A-thrifting We Will Go - March 31, 2011

How....is it almost April? How? And how is it that Massachusetts is getting snow? (It's going to be in the 70s here. Sorry.)

Today I escaped and ran away and whatever you'd like to call it, and I visited with my amazing thrifting friend and got to do a bit of shopping with nobody to answer to but me me me (well, and her, but not a kid or a husband...). It wasn't enough time but then again I've found that after two thrift stores I start to get a bit antsy and overwhelmed and books start to blur together so it's OK.

I apologize, but there are lots of pictures about to fly at you.

This is in backwards order - so...LAST, we went to an independent-ish Humane Society store that had excellent prices and...THIS.


Five. Dollar. Brand. New. Snuggie. DELUXE even. It seems to be missing the (crappy) book light but I haven't unsealed the Snuggie itself, so maybe it's in there... I have ALWAYS wanted a Snuggie but I wouldn't pay whatever it costs ($20?) for a cheap piece of fleece. FIVE DOLLARS and to a good cause and sealed in a box = win.

Of course I also bought books...


Hardbacks were a dollar, paperbacks were 50 cents. That book in the middle is called Edison's Eve: A magical history of the quest for mechanical life. I cannot wait to read it (although the new Jean Auel book is waiting for me at the library, and the new Diane Ackerman book should be in my hands soon, so all this has to go in the ridiculously monstrous to-read pile...). The Chococat cell phone holder (because I have a plain old tiny little non-fancy-Internety cell phone - I have an iPod Touch, and that's enough for me for now and also all I can afford...) was a quarter. I gave them a bit more than that for it as a bonus donation.

And they had T shirts. For 50 cents each. FIFTY CENTS EACH. I am using lots of capital letters because I never go thrifting and FIFTY CENTS FOR T SHIRTS IS YAY.


I believe in Blueland! (Go Thrashers!)


Funny thing. My husband just bought a t-shirt with cassette tape images on it. We'll be all cutesy old skool matchy. Or...just old. This shirt is really soft. <3

 
I was a Brownie once! Also this shirt is huge.


So look. I'm old. My friend and I thought this shirt probably didn't mean anything and just had a wacky design and was from a mall store. But if it means something...tell me in the comments? Particularly if it's offensive or ridiculous or something so I don't make a fool of myself in public, OK? It's super soft so if it fits (I haven't tried it on yet) I would like to wear it.


For my daughter. Adorable.


Also for my daughter. Also adorable. Has a stain I didn't notice, but it was 50 cents so I don't really care. She'll likely stain it far worse - and I'll try some voodoo on it before she wears it to see if I can get it out.


She actually IS a social butterfly. Her IEP noted several times how social she is and how she has to say hello to everyone. That's my girl.


I squealed at this one. Kid Shirt Woot! And her size and everything! I have a Woot shirt from thrifting as well, with the upsetting image of marshmallows crying as they're being roasted or something. It's great.


Back to stuff for me. Italian touristy shirt. Love.

In the middle, we went to a brand new Big Lots. I was hoping to find K-cups, but instead I found that they'd marked down most of their books to FIFTY CENTS. There goes all those capital letters again.


There are two books about meat in there, and I'm a vegetarian. Go figure. And a book about Neil Gaiman that I bought at a different Big Lots for a friend for a whole $2 or something. And potty book for the kid (who is doing really well on her own but it was only 50 cents and has stickers so why not...). And a book by the wonderful creator of Mutts, Patrick McDonnell. And a book about a woman with a son with CP called Blue Sky July.

Then I was really excited to find this...


Liz Rosenberg was one of my college professors. Nice. $3.

And I bought some snacks and then some things to fix my teeth after the snacks...


Sno-Caps are my favorite movie candy ever ever ever. Yum. Not pictured, Goldfish crackers (cheap) and spicy Cheez-its (healthy!).

We also went to Goodwill...


The three baby/mommy books were $1.50, the Good Housekeeping amazingness was 75 cents. Mothering Multiples is being donated to my local La Leche League group to be part of their library. :)


I never find jeans that fit me. NEVER. And these were a fluke - not my right size nor my usual style. And yet...they fit, so I bought them, hooray! $5-something and worth every penny. At least...they seemed flattering in the fitting room...


