How Busy Philipps’ Fans Helped Turn Her Post-Divorce Garage Sale Into a ‘Fun and Funny’ Experience (Exclusive)

Last month, the 'Mean Girls' star held a two-day sale in New York City to clear out items from a storage unit she shared with her ex-husband Marc Silverstein

Busy Philipps discovered a surprising way to connect with her fans.

Last month, the Mean Girls star, 44, held a "divorce garage sale" in New York City to clear out an old storage unit she previously shared with her ex-husband Marc Silverstein. She tells PEOPLE in last week's issue that her fans helped make the experience "really fun and funny."

"So many people came and were fans from all kinds of things, but it was really nice to talk to the people that showed up and hear and see the things that they were picking out that they wanted," Philipps recalls of the sale, which took place over two days in New York City.

"Some people were just like, 'Oh, I just really wanted that bowl,' not that it even mattered that it was my bowl necessarily, but they were just excited about the bowl," she continues. "The whole experience was really fun."

Related: Busy Philipps Says Online Dating Is 'Not for Me' After 14-Year Marriage to Marc Silverstein

Philipps — who separated from Silverstein, a filmmaker, in 2021 after 14 years of marriage — says she enjoyed having an opportunity to meet and chat with her fans in the casual setting.

"I met so many amazing fans, and people traveled from all over, and it was really nice. I had some really lovely interactions with people who were fans of all kinds of things — everything from Freaks and Geeks to the podcast [Busy Philipps Is Doing Her Best]."

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PEOPLE previously spoke to Philipps just before the opening of the garage sale, which she organized herself at Cure Thrift in Manhattan's Union Square neighborhood. "This morning I could barely walk, I'm not kidding," she said of the physical labor required to set up the space.

"Marc and I have been here this whole week, completely involved, doing the whole experience," she added.

Philipps said the idea for the sale came about after she met Cure Thrift's owner, Liz Wolff, at a shoot where Wolff's home was the location.

"We were just chatting, and I was saying, '[Marc and I] have had all this stuff in storage now almost four years — it's too long,'" she recalled. "Marc and I have been talking about it. What do we do? We've got to stop. We got to get through this moment in time and so it just felt like the perfect moment."

Related: Busy Philipps on Her 'Almost Nightly' Bath Routine That Helps Her 'Relax and Reset' (Exclusive)

The Dawson's Creek alum sold everyday items such as housewares, clothing and shoes, as well as more personal pieces including her wedding veil, pottery she made by hand and party favors from Silverstein's 50th birthday party.

While she wrote on Instagram ahead of the garage sale that she "might cry while it’s happening," she told PEOPLE at the time that she was happy that she and Silverstein — with whom she shares two kids, Birdie Leigh, 15, and Cricket Pearl, 10 — could come together and tackle a long-procrastinated separation task in a way that felt celebratory.

"Nothing happens overnight and so we are where we are now and it's great and this was what we wanted," she explained. "This was always our goal to be in this place together and I'm just grateful that we are."

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