Thrifting on Vacation - September 17, 2011

Last week my husband, the kid, and I finally got to take a non-family vacation. It was short and sweet - Virginia Beach, staying at the home of my friend's mom, which was mere steps from the ocean. The last time we went to the beach, the kid had a tantrum and was freaked out. One time before that, she face-planted into the sand. So I wasn't sure what to expect, but this time was different - she LOVED the sand and could've spent hours playing in it. I had moments where I realized that most parents of four-year-olds don't spend their time saying "Don't crawl away from mama, please." (This is entirely different from "Don't run/stay where I can see you," I assure you.) But...it was good. Plus we got to watch the dolphins swim around and I ran screaming away from a crab because apparently I am 12.

And I think she grew two or three inches over the course of the week, and her ability to stand unassisted got better and her steps grew a bit stronger. She's taken up to seven unassisted steps at a time, but she's best at taking one or two.

It amused me when I told a few people that we were taking our first vacation in years and they thought I meant we were going without the kid. That is something that is far, far in the future for a variety of reasons - this was our first vacation as a family.

I also hit three thrift stores while we were away - the thrifting in Virginia Beach is AMAZING, and I've always found treasures when I've gone out with my friend. This time we went to an indie store and the Goodwill outlet, and the next day I ran quickly into the Goodwill near her house because the sign said "half-price books" and I was weak. Oh so very, very weak.

Store one (independent store):

Little Mermaid shirts - 99 cents each.

Children's Place butterfly shirts. 99 cents on the left, $1.99 on the right. Sadly, the white one has a hole on the back that I didn't notice in the store. Boo.

Shirt on the left, 99 cents. Shirt on the right, 75 cents. I think it's funny that the cupcake shirt shows the "one of a kind" cupcake as the plain one. The pink shirt is a duplicate of one the kid already has - that's a good thing!

Taking a chance on a Baby Gap dress. $3.99 (ooh, splurge!). I think with leggings she should be able to handle wearing it.

Too big Hello Kitty jeans. $1.98, how could I not?

45 cents. Yep.

Jeans for me that I haven't yet tried on. They're Gap, they're my size, they were $1.99. I figured it was worth the risk.

I had this Casio when I was a kid. It was $1.99 and it not only works perfectly, but it came with a ROM with four songs on it. These are listed on eBay for $50 but...I don't think anyone would pay $50 for it, do you? I bought it for the kid so she can play it and I won't care if she breaks it/drools on it.

Crazy hockey puck yelling dude for my husband. 25 cents.  When you smash it, it yells things at you.

Amazing score of a Vtech toy laptop. Works perfectly and the kid likes smashing the keyboard and pretending to type. $1.99. Seriously. Hopefully when she's older she'll use the programs it has.

The laptop, closed. It has a handle, but the mouse dangles off it so...I don't really get it.

I've been dying to read the Penderwicks, and it was marked down to 75 cents. Nice.

Bag of Mr. Potato Head - $1.99 (hard to see but he has a lot of parts in there, and the kid likes playing with the speech therapist's set so now she has her own)

Sing-a-ma-jig. This annoying toy was a mere $4.98 and as you can see, is brand new with tags. The kid already has one - when you put them together, they harmonize. So...why not.

Goodwill outlet, where you pay by weight:

I lied. The books aren't by weight. But it was 50 cents or something.

All of this, plus the book above, plus a little magnetic Doodle Cars-movie toy (can't find it now) cost $1.44. Total. LOOK AT THE PONIES! (They're for me. Shut up. The white one still has her clothes and accessories and she's the newest. I think it's funny that I got the evolution of ponies - green is oldest and looks like a horse, white/blonde is a little less horsey and is from 2004 or something, and unicorn is OMG ANIME MAGIC SPARKLE BIG EYED THING from 2010.) (Update: Apparently I have Rarity (the unicorn/new one), Golden Delicious (the slightly older one) and a "Fake Fakie" that isn't really a MLP (the green one).)

Goodwill:

These are the half-price books - $1.50 each. I never buy hardbacks but for $1.50, I splurged. The pink one at the top is called Dreaming of Dior and has the most gorgeous illustrations of fabulous dresses. I had to run through the book section because my husband didn't really want to be in the store in the first place and the kid had entertained herself briefly with rearranging the VHS tapes but then had an epic meltdown, so this was all I got. Because I needed more books...

If you're wondering, this week's project is to send stuff OUTWARD. I have a giant box and a giant bag for Goodwill already put aside. More will be added. I think I'm going to have to make some painful decisions, but purging is important, particularly if I want to be able to keep shopping...