he sent flowers and a card which read: Happy negative 1 anniversary, 1 year before our wedding date.
I was going to get him a card, but Father's Day cards are such a let down.  I am reminded of this every year when I shop for our dad's.  Mother's Day cards are sweet, sentimental and sometimes funny.  Father's Day cards always say something like: "Dad, you were always _______ (fishing, watching TV, playing golf, grilling) while mom raised me."  Geez, what a complex we are giving our dads!  Both Chris and I had dads who were 100% involved: coaching teams, leading scouts, taught us to drive, ride bikes, fish, etc.  I can remember my dad patiently trying to get eye drops in my eyes when I was 4 (pink eye, of course) long after my mom (the nurse) gave up!  He was a little less patient with driving, but his life may have been on the line.  I know Chris will be a great dad too.  He'll give baths, put band aides on boo-boos, read stories, go camping, and he better teach the kids to drive because I still haven't mastered the manual transmission or parallel parking! 
So thank you to our dads!  And next year we'll make our own greeting cards!

Tag Sale Update

The tag sale was a resounding success!  But oh man, is it a lot of work.  We don't have final numbers  but we know we cleared $2k.  We started early Saturday morning in the rain and finished up Sunday afternoon, in the rain.  At the end, tired of haggling with hoarders and cheapskates over a nickel or two, we packed up all the clothes, sports equipment and baby/ kid items to sell at a consignment shop, placed ads on Craigslist for all the furniture and big items and packed up the left overs for charity. 

Things I learned...
1.  Always prepare for rain.
2.  You don't need to price every item, but have signs that say "everything on this table/box $.." (people will still tell you the sign said $1 and you can say "no cheapskate, I wrote the sign and it said $5" but at least the honest people won't lie to your face
3.  No matter how you let them know it's a fundraiser, let them know, again and again.  Maybe they'll feel a little guilty that they offered you 50 cents for that microwave that still in the box and called everything "junk"
4.  List all big items on Craigslist- people don't go to tag sales for furniture, treadmills, copiers (really someone donated a big office copier and it works- perfectly!)
5.  Before the tag sale, pull out things you can sell at consignment (any clothing with labels Banana Republic or better in good condition, baby stuff, sports equipment).  Its not worth your effort haggling with someone whether $3 for hockey skates or a tennis racket is a good price, Play it Again Sports will quote you a price and you can take it or leave it
6.  Have a charity ready to pick up the left overs the next day.  You can never sell it all, we had Vietnam Vets and Big Brother/Big Sister pick up the left overs.  That's a tax deduction higher than the price you'll get for some of these items.
7.  Your volunteers are your life savers- give them coffee, doughnuts, t-shirts, and be sure to send them Thank Yous afterwards.  Remember, these people gave up their weekend, to help you out for no gain for themselves; sat through the rain, haggled, carried heavy things, baked and made homemade items for the sale!  You guys rock! 

A big thank you to all our helpers: Carol, Rich, Cheryl, Raheli, Jim, Able, Sarah, Katie, Ilana, Nancy, Virginia, Helen, Peggy, Jacki, Leslie, Lucas, Ethan and Jon.
I can't thank enough the people who donated to the tag sale, too many to list: Nancy, Katie, Carol, Suzanne, Mike, Patty, Lee, Mike S., Tony, Katie Z., Rich, Amanda, Rosa, Raheli, Jim, Juli, Ethan, Kalyna, Alex, Margot, Anne, Thad, Arlene, Scott, Seany, and Mary.   And to all neighbors and friends of friends and family who were willing to go through their attics, basements and garages to donate items.  To all the people we don't even know- members of my parents' congregation, neighbors in my parents HOA who moved in after I moved out, my Mom's Zumba teacher, my parents' house cleaner's other clients (really, they donated the baby and kid stuff and I don't even know their names!)

Here's a picture of some of the volunteers.  We tried to put a $30,000 price tag on the one with no shirt holding up the watermelon rinds!

Preparing for Baby

I feel like I have been going to a lot of baby showers lately, spending a lot of time in Buy Buy Baby, Babies R Us and Target.  I realize we are going to need to pull together a wishlist for our little guy when he's nearly here.  But he'll be a toddler.  I find that most baby stores cater to babies, of course.  Our little guy might not need diapers, or bottles, or a crib, etc.  But he'll still need a bed, ear thermometer, clothing, baby gates (and oodles of baby proofing stuff- toddlers are more mobile than babies!), etc.

I have totally been there, guy, why does Ikea always include "extra" pieces?

I was doing some online research (aka googling), and I found several great sites that let you register at more than one place.  This is ideal, because we'll need baby proofing items from Home Depot/ Lowes, a bed and other furniture from Ikea, a car seat, clothing, toys, etc all from different places.  We want a meta-registry that allows you to add things to your list from stores that don't have registries (Ikea & Costco).  
I think this meta registry format is best for us for several reason- 1. family/friends can choose to shop online or at a brick and mortar, 2. there is a store near you, no matter where you are in the country, 3. you can find the best price on items sold at multiple places
Here's run down of the meta-registries I found:
wishpot.com- great format, easy to find registries, easy to use
amazingregistry.com- I like that all the items are on one page, in three tiles across the page, can search by store
myregistry.com- I like that the registries are password protected- not just anyone on the internet can see it, though that is a hassle for friends and family who misplace it
thingsiwant.com- a brash site name, but an easy to use, though plain format

A great piece of advice I got from a friend: bring a friend who has a little one with you.  She'll know what great new stuff is out there and what you'll actually use/need.