Our first ever garage sale at the Highgate Village community garage sale

On Saturday July 21st, we took part in Highgate Village's first community garage sale. Proceeds from the table and parking stall rentals went towards the BC Children's Hospital. We are always in need of decluttering our house so this seemed like a good chance to do it. Community garage sales seem more attractive to those who are looking for good garage sales and since Save-On Foods was hosting it, we figured they would do all the publicizing and advertising for us. We registered and got 1 table to sell our goods.

The morning of the event it rained:( The organizers decided at the last minute to move the setup from the outside parking lot next to the shopping center down to the dark underground parking. We had to setup our tables by 9:30AM because the event started at 10AM. They decided to tuck us all near the back of the parking lot maybe because we wouldn't be so intrusive(??). Very few people came by to check us out. To make matters worst, I only saw one sign that was written on the white board in a faint marker near the entrance to Save-On Foods. Most of the people shopping at Highgate Village just didn't know there was a garage sale taking place underneath. That would be my guess since there were barely anyone walking around.

When the decision was made to setup underground, a very upset vendor told the organizer that no one was going to know we were down here. The vendor tried to get the organizer to allow us to setup upstairs. He said that the weather was predicting sunshine later in the day. The organizer didn't believe it and said it didn't look that way. The organizer was wrong. Shortly after 10AM, the rain stopped and by 10:30AM the sun came out. The sun stayed out the rest of the day. We were already all setup and there was no way we were going to move. Too bad:( The garage sale ended at 2PM and it was a beautiful day when we went outside. Doh!

This was the first year Save-On Foods has hosted a community garage sale to fund-raise. They didn't really know what they were doing but they could have definitely helped out the vendors a bit more. The weather cannot be controlled obviously but they could have helped publicize the event a bit more. Where were the big signs ready to place by all the entrances to the parking lot? Where was the big sign by the hot dog stand at the top they were using to fund-raise? Where was the big banner by the Highgate Village entrance? Why the heck was it not even advertised on their website? Why were we tucked so far back in the dark in the underground parking? The underground parking area by the entrance upstairs got way more traffic than the underground parking further away. Sadly for us we were one of the tables further away:(

Having a community garage sale is a great idea. Unfortunately it wasn't well organized and it hurt both vendors and shoppers. Everything we were selling were $5 or under. I researched about garage sales beforehand to make sure I was setting prices right. Our prices were pretty much right since only one person asked for a lower price. Our main goal at the garage sale was to get rid of our things. If we could make a few dollars in the process, that would be great! This was our first garage sale so it was a bit of an adventure for us. I advertised our sale on craigslist and I tweeted often about it. That might have gotten us a few extra visitors. Things that sold well were children books, toys, and cupcakes. The cupcakes were made to lure people to our table but in the end, at least half our of profit came just from cupcakes! I heard cupcakes and bakes work wonders at garage sales and it's totally true :)

There were a ton of bargains everywhere. It would have been a bargain shopper paradise if people knew about it. We ended up buying a couple of things too:) I was actually joking with the girl next to me saying that we were "negative" since Jean-Louis walked around and bought something before we even made our first sale. There was a table selling lots of DVDs in great condition for just $1. There were also lots of books going for $0.25 to $1. There were over 20 tables and maybe 6 or more parking stalls worth of goods.

We still had an adventure and Tristan got to learn a thing or two about garage sales so there's that :) We explained to Tristan that we were playing store that day. His job was to greet people and ask them if they wanted to try some cupcakes. If someone bought something we would pass him the change and he would give it to them. Despite being in the dark underground for most of the 4 hours, Tristan was really well behaved and was even helpful. I made conversation with a lovely lady at the table next to me. She was by herself and she had a newborn with her. Tristan talked and played with the baby a bit too. To him the baby was like a live doll! So small and so adorable. If it wasn't for good company, I think the garage sale would have been very long and boring.

