Surviving the Great Glebe Garage Sale

This past weekend was a big one for the City of Ottawa.  The biggest event of the weekend would be Ottawa Race Weekend.  Another popular form of running that takes place the fourth Saturday in May comes in the form of "running" from house to house in the Glebe, seeking out great bargains in the Great Glebe Garage Sale (GGGS).  This was my third (non-consecutive) time going to the sale and each year I've learned new tips (sometimes the hard way). 

Of course, if you're not from Ottawa, these same tips can apply to large community garage sales (or even small sales) in any city. 

Tip #1 : The sale is said to run from 9-3.  But like most garage sales, things start up earlier.  Most people were setting up around 7am, but sellers don't usually mind if you start looking as they're setting up. 

Tip #2 :  If you have to drive, arrive early.  I went with E by car because I would have needed to take two buses if I hadn't driven.  The idea of busing with a baby, a stroller and any purchases after a long morning, didn't appeal to me.  So, I drove and got there for 6:30am. 

Tip #3 : Park near the peripheries of the sale, though it's probably best to avoid the canal side.  I usually park near Bronson so that I don't get stuck behind a bunch of cars looking for parking.   

Tip #4 : This is a new tip that occurred to me this year.  After parking, walk to the opposite side of the sale (or however far you think you'll want to go).  Resist the urge to stop at a bunch of the sales as you're doing this.  Then, make your way back to your end destination (car, bus, home).  This way, when you're ready to go, you won't have to lug all of your stuff and your sore feet back the distance you just walked.   

Tip #5 : If you're taking a baby with you -- bring a baby carrier!  I'd avoid the ones where your baby faces out because  there are a ton of people, so it will likely be over-stimulating and it's not  ergonomically-friendly for the baby.  I'd also recommend acquainting yourself with wearing your baby on your back.  It's way easier to carry a 20+ pound baby on your back for three hours than on your front.  Personally, I alternated back and front a couple of times so that I could nurse E while on the move. 

Also -- I recommend you ignore any dumb comments about how wearing your baby doesn't let your baby practice walking.  Someone seriously said this to me as though I should let my 9.5 month old walk in a busy sale with cars and people everywhere.  Not to mention the fact that E's "walking" pretty much consists of cruising from couch to couch or holding on to both of my hands while she slowly shuffles around the living room.  Even if I had a confident walker, I'd still opt to wear her. 

Tip #6 : Bring layers!  This advice pretty much goes for any full day outing, when the weather is variable.  Also - bring water and a snack (unless you want to purchase these items while out).  The GGGS has a ton of food and beverages to purchase.  All of the Bank Street businesses recognize the money-making and community-building opportunity of having thousands of people inundate their neighbourhood and are in on the garage sale action (e.g., putting their own merchandise on sale, targeted advertisement, etc.).  There are also a lot of home owners and charities selling food.  It's actually kind of funny to see people in big expensive Glebe homes selling homemade muffins.  Maybe it's the one day they get to live out their dreams of owning a bakery.  Usually, the money made goes toward a charity. 

Tip #7 : Don't be afraid to haggle.  Sometimes people overestimate what their used stuff is worth.  Maybe it's a lingering emotional attachment.  Sometimes, I just think it's greed.  I'd estimate that I offered a lower price than what the seller wanted about 75% of the time.  For me, it's a combination of: what do I think it's worth and trying to score a good deal.     

Tip #8 : Wait until you're done looking through everything at a particular sale/table before making your purchase.  I kept making this mistake.  I'd find something I would like and then pay for it...Then I'd realize that there were other things I was interested in being sold by the same person/household.  It's easier to put a bunch of items together and get the price down than to haggle a lower price on one item. 

Tip #9 : This is a big one!  Don't be afraid to walk away.  If the price is too high/if the seller isn't willing to budge, if you have a moment of clarity where you discover that you really don't need the item you're considering...whatever the reason.  Just walk away.  Similarly, if the item you're considering is in good shape and really fits a need you have, it's okay to make the purchase even it you couldn't get the seller down that extra dollar.   

Tip #10 : It's important to remember that even though you're getting something (used) at a lower price than what you would pay for in the store, you still have to find somewhere in your home for it.  Every time I considered buying something, I'd think: Do I have space for this?  Will it get used? Is it a good deal?  Will R roll his eyes at this purchase when I get home? 

Here's a picture of my $22 haul:

What tips do you have for garage sales???

