Quick, Single Picture Thrifting Post - May 29, 2015

It's the last day of school! Summer is here!

Yesterday, I went to a local thrift store with Amy - this store also supports doggies and kitties, but it's a bit more upscale than my Ultimate Favorite Store. Still, this store has sales, great prices, and supports a great cause. While we were there, I bought my husband a shirt - and then I bought myself an X-O silicone mold to make swirly crayons (my kid snaps every single crayon in half and I've been saving them....) and I bought the kitties a toy that spits out treats (they hate it - it's going to go to my friend's kitten).

Well, the shirt - brand new! nice brand! tags and all! - was too big for him. However, unlike 99% of thrift stores out there, this one accepts returns - and until June 2, they're even giving refunds in the manner in which you paid. (Starting June 2, it will be store credit - still very generous as far as I'm concerned.) So I took off on my 1.5-mile walk (it's really not that bad).

I returned the shirt and got back my almost-$6 and gave myself permission to use that money to buy...whatever.

And the store was having a sale. Half price off all media - books, DVDs, and CDs. Books are normally $2 each at most, DVDs are $3, CDs are $2....I went a little crazy.

I wound up spending $12 on everything - but that was $10-ish for the stuff, taxes, and I threw the last 75 cents or so in the donation bucket.

Two CDs: Sarah McLachlan Remixed and P!nk "Greatest Hits....So Far!!!" (for fun) ($1 each)

One DVD: The Princess Bride special edition. I think I may already own this movie (not sure) but I definitely didn't have one with the bonuses. ($1.50)

Eight books:

• Songbook - Nick Hornby (er, not 100% positive I don't already own this but I don't think so?) (50 cents)
• Weight Watchers Fruits & Veggies A to Z (....I did already own this one - I'm going to give it to someone at my WW meeting or sell it or something) (50 cents)
• Happier at Home - Gretchen Rubin ($1)
• Swallow Me Whole - Nate Powell (graphic novel, discovered by my friend Heidi whom I randomly ran into at the store) ($1)
• Let's Pretend This Never Happened - Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess! I don't love her like I should but I think this book will change that) ($1)
• Cooking Bold and Fearless (Amy actually pointed this out to me as a book she already has...it was just too ridiculous to leave behind) ($1)
• Leave Me Alone, I'm Reading - Maureen Corrigan ($1)
• The Night Bookmobile - Audrey Niffenegger (probably my favorite find of the day) ($1)

Of course now I have to - HAVE TO - get rid of a few more books AND READ THESE.

Thrifting and booksale hunting - October 10, 2011

Ohhhh I love thrifting. I love it love it love it. Friday - three stores. Sunday - the half-price day of the biggest used book sale around (my favorite - I go every year). (Yom Kippur smushed in the middle. I went to temple briefly. I fasted for part of the day. I thought a lot about forgiveness and about what I want for the coming year. It was good.)

My cat wanted in on the action...



And away. We. Go!


I tend to go in order of stores, but this picture mixes two. FORGIVE. The glass on the left was from Goodwill. It was confusingly marked in yellow but actually tagged green, so it wasn't half price and was a WHOLE 77 cents oh no. The glass on the right was from Value Village and was 80 cents. That's my local beer festival, so I had to have it.


Detail of one of the glasses. It's all similes - sly like a fox, strong like an ox, that sort of thing. The pictures do not capture how wonderfully vintage it is. The images are gilded (still) and the frosting is stripey. It's a good thing.

So. Value Village was our first stop.


The book, which I've been wanting to read for a long time, was $1.50. The Dresden Dolls CD was 80 cents. I have it - I'm from Boston, I've been a fan for forever, yadda yadda. But 80 cents. I had to. It's the 8 Foot Records pressing and everything. It shall be gifted to someone soon.


I hope this fits me. I hope I hope I hope. $1.29. (I think it kind of looks like Missy Kulik's art!)


This is....too young for me (I am old) and just barely fits (I tried it on). BUT COME ON NOW. Cut me some slack. It is amazing and I love it so I am going to wear it. Possibly even in public. $2.29.


I mean really now.


This also may not fit. Or it may. I know I know. But it's a store that fixes Macs right near where I live, and I was amused to find it so I bought it. $1.29.


Back of shirt. I don't get it.


