so here's a good rule to follow while thrifting... if it smells like r. kelly's sheets pass on it! i've thrifted all of my teen years and up, just to date myself even more, i was around when value village (V.V boutique to some) used to staple their hand written tags to the clothing! i was "popping tags" as the cool folks say before it was trendy, or environmentally a great idea or just plane old fun. personal i L O V E it and it's time to confess.
there's no limit to where my "urge" to shop will take me! i've been known to drag friends to some bad areas of town to get my thrift on...some of those folks were very "unwilling and concerned for our safty", clutching their purses and whispering "only for you dina would i do this". lol...ironically were still friends to this day, so it couldn't have been that bad, right?
so why thrift? at first it was because i was young (when i mean young, i'm really trying to say i had NO CASH) with a funky taste for fashion...it seamed like a great fit, not to mention the thrill of the hunt! oh and when you find that "special thing" you get all shaky, you start breathing heavier and you begin to look around to see if anyone has spotted you and sweet item, the look on your face gives it away ...you've found a real gem and it's CLEARLY underpriced! all of the sudden your THAT lady in the ikea commercial screaming "start the car, start the car, START THE CAR, S T A R T T H E CAR....whaoo!!!" in fear of being told "excuse me ma'am (BTW, I HATE BEING CALLED THAT), this ticket is wrongly priced, they must have messed up in our pricing department"!
ok so hear me out...it's not like you walk in and every gosh darn item is freak'n awesome, not even close but it's really chillactzing (for me at least), zoning out, no kids...looking through numerous items. Most of them are totally unique, minus the infomercial items such as abdominal chairs, leopard snugglies and sham wow's...then there's oodles! it's like going on a mini mental break for mommies after a few hours i'm all recharged! You almost always know there's going to be that one item out there for you to find that will perhaps make you giddy with joy, or maybe it's something that can be added to an existing collection or make you remember your past all for a minimal cost.
gosh, typing this is making feel a little thrifty under the collar, if you know what i mean!
so how do you know your a serial thrifter, well there's a few tell tail signs (and yes people i am all of these for sure, with out a doubt! thrifting is my dark passenger ( haha good old dexter reference)...
*you know you are in deep when you no longer notice the smell when you enter a thrift shop
*when you go on vacation, you look up where the local thrift shops are hiding.
*when friends say they like your outfit you vomit the price out immediately.
*you actually plan special girls days to thrift with other addicts like yourself!
*when you want something new, you hit up a thrift shop.
*the best gift at christmas was the VV gift certificates!
*you rubberneck any thrift shop, yard sale or junk left on the street when driving by.
*you get pumped for club memeber specials at your local thrifting hole.
*you've been mistaken as your friend by the clerks in the shop. BTW, you know the clerks so well that when they move locations and you see them there you ask "why the move?".
* you for certain know which shops has the best furniture, milk glass and generally the best prices for different items.
*you have been late picking up your preschooler to "coast" one last "section" of the sally anne.
*you actually scoff at an overpriced tags and say out loud "are f'n kidding me, i could buy this new for that price...who is marking up this crap"(sometimes with hands in the air and a bad ass face going on)!
*you tell the cashier "those are the same registers you guys had back in the 90's"
*you look in your pocket, find five bucks and think "yep, i think it's time for a new shirt"
*you have gotten ready to go out and have added up your entire outfit including jacket and shoes to proudly realize that it's less then one months worth of swimming lessons for your child at the local ymca.
*your kids know all the stores layouts (my youngest is four, i'm not actually proud of this one but what are ya going to do).
i get that it's not for everyone and i hope you actually don't start thrifting because seriously fighting with you over the cool stuff in the isles would really suck, so don't start ok...lets just stay friends and not go there. i don't think you will like it AT ALL (god i can't even type it with a straight face...lol). so because your not going to thrift... i want to share some of my fun finds with you every so often, so you kind of feel like you thrifted but without the purchase or the smell or the cool stuff!
so here's my first confession...
