A Place to Write Things: Post-summer-vacation school update and thrifting extravaganza

Monday, August 6, 2012

Post-summer-vacation school update and thrifting extravaganza - August 6, 2012

School is back in session - yes, yes, we start "oh mah gah sewwwww early" - it's because the schools here are on a 6-week-on-1-week-off schedule. We will have a break in September, one in November, one in December, one in February, and one in April. I think that covers it. It mixes things up. I am not sure I like it - it interrupts our routine and always seems to happen at the point where the kid has finally settled down - but I have little choice at this point.

And the kid is doing really well. She has a good, solid team in place and I think they kind of get her better this year than in past years. Then again, we're only three days into the school year, so we'll see.

There was a bit of a setback in acquiring her AAC device but right now I don't have enough information to share with you why (it is related to the manufacturer and changes being made therein). I just am hopeful she'll have it in hand before the end of 2012.

My friend Amy's birthday was the 4th, so I scrambled to get up to visit her on the 3rd, and of course we indulged in some good old-fashioned thrift shopping. And I got a LOT so you'll have to bear with me. My blog, my rules. I love these posts!

Sidenote: I am working on a post about thrifting with topics such as "Thrift Stores in the Atlanta Area - What You Need to Know" and "Why I Love and Hate Thrift Shopping." Stay tuned.

We went to four - FOUR! - stores on Friday. By the fourth store, I was kind of exhausted (do you blame me?) but it was just all so much fun. I'm working on creating a wardrobe for the fall - in September it will have been one full year since I began Weight Watchers, and so each season I have to get new clothes (what a shame!) and get rid of the old.

Not shown in the giant picture-spam below - a cute pair of velour/corduroy pants for the kid, a really cute panda shirt (she wore them because she dumped milk all over herself at dinner - the styrofoam cup was no match for her squeeze - they were 50 cents each), and two books about babies/breastfeeding (also 50 cents each) that I was going to resell but instead gave to Amy to give to a young woman who is pregnant and needs them.

First store - Value Village! We hadn't been to this one in a bit, but I've been near it many times over the summer visiting another friend and yet hadn't stopped in because I was always with my husband and he's just not into it. (Also, this VV is a tiny weensy bit sketchy.) The half-price colors must have been just changed because there were plenty of them on the floor (pink and red). Yes! But I felt a bit distracted for some reason, so I actually didn't get/spend a lot there.

Gymboree (the green shirt), Esprit (the red swirly top), Hanna Andersson (the pink turtleneck hiding at the bottom), Sketchers. All with half-price tags, so about 65 cents each.

Baby Gap - not half price, a whole $1.29. A bit big for her, but I think she'll grow into it very soon.

My brother's alma mater and a really cute shirt on top of that. $2.49, big spender.

Old Navy jeans in my size but "short" (VV doesn't have fitting rooms, everything's a guess, so I stick to jeans that are known entities when I shop there) and half-price so $1.75.

Breaking my no-more-books rule. $1.50 and I wasn't sure if I had it already and the app I used to use on my iPod Touch to keep track of my books stopped working, but happily I found out when I got home that I only own Maus II. Now I own Maus I as well. Good stuff. Fun fact: Art Spiegelman was my college graduation speaker.

See? Barely spent a thing - just over $10. But then as we were driving away, I noticed a big, shiny Salvation Army that I hadn't ever noticed before. So we went in. I rarely shop SA for various reasons - some political, but more because I just don't tend to find stuff there. And I didn't find much again but what I did find...

Squee! The Last Unicorn - which I'm pretty sure I own on VHS somewhere but not DVD. It appears to be brand new and it was $3. I started re-watching and again, cried. Like I always do. I have the stuffed animal unicorn somewhere...

YES! Pink guitar for my daughter, who is very musical and who played a friend's daughter's pink guitar last weekend. $9 - a bit of a splurge, but I found out the thing sells for $20-ish when new, so still a good deal. And it has silver flames on it.

Then onward to what you now know as my favorite store...where I spent more than I usually do. Nearly $20! What???? The pile I dragged into the fitting room was monstrous. I pared it down. And then pared it down again.

Wonder Woman T-shirt - $1.50

Super soft and comfy Sesame Street peace shirt. A tiny bit big but that makes it fit nicely. $1.50.

One of my favorite finds of the day - Gwinnett Gladiators shirt autographed by the entire team! The signatures are a bit faded but who cares? It's SO COOL. It's my husband's size so he gets it. 50 cents.

Front and back of grouchy ladybug shirt. Too small for me, too big for my kid - but she'll grow into it. It was too cute to leave behind. 50 cents.

Two pieces of clothing for the kid. 50 cents each.

Cute Old Navy skirt for me. $1. Weirdly, an identical skirt in a beigey color just didn't fit right, but this one did. I mean, it's not really weird - that's how clothes work these days. Vanity sizing and dye lots and weird washing and...all that. Anyway I like this - it has fake distressing all over it. Way cute.

Three pairs of jeans - 2 Old Navy, one Refuge (Charlotte Russe - the denim is nice and heavy and soft). $2 each. One of them is a size smaller than what I usually wear, which was exciting. Again, vanity sizing - they're stretchy and I totally get that. But still. They fit, they were cute, they were $2, I got them. I so rarely find jeans at this store that I was really pleased. And yes, if you're keeping score, this makes four pairs of jeans I bought in this trip and I now have a bajillion pairs of jeans in my closet. I grew up having about two pairs for the school year and getting made fun of for wearing the same pair twice in one week (which is RIDICULOUS, I know) so I think I'm making up for that now.

Three long-sleeved T-shirts. $1 each. One is Express and is really nice and soft and thin. The other two are delightful as well.

Yeah, I did buy a few other books and keep them - but the paperback (50 cents) is about women in Turkey and is published by Seal Press (a favorite) and the hardback ($1) is RAY BRADBURY and is 100 of his stories. It's gorgeous. I needed it.

Phew. Epic. So then I said, well, let's go one more place. So we hit one more indie store that was having a sale - 25% off all clothing. Which is funny because their clothes are so cheap to start with, but hey, I'll take it!

J. Crew skirt. Casual and comfy - something to pull on at the beach/pool or to just lie around in. I just couldn't resist its squishy charm. $2.25.

LOVE THIS. It's by Nike ACG and it's a skort (or, per Wikipedia, a scooter?). It doesn't scream sporty to me - I wouldn't run in it - but I like that it's short, khaki, and has the shorts under it so it's not too revealing. Awesome. $2.25.

Anne Taylor Loft skirt (for what it's worth, a petite - but in two sizes bigger than those jeans I told you about above - so yeah, I don't get it at all). No shorts under this, I might have to add my own bike shorts to the mix or wear it with black leggings. Love it though. $2.25.

A whole entire outfit! I fell in love with the skirt first, then scrounged around to find a shirt. The shirt is Benetton and doesn't actually fit me that well, but it will work with a tank top under it, I think. $5.50 total. But I washed the two things together and now, looking at this picture and the skirt itself, I think the skirt is now just a tiny bit...pinker. Oops. OR good, because now it matches the shirt better!