Most of what we didn't sell, which was maybe 70% of our stuff, ended up being dropped off at the nearby donation center at Value Village. We tested out the garage sale but that didn't work out well but at least we tried, right? Now we know. Maybe things would have been different if the weather was better or if there was more publicity. Weather is such a big factor in these events that I'm pretty sure it would have made a big difference. Unfortunately, we will never know because that was our first and probably last garage sale:(

I don't think garage sales are for us. It's not worth the organizing, time, or even baking. The table rental was $15 so when you consider that we only made $34.57. That's kind of pathetic. Lol. We did it for the experience but now that that is behind us, we don't really have any good reason to hold another garage sale. The big things can be sold on craigslist and the rest will be donated. Our biggest take away from all of this is that it is very hard to sell things, even for $0.25. We will definitely be more careful of what we buy now, especially toys and clothes.

Daiso: my favorite $2 store

This past weekend we took a skytrain field trip down to Richmond. We had no purpose going down there aside from the fact that we wanted to ride the Canada line with Tristan. The Canada line was built for the Olympics in 2010 in Vancouver and I think Jean-Louis and I have only rode it once. The skytrain on this line is what you would call your typical subway train. It's longer and wider than your typical skytrain. It's funny because every time we come back from France, the skytrain feels a bit like a toy when we're sitting inside. It's so small and narrow compared to the big trains in France. It's awesome to have skytrains in Vancouver though and Tristan LOVES riding them:)

During our long ride into Vancouver and then to Richmond, I decided that we check out an Asian-type dollar store to find some replacement kitchen slippers. Yes, I was very particular in my search! :) I figured we could find something similar to what we could get at the night market during the summer. When I googled for dollar store in Richmond, I was surprised at so many results pointing to Daiso. The more I read about it, the more excited I got :)

Those who know me, know that I love to bargain shop. I am a big sucker for good deals! From the outside, Daiso didn't really look like your typical dollar store. For starters, it was HUGE! Within about one minute of stepping in, I fell in love. It was the dollar store of dreams! :) There were so many cool things I have never seen before at a dollar store or normal store for that matter. All for a dollar or more? Really? I started in the kids and toys area, carefully browsed and took mental notes on what the inventory was like. I could see Jean-Louis laughing at me already:) Then after careful consideration, I got yet another puzzle for Tristan. Where the toys area ended was where the gift bagging area started. Oh boy! There were so many cool things. I kind of went crazy and loaded my basket with tons of cute packing paper. I'm not sure when I would use them but I'll worry about that later. Seriously, I shopped like it was my last day in Richmond or something! And the place is only a 20 minute drive away from home. I'm CRAZY.

Like with every first visit to a new store, I slowly browsed and tried to look at everything. Jean-Louis actually took Tristan out and walked around the mall since Tristan lost interest in the store pretty quickly. I think Tristan was hungry for lunch though. I figured I had plenty of time to shop. According to Jean-Louis, I was in the store for over one hour! The store was so massive, I actually started to feel a bit ill near the end. Again, I can hear Jean-Louis teasing and laughing at me. I also had to pee a lot. Ha, there's the laughter again! To conclude, I didn't get to see everything and ended up just paying for what I had so far and promised myself I would come back another day. Who's terrible idea was it to slowly browse and shop in there anyway? Right. It was me :( Now I find out that they have over 50000 types of products in the Richmond Daiso store. 50000!!

We got slippers plus much, much more!

I shopped for an hour but I did good. I got all this cool stuff but it ended up being a lot more than I had originally thought. When things were not marked with a price, it would automatically ring in as $2. Not $1. That pretty much doubled what I thought I spent. Oops. However, most of the stuff I got cannot be purchased elsewhere so it was still a big win for me :) Dollarama in Station Square at Metrotown is still my favorite dollar store but Daiso is now my favorite $2 store!

Insulated water bottle bag for $2!

Guess where I am?

Waiting for Mommy while she shops at Gymboree...ahem.

Loving the canvas print!