And finally, super-soft gray jeans for my kid. $2-something and adorable.

I used to go thrifting weekly and now I get to go once every few months (or more). I miss it, but I'm hoping that will change over the next few months. Or years. Eventually it will change, I know.

Atlanta Thrashers practice - Pictures from September 20, 2010

(Yeah, they're pretty bad, but I tried! Go Atlanta Thrashers!) Click any picture to see it larger - and please don't steal them - if you want to use any, link back and credit.

Smoothie of the Day (and bread!) - September 20, 2010

Well, this part looked good anyway

I've been stuffy and sniffly and drippy for a few days - my chiropractor blames allergies and the changing seasons (it's still in the 90s every day - what change?) while I still think it could be something more sinister. My heart wanted a coffee smoothie, but my brain said no, be healthy. Be strong. Get your veggies in.

Behold, above this text, the smoothie-before picture. I'll give you a bit to look at it, because it looks so nice and innocent. I based it on the Ruby Smoothie from the Vitamix cookbook, with a few tweaks. One apple (Gala), a big bunch of kale, some unsweetened vanilla almond milk, some water, some raw honey from my friend's bees, and a handful of frozen berries from the Trader Joe's berry blend. OK, now scroll.

Yeah, not quite as appealing

How...greenish brownish. How swampy. How not at all what I was hoping for. And the taste was KALE with a hint of apple. It tasted healthy, you know what I'm saying? So I dumped it back into the blender with a half a cold banana and some frozen strawberries. That improved things enough that I'm drinking it. Sigh. Maybe later I'll make a coffee smoothie.

Here's a palate cleanser:

Nom nom nom bread

Just BEHOLD that bread. Take in the goodness. Click on it to read the ingredients. Look at how it was marked down just a touch (it was a day old) and yet even before the discount was reasonably priced. It was so good - I bought it on a whim at the farmer's market and have been dreaming of it since I gobbled down the last crumb.

Edited to add...that I myself did not read the ingredients closely enough, apparently. I ate the bread, I took the picture, and I thought "I'll post it on my blog so people can see it has things like cage free eggs!" I missed the partially hydrogenated oil in it. AKA trans fat. DAMN. DAMN AND DAMN AGAIN. Because that bread was so good, but I will never be buying it again. Sniff. How could you do this to me, farmer's market? My heart, she is broken.

Today was my daughter's first day back at preschool after her week break. She used her walker to RUN down the hall, and she walked into her homeroom with her hands above her head, cheering "yeah!" as she did so. Hooray! I'm more worried about tomorrow, when she realizes that yes, she has to go back every day, but today was good. Plus we picked up her first birthday party invitation from a classmate. The party is Saturday and I have plans to pick up a present from my favorite local independent children's bookstore, Little Shop of Stories.

I was going to shop today, but my husband just invited me to go see the Atlanta Thrashers practice, so I'm off to do that instead. Maybe I'll get some pictures I can share with you later...

Ribbon cutting and opening day at The Ice, featuring Atlanta Thrashers prospects Cormier and Burmistrov

Patrice Cormier, Don Waddell, and a raccoon

We did manage to make it to the opening of the new skating rink in Georgia, The Ice. In attendance were, among others, Don Waddell - president of the Atlanta Thrashers (and SUPER nice guy who talked to us for a bit), and Atlanta Thrashers prospects Patrice Cormier (above) and Alex Burmistrov (below). My daughter scored autographs from both guys, as well as a hug from the Gwinnett Gladiators mascot, Maximus.

Alex Burmistrov, who never looked directly at my camera, plus Dan Kamal and Darren Eliot

Maximus and as-yet-unnamed raccoon cut ribbon; Cormier and Waddell stand by

So...Patrice is a rather attractive young man, eh? I mean, uh, there's controversy surrounding him. That's totally what should be discussed. Yep. That's it.

 (All photos by me. Don't steal 'em; attribute them to this blog if you do repost somewhere. Thx.)