Hello Hello Hello

Hi friends!
I'm home with a cold today so I thought I'd do a little catch up blog.
It's been a pretty good week with only a few hiccups.
The biggest highlight is that my niece will be having her baby Monday if not before! She went to the doctor yesterday and that was the decision they made with the doctor. She is really due Sept. 21 but is having a few issues with blood pressure and the baby is already 7 lbs 4 oz. . I am so ready to meet my great niece Annabelle...I'd better get over this cold or I will have to wait.

Another pretty big highlight is that we got Garth Brooks tickets for October. Vic and I both have birthdays in October so every year we do something special together (cruise, weekend away, etc.) and today tickets went on sale so we both got online and tried for 45 min. to get good seats. I am pretty pleased with what we got. They are all the same price no matter where you sit and there were only a few dates available in jacksonsville (4+ hours away from us) but as we were trying to buy tickets they opened up a few more dates to choose from so we  got later than we planned for dates. The only thing bad about it is that it falls on Sarasota Pride weekend...we missed it last year because of our cruise to Mexico and it looks like we'll miss it again this year.

I've had one of the best weeks so far on Ebay and Amazon. It's been a wide arrangement of products. I've been posting vintage postcards this past week. Most are from 1908-1913 and they are mostly from a family from the town i grew up in (Moberly, Missouri) so I posted about them on a local facebook page and one of my classmates got in touch with me that she is either related to or friends with the family that is tied back to these postcards. Pretty cool. I love history and family trees.
I've also been posting a bunch of old cookbooks. My sister is de-cluttering her house so she brings me things every week to post while I'm at work (We work together, pretty cool having your sister as your boss I guess lol)

Vic ended up not having to serve for Jury Duty. I got a card in the mail to serve one time but I was in TN helping dad thru Chemo and everything so I sent a post back that I couldn't make it. I guess that was ok, I never heard anything else. I do think it would be very interesting.

We got a call from our lawn guy last week telling us our fence gate fell off. Yes, the BRAND NEW fence. Here we are a week later and no one has come to fix it yet. Vic has sent several pictures and spoken to them on the phone several times and now they promise to come out next week...we shall see. What a pain. We have it hooked up with wire hangers and blocks of wood so our dogs don't escape right now.

My latest obsession, revisited, is monthly subscription boxes and youtube videos doing reviews on said boxes. Some of my favorites are: Amy Lynn Thompson, Mrs. Lola Lynn , and Jenn at the Busy Bee Buzz  . I am currrently getting Ipsy , I have canceled Birchbox and I just ordered Beauty Box 5. I hope to do a review/comparison once they come this month. There are so many more that I want to get but I have to control the urges to order them all.

That is about all that is fit to print. I'm playing with the idea of doing video updates again but I tried thru blogger and it didn't take...I guess I need to make friends with my youtube again...or not.
Have a great weekend!!

Aug 27-Sept 7 Just more in the life...

New stuff since last post

• Canceled Birch Box, Ipsy  is so much better.
• Ate at Buffalo Wild Wings, Ruby Tuesdays, Gold Rush
• Sold on ebay: ink,magazine,plaque, shoes,,lube,burner (scentsy),paint,wallets,
• Lottery ; won  free tickets but the jerk at the Shell station wouldn't give me my ticket (the one next to Bob Evans) won't be going back there. He said I only gave him four non winning tickets, when I know that I gave him five and #5 was a free ticket winner. #jerk 
• Vic and I went to our annual eye doctor -only changed a little so not getting new glasses yet.
• Talked to my Aunt
• Cousin had surgery #breastcancersucks 
• Binge watched three seasons of United States of Tara. Great show!!
• Lottery, won $22 one day and $12 another
• Joan Rivers died 
• Gave Scout a bath
• Made cookies, messed up one batch by baking them on wax paper, ugh

My Obsession with calendars and numbers...
over 100,000 views on this blog since I started it four years ago
my work facebook account grew by 464 "friends/fans" in the last month...4639 now!

Sept 2010 Blog about TV Schedule
Sept 2011 my 25th Class Reunion 
Sept 2012 More TV Updates 
Sept 2013 Septembers past 

Just another day...

I keep meaning to get on here and do a little update but google has made it so darn difficult! I changed my email address and it seems everything is attached via the other gmail account. Youtube, Blogger, etc. etc.
But anyway...
I've been trying to get myself more organized. I  bought a great at-a-glance day planner ! (yes another calendar to add to my already over loaded calendar collection/obsession)
I've been setting goals and so far meeting them! (most of them anyway) I'm selling more on ebay and amazon each month. Still not mind blowing figures but enough that keeps me excited. Today I sold a figurine for a few hundred dollars.
Ebay and Amazon had been quiet for a few weeks but it's like someone turned the light on again this past week. I tend to go sourcing and post more after a day of cha-chings on my phone (It's a sound my phone makes when I make a sale on either Ebay or Amazon).

