In the spirit of the spring cleaning season, Bob Vila, the go-to guru for home improvement, asked for my advice on giving a good Garage Sale. Some of my hints: “If your ad says ‘antique furniture’ or ‘60s modern,’ those kinds of identifiers will definitely be lures to people,” pricing: “if you put a price [...]

Today, I’ve spotted some daffodils peeking their green heads from the ground, emerging from their winter sleep. Those little things are a sign: GARAGE SALE SEASON approaches. Here’s my Today Show appearance to help you early birds plan ahead to get the best worm$. And in the meantime, a new giveaway!!!…I’ll give a signed copy [...]

In 2007 a baby owl fell from a tree in Wisconsin and became famous. Her name was Alice, and once she was rescued and rehabilitated by The Raptor Education Group she became part of a movement, run by Marge Gibson, executive director of the Raptor Education Group. Together they started the International Festival of Owls, [...]

Winner of the “Where you’d love to park an Airstream” contest is Sandy, who wrote: “why park it anywhere- travel and discover the beauty of the outdoors and well as the people and food of North America. Hit garage sales up and have fun going here and there and not having a care in the [...]

WEEBLES WOBBLE Remember Weebles, the roly-poly toys from the 1970s? Shaped like eggs with a weighted bottom, they wobbled when pushed, but would always right themselves, hence the slogan “Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down.” I had numerous sets of Weebles, but my particular favorite was the Weebles circus set. I strongly suspect my [...]

MY SUMMER POSTCARD: SUMMER ’09. The summer Jon & Kate divorced, Michael died, and Obama cared. My summer started in Milan, Italy at an opening party for La Scala Opera House. (I would show you the pictures, but after one too many Sambuca, Scott lost the camera.) I came back to the states and shared [...]

When you get a second-hand bargain–like my $9 mid-century lamp or the $5 I paid for an entire set of Bakelite flatware–I feel like you’ve earned the right to brag. In addition, you’re giving new life to something someone else was going to discard. And when I go out on my second-hand shopping adventures, even [...]

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY There’s nothing worse than the one that got away. It haunts you for weeks like a bad dream, eats away at your psyche like a termite on softened wood. I recently found myself attracted to a delicately aged pair of Bert and Ernie puppets sitting on the lawn of an [...]

Garage Sale. Yard Sale. Tag Sale. Barn Sale. Rummage Sale. Estate Sale. Stoop sale. Call it what you want sale; it describes one thing—the best deal in America. There’s hidden treasure out there if you’re willing to go hunting, track down the prize, and drag it home. Certainly, if you’re looking to make money and [...]