The Year of Garbage

This post has been a long time coming.

A couple months ago while I was driving home from God knows where, I saw an interesting piece of furniture being thrown out in an alley. It was a cabinet of sorts. Old and vintage looking with a little, sad, broken door. It was love at first sight. I had to have it. A girl on a bike was checking it out when I drove past and the look on her face said "How would I get this home?" Having a car, and thus the upperhand, I raced around the block and barreled down the alley. A painting shrewn between garbage bins caught my eye, but I couldn't stop. I had to reach the cabinet before anyone else! By the time I got to the end of the alley, the girl on the bike was gone and an old Mexican man with a bright white mustache smiled at me as I awkwardedly tried to maneuver my new treasure into the back seat of my car. Once safely inside, I headed home, eager to show Amy my award winning garbage pick. Obviously she was just as excited as I was and I began to tell her about the painting I saw. I think I was able to speak three words: "80s" and "with seagulls" and she was instantly sold. "Let's get it!" she screamed and we both jumped back into the car. Needless to say "80s" and "with seagulls" was an understatement. This pride and joy looked like the artist was on crack and possibly acid when he/she created it. Complete with crushed rock (or beads?) this was TRULY a work of art. And now sitting in our living room waiting to be hung up.

High from the "we just scored some awesome free shit" buzz, we remembered the previous month or so when we found some REALLY great garbage. Our dining room is outfitted with a lovely pair of mannequin legs. We found a couple stools - one that was decoupaged (which needs to be redone) and the other bare. There were some other things, but they escape me at the moment. The point is -- there is some really good garage in our neck of the woods. Like, decent things that people would pay money for. The cabinet alone could have sold for $25 at a garage sale. Those legs? Well, they are priceless...but I'm sure no less than $15. We decided that if we keep our eyes out and collect things over a year, we'd have the makings for a pretty bad-ass garage sale come next spring/summer. Thus, the year of garbage was born.

On the walk home, right after we deemed this the Year of Garbage, we found a straw basket hanging out by someone's trash can. Dominic picked it up and instantly priced it a quarter. We knew from that point on that the basket was only the beginning. Many more goodies are about to be salvaged from curbs, alleys, and trash cans all over Chicagoland. They'll be priced to sell and will find their way into new homes to be enjoyed all over again. Nothin' says "Goin' Green" like a lil garbage-pickin'.

The cabinet that started it all, with the 1st item of "garbage" on top. (And of course any GP'ed piece of furniture would not be complete without my Virgin Mary holy candles on top.)