Great Canadian Cheese Festival

Prince Edward County (PEC) has really become quite the destination for foodie-related events and get aways. It has been too long since our previous trips to PEC.  Since we're a bit limited in the foodie-related events we can feasibly attend with a baby, I was thrilled to be invited to the Ottawa-based media launch for The Great Canadian Cheese Festival that will be taking place in a couple of weeks in PEC.  

With more than 100 exhibitors and vendors and over 125 different Canadian cheeses to sample, this show is the largest cheese show is Canada.  

    

This event gave a taste of the exhibitors you'll see at the festival.  

Of course, we couldn't pass by Casa Dea Estates Winery's wines without sampling a bit for ourselves!  PEC's wines benefit from a mineral rich soil and a climate moderated by the adjacent Lake Ontario.  

A chilled white wine (I believe it was Pinot Gris) was a delicious way to cool down from the warm weather of the day.

Saavy Company, was behind the marketing of the event.  Saavy Company has organized transportation to the festival for those coming from Ottawa.  Their tour includes a round-trip coach bus and tickets to the festival.

One of my favourite samples came from Seed to Sausage's skewers of a selection of their salami.  This artisan sausage maker uses local products where possible with few additives and preservatives.  Their products are available at a number of locations in Ottawa.  I am going to have to seek out some more of their Lomo.

We spent some time chatting with Salty Don, who can be regularly found at the Ottawa and Carp Farmer's Markets.  It was interesting learning about the different techniques he uses to add flavour and scent to his salts.  

I'm a bit of a sucker for honey.  I regularly use it in baking, in my tea and when making jam, so I am always tempted to buy just "one more jar." I sampled some of Heavenly Honey's creamed cinnamon honey butter, which would be delicious on a piece of toast.  

   

I'm still kind of hoping that we can magically make it to The Great Canadian Cheese Festival.

Savoy Brasserie

I can't believe how quickly E is changing.  At 9.5 months, she has now learned to army crawl her way around, showing us all of the ways our house is not sufficiently baby-friendly.  I'm guessing she'll be walking before fully crawling.  She has started cruising this week and that's all she wants to do...  Well..cruising and using the phone to call 911.  Seriously!  What are the chances of a baby pressing the talk button and then 9-1-1?  Apparently, pretty good.  Oops.

Good thing she doesn't make strange (yet?) -- we were able to get out a second night out during Grandma and Grandpa's recent visit.

This second night we went to Westboro. The corner of Churchill and Richmond has changed a lot this year.  First Gezellig moved in on the north-west corner and now Savoy Brasserie has taken over the space previously occupied by Newport Restaurant on the south-east corner. 

The Savoy has a lot of things going for it (location, space, design, concept).  At the same time, there are new restaurant kinks to work out (food consistency, staff training, flow of restaurant, equipment functioning).  

We met up with a couple of friends for dinner about two weeks after Savoy Brasserie opened. For an appetizer, R and I ordered the Savoy salad.  The salad was a bit underwhelming, but I'd attribute it to forgotten ingredients.  I didn't realize until after I finished the salad and saw the neighbouring table's order that our salad didn't include chick peas.  I did, however, notice that there wasn't a drop of dressing (grapefruit vinaigrette) on the salad.  Our friends order the escargot and enjoyed it.

For my main, I ordered steak frites.  The steak was done to my specifications (medium), but I debated askng for steak sauce.  Generally, I hope for a steak to have enough flavour on its own, without needing some sort of sauce.

My friend ordered a bouillabaisse, which she enjoyed.  

R ordered veal scallopine and said it was "just okay."  Not pictured is the duck confit, which our friend really enjoyed (though I think he felt like his serving size was smaller than ours).

Although the staff all seemed polite, I found the number of waiters a bit dizzying.  I know R got really tired of his chair being bumped by passing waiters.  Hopefully they can find a way to widen the aisles for the waiters to pass through.  Below, you can see see the amount of space between the two chairs, which is a main artery of the restaurant.  

Of course, the elephant in the room is the firemen.  Again, I'll give the restaurant slack because it recently opened.  But, the smell of smoke, followed by blaring smoke detectors and entry of firemen kind of broke up the evening.  We took it as our cue to leave and headed down the street for some dessert.

So -- the big question.  Will I return?  Sure -- I'd like to see how they're doing in a couple of months.  Aside from the lack of space between tables, I think all of the bumps we experienced can be easily ironed out with time.