Valentine Weekend

Over Valentine's Day weekend, Ed and I did what we do best - thrifty adventures.

Our day started at Salvation Army in Manassas, VA. This was our first visit to this particular location, and I'm glad we finally went. (I'm not sure what took us so long! Salvation Army is my favorite thrift store chain.)

This was my first purchase of the day. As we were perusing the knick-knacks I spotted this tree mug. I love nature and hiking, and I had never seen a mug like this one before! I'm very particular about the mugs I buy - I have to be - since I already have so many. But I didn't even have to question this one. It was mine as soon as I picked it up.

I have been on a hunt for short sleeved boy's button ups for a while. I check most times we stop at a thrift store, but usually I have better clothing luck at Salvation Army. And not surprisingly, that's where I finally found one! I was expecting to buy a plaid one (I would still like to) but this curious pattern caught my eye. I held it up and thought, "I could wear this". Of course I had to try it on first, but it fit and I already wore it out!

After Salvation Army, we went to our favorite used book store, McKay's, where I spent the $10 my grandmother sent me for Valentine's Day :)

This was easy to do since McKay's is packed with books! But look what $10 got me - 8 books! I can't tell you enough how great this used book store is. We spent a long time in there. Usually I take pictures of books I'm curious about and research them later. Then the next time we go there, I check to see if those are still on the shelves (and buy them if they are). That way I don't totally splurge every single time. 

So a quick rundown:

Two of these books I had previously researched.

Four of them I bought on the spot.

And two are part of a series I already started.*

I haven't read any of these yet, but I'm currently in the middle of The Book of Lost Things (which I thrifted from Goodwill).

Happy Thrifting!
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*If you are ever curious about the books I've read, you can find me on Goodreads!

A Weekend of Travel

I know, it's been forever! I've been busy with lots of things - one of which has been a cross-country move. We are now living in Northern Virginia! We left Northern California at the end of Feb/beginning of March and drove all the way south through Texas and New Orleans and back north to our home state of Pennsylvania. We stayed there for a few months and then moved into our new place at the beginning of June. Our belongings arrived here at our new place in the beginning of July and we are finally (mostly) unpacked. Which means it's safe to say we have started exploring some local thrift/antique stores and estate sales. But before I get into those, I'll tell you about our most recent finds.

A couple weeks ago, my husband and I went on an anniversary trip back to Pennsylvania. We spent the whole weekend on the road - visiting friends and family, and going to our favorite amusement park. Of course we had time to fit in a stop at Black Diamond, in Frackville, PA. We used to visit this antique store years ago when we still lived closer to home. It's been a while and a lot has changed so we were happy to check it out again.

I always check the prices of these Pyrex dishes, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a price on this pair that I would normally see for just one dish. They're a bit bigger than we normally need, but it was too hard to pass up. They're in perfect condition and both have their lids, which is rare.

Nearing the end of our 4 hour drive back to Virginia, we noticed there was a Salvation Army on our route. It's a little out of our way on a normal day so we decided to stop out of convenience. We're glad we did, because it wasn't the best Salvation Army location (and we probably won't be returning). However, we did find one thing while we were browsing. This cute crossword mug! It was still in its box, never even used. It comes with a pencil for filling in the blanks and the clues are on the side of the box. The top of the mug says, "With a crossword, we're challenging ourselves to create order out of chaos. - Will Shortz"

Just a few new things to add to our kitchenware! (Did I mention the movers broke about 10 dishes??)

Happy Thrifting!

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Shirts Shirts Shirts

I was near Salvation Army while running errands yesterday so I decided to stop in and check out the odds and ends. I wasn't even going to look at the shirts, but one caught my eye and the next thing I knew I had an armful of boys' and men's tees.

I hurried off to the fitting room to try them all on. I put a few back, but actually ended up keeping most of them. Pink tags were half off, which was perfect since the two shirts I was on the fence about ended up being half off. How could I say no?

A classic soccer shirt.

I'm extra excited about this "DYNO BASHER" one. It fits like a crop top so I can wear it with high waisted shorts/pants. (Plus look how awesome it is!)

The purple section usually only has about 6 shirts in it (and half of them are usually Relay for Life shirts), so whenever I find a good purple one I do a little happy dance.

Nice bold type, why not?

Very into this one. Such a good design!

Super cute - plus it glows!! (I checked)

The color on this photo got super distorted, but it's gold like the top photo. I actually didn't try this one on - I spotted it right after leaving the fitting room, but did not want to go back in there.

I don't even feel bad about this because these 7 shirts only cost $6.50. Pennsylvania really has the best selection and prices!! (After living in California for 2 years, this is refreshing to come back to.)

I also picked up 2 other items - those being the main reason I stopped in - but they're for a larger project I'm working on at the moment.

Happy Thrifting!

x

P.S. My apologies that these photos aren't up to par with the rest of my posts. I was very excited about this purchase and the camera I normally use is in California.

Under $20

A few weeks ago, I went on a spontaneous thrifting trip with my friend Suzy. We got brunch at a diner and both had a free day so we drove to Quakertown to check out a couple thrift stores.

... little did I know I'd end up with so much stuff! The funniest part of this, is that it was right before it was time for me to pack up all my belongings to travel across the country. I'm trying to downsize.. but I couldn't help it! I found so many good things for really cheap!

This was the first shirt I saw when we walked in the store. I immediately wanted it, but didn't think it would fit. Surprise! It fit perfectly with some high-waisted jeans. Score.

This one was a classic. I wear a lot of black, and foxes are awesome - done.

And who would ever question this shirt? Bonus, it glows in the dark. All three of these shirts were from Salvation Army in Quakertown, PA.

It's been a while since I bought any new (old) books. And of course I chose the time I'm trying to downsize to buy a whole pile. I never read any of these, and most of them I've been curious about for a while, so I just thought "let's do this," and got them all.

I'm always on a hunt for new pyrex dishes on the cheap. I noticed the kitchen stuff was all half off right before we left the store and nabbed this one, lid and all.

Speaking of half off kitchen stuff - I got this glass for a quarter. My mom called me a glass homewrecker because I take one instead of a whole set.. I call it ending up with less stuff. The glass, dish, and books are all from Liberty Thrift in Quakertown, PA.

All of this stuff came out to be less than $20! Why would I not thrift?

Happy Thrifting!

x

Flannel

How is it that I've gone this long without even mentioning flannel?

I've always loved flannel shirts. Even when I was little. I love the fabric, the patterns, the coziness.
It's something I cannot get myself to buy at a regular store because they are so plentiful at the thrift stores and so much cheaper. And heck, I like the already worn-in feeling (as much as that may seem gross to a lot of people).

I picked up this one at the Whitehall Salvation Army last year. I actually don't think I've worn it yet, since I always automatically go to my usuals. I'll have to change that soon.

I got this one from Goodwill. It's definitely originally from Target - and it's a girl's! Most of my flannels are guys so they're boxier, but this one fits my girly shape really well.

This technically isn't a flannel, but it's a plaid button-down so I'm including it. I'm pretty sure I got this one from the Wilkes-Barre Salvation Army a few years back. I love the colors of it. According to my mom, it was made by the same union my grammy used to work for! (refer to second photo) How cool!

I will definitely have more flannel updates in the future!

Happy Thrifting!

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A Ship, A Deer, And A Mustached Man

Here are a few