Loulette's Vintage

For those who always wanted to know the story of how I restarted Loulette's... this was a post that was unpublished from

June 2017 

SO I did it again… just as I found peace with myself that I was not going to resell any more vintage items, I sold all my tools of the trade (except not Jennie the mannequin) and washed my hands of the whole process.  It’s not that I didn’t LOVE vintage or having vintage or making sure others had great vintage, I was just too darn busy with all the other aspects of my life and selling as a second job is a full time job!

SOOO as I mentioned I got rid of all the things I needed to sell… and then it happened.  I happened upon the mother of all auctions.  Auctions for me have been a great way to obtain treasures at a low price and I just clean the items up and either keep or resell and so I just so happen to stumble upon this auction in June that to be honest has to be one of the freakiest finds ever.

This is a picture from their website of what the place looked like BEFORE they sold the items at the auction, actually before they listed the items.  I think someone had a hoarding issue!  More than my hoarding issue, which I still vow I DO NOT HAVE A HOARDING ISSUE!!  LOL!

SOOOOOOOOO off I go in my SUV to an auction in Jersey to get me some vintage dresses.  The ad for the auction stated 200-300 dresses.  I just had to see this for myself.  The hour and 20 min drive in the rain and parking in a large field looking over the rusting masses of items on this farm and cant image 200-300 dresses of any quality being anywhere near this place and so a little disappointed feeling I said well I mines well  at least inquire because I did walk up early and drive all the way here. And so I got out of the truck and walked through ankle high grass to the barn to ask.

I asked one of the really nice people working the auction if the dresses are still here and are they selling. I am still thinking that I must be mistaken because this place is trashed and no way I see anything remotely what I was looking for.  But I am determined.

The man points to another woman who leads me to the back of the barn and up some stairs.  Typical old barn full of TONS of old crap and as I walk up I am most certain now I will just be getting in my truck and going home empty.  As we head to the second floor of the barn there is a room and when she opens the door it was like a light of vintage gold shown down.  This room was filled with vintage dresses in all sizes, colors, shapes and ages from 1940s through 1980s and hanging up and some in bags.  There had to be over 1000+ dresses hanging!!!  There were vintage furs and leather and probably 50+ bags of more clothes.  I had to step back and take a breath, I don’t think I have ever seen so many vintage items in all my life.

After a moment to collect myself and as I look at the items I have to ask the gal who was there working the sale, where did these all come from?  The condition of them were really good considering that they were kept in a barn but in a secret room that seemed to protect most of the clothing from damage such as bugs and mice. 

She informed me that the story goes something like this, that the man who passed away whose auction this was had multiple stores he owned a horse saddle shop and he bought a vintage clothing store for a niece who he loved.   This niece decides to up and move to California with a boyfriend and so the assumption is that this man took all the items and stored them in this loft in the barn.  I wonder if she thought she would return? 

The man auctioneer guy appears in the doorway and tells me that a lady from NY had already been down and got over 1,000 dresses, this is what remained.  I needed a moment to sit down because I honestly don’t think I could process all this.  A man buys a vintage store with clothes many years ago for a niece and she leaves and he takes all the clothes and stores them for years in a loft in a barn.  This is the craziest most awesome find ever!

SO NOW I have to carefully figure out what pieces I want to try and bid on as obviously there is a lot to look at.  I find a few pieces and note the lots they are in and have a price point in my  head of how much I would pay.  I wait around and watch as a few other ladies come by and take a look at the lots.  I wait.. and I wait… and I wait.  The rain has stopped and they have two auctioneers going on all the other stuff and I am waiting patiently on the dresses.

The auctioneer talks to me on the sly (I will tell you about that conversation in a minute) and I wait and finally they tell us they are auctioning the clothes in around 11am.  So I head back up to the loft.  There are only me and one other woman and I am shocked as usually I have to fight tons of dealers and so I optimistic about getting the items I want.

