Midnight in the Garden of QP and BlSac

We experienced some serious Belleville inter-Catholic rivalry today! Both Blessed Sacrament (BlSac) and Queen of Peace (QP -- not to be confused with QT!) held their annual rummage sales. Both started officially at 8AM but QP offered early birds special access at 7AM for the low cost of only 2 dollars. I had 4 tag-alongs so I was wary of starting early. A $10 fee for the 7AM access is pretty steep for a church rummage sale. Luckily the kids were free. I'm sure the QP people figured the kids would only encourage me to buy more than I would have if I were alone.

We arrived at QP at 7:02.

Readers, the sale simply sparkled.

The clothes were folded neatly and stacked tidily.

The glassware gleamed.

The stuffed animals were set in a very becoming arrangement.

The staff was alert and helpful, serving under the watchful eye of Kim, their leader.

Kim and her staff were enthusiastic about the blog. The staffer at the jewelry counter helped me search for alphabet jewelry for my collection. (You may recall I am trying to collect the entire alphabet in costume jewelry? It is much more difficult than I thought it would be!) Even after I had completed my search of the jewelry table and moved on to the footwear department, the jewelry lady tracked me down and called out to me, "I found an A for only 25 cents!" This is top notch service for a rummage sale, don't you think? A personal shopper?! Dang.

As I perused the tables for treasure, I was offered a bag no less than three times. I didn't even need a flippin' bag! But Kim had apparently inspired these workers to such a high level of excellence that they could only follow me around offering to unload me of my rummage burden.

I found some very colorful pumps in a rather loud pattern. I tried them on but they were a tad too small. (Henry suggested I lose some weight in my feet.) Later I found a matching handbag in the purse department! I called to Kim and said, "You should put this by the matching shoes!" She replied, "We already thought of that! But we figured, if you liked the shoes, you would easily recognize the handbag!"

See?! See how savvy she is at marketing and display?

So I bought some clothes. Donny bought this tie:

I bought a beautiful glass pitcher which will be gift at the wedding party I attend next Saturday for two friends who are re-marrying and have said, "Pleasepleaseplease, no gifts." They don't mean it, right? You get married, you get gifts. I don't care what the circumstances are. (I can say all this because, although the couple should be following the blog, the are not!)

Anyhow... I bought this beautiful artifact for 2 dollars.

When I bought it I had no idea what sort of device it was. It has 8 gears which interact in a compact, 7 inch footprint, to accomplish some sort of carving, rotating task. Based on its condition, I would say it is approximately one bazillion years old. That's just a guess. I'm no Antiques Roadshow.

But guess what it is?! Right! It's an apple peeler!

You need to know that twice I have paid over 25 dollars for the Pampered Chef version of this tool and twice I have given it away because I never used it. But this one is special! It is old and rusty! We have already used it and forced our son, Donny, to consume a peeled, rusty apple! Hooray!

At the QP sale, JoJo and Amelia found some great Polly Pocket housing for which I kicked in a few bucks. Later in the day it occupied them for hours. Money well-spent.

QP had brownies for sale at the exit. More money well-spent because it bought the kids some energy for the next hour...

...at BlSac! We arrived at BlSac at 8:07, a mere 7 minutes after it's opening. But Reader, it was not sparkly. It pains me to tell you that the BlSac was not as beautiful as the QP sale. I have many good friends who are BlSac people. I love that BlSac is a pillar of Belleville's West End. But their sale was not as good as QP's.

Now don't get all upset, Mary Barger.

Mary is my friend. She used to be my neighbor. I admire her taste and her decorating talents. I have been to her personal garage sale many times and have decorated my entire basement with Barger cast-offs. But, Mary, I weep when I say this, the BlSac sale was a little bit rougher than the QP sale. The clothes were a little messier, the clientele a little shadier. A fellow shopper actually hit me up for a handout.

Maybe BlSac just has so many more donations that they can't get all the stuff laid out neatly?! Maybe BlSac's prices are lower so more people who need a rummage sale attend it?!

Maybe BlSac knows that it's all about raising cash and not about societal standing?!

I don't know. But with these two sales on the same day, in this little community, only a few miles apart, the comparison is too tempting not to make.

(Full disclosure: I was a co-chair of the rummage sale at our public school last February. We didn't have enough tables, our signs were weak, our stuff was cluttered, and probably we were rude. The BlSac sale kicks our public school ass! I'm not judging here -- just reporting on what I see.)

At the BlSac sale, Henry found this wonderful hat:

I bought a chip-n-dip bowl and a small cutting board which I like very much.

They had an army of blue school desks for sale:

I am reminded of the Brave Little Toaster Going to Mars.

As I scoured the clothing tables with a fellow shopper (who is a beauty school employee and enthusiastic about the blog), we uncovered this:

We were clearly in the clothes department. There were no other wigs or eyewear in the vicinity. It appears that someone removed her wig and her glasses so she could try on a blouse and then left them there when she moved on to the knick-knack department. Very curious. Very curious indeed.

(An interjection: I kicked off my summer reading this year with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt, a hard-back book I bought at a yardsale earlier this spring for a quarter. It is a non-fiction tale of Savannah, Georgia. The Savannah Berendt experienced is a small town, full of beautiful houses and natural beauty, riddled with wild characters who drink too much and know everyone else's business. This is shockingly like the neighborhood in which I live!)

After BlSac, I dropped JoJo and Amelia off at home to play with their new Polly Pocket habitat. Henry and Donny agreed to remain on the hunt for all things weird and wonderful.

(Note: Matt, Louie, and Oscar were at a special Boy Scout event in Forest Park in St. Louis. Whatever. Get your priorities straight.)

So we hit a few skivs. I had no map or list to work from. We drove down the major roads and looked for bold, neon signage.

There was a gem of a sale on Main Street, across from Ace. That's where I found the letter "N" for my alphabet. They also had this collection of US President figurines for just 4 dollars:

It was so old, the most recent president was JFK. I should have bought it, right? Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and knock on the door...

Then we found a development in Shiloh/Swansea with a zillion sales. They were everywhere. But we had to do a few drive-bys because, as you may know, when the sales are in a newish development, the stuff if also newish. We passed on a lot of strollers and bouncy seats. There was a time, Reader, when I coveted a low-priced Exersaucer. But now I am so far past the triple stroller period that my stomach does a little heave whenever I see one. It could be a heave of longing or a heave of disgust, I don't know. But the stroller years are thankfully behind me and I am on to bigger things, like girlfriends, high school, and clothing in men's sizes...

Near the end of the day I found these chairs:

They were deep purple and deep velvet. Don't you just want to reach out and touch them?! At this sale I bought a lovely clock for my patio area. I offered full-price ($15!) on the condition that I could use the bathroom. (This is bad yardsale form -- I know, I know-- but when you gotta go...)

So I was welcomed into the Home of the Purple Chairs. Reader, it was the fanciest home I have ever entered. The walls were deep purple, mustard, and sage. The furnishings were grand, supple, and lush. I think the lady who lived there was so fancy she must certainly be a princess from another land. I was too intimidated to take a photograph. I regret my weakness terribly. You deserve to see this interior. I may try to return to the scene and get an exclusive interview with this ex-pat monarch.

I leave you with this photo of a cookie jar. It disturbed me so much that I have to share it. My hope is that you will be bothered as much as I was and somehow share the burden.

See you next week.