This is actually black, not awful grey-green as this picture pretends. $1.10 because it was the half price color, hooray.


Such a splurge. $3.29. Eek! But it's what appears to be never-worn Gymboree. In the kid's size AND she needs more sweaters this winter. Love.


Another sweater for her. $2.79 and so cute.

Goodwill was meh. I got the glass at the top of the post and these two books for the kid for $1.50 each:



(Fun fact - she had that ladybug book when she was eensy and it was totally her lovey and she'd cry until she could hold it. She also ripped it to shreds. I bought her a condensed version - FIVE little ladybugs - at Target not long ago. She was unimpressed. And so I bought this. STILL unimpressed. Kids. Sheesh.)

So then we went to the Humane Society store. All kids' clothing is 50 cents, and the two shirts for me were $1 each. And the book was 50 cents each and is destined for Paperback Swap, though I probably will read it first. Maybe...




(Look at me, getting brave about buying her dresses. This one and the one below will probably look cute with leggings. I think she has leggings...somewhere...)












(for me, Old Navy, way cuter than this picture makes it seem)


WAHHHHH. RIP Thrashers. This was a freebie from a giveaway night and I think it's a kid size but I also think it might fit me. Also WAHHHH.



And fiiiinally, the BOOK SALE. Because I totally need more books. (I don't. I'm done for a while. I SWEAR.) Green dots were $1, blue dots were 50 cents, red dots were 25 cents.


(That would be Lynda Barry. Stupid flash. I mean...totally my fault...)



The Brain Pickers says "The startling bestseller that strips the 'glaour' fro the publishing world...exposing some naked truths." I used to work in publishing so this greatly amuses me, but I'm sending it to a friend as a surprise. Unless she sees this. Then it won't be a surprise anymore.




I snatched this up so quickly a guy near me was like "Wow, you just found something you wanted, huh?" YESSSSSSSSSSS.


I almost didn't buy this but I just had to have it. It's from 1940. It's amazing. It is exactly what you think it is...


And then so much more.

Have a great week!

Library Book Sale - May 28, 2011

I managed to sneak out to the library book sale sans child for a whole half hour. Last time, the sale was kind of meh. This time it was great again. I had to come up with some rules, including:

• No buying of cookbooks just because they are pretty. I put back two gorgeous "brunch" cookbooks. Because pretty doesn't actually equal useful.
• No more vegetarian cookbooks unless they are specifically by a small group of authors I love. The one by the guy who developed the Gardenburger...back into the bin it went. Ditto the cookbook from a restaurant I'd never heard of. I have plenty of cookbooks. 
• No more rescuing books to give to people unless they are, again, from a very small select list of books. Twitch twitch.
• No more buying books I read and kinda liked. Especially if it's a work of fiction. I can visit these books over and over at the library, and I have a backlog of stuff to read that's filling my house as it is.

(You will also find that I broke these rules, but only a tiny bit.)

So. Here's what I did buy (red = 50 cents, blue = $1, green = $2, click the pictures to embiggen):

It's a book about a broken heart. And canning. CANNING. 

OK, so I bought this because it was a pretty cookbook, even though it's useless to me AS a cookbook. Rule broken. Yes. But it was 50 cents. And look at that wacky binding (metal staple things) and it was printed in 1964 in Japan. And LOOK:

You totally would have bought it too.

This is one of my favorite cookbooks. I own two copies and have made several recipes out of it and continue to do so on occasion. BUT I CAN'T FIND EITHER ONE OF THE COPIES I OWN. So for a dollar, I figured I could have it accessible again and then give it away once I find my copies.

I was 99% sure I didn't already own this and didn't want to pull out my iPod (it has a list on it). Natalie Goldberg hooray!

Looked cute and funny.

I took this out of the library a few months ago and didn't have time to read it. Now I will.

Say it with me - DAWWWWWWWW. (I love Mutts & have an autographed copy of another one of his books from when I met Patrick McDonnell at the Decatur Book Festival.)

Splurge of the day - a whole TWO DOLLARS - which I figured was OK since the other stuff was so cheap. And I just couldn't resist a book about MFK Fisher. LOVE. HER.

So you see? I was fairly restrained and behaved. I WAS. But now more books have to go out the door to make room for these. I have a pile...I just have to get rid of it.