The auctioneer explains the rules and then starts the bidding, starts at $5 I said yes, the girl said yes to $7, I said yes to $10, the auctioneer said how about $13, I said no but the lady said yes so now she gets to pick as many dresses as she wants for $13 a piece.  I hold my breath she doesn’t see or take the beautiful blue vintage coat I want and so when what seemed like hours (was only minutes she picked 4 items, I awaited the normal that he is going to sell each lot of items.  AND no he doesn’t.

He said that the woman in New York would give him $$$ for the room of dresses including stands and bags of clothes and asked if either of us where interested in bidding for that as he would give us first chance since we were here.  Without hesitation and because I brought exactly that much cash with me I said I would.

And then there was a quiet hush as the auctioneer asked the other lady if she was interested in the room for a higher bid she said no… I think I almost passed out holding my breath.

AND SO I WIN THE ENTIRE ROOM OF CLOTHES.. all 1000+ dresses and stands and bags… for $$$.

AND so then the reality hits.. HOW OR WHAT THE HELL am I going to do with all these clothes?

So this is when I have to say some crazy just doesn’t cut it.  I cant even image what I was thinking but I wanted that damn blue coat and to get it I paid $$$ and now have to get rid of 999 other items.. LOL..   FUNNY or not I think fast on my feet and so I have to figure out how I am going to move all these items myself down the stairs and into my SUV?  And then where will I store them?   I am an hour 20 mins from home and……….

This is my DAMN BLUE COAT!!

As I am hauling items back and forth a young gal stops me to buy a few of the pieces.  I didn’t even care I told her she could have them for $5 a dress and so I made $40 as she took 8 dresses.  THANK GOODNESS as I needed toll money to get back over the bridge out of Jersey to PA!  The auctioneer seemed impressed with my stamina and physical strength in being able to haul pounds of clothes down stairs and to my truck for four hours.  Anyone who has moved clothes, especially coats knows how heavy they are!

SO you are probably still reeling about this whole thing and thinking … the same thing I am thinking.. WTH… But it seemed meant to be.. when I woke up and drove all the way to Jersey I hadn’t planned to buy a whole store but in reality how could I not?  The price was the exact amount of cash I took with me. 

Its hard, I have to clean up the items, take really good pictures, write descriptions, generally answer all questions and then ship the items.  It’s a process and I wasn’t sure I wanted to tackle.  But here I go!  Since my old Ebay Store days the world of Internet shopping has exploded.  There is now Instagram and Etsy.

Loulette’s Vintage Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/loulettesvintage/

And so I reinstated my website Loulette’s Vintage (http://www.loulettes.com), added an Instagram account, Pinterest board and restarted actively posting again on Loulette’s Facebook account and now opened a Loulette’s store on Etsy.  WHEW!!

Loulette’s Etsy Store:  Click here:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/Loulettes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WendyMastripolito/

Loulette’s Website: www.loulettes.com

Loulette’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/loulettesvintge

Loulettes Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/WMastripolito/loulettes-vintage/

Feel free to follow me on my social platforms and maybe even buy a dress or two because I sure as heck need to find homes for some of these treasures!!!

Welcome Video:

What Will Tomorrow Bring

Today's Pain is tomorrow's Gain.

My mantra during my long run. Although life has been getting in the way of training; too much homework, too much work-work, too much of not enough good stuff.  You know the drill, I set upon myself to go out this past glorious Sunday and get a nice solid 3 hr run in.  

So you think, heck the girl does this all the time, what's the difference?!  Well the difference is, just because a person is trained to withstand a 3 hr run doesn't mean their body will want to do a 3 hr run!!!  Lol!  

I am not sure where the breakdown happen but I am thinking it was somewhere between the tribal dance and run happy songs.  

I went from cheerful glee to wanting to throw myself down on the pavement.  I get that.  I have to get through that.... but I just couldn't figure out why my heart-rate monitor kept reminding me that I was too high... to high for what?  Surely ain't too high in happiness!!!!   JEEZ.. heart rate too high.. 

And so I decided the best thing to do was to cut the 3 hrs to 2-1/2hrs and finish at 15 miles.  

Could it have been the unseasonable warm temps that I wasn't adjusted to yet?  Or the lack of adequate water? Was it the challenging hills? Or my psycho semantic panic attack about having to do a fast marathon in less than three weeks..??

I am sure, it was a combination of all of the above, the half hour walk to get home cleared my head to remind myself.  

I do this because I LOVE to do this.  

I LOVE TO RUN... 

I run because I want to run.  Whether or not I make a fast marathon in three weeks, I know I will finish that marathon and smile doing it!  

Cycle Cycle & more Cycle

So as you all know.. or maybe you all kind of know.  I went for my Cycling Certification last Saturday.  WELL… let me tell you when I get something in my head, I really should just get it out!!!.. LOL...  I have always loved cycling and have a bike trainer at home that I trained for triathlons on and well I kind of thought it would be a really great idea to… I don’t know.. add cycling instructor to my resume… ?!

NOW before you all go laughing because of how much is already on my plate, there is a good reason I am thinking this will benefit me. 

(1) I will be able to teach something I love. 

(2) I can train and stay in shape while “playing”.

(3) I could do it part time and make a little extra cash.

SO let’s go back to Saturday the day of the certification seminar.  The morning was all lecture followed by a nice hour lunch, a 2 hour practical where we would pick a song and be tested on our ability to lead a class and then an hour to take the 100 question multiple choice/matching/fill in the blank and part essay test.

SCREECHING TO A HALT… that’s what happen when my tired arsh body who btw was up the night before doing homework.. WHO SAID WHAT???!!!! .... about picking out a song to do what?!!!

I guess in my little mind of minds I thought that they would teach us how to lead a class .. not TEST us first.  I was petrified.  I didn’t think I could do it.  I mean I wasn’t even sure I had any music on my phone, let alone ACTUALLY SPIN AND TALK!  So after the initial panic and stuffing myself at lunch with a breakfast sandwich, cinnamon scone and coffee.. DON’T JUDGE!  LOL...  I prepared myself to die.

I am not normally nervous to be in front of people but to actually do something of unique intelligence like talk and pedal and try and teach something I wasn’t sure how to do WELL… Thankfully we had a fairly large class with about 30 people.. and I was third to last.

I don’t remember much of anything ... other than smiling… and he said I passed. I guess that out of body experience should be helpful in these situations.  Now I just have to wait for the results of my exam portion, which they said could be a week or so to grade….

Feeling fairly exhausted both mentally and physically (from cycling for two hours prior to my portion of the practical), and just having no brain cells left after an hour test, I found my self at home contemplating how the hell I was going to do a long run the next day for my marathon training. 

SO this happened… and

Then I couldn’t walk for two days.. well couldn’t walk well.  So what better way to recover than going to a cycling class… Happy Cycling.. or NOT.

Here I am with my friend Barb who is a trainer for CycleBar… I took her class today and it was awesome.  I hope one day that I may be as good as she is!

I think there might be a lesson here.. not sure though... give me a minute... I am sure I will figure it out...

BODYPUMP 100

What do runners do to try and build up their core??  Of course they do, they take a Bodypump class.. and of course they take the class on the day there is a huge launch party, because hey there could be free gifts!!  

And of course why would we look at actually WHAT Bodypump was prior to attending the class??!  That would just be silly, right?!

So yes.  I convinced my running buddy Denise to join me during this awesome sounding Bodypump event going on at my local gym this past Saturday.

BUT Let's back up a few weeks. About three weeks ago I started on a strength training program that I myself just whipped up in my fantastic mind of minds and the goal was to build my upper body strength, my core strength and flexibility and become a faster runner!  YES!

WELL, like most everything I do... I almost always OVERDO... it's just a given and so for three weeks along with my running training plan for my spring marathon, I have incorporated 3-4 day sessions of strength training per week.  

The plan was to become FAST and FIT.  And so I was feeling quite confident that when I saw this Bodypump class that I would be able to attend with minimal pain.  I mean I am in shape and I have been lifting!

WELL ... I don't think I can brush my teeth or raise my arms to eat anymore as I am unable to functionally use my arms...  LOL!  

As an overachiever and quite naive about the whole Bodypump experience I just picked up the bar with weights that was near me.  Not really taking into account that after an hour class these "little weights" would magnify. 

30 minutes into this awesome class I had to look over to see and HOPE that my running buddy was ALSO suffering great suffers... and YES... we were.. the ultra running gals were experiencing complete arm fatigue!!!

OF course after the class was over I firmly found out that we were using weights that were much too heavy for resistance training for an hour program for beginners... 

OUR overachieving fall.  LOL!! BTW I CANNOT wait until the next class... that is the most fun I have had using weights since well.. since forever.

Now for the recovery......

It's HOT outside... it's summer....

There are a lot of lessons in life.. and sometimes you have to relive them over and over again to get it just right.. and then sometimes.. you never do get it right.. but the one thing you can be sure of  is you damn well tried…

Well I am about tired of signing up for races when its nice and cool.. and somehow forgetting that June, July and August .. well…   ARE HOT…

Perhaps 90+ degrees is not too hot for people sitting in a pool or in the ocean ..  or maybe even ultra runners running in the desert but for me.. 90+ is just too hot to run all day.. and it seems almost every stinking time I sign up for a 24 hour race.. its 90+ degrees…

Ok.. whining done.. for now.. bring another fun weekend with my dog and guy…

Montour Course

 

Sole Challenge 24 Hour Race

Taking some time to think about things....

I have been struggling a bit with some things in my personal life.. and so I was looking for something..to get away from everything... I guess normal would be heading to the beach for some R&R... but I found something better....

Sole Challenge 24 hour race....

Sole Challenge Hoodie and Bib #

I mean what could be better.. ?!!....24 hours of me time to think!!!  It was only 2 hours from home, on a long weekend, camping was allowed, a 1.54 loop....a perfect match for what I wanted to do.  So I signed up.. then I told Joe...

“Joe, I am going to drive the camper to run this 24 hour race and then I will be back on Sunday..."  OK..so that didn’t go as well as planned...I can only imagine how his face doesn’t just stay in the perpetual state of exhaustion.

I guess number one was.. he was in no way in hell going to let me drive the camper back 2+ hours alone after being up and running around for 24 hours... and two.. I actually think he enjoys crewing for me so he wanted to come that weekend!... I am SO glad he is the “sense” in this relationship.

Since the race was not one that I originally had planned to do, I had no stress about it, it was a SHOW AND GO.. as my girlfriend and I always refer to races that we just happen to show up and go about it.. the only difference here is I was not completely unprepared..

Bessie co-pilot

I knew that since it was a timed event there would be no feeling that "I HAD to do 26.2 miles.. or I had to do 50 miles" or really anything.. I could walk, run, sit... do whatever I wanted for 24 hours.. HELL I could sleep for that if I wanted.... this weekend was for me.. to think...

OK.. so let's back up to the think part... if I had thought about it.. I would have probably not started knowing this race was unexpectedly going to be hotter than hell....

We just had a month of cold, rainy, wet weather and now the forecast for the weekend was 90’s HOT, HUMID, and the course had no shade... can anyone say, "Where is my heat acclimation time?"

So Joe and I packed up the RV on Friday and headed up to Fayetteville PA.. a few miles from Chambersburg.  For my weekend of thinking..

Joe setting up the camper

I have to say I had so much fun parking our little RV in a parking spot and making ourselves a home away from home.. We had an awesome very low key prerace dinner of ziti, salad and water..  cooked by the race director's wife (who by the way) is an awesome cook!  And then we settled in for the night.

Sunset at the Park

The next morning came early ...people started to arrive and so I was up and about at day break...

Bessie watching the people arrive

.. even though my race didn’t start until 10am I was excited... and by the way.. it was already starting to get toasty warm out..

Fellow racer parked next to us for the shade!

I walked down to see the marathoners off to their start (they started at 8am)... 

Clint (who runs the Mainly Marathons) and Larry (1500 marathoner) were there and although I am sure they don’t remember me... I know them and was pleased to say hi..

Marathoners getting ready to start

I think what I like best about these no frill races is how really old school they are.. you run to run not for the fancy trinkets, no expos, no need to have live bands... no need for anything but just Show and GO!

Calk marks the start and finish... there would be two lap timers.. one at the finish.. and one half way around just to make sure the laps were counted right..and a pleasant surprise is the course was actually wheel measured and certified..

24 hours..I knew the hardest part for me would be when it came around to the time that I normally go to bed and to find that inner strength to fight back the really increasing desire to just lay down and die..

But even more so was the unexpected heat.  Normally I am a good warm weather runner but with no chance to acclimate ...it was unknown how that would affect me...

Good Morning, ready to get this party started!

YES... it was HOT.. hotter than H-LL actually...and YES after mile 20 there was a lot of walking and longer breaks.. AND did I mention it was HOT!??

Luckily and I think this was my saving grace.. since the loop was only 1.5 miles I could get back and put my legs up and soak them in cold rags to keep my core temperature down.. I could change shoes and socks and make sure to stop and get fluids or fuel....

Dr Joe fixing up the patient! LOL

Wonder what he is going to get into?

By the time the sun started to set.. I was fairly spent.. I was mentally exhausted.. physically tired.. and now it was hitting my normal bedtime... UH OH.. what is great about having a good support crew is they KNOW how to keep you motivated.. keep you eating.. keep you well hydrated and supported..

Joe does an amazing job at this.. he knows exactly what I need when I needed it and made sure he was there each lap icing my legs, handing me ice pops, and making sure I was ok...if you look around at the best runners... and I don’t mean the best in first but in the best in how they are holding up.. have the best support crews..

If you have never been to an endurance event... what you see is a family of like minded people.  

10am (the Start) to about 2pm – felt good and motivated...being in fairly good marathon shape the front end of the miles came easier especially since I wasn’t actually “racing”... even though I was going a tad faster than I should be.. I knew within a few laps I would tone it down... I just didn’t expect it to come to a screeching halt.

• Things I was happy about:  that I had gotten my hair cut a couple weeks ago!  No more pig tails heating up the back!

2pm-5pm – Heat was intolerable.  Trying to stay hydrated, stay cool, and stay motivated.. well.. it took every ounce of strength to not just pack it up and go home.. misery... trying to breathe was utterly impossible.. but then I thought of the reason why I was there..and I looked around and felt very blessed... 

·      Things I was happy about:  Watermelon and ice pops..SPF50

Running along

5-7pm – started to get depressed and unmotivated... the heat had sucked the life out of me and now I was tired, spent, hungry and miserable.  I really tried to enjoy the sunset and I did.. I looked up and briefly smiled but I was feeling so dejected.. I had already done all my thinking... I was done thinking.. I could go home now.. but then I couldn’t.. I was already vested in this race...but now I am frustrated... I am not at all as far along as I thought I should be and it's really hard to breathe with this DAMN HOT AIR!

·         Things I was happy about:  stuffing my face full of crumbled up homemade choc chips and a soggy hoagie

7-10pm – had a nice special surprise, a friend showed up (Manuel)to cheer me along and gave me an extra boost to go on (because last thing you want to do is stop running when someone drives the 1-1/2 hours to cheer you).. right!?  Joe took a slight nap while Manuel watch the camp for a bit as I continued onward!

·         Things I was happy about:  Periogies and Chicken Noodle soup! 

Ultra runners tent city at night

10pm-midnight – HOW MUCH TIME IS LEFT!???

·         Things I was happy about: UM YEAH not much LOL

It's kinda dark now

Midnight-4am – SO quiet, and since the 12 hour runners were now off the course it was completely desolate at times and we were not allowed pacers... forgot my headlamp one lap and HOT DAMN it's dark in the country with no lights. But I looked up and saw the most amazing stars ever... and then I heard things in the fields... that will put a little pep in the steps.. I think I saw things too.. but not sure.. could have been delirium setting in.  Alone.. utterly alone...

·         Things I was happy about:  That I was alone and now I could think... really think

Most awful pic ever!  LOL!

4am-6am – Good Morning ...watched the most amazing sunrise ever... beautiful mountains in the distance... fields.. absolutely worth ever step I have taken.... the morning was cool.. and I could breathe.. I have been moving forward for 18 hours now, powerwalked most of the last few hours.. and really second guessed if I would be able to run again .. ever.. and so I said let me try... and all of a sudden I am running.. not just jogging but running and zipping along

·         Things I was happy about: the mind is a powerful tool and can make anything happen.

Sunrise over tent city

6-8am – I’m BACK ... I think it's when Joe said to me only 4 more laps and you got 70 miles.. that motivated me to literally take off sprinting for 4 laps... it was still cool out and the sun was just coming up over the hills... and I was freeeeeeeee...

·         Things I am happy about:  I only have a few more hours of this shhhhhit too goooo..

8am-10am – The FINISH...the sun was back up and it was HOT AGAIN.. but I had made it to 70 miles and so the goal for these next two hours was to walk... walk as SLOW as I damn well wanted just because I wanted to run the clock out.. I had accomplished more than what I thought.

My last lap... I happen to have some issues prior to going out on my last lap that indicated to me that my body was finally starting to break down and so I asked this wonderful ultra runner friend (Stacy) who was just waiting for the clock to run out .. if she would walk with me... and so she did.. and that’s how it ended.. with a friend... and a life win.

Walking with Ultra-runner Stacy

74.256 miles for me... so thrilled... and I am OK it is not an even number! 

All done!

PS: I was 4th overall in race.. fairly impressive that the top 5 were women

24-Hour

Megan	Alvarado	F	27	Springfield, VA		121.073
Stacy	Gagne	F	40	Gainesville, VA		96
Linda	Dunbar	F	55	Elizabethtown, PA		85.085
Wendy	Mastripolito	F	50	Glenmore, PA		74.256
Lara	Gonzalez	F	41	Brooklyn, NY		72.709
Tim	Sheahan	M	51	Gettysburg, PA		65
Scott	Ferrari	M	58	Pittsburgh, PA		63.612
Lou	Manza	M	49	Jonestown, PA		63.427
Daryl	Lehman	M	64	Waynesboro, PA		62.035
Charlene	Howard	F	44	Mount Rainier, MD		61.88
Chancell	Condie	M	24	Piedmont, OH		60.35
Andrew	Thomas Iv	M	33	Winchester, VA		58.78
John	Godinet	M	59	Myersville, MD		57.889
Jess	Sheahan	F	50	Gettysburg, PA		57.239
Joyce	Ong	F	65	Bristow, VA		53.298
Thomas	Green	M	65	Columbia, MD		52.598
Amy	Good	F	39	West Reading, PA		51.05
Paul	Betker	M	70	Hagerstown, MD		48.003
Beverly	Dellinger	F	64	York, PA		46.585
Jim	Wahl		68	Dayton, OH		43.656
Rick	Palmer	M	46	Lincoln University, PA		41.76
Nelson	Stritehoff	M	64	Columbia, MD		38.675
Lisa	Thomas	F	34	Winchester, VA		35.58
Atlee	Burpee	M	59	Conshohocken, PA		34.03
Stephen	Otto	M	43	Wyomissing, PA		17.01