my first consignment sale

after some nudging from my friend kristen last week, i decided i would join her for a consignment sale adventure.  this was one of those serious sales that started at the ungodly hour of 7:30 and had a limited time frame.  i somehow managed to pull myself out of bed at a quarter to 6 and get myself looking halfway decent for kristen's arrival at 6:30.  we're both not morning people- but get a little starbucks in us and we're not so bad.  the sale was crazy when we arrived- it's at the dupage county fairgrounds- and they have several sales going on all at once spread out through the buildings.  we tried to hit up one sale to start with, but could barely squeeze in the door- so we moved on to the big sale.

right away we wanted to grab a couple big items- a new baby gate (that isn't made of wood and barely holding on) for both of us- then we quickly perused the toys (i found a goody on the way to the toys).  i found this cute little combo baseball/football/basketball toy- and i dropped that off with my gate to be held.  then it was on to the big show- clothes.  i decided to skip over most of the 2t (maybe foolish) and head straight for the 24 month stuff to procure more summer clothing (we got started at his birthday, and i just wanted to flesh the wardrobe out a bit).  basically you find a clear spot to nudge in, put your laundry basket on the floor by your foot and start flipping through clothes- you find something you like, you toss it at your feet. when you finish with that pile, you scoot your basket and keep moving.  once you've grabbed what you can (doesn't take long for boys- there just aren't as many options)- you head to a sorting area and sort- where you can get the opinions of other moms and maybe pass long what you don't want to them!  after sorting, we stood in line for 30-40 minutes, but i found myself something else + it didn't seem like the line took so long- they're pretty efficient.  fun times.

here's my haul:

 - plastic swing baby gate (sadly not wide enough for where i want it)

- sports toy

- 7 pairs of summer pjs

- 1 swimsuit/t-shirt combo (looked brand new)

- 1 l/s shirt (cookie monster)!

- 4 pairs of shorts

- 9 outfits (8 rompers b\c i love rompers on little boys and this is the last summer for them & 1 dress outfit)

- this dress

yeah, you saw that.  someone put a forever 21 dress in the girls size 16 dress section- you'd be crazy to think i wasn't going to be all over that action.  it's loose and comfy and perfect for 80 degree days (like TODAY)!!! 

so i got all that goodness for only $60!!!  so awesome!  but that's not all.  i got one additional "big ticket" item.  it's something i had been wanting for a while, but definitely couldn't afford!  

i got this bag, which normally retails for almost $200 for only $60!!  yippee!!  it holds stuff more comfortably than my old diaper bag, plus you can wear it as a backpack.  it's a super cute bag!  

the consignment sale was definitely a success- i spent a little more than i was expecting to, but got a lot of great steals, plus ian is outfitted for the summer (minus sandals)!  i'd definitely do it again.  

have you shopped or sold at a consignment sale?  successes?  horror stories?