Recently, we purchased a canvas print from CanvasPop. It's our first one and I'm quite impressed with the quality of it. We always wanted to get a canvas print so when Groupon had a deal on it, I just had to get it! Here are the dimensions and settings in our order:

Size: 16 X 20
Frame: 0.75" deep
Edge: Photo Wrap
Free Digital Proof

The hardest part about this purchase was having to choose the right photo. We have over 6000 photos that are flagged and most of them are good! I love the photo wrap effect so I really wanted to find a photo that I could apply the effect to. Luckily, CanvasPop provides a free digital print for you to see before they do the actual printing :) After a few days, we ended up going with something that was colorful. It's sitting in our living room right now but if we were to move it elsewhere one day into a darker area like the hallway, the print should still stand out nicely because it's a bright portrait.

Toddler is way more trendy than us

It's funny how so many parents, especially moms, dress down after having a child, but when it comes to their baby, they sort of go all out to dress them up. At least that is my observation.

I love to dress comfortably. That means yoga pants or sweat pants all day, except when I go out I wear jeans or corduroys. Tops are simple cotton t-shirts or hoodies. Some times my top and bottom don't even match. I wear the same outfit for days too. I don't wear makeup and my hair is in a pony tail most days. Dress up to me is when I blow dry my hair, wear a nice sweater, and put on lip gloss. As you can tell, I don't really care about the way I look anymore.

When it comes to Tristan, I spend the time to groom him properly. I make sure all his clothes go together; even the socks have to match. Comfort is important too. I just really love to buy cute clothes for him. Everything is so much cuter when they are smaller! Tristan gets a new change in clothes every day. Simply because he dirties them. Changing him every day also means I get to dress him up again :) I know this is only a phase so I'm totally taking advantage of it. Soon, he will have a bigger opinion of what he wants to wear and as he grows, clothes will no longer be as adorable :(

Shopping for baby clothes is fun for me. There is a lot involved and I know Jean-Louis doesn't get it so obviously he doesn't buy clothes for Tristan nor does he pick out Tristan's outfits at home. When he complains that I take too long at Gymboree or Jacadi, I explain why it can be difficult some times. Here are a few factors I consider when I buy clothes:

• Cost and quality: Is it a good bargain?
• Attractiveness: Do I think it's cute?
  
• Size: Does it fit him now? Will it fit him next year in the same season?
• Matchability: Does it go with his existing clothes? If not, can I find a piece to match it right now?
  
• Style and color variation: Does he already have something similar? I would love to have different styles to mix/match and to keep things interesting.
• Ease of wear: If it's a one piece bodysuit or has many buttons, I would probably steer clear of it since they are a pain to put on. Potty friendly pieces will get priority.
  
• Wear time: Will he get a lot of wear out of it? If it was expensive, he better get more wear out of it! Too many dress up outfits are just not practical for us.
• Stock availability: Is there more than one? If it's the last one and I like it, I may overlook some of the other factors and buy it anyway. I know. I'm so bad.
  
• Time to shop: How much time do I have to carefully shop or do I only have time to pick one nice thing?

Trip to Paris

It was a relief going to Paris. Paris is almost the opposite of Toulon. The city is always bustling in activity and there is almost too much to see and do. I wanted to go there for a few days to shop and sightsee with Tristan. I also had a friend I wanted to visit. Since it wasn't too far from Vernon, Jean-Louis' cousin and family took the train down to see us one afternoon as well. With so many plans, we didn't have a chance to do or see a lot :(

We stayed at a hotel by Montparnasse. My parents-in-law came along with us. They were still living in Paris the last time we visited but now they just come to visit every couple of months. When we arrived in Paris on the TGV, we had to take a taxi to the hotel. We had 2 big suitcases, maybe 5 carry-ons and handbags, plus a stroller. We waited to take the biggest taxi so that we could all go together but it just wasn't possible. The other problem is that none of the taxis have a car seat so I was upset. When we realized all of us wouldn't fit in one taxi and my father-in-law wanted to take two taxis, we said no and we told them we would walk to the hotel instead. I felt safer doing it this way since the French drive like mad and I really wanted a car seat. We ended up walking half way across Paris in probably 1.5 hours. It wasn't too bad except that we were carrying heavy bags and it was hot out. However, any walk in Paris is a lovely walk :) Unlike Toulon, many of the sidewalks are nicely paved and very wide too.

