Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The One that Got Away


So on leg 10 of my 13 legs of driving and schlepping the kids around yesterday (is this boot camp for Back to School?), I passed a lovely bench on a trash pile. It looked like the one above, but without the artfully placed teacup and throw, natch.

Things working in my favor:
It was in the front yard of a house with an "Under Contract" sign on it.

The house was fancy-schmantzy, indicating the people probably bought nice stuff.

Moving causes a desperate need to unload treasures.


Thing working against me:

Very full bladder. Like seriously, intensely full.


I decided to rush home to avoid losing bladder control in my hometown while dumpster diving. When I returned with my helpful son in tow, the bench was gone.

Waaahh.


What about you? What's the one that got away?

15 comments:

  1. argh. A girl's bike from my next door neighbors house this past weekend; they put out two. We went and retrieved the first one and by the time we went for the second one it was gone! Fiona's too young for either - but she'll grow into them/it!

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  2. So sad! There is actually a house that got away... I love my house and my neighborhood but I will always think back to (and frankly idolize) the house that got away. Hmmm....

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  3. I don't think I've ever had the oportunity to see something cool like that.

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  4. Noooooooo! I've always wanted a bench exactly like that one. I would have been devastated.
    This year I resolved not to increase my "max bid" on ebay so consequently I have been outbid by $1 on quite a lot of items. It's killing me. Roll on 2011 so I can change my resolution!
    Angex

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  5. Oh there have been so many. I'm a hemmer and hawer (how in the world do you spell that?) -- so by the time I make a decision, it's gone. Always. I did throw a super cute table into the back of my mini van several months ago -- it was in a trash pile at the end of someone's driveway. I repainted it -- it's so cute in my living room. I drove around the block like 4 times before I got up the nerve to stop. Glad I did.

    You'll get it next time -- just travel with a tupperware bowl in your car for peeing (totally just kidding).

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  6. Bugeroo!!
    I think you should wear Depends while you are playing taxi! :)
    Ew. Sorry.
    Well, you brought it up! *grin*
    Anyway, the one that got away from me was an mirrored nightstand from the Pottery Barn outlet last Friday. Normally $400, it was on clearance for $80 cuz of a booboo on top of the corner in the wood, which I could fix with wood putty and paint. I went outside to go find my hubby to tell him, went back in and it was being loaded by another lady--wahhhh! Guess others need these things more than we do.
    Keep driving by that house, maybe they'll put out more stuff!
    Hugs,
    ~me

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  7. Oh, bummer! Mine would be a patio set at a yard sale that I drove by twice. When I finally stopped, the man said they were giving it away, but the woman in front of me had JUST claimed it. :s Thanks for the visit. :)

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  8. Oh no! I don't know where you find all of this great stuff by the side of the road...

    I agree with the "house that got away" comment. That would be mine. Still dream about that huge kitchen....

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  9. I missed out on a $17 Halloween candelabra at Pottery Barn (marked down from $68). I didn't want to carry it around the store and there weren't many other customers...or so I thought. A woman swooped in and grabbed it. Oh well. I guess if I had really wanted it I would have brought it to the register right away.

    I console myself (no pun intended) with my $10 console table. No kidding, I got it for 96% off! It was brand new and originally $250.
    I'll take the table I needed over the candelabra I wanted.

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  10. Anna! You don't read your blog comments do you or email for that matter? Can you email me, you won a contest on my blog, but I haven't heard back from you! Denise

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  11. Shoot! I wish you could have gotten that bench. It has lovely lines.

    jbhat

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  12. Ouch, that stings. The "one that got away" for me was more like the one that was ripped out of my grasp. 100 year old oak dining table at a consignment shop, I looked at it, loved it, went home to switch from car to truck to go back and buy it, got distracted and didn't go back that same day. Told my MY NOW EX SISTER IN LAW about it, and she went in and bought it.

    As an aside, this happened in 1999 (true story) and I am still pissed.

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  13. Oh that hurts. I once lost a formica table (vintage 1942 at least, by thinking "Oh I'll come back". they're always gone).

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  14. Funny, I did not see you as a "grab stuff from the curb" kind of gal. (I am such a girl, but I have the sense that I am less refined and more west coasty than you.) Too bad about the bladder, I would have wanted to grab that too.

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  15. At the house down the street from us, like maybe 4 houses down, I was leaving the house (late to be somewhere probably) and saw a great chair that I could easily reupholster and paint and it would look amazing! I called my husband RIGHT AWAY, but by the time he changed our son's diaper, put on his shoes and walked the few feet to get there, it was already gone. I was so sad :(

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