A Very Buhrmester Weekend

Last weekend, we had a big yard sale at our house. I wanted to do a really good 'purge' of the house before Baby Ailor arrives, even though it will likely be early 2010 before he/she comes home. So I spent last week cleaning out closets and storage areas of the house. I absolutely love organizing things -- especially the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when things are cleaned out and in order. I did not like all the clutter in the garage leading up to the sale but wow, does it feel good now! Our garage has never been in better shape.

My partner in crime for the yard sale was my good friend, Denise (she also happens to be my boss at work!) She is the yard sale QUEEN. This was her 20th annual yard sale. And let me tell you -- this woman can stage a yard sale! She knew just the right wording to attract people to the sale. She even has a little inflatabe smiley guy to hang at the end of the driveway so that shoppers can easily find your house. We had so many compliments on how well organized we were -- each table was covered with a cloth and items were grouped by categories. It was like shopping in a department store, people! We had housewares, holiday, books, videos, children's clothing, women's wear, toys, jewelry, sporting goods, furniture and even a box of free items.

We even had lots of butcher paper and plastic bags to wrap items for shoppers.

We folded rumpled clothing faster than a tenured employee at Old Navy.

We played music for the pleasure of our shoppers and offered directions to other area sales.

If a shopper was buying a sweater, we helped them to find matching earrings.

It really was a well-thought-out sale, thanks to Denise, her years of experience as a seasoned yard sale hostess, and a little website called yardsalequeen.com. (Seriously. The website exists.)

We had a lot of fun with the sale. Here are a few highlights:

• A man walked up without looking around much and wanted to know if we had any guns, knives or swords for sale (the answer is NO!) -- but yikes!
• The ceramic chicken that looked like it came from a carousel sold in the first 90 minutes -- I thought for sure he would be headed to Goodwill!
• Two older women who told us that they had already been home twice that morning to unload their car with all the items they had found at a variety of sales -- and they were our biggest customers, too! (can't imagine what their houses look like)
• Listening to the stories that people share with complete strangers while digging through piles of things you're getting rid of.

Aren't yard sales a funny thing? All-in-all, we had a good time hanging out in the garage and watching our once-loved items find new homes.

So about the title of this post ... Buhrmester is Denise's last name. Not only did we work on the two day yard sale together but we saw Denise a few other times last weekend. Mark and I babysat for Denise's very adorable son, David on Friday night. And, we also attended David's birthday party on Sunday. As you can see, it was a very Buhrmester weekend!

Here is David trying on Mark's motorcycle glasses.

The Ailor/Buhrmester Outdoor Department Store -- look-out Macy's! Ha!

Here I am with my sale sticker sheets and Mr. Smiley the yard sale mascot. And below, our very full garage the night before the big sale.