Garage sailing is the best kind of sailing

Or so says Nidhi. After this weekend I think I would agree!

In anticipation of my new roommate moving in, I finally decided that I can't live like a bum anymore. I had somehow managed to put together my makeshift couch in a way that was presentable, but the apartment needed some more furniture to really pull the look together. I wanted to spent little to no money on this so I decided to do a garage sale scavenger hunt weekend.

First I had to find the garage sales. While I could just drive around and look for signs and posters, I wanted to at least plan a little for my path. I discovered a neat site Gsalr that maps out locations and descriptions of sales, pulling from different websites including Craigslist. While on the road, I also found an app for my iPhone that did the same thing, iGarageSale. These were both great tools for plotting the path of least resistance.

Since I'm new to the area, I decided to put in all the addresses into my GPS. I thought I was getting completely lost in Cleveland Suburbia, but it turned out that I actually was just circling around Shaker Heights and University Heights.

There were some things on my list: coffee table, couch, dining table, and lamps.


At one of my first stops, I discovered this beauty. Well, it had been a beauty at some point, by by now it was a little beaten up. Not anything you would notice unless you were really paying attention though! The clear glass top isn't shown in this picture, but the two supporting blocks are marble/granite. It was super heavy and didn't exactly match my wood couch and tv stand. The guy was desperate to sell it though, offering it for $20 and said he could help me load it in my car. I said I'd think about it, then 20 minutes later after visiting another sale, came back and bought it! And even better, he then offered to deliver it as well!

The ladies of Shaker Heights really think they're something. I went to a few more garage sale there, but they weren't actually garage sale prices. These sales were advertised as vintage sales. You know what the difference between used old shit and vintage is? How much you have to pay for it. I'm not that kinda sucker, I'll pass! They did have these cute business card sized cards to give to parking assholes. I didn't even bother asking for a price, I'm sure they would have asked me for something ridiculous!


This lamp was a great find at a rummage sale put on by Cleveland Heights High School bands. It was $3 plus I also got for free a great piece of fabric that I used as a belt. All the proceeds from the sale went towards supporting the band for the year. It was fun to rummage around while listening to the great show they put on in the front lawn. These were some talented kids!

This owl tea set is so cute! No price tag so I offered $2. Sold!

I stopped by a bunch of other places and picked up various items in the picture above. There's Tango playing with my new actually new scarf. There a serving tray ($1) under the two Scrabble games ($4 for both). Why two you ask?

I've been on Pinterest way too much! I'm planning to make Scrabble letter coasters :)

That wooden box was actually a free gift from a lady just down the street! It's a champagne box. She was wrapping up her garage sale, putting things away, and most of the goodies were gone by then. We started talking a bit because she had this wonderful huge easel for sale for $65, which would be a steal too! It turns out she's an artist and works with mixed media. Such a sweet lady - I'll be back to see her for her next sale if she has one!


I found this wonderful bedroom set of headboard/footboard ($30), dresser and mirror ($50). I asked the lady of the house if I could get it delivered, but there was no way. They were such nice pieces and the price was so amazing that I decided I would take it and figure out the delivery issue later. There's plenty of two guys and a truck movers, so I could probably hire a couple of guys for not too expensive. I talked the lady down to $70 for both ;D and we had a deal!









Here's a few pots and table cloth ($8 all together). The table cloth is just perfect for my kitchen table, though we might move that out to the sun
room. New shower hooks and a nice vintage style glass ($2).







Phew! After all that, I was headed home and saw signs that there was a street sale just on the next block from my apartment! I picked up this couch for $40, signed, sealed and DELIVERED! Since this super nice guy was delivering the couch, I thought maybe my dresser and headboard problem would be solved. I ask him if he could help me get some other furniture I had bought already and he gladly agreed, even before I offered him $20! I figured it would be at least that much to hire movers.

I stopped by this guys house the next day and picked up this chair from him too, which he delivered as well.

So after a long day, I thought about cooking for about half a second, and decided that after all that hard work and moving heavy furniture, it was time to celebrate with a home cooked meal from Hunan Coventry. Their General Tso's Tofu is awesome and so is their cashew tofu. Yum!

saturday fun

It seems my social life in CLE has suddenly become quite exciting. Last Saturday, MotivAsians had their summer bbq. They had veggie burgers (always a plus) as well as the beach and football! It was far too cold to go swimming unfortunately, but Nidhi

and I took a walk out by the water, traversing some treacherous rocks over which was posted a sign “Do not climb rocks”, and made the best of a cold windy day. We did discover that a new friend has a boat, information to be used in the future!

Afterwards, Nidhi and I went thrifting at Value World. It was a big thrift store. It had that thrift store smell. We got some good stuff. What is it about old stuff that gives that thrift store smell anyway??

When we got back, we joined in on football. It was quite fun as the boys decided to include me in a lot of plays since no one was guarding me. There were a couple crazy runners and intercepters on the other team tho, so our awesome team did not win. We decided to celebrate our losses by going to our new friend's boat!