Our hotel stay included a buffet breakfast and dinner. It was nice because there was always something that Tristan could eat! Eating was fine for me but really stressful for my parents-in-law because we let Tristan eat on his own in the highchair and he would make a mess each time. Of course he will! He's only 18 months old. He may make a mess but a lot of the food actually ends up in his mouth. They were embarrassed because we were in a public place and thought we should have fed him instead. Here is the thing. Tristan was brought up eating on his own. He has been doing it since probably 9 months old so needless to say, he won't want us to feed him. He wants to do it all himself. We also tried to feed him things we knew he would eat too to minimize the mess.

We went to Ladurée, a fancy salon de tea, in Printemps with the family. We munched on delicious macaroons and had espressos. There, we also found out that it costs 1Euro to pee without a restaurant coupon. If you want to change a baby's diaper, it will cost you 2Euros. What!! There was no way we were paying 2Euros just for a clean diaper room. We took a stroll in the Parc Monceau and changed Tristan's diaper in the stroller there. For FREE! Take that Paris!

We soon learned that Paris is just not baby-friendly. Sure, they may have tons of beautiful baby and children clothing stores but it's no city for parents with small children. Buses are ok to take but they are slow and the subway is brutal for strollers. Unfortunately since we were pressed for time, we had to rough it in the dirty subway. I would carry Tristan in my arms and Jean-Louis would carry the stroller down or up the stairs. A few of the big subway stations had a stroller access once you are inside the station but most of them don't. We had to disassemble our bugaboo stroller into two parts and slide it through the gate at the top. All this while juggling Tristan and bags in our hands :( We were really sweating it too. I forget how hot it was down there!

Walking through Paris, brought back so many memories. I sure miss the shopping paradise. The elegant shops, great choices of styles, restaurants etc. What I didn't miss was the cigarette smoke and I smelled it almost everywhere we went. Yuck! The longer we stayed, the more I realized I couldn't live in Paris anymore and am so glad we live in Vancouver. It's hard to believe we lived there for so long. I was unhappy when it was just the two of us but now with Tristan, it would be a nightmare! I couldn't wait to go home :(

Shopping on 4th and coffee at Thomas Haas

Today, Tristan is 16 months old and I wanted us to do something fun outside. We were all not feeling the greatest so running was out of the question. We have been meaning to go to Kitsilano to do some shopping for awhile but something always came up. Since Tristan was sick and wasn't eating much anyway, it seemed like the perfect time to get out and enjoy the sunshine a bit.

We had a great day. We finished our chores early and Tristan had a good nap. We headed to 4th Avenue and shopped at places like Hip Baby, Crocodile Baby, and then we trekked over to West Broadway and had coffee at Thomas Haas. I heard so many great things about Thomas Haas through friends on Twitter and since we were in the neighborhood, I just had to try it.

The place definitely met my expectations. Elegant chocolates, great selection of well presented pastries, and a buzzing atmosphere. The croissants were delicious and their cafe mocha was divine. It was one of the best mochas I have had, if not the best. The croissants were $2.50 and the mocha was $4. Considering how pricey everything else was, this seemed like a good deal. The cakes and fancy tarts were all $5.50 each but they were quite small. A small piece of chocolate was $1.10 each. The shop is the closest thing I have seen to a real French pâtisserie in Vancouver. It was definitely in the right neighborhood and was super busy when we were there.

