A Concert and A Sale

This was a busy weekend, a good busy weekend. Darren and the girls headed out on Friday to the annual pumpkin festival. I was a little worried because we've been getting a lot of rain from Ike, but fortunately the parade and fair were not rained out. They came home Saturday with a bag full of candy they had gotten. Lucy said, "Here, Mom, I brought you this from the parade" and handed me a Snickers bar. That's my girl.

As for me, I headed out after work on Friday to pick my brother up at the train. It took me an hour and a half in rain/rush hour to make a 20-minute trip. My brother had spent the day downtown at a trade show. He got in the car and said by way of greeting, "The lack-wit cab driver I had took Michigan Avenue so I missed my earlier train. What's that horrible noise in your car? I think you need a new muffler." I love older brothers.

Then we went to a Phil Keaggy concert. I've been to countless concerts--classical, jazz, rock, country, folk--Phil Keaggy is the greatest musician I've ever seen, bar none. If you're not familiar with him and ask, "What style of music does he play?" the answer is "Yes." I've seen him in concert probably 15-20 times at many different venues, but mostly at this one. It was sort of surreal to be surrounded by college students; the first time I saw Phil I was in high school, before this audience was even born yet. But the coolest thing about it is that no matter what age, people are still into his music. These college students were major fans. Phil Keaggy is definitely the most humble performer I've seen, and his fans shout out what they'd like him to play. If you ever get a chance to see him, grab it. His talent is mind-blowing; you won't regret it.

The next day I headed to the bi-annual Mothers & More used children's clothing sale. These are two Saturdays a year that my bargain-loving soul lives for. For $145, I got 12-14 outfits each for Lucy and Elaine. That's outfits, not single pieces. Here are just a few samples of what I got [note: for anyone who's interested, almost all of these are Gap, Gymboree, or Children's Place. Normally, I don't care about that stuff. Unless I'm getting it all for the low, low price of $145.]

For Elaine:






Here are some I got for Lucy:





Aren't they cute? Now, here was a first for me--in addition to buying, this year I was also selling. My attic is absolutely exploding with girls' clothing, and it was time for it to go. As I went through all the little pieces, I have to say it was not as easy as I thought it would be. There were so many things I could look back in my mind and visualize the girls as babies and toddlers in. I could smell their baby skin and feel their downy hair. I could feel their baby weight in my arms. There were certain things that were so hard to part with (and don't worry--there's still a box in my attic labeled "Keepsake Clothes"--I didn't get rid of everything). Here are a couple things that were hard to part with:

First Christmas dress...


First little winter outfit I bought for Lucy; both girls eventually wore it (oh, hello Alice's feet! Nice photography...)

I also sold some equipment we haven't used in ages. This was particularly hard to part with--dubbed at our house "The Sister Stroller." Obviously, they're both too big for it:


By the end I had one huge box and a medium bag of clothes, a garbage bag of basically new stuffed animals, and a number of pieces of equipment. Here's what sweetened the deal for me though. Every single penny that I earn from any of this stuff is either going here or here. It's incredible how much more willing I was to pack, price, and tag this stuff now that I had those two motivators. And for any of my friends who have shared some of their beautiful clothes with my girls (and told me they didn't want them back! Shout out to Alysa!), I know it will thrill you as much as it does me to know that the money is going somewhere it will be needed and welcomed. A big thank you to you too!

So, that was our weekend!