thrifty sunday: be happy

The past couple of weeks have been especially fruitful, thriftwise. I've replenished George's dwindling shirt supply (his torso is lengthening at an alarming rate!) and Zelda's dwindling leggings supply (her thighs are expanding at an adorable rate!), and even found a dress for myself, pleasantly reminiscent of a suzani and good for spring which is when you might see it. Right now I need sleeves. But the best thing I found while perusing the Goodwill was a renewed faith in humanity. Aww, gross! But seriously.

As I stood in line to pay, I watched a tall man in ill-fitting, worn clothes wheel around a child I guessed to be two in a tiny, tattered umbrella stroller. The boy was asleep: slumped over as far as one could slump -- head nearly resting in his own lap -- and unbuckled, as I'm sure the straps were too small to fit around his body let alone the bulky winter coat he wore. The dad went outside to look at the strollers on display next to the rack of bikes for sale, and an employee rushed out to ask accusatorily, "Can I help you??" as though the guy could realistically take off with two strollers, one of which barely held his sleeping child. The father shook his head and came back inside where he poked around for another few minutes. A woman in line at another register left her place to retrieve the stroller the dad had been looking at -- reclining, with a large sun shade, a cup holder and nicely padded seat -- and she and I walked out with our purchases a few yards behind the father, who left empty handed. 

She jogged over to him with the stroller and called out, "Excuse me!" As I put my bags in my car, I heard her say, "I've seen you guys waiting for the bus. It's so hard to afford everything." 

"Holy shit!" the man said. "Are you serious?" She walked off quickly to her car, giving a wave, and, grinning, he wheeled both strollers to the curb for transfer. As he picked his son up out of the old stroller, he began crying, yelling "Thank you!" and waving to the woman as she drove away. He left the old stroller in the place where the new one had sat, for sale, and he and the still-sleeping boy headed for the bus stop. 

Only one thing seems fitting to post after that. A sign for the entry way, $2.99.

thrifty sunday: long time, no see

I mentioned that we moved, right? To a whole different city, with different places to shop. A new co-op, which, incidentally, is about a thousand times more amazing than the Bellingham co-op; a new farmer's market that we explored for the first time this weekend; and, of course, a new set of thrift stores. While I appreciate the old standbys -- Value Village and Goodwill -- much like I appreciate familiar chain grocery stores, I dearly love finding new weirdo charity shops because they're usually cheaper and stocked with older stuff. 

Another change: one of us is gainfully employed! And it isn't me! Yeah, I just spend the money. Which is what I did to celebrate. 

1. Saucony "baseball shoes" in George's size, $3.99. He spotted these amid an unfortunate sea of Disney princess slippers and bizarrely inflexible dress shoes and said, "Those fit me!" He was right, and we're nearing the end of Crocs season so it was positively providential.

2. Three books, $1.99 each. How To Talk So Kids Will Listen... has been on my reading list forever, Positive Discipline in the Classroom seemed a helpful choice for a high school-cum-new middle school teacher such as Nathan, and Wonder Play (a book of stuff to do with the under-three set) is put out by the 92nd St Y, so was an easy sell.

3. Seattle Mariners shirt, $.99. What better time to wear a Mariners shirt?

4. Seemingly unworn Hanna Andersson clogs, $9.99. Pricey for a thrift store purchase, no doubt, but seriously: brand new! Purple clogs! 

5. Painting of a lady, $1. Signed "Don '54." It was a dollar! My heart hurts a little anytime I see someone's artwork languishing in a thrift store. Also, I love portraiture. Poor Don. Poor Lady. She's filthy, but she'll have a good home here.

6. Guatemalan dress, $1.99. Perfect for Zelda's fall wardrobe, with some wooly tights and a homemade cardigan, and plenty of room for the giant diaper bum. 

6.5. Again, the clogs!

thrifty sunday: in which we actually go shopping

Nathan got paid and we promptly went out to lunch and to Goodwill. The goodwill trip was technically an attempt at getting Zelda to sleep before we went in to the restaurant, in the hopes that I'd be able to eat a meal two-handed (thanks, Boba). Walking around usually puts her right out, and it worked! But not before we found some treasures.

I'd long been looking for a rainbow granny square afghan that's joined in white. I could make one myself, but big crochet projects don't usually work out for me; my attention span isn't long enough. I finally found one, and it's a nice little lap/toddler size, and in good shape. Hooray! Dream afghan: $4.99

George has plenty of interests that I don't share. Soccer (and every other sport), Blue's Clues, eating peas. But one interest that I'm extremely happy to share with him is space. He can name some heavenly bodies and identify them in the night sky (Moon, Venus and Jupiter), and knows which planet we inhabit. I, of course, believe this to be evidence that he's a genius. Spacey shirt: $1.99

I am what you might call a Kennedy enthusiast. I stop short of commemorative spoons, but I'm a sucker for pretty much all things Camelot, and as though the nice people at Goodwill knew I was coming, they priced this ridiculously high. Nevermind; we're rollin' in dough (rent and bills having not yet been paid), so we pretended like we were those richies who shop at thrift stores for the kitch value and splurged on this painting because it would've haunted me for the rest of my life if we'd left it on the shelf. JFK/RFK painting: $9.99

Yard sale season is almost upon us (and IS upon some of us, who don't live in the dank, dark woods). Have you scored any gems lately?