After our coffee break, we went looking for bath toys and found some at the Toy Box. Then we went to Kids Books and bought Tristan Good Night Vancouver and a couple of other illustration books. Our final stop was at Capers because I wanted to buy some Jerusalem artichokes (a.k.a sunchokes). We ended up buying some plain Mount Royal bagels too (our favorite brand) for Tristan to munch on. We had a productive shopping day and we all had a good time. Tristan got to exercise his legs too. He likes to push the stroller or hold both of our hands while walking :)

Mommy loves to dress the baby (and blushes)

I never played with dolls when I was a child. I don't recall ever owning a doll. I do remember I was given one when I was too old to play with dolls so I never played with it. I was probably something like 10 years old. I guess I am making up for it now! With my real baby, I just love dressing him up. Until he is old enough to have an opinion about what he wants to wear, I have the full freedom in dressing him the way I like. Jean-Louis gives his input here and there but he doesn't really care much. I think he is probably just glad he doesn't have to be in charge of dress up or clothes shopping. Fine with me!

Today, one of the daycare staff told me that she loves the fact that Tristan matches from head to toe. Instead of taking that as a compliment, I actually found myself a bit embarrassed. I must appear like one of those Stepford wives (or moms) where everything has to be perfect all the time. His food is homemade and nicely cut up all the time. Everything has a sticker label on it. His clothes match and he arrives well groomed every day. I could go on but the list won't help in my argument that I really am not perfect. It's true I am trying to be the best mom I can be. Who's not? I'm just lucky I have more time on my hands than other moms and don't mind doing all these things. Tristan may appear all perfect to the outsider but that's because I disguise it as so. Well, not always. He is definitely well taken care of but things could be much much better. I don't do a lot of things that I probably should as well but if I talk about them, I will once again get criticized and it sort of feels rotten being judged all the time as a mother. Yes, Tristan sleeps through the night and has been doing so since he was very young but that's because we put him through sleep training at 6 months. We're not going to apologized for it because it turned out to be one of our best decisions. We are all much happier now as a result. I better stop there before I say too much and start getting hate messages again from other parents. Back to the clothes!

Here is another outfit I just love from Gymboree. It's a pair of pirate monkey overalls with matching bodysuit. Overalls are the cutest thing on baby boys and I love all the monkey themes. Nothing suits him more at this point. He really is a monkey and daycare even says so! They say he is into everything and he is fast too. Haha :)

Jacadi Vancouver - a look inside

When we heard Jacadi opened in Vancouver last year, we were so excited. Jacadi was one of my favorite baby clothing stores in France. Sometimes it is hard to find cute boy clothes but everything Jacadi had was super adorable. It was one of the first stores I discovered in Paris with super cute boy clothes. The style is very European-like and carry soft innocent tones. They are a high end clothing line so if you can afford to splurge a little on your little one, then you would love this store too! Tristan already has a few Jacadi items because his grandparents from France likes to send him gifts all the time :)

We finally got a chance to visit the Jacadi store in Vancouver today. It's located just off of 41st on Dunbar. It's the only Jacadi store in the West Coast of Canada. Apparently, they do take orders over the phone and have done so for customers in Calgary. Every time I searched for the store in Vancouver, I couldn't find much information on it besides their directory listing. Now, that I have visited the store firsthand, I wanted to blog about it and show others pictures of the inside. The store itself is very small. In fact, I think it could be bigger because they have a bit more merchandise than what the store can display. Compared to Jacadi stores in France, this one looked a little cluttered. The store has a fitting room but no change room or bathroom. That's not surprising due to its size.

When I first stepped inside, I felt like I was in Paris again. I was in cuteness heaven and I wanted to take my time and enjoy it :) Then the sales lady tells me that pretty much everything is on sale and that was when I quickly started to look and began doing some serious shopping! Clothing with the pink dots on them are 30% off, light blue dots are 40% off, and dark blue dots are 50% off. Hooray! Actually, this is the same Jacadi sale as the one going on in France right now. We spent at least an hour in the store but we made good progress in that time :) One of our friends, who lived in the neighborhood met us at the store so after wards, we all went for coffee and dessert. Yes, our Saturday afternoon was fabulous :)