Kristi of Here Be Old Things and I have been contemplating tag/estate sales. We’ve emailed. We conversed over the phone. We even had an in person meeting on the subject. But it never got off the ground because we both take on more than we can handle.

Until now. Well, wait, that’s not right. We’re DEFINITELY taking on more than we can handle, but the universe is lighting a fire under our butts to focus on our tag team effort.

Save the date! We just met with our first Kristi/Phyllis tag sale client yesterday and it’s a go!

The sale will be the first weekend of November in Tenafly, NJ.

Some of the more awesome items include original Americana posters by Howard Chandler Christy and L. Helquera and a pair of mid century Alan Gould string chairs.

There’s also an 8′ Eliminator pool table! I learned something about moving pool tables though. Apparently, you really do need a reputable pool table mover to take it apart and put it back together. Bummer, because I wanted to strap that baby to my back and haul it home.

The Cute Sukkah

Driving through Williamsburg on Yom Kippur, I saw the sukkahs starting to pop up and thought what a cool post it would make if I photographed the various structures. Well, I don’t have time to do that, so I’m grabbing some from the web.

For non Jews (or non New Yorkers), a sukkah is a temporary structure with a roof of leafy boughs and straw built for the holiday of Sukkot to commemorate the tabernacles of the Exodus. I cut and pasted that definition, so don’t ask me anything else.

Raise your hand if you’re new to NYC and you’ve seen these “boxes” on people’s terraces and front lawns and wondered WTF. Now you can impress your friends with your knowledge.

The Portable Sukkah

The Modular Sukkah

The Apartment Sukkah

Hi kids. As you know, the linkoramas are my cheat posts. I do them when I don’t have time or energy to write. Today, it’s my husband’s fault.

Let me just ask you something. You go a mall. You lose your wife (actually, you wander off) and you don’t have your phone on you. Do you….

a) Wait in front of the last store you were in together?

b) Have her paged or listen for a page with your name?

c) Borrow a phone or use a pay phone?

d) Go back to the car and wait?

e) Continue to shop?

If you answered “e”, you’re a muttonhead just like my  husband. Needless to say, I spent my entire afternoon running from points A to E. No time to write a post when I got home last night and I’ve got too much catching up to do this morning.

So sorry…enjoy these other fine blogs.

Insane Interiors. Web Urbanist

Then and Now. Renovation Therapy

Halloween Mansion. Etsy Storque

Modular Rooms. Hudson Goods via Materialicious

Goodbye Summer. Shorehouse Chic

Hold the press! I’m adding another event to the list. Mario, The King of Beacon Garage Sales is having a Saturday sale over at 69 Verplanck Ave.

I went over there today for first dibs because I’m special. There’s still plenty of good stuff left for y’all. Photos on the website. I wasn’t able to take anything too large because I’m giving up on the furniture.

That being said, I was salivating over this chair! Do you love it? If so, better get over there early. If you can’t make it to Beacon, here’s what I’m gonna do (because I want to be a part of this chair’s life)….I won’t tell you what Mario is asking, but make me an offer and I’ll deliver down in Brooklyn or Manhattan for free. It has to be worth my schlepping time and finder’s fee, otherwise drag your ass up here and get it yourself. : )

I’m staying up in Beacon this weekend where there is a lot going on (plus I have to shoot a wedding). As much as I’m happy to partake in the events up here, I’m kind of bummed about missing out on the Brooklyn festivities.

Such as….The First Annual Brooklyn Bridge Pup Crawl! A moonlit dog walk across the Brooklyn Bridge that benefits animal shelters across the country. The ONE weekend I’m not in Brooklyn, dammit! I know, I can always donate to the shelter, but I wanna do a mass dog walk across the bridge!

The 13th Annual Dumbo Art Under the Bridge Festival: this weekend. It’s a three day, multi site event featuring up and coming artists working in any and all mediums. An artist by the name of Steve Chen will be doing lights. He bought a bunch of fixtures and other stuff from me for this event. Keep an eye out for him!

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I saw the above post on the Brownstoner forum. Personally, I shouldn’t even be looking at more salvage, but man, I wish I could go to that sale!

Back in Beacon, there’s plenty going on even though it’s not Second Saturday. Beacon Open Studios is a 3 day event. There’s a kick off party tonight, a closing party on Sunday and in between getting drunk, you can look at some art.

Finally: Hey, anyone remember this guy? If not, watch this. He’s still around…and in Beacon on Saturday at the Howland! I hear he doesn’t want to bother with us local girls though.

OMG, my life is complete now! I’m like a 50’s housewife who has just discovered the dishwasher. I used to (until yesterday) spend hours uploading inventory to Etsy, then my Reclaimed Store, then Artfire, then other stores…yada, yada. Ok, not exactly true. I kind of did Etsy sometimes and then got bored with the rest.

But Soopsee! Oh, sweet, sweet Soopsee! It’s an Etsy API, which up until two days ago, I did not know the meaning of. Application Programming Interface. Etsy users can open a free Soopsee account and let them host for you or keep your own domain and upload the Soopsie to work with it.

I wanted to keep my name because I’m a control freak. This isn’t free, but there’s a summer special that costs $4.99 per month. I can handle that. I splurged for another $14.95 to buy reclaimedhomestore.com because it seemed easier to start from scratch rather than messing with my existing blog site pages.

Got the look I wanted. Transferred all Etsy listings in one pop. Set up auto RSS for my blog on the store site. Auto Twitter when I upload a new item. All done in less than 2 hours.

The software is still in beta, so there are some quirks. The only one that really bothers me is the categories on top of the page. The Soopsie default category is “Art” and when I added my own, I came up with 2 “art” categories. There isn’t yet a customized option to get rid of it, so I’m stuck with it.

I’m not a religious woman, but I just want to say “God bless Vanessa over at Etsy Storque for turning me on to Soopsee.” And God bless The Creator of the software. Hallelujah!

Reclaimed store on Soopsie

Reclaimed Home Store

Crown Heights North has some of the most glorious architecture in New York. Yes, I used the word “glorious”. The 3rd annual house tour is coming up next week, so head’s up! You don’t want to miss it (like I always do because I work weekends).

Be sure to check out the Crown Heights North Association’s website for more info.

Yeah, it’s only Tuesday and I’ve got writer’s block already. Got a problem with that?

Yesterday I Died. Bed Stuy Blog

DIY Framing. Etsy Storque

An army of worms. The Worm Dude

Solar Powered Dollhouse. Enviro Gadget

Yikes! Repubs in Park Slope. OTBKB

**UPDATE 4/12/10. Barbara and Edwin are still very much in business in Newburgh. Although they miss the city, they are sticking it out in the Hudson Valley. Barbara is starting cooking classes and catering both upstate and down.

Sad news for Hudson Valley residents. Newburgh’s Caffe Macchiato is up for sale. Not officially, but owners Barbara and Edwin are itching to get back to the city.

After hanging out with fellow Italian buddies over at Saraghina in Bed Stuy last week, Barbara is eyeing the neighborhood to open her new cafe.

The good news for Newburgh customers is that they’ve invested too much time and money to just shut their doors and run off. Someone needs to buy the business. Barbara is willing to train the new owners in the kitchen and go over baking tips as well as where to buy local produce, etc.

So this could be a win/win situation for me both upstaters and Brooklynites. Lemme just have a chat with my Bed Stuy peeps for a moment…Ok, we NEED this cafe in the neighborhood! We’re talking authentic Italian cafe. Real coffee, small flaky croissants (not those big ass crescent rolls they serve up in America), fresh local produce, home made pasta, imported Italian cheese. Get this woman down to Brooklyn and fast!

But we want Macchiato to stay in Newburgh as well! So, who’s buying? The new owner would have to keep up the quality or else answer to a very large, loyal customer base. They’re asking $165k, which includes a 10 year lease with low rent, all equipment, liquor license (Is that transferable? I’m assuming), and best of all: hands on training from Barbara.

Did I mention the customers?

Did I mention that Macchiato was voted Best Lunch Spot in Hudson Valley 2009?

Barbara says “Show me the money!” Come take a look, ask questions and have lunch, but if you want a tour of the kitchen, etc, she wants to know you’re seriously interested in buying a restaurant.

Come on, kids! Let’s make this happen. Italian cafes for Newburgh AND Bed Stuy. I want to have my tiramisu and eat it too.

You can reach Barbara at the cafe: (845) 565-4616

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