(Well, this isn't his boat, I was just taking a picture of the marina :p)


Annyyyywayy... this followed with delicious dinner at Li-wah's and then butterscotch shots at Fung-lin's. I forgot to take pictures through the rest of the evening, but it was probably for the best as someone we went out with, who Nidhi is "friends" with apparently, was trying to get me as severely inebriated as possible. At 12:49 am exactly (and yes we did end up closing up the bar), as evidenced by the following picture, I attempted to call my boyfriend only to play juggle with my phone unsuccessful. It fell into the toilet. I think I had flushed already, but I can't recall exactly. Yeah... was probably 4 shots of Jameson in at this point...
(I only found this picture later saved in my phone and have no idea how the phone took a picture of itself while I was frantically trying to turn it off!)
What bar were we at? I dunno.. As you can see, the consistent element here is Nidhi and the conclusion is that Nidhi leads to dead iphones! Fortunately, a bag of rice saved my phone, so she's off the hook this time... ;p

picture post!

Yet another post that begins with a lament about how long it has been since my last post! It has been 3 months since I moved to CLE and I am still not settled! A few days ago I moved to my new apartment. It is a lovely two bedroom apartment/duplex in the Cedar-Fairmount area, and I will be joined in a few weeks by my new roommate! I am super excited to make this place home and cozy it up with handmade touches.

Even though I haven't updated the blog, I always do keep an eye out for things I want to update about! Usually I'll take a pic on my iphone so I can keep the memory. Since I've been slacking on the updates, I'll post one big update with all the pictures!

Shortly after I moved to CLE, I decided my new apartment needed a cat. I went on craigslist as I have always done and searched for if anyone needed help with fostering their cat. A perfect opportunity came up. Tango's dad had just gotten deployed overseas and Tango needed a new home until his dad came home! This is the first picture of him. He is the sweetest, cutest, most adorable cat I have ever taken care of. I have never wanted to keep a cat, until him! My facebook updates constant contain pictures of him, doing something funny, or just being the adorable self that he is.

Early June, I went up to Traverse City to celebrate Becca and Evan's wedding! It was an awesome party and I got to see some of my favorite people!

Here's the boy I love <3 and here's the girl I love <3

Went to a restaurant down the street on Coventry called High Thai'd. Veggie spring rolls and noodle soup. Noodle soup is my ultimate comfort food. This wasn't the best I've had but it satisfied the craving for the time being.

It was my birthday so I went to Detroit to celebrate! No one remembered tho ;( It's ok, still had a good time ;p Tien took me out for an un-birthday lunch and dinner! Lunch was at Mudgie's where I had my signature sandwich and dinner was at Woodbridge with the boys :)

 

Hooray I got a piece of paper! Add that to my paper collection.... ;D

 

I frequented Phoenix Cafe in Coventry, quite frequently. Their coffee, lattes, and chai are quite good. Can't say the same about their bubble tea tho :( It's a nice study environment although sometimes people watching the interesting characters who come to Coventry can be a bit distracting..

 

It was the weekend again! So off to Detroit :) We made taco/quesadilla things. The first time around we didn't realize the tortillas were raw, bit into them only to taste raw doughiness. Then we fried up the tortillas and they were delicious ;D

 

 

Had it again for breakfast. Just as awesome!

 

I brought Tango for a visit as well. He mewed all the way there in the car, poor baby! Unfortunately, Cecil didn't take to having a stranger around. The first night she swat at Tango with her razor sharp claws so that got them off to a bad start. By the end of the weekend, they were content with grumbling while staring at each other. So cute!

 

It was also Priyanka and Matt's wedding that weekend! Saw some wonderful people and had a great party :)

 

 

Beautiful bride and such a beautiful ceremony! They had a combined western and indian ceremony and tied the whole thing together so well. It was so moving :')

 

Last time to see these awesome people in a while!

 

Mudgie's again, with Lenie and Ken :)

Oh I finally figured out how to use my flat iron to make dramatic looks like this ;)

 

Patches here needed a sitter for the weekend. She wasn't happy about not being at home though :(

 

This is Smoochy on the left, and Hippity on the right. What a lovely odd couple they are :)

 

My attempt to recreate my Mudgie's special. It was awesome!! Ingredients: sour dough bread, pesto, roasted red peppers, avocado (or sub guac), smoked gouda, mixed greens. So amazing!

 

This is how Tango sleeps! How adorable! (Can you tell this post is getting too long? I don't want to type anymore lol)

 

My car got towed. It wasn't all my fault. The tow lot was literally half a mile away. We walked to it to get my car back. Could have bought a PS3 with how much we had to pay them. It sucked! :(

 

Some delicious new drink from starbucks, for free!

 

Tango likes playing with/eating spinach leaves apparently...

 

Kabobs at Olivia's! Since I just moved (yes, again) we are now neighbors!

 

Ok that is all the energy I have for typing for now. Yes, as I just mentioned I have moved yet again. It is a huge pain in the ass and I'm still getting settled in. More details and pictures once I have decorated :)