We got our fence installed a week or so ago..it's AWESOME! It has made all the difference in the world with the dogs barking. They are much quieter and happier now that they can spend more time running around the yard. Before we'd make them come in as soon as the barking started. I'm sure the neighbors are happier too. :)

A group of my friends have started a walking group (starting Tuesday) I'm pretty excited about it. I've been wanting to ask around to see if anyone wanted to walk or ride bikes with me but I didn't want to really have the commitment incase I didn't feel like it  once the time came. It's so much less stressful when someone else sets it up lol. I hope that I actually show up and do this next week! I need some exercise in the worst way. 

Since my last post I became a great aunt. My sisters son and his girl friend welcomed a little boy Aug. 8. Unfortunately I have not seen the baby and don't know if I will anytime soon. Family drama...I wish you could make young kids understand what is really important in life BEFORE it's too late. 

My other sister has a daughter that is due next month..it will be a totally different story with that little baby...I can't wait to see her! 

Here are some pictures from this month :) A bit of "What Holly Has Seen"...

Happy July!

Happy July my friends!
It's been a busy summer so far! I have...
1. started selling on Amazon
2. had a girls week at the beach
4. spent the 4th of July at the beach with family
5. celebrated my nieces graduation from nursing school
6. closed on our house
7. started back up on ebay
8. went to the movies (Tammy)
9. celebrated 4 years blogging!

Now I'm just trying to catch my breath and find enough hours in the week to fit in work, shopping, shipping, watching big brother and play time with Vic and the furchildren.

What has your summer looked like?

Selling Online

For over a week now I've been totally lost in the world of Amazon. It all started with Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Rainbow Chip Frosting. One of my friends mentioned that she sold it on Amazon and made a lot of money because it's hard to find or discontinued or something. I was impressed but didn't think much of it. A few days went by I think before I reached out to her on facebook and asked "how did you even know it was a hard to find/discontinued item that could bring in $$" .She sent me some links to check out and groups on  FB to join and mentioned FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon). It perked my interest, and then I watched several youtube videos on the subject of FBA Amazon and was blown away. People are making some serious bucks on this. It brought back memories of the early 90's for me when I was selling tons of collectibles on Ebay. It was  a lot of work but I enjoyed the extra money and the ability to do it while also working a full time job.  The downside for me was all the trips to the post office and the follow up on auctions that were won but late in being paid for. 

When I learned the FBA handles all of the shipping and customer interaction I was sold. All I had to do was buy stuff and send it away to Amazon..right? Well ...it's not exactly that easy. If it were everyone would be doing it, Right?   My process so far...I  set up a FBA sellers account on Amazon. Then I put in a few products around my house to see if they were worth selling (most were not). My friends told me to download the app Profit Bandit on my smart phone and head to the stores. The app was $15.  

Saturday morning as soon as the stores opened I headed out to Target and Big Lots. I learned Saturday morning was not the best time to hit Target. They were restocking their shelves so the clearance sections were blocked with workers and pallets and boxes. I managed to try a few items and then ventured over to Big Lots.  Of course I looked for that Rainbow frosting first..no luck. Then I went to the health and beauty isles. There are a lot of items that are not  allowed (Nail Polish, Hair Spray, Etc.) So I wasn't sure yet if I was doing it right but my app helped me at least know if the products I was looking at would show a profit or a loss.   

I then came home and started putting the product into my selling area on Amazon so it could get ready to be shipped. I was so nervous about the entire thing that I watched even more videos and learned that there is so much more that I need to know!! There are stickers and labels that have to be on things (sold as a group, suffocation warning labels, expiration date labels , etc.) and even rules on packing supplies..no popcorn, shredded paper etc...

I'm still in the way early stages of learning and doing this but I'm super excited about  the possibilities and love the numbers that I am hearing from my friends that are selling on Amazon.   I have now ordered a laser printer and the proper labels and shipping supplies so maybe by the weekend I'll have my first shipment ready to go out!! 

Mostly I'm proud of ME. My normal M.O. would be to just rush thru and not read the rules and then when my shipment was rejected for breaking the rules I'd just quit.  This time I've taken my time, met with my friends that are actually doing this and making money, watched every video i could find on the subject, joined a bunch of facebook groups with other people doing the same thing and asked questions.  :) Go me! 

I look forward to blogging later about this and telling you how I'm doing. Amazon payments go out twice a month I believe , not sure if everyone is the same but my friends get their payments on the 3rd and 17th.   I'll report back on the 3rd and let you know 1. if my shipment went out 2. if I made any sales 3. how far I am from breaking even from my initial investment. 

Don't think that you have to spend a lot of money on product. Books/DVDs/Toys/Games are big sellers and you can find those at Goodwill, garage sales, in your house etc.   

Wish me luck!! If you are a FBA seller let me know how you are doing ! 

How to sell on Amazon 

Clothes!

I am cleaning out my closets today and posting TONS of stuff on ebay. Free Shipping and low prices so please, please, please if you need  new clothes check them out! Some of the things still have tags, yes I'm one of those...I hate to try things on in the store and often also hate to return them!  I have lots of different sizes too...12,16,14,18 in pants, skirts, shorts    Tops in S,M, XL, L

My link to ebay is http://myworld.ebay.com/flhollygrl