Let her rip, tater chip!

Hello there interwebs! My name is Stephanie, and if you haven't caught on by now, I am the Poor Girl Picker! Ah! Im super excited and I just can't contain it! So much has happened in such a short time, that I am currently playing a game of catch up, so please bare with me. This blog is going to be my outlet and your inlet (?) for all things PGP! So, as my first blog post, let me start at the beginning!

Whoa, this is really happening. My first blog post as Poor Girl Picker. Breathe. Ok, Go!

So, back in October I moved to the up-and-coming city of Buffalo, NY from my hometown of Union, NJ. I was asked to relocate for my (at the time) full-time job and I said of course! Well, after moving and settling in, my hours were cut and I was left staring at my 4 walls with 1/4 of the income and a lot of time on my hands. My roommate at the time, and one of my best friends, Taylor, had to move back home. So, on top of loosing money, I also lost my roommate. Bummer, I know. Well, I am too stubborn of a person to throw in the towel, so I stuck it out and lived on my own for 2 months working odd jobs here and there to make ends meet. Along the way I had accumulated a bunch of stuff from thrift stores, estate sales and the trash (ever hear of retail therapy?) and it all piled up in the now empty and conveniently out-of-eyesight room! So, my stubborness wore down, I put an ad online and met with Miranda as a potenial new roomie. Miranda came to check out the aptartment and she decided she wanted to move in! Woohoo! Wait a sec, she was moving in to the room with that ever growing pile of stuff. Where in the world do I put it all?! (This, my friends, is where the AHA! moment comes in.) Remember how I said I had a lot of time on my hands staring at my four walls? Well, I forgot to mention I did a lot of crying, soul searching and why me-ing? We all do it. Well, at least I tell myself we all do so I dont feel so bad. So anyway, I had this AHA! moment during a soul searching day and I discovered I don't need material things. I dont need all that extra crap. (I say crap with all the love in my heart.) I should sell it all! Make some money while getting rid of crap! Whoa, could that actually work?

So, I contacted this flea market around the corner from my apartment and they said I could sell! Woohoo! This is might actually work. Wait a sec, I have no idea what Im doing. I've never priced things, sold them, set up a booth. WHAT HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO?!?! After being slightly overwhelmed, I showed up with my crap, set up a table and sold my little heart out. I made friends with the other sellers, asked them for advice, shook a lot of hands, and had a blast! I was hooked! It only took me a few more weekends to realize I had a real passion for it. Ideas started flowing, opportunities arose, and I jumped on all of them! I started picking barns, getting leads, and accumulating more stuff! My landlord let me use the basement for storage, so that solved my space problem but I had (correction: still have) a transportation problem. More on that subject later.

After a few weeks I had another AHA! moment. What are all these people doing with the things they purchase from me? Wouldn't that be neat if people sent me pictures of their repurposed goods? Yes, that would be neat! I decided I needed a name and a blog. Poor Girl Picker just kind of rolled off the tongue and the rest is history! (Actually, theres more to the story, I've just always wanted to say that.) I reserved the name, got cards made, and started explaining my idea to people at the flea. Every one thought it sounded awesome and were totally in on it!  

Something that I have found in life is that when you follow your passions, you find other people doing the same thing! This led me to meeting one of my best friends and new business partner, Mike. He was at the flea market just walking around and I said to myself, "Hey, that guy looks cool." Boy was I right! We bonded over a love for abandoned buildings, old crap, urban exploration and just being awesome. So we went on a mini road trip to Syracuse for a task I gave myself on one of my soul searching days. More on that subject later. As our friendship blossomed, so did the creative juices. Mike is so supportive and thought PGP and the blog were awesome ideas. He was sold and we slowly became business partners. (Its kind of weird to be at the point in your life where you have a business partner and cards. WEIRD.) Anyway, as similar as we are, we have different visions, tastes and ideas. Mike is more of a realist and I am a dreamer. It works really well. It took me a little bit to convince him to sell at the flea, but we are both hooked. There are a lot of good things on the horizon and I am super-duper-crazy-I-cant-contain-myself-excited for it. So, after that crazy long explanation, here we are. At my blog. Whoa.

We are currently still selling at the Peddler Flea Market every Saturday on the corner of W. Ferry and Elmwood right in the heart of the Elmwood Village. We are also always on the look out for new places to pick, people to meet and garbages to dig through. So, now that you know the story, welcome aboard the Poor Girl Pickin train! I am going to post as often as I can about our picking adventures, ideas we have, updates on the business and feature customers that send me pics of their repurposed goods!

Want to be featured? Buy something from us! Turn it into something new! Send us a picture! Its as easy as that folks!

Smell ya later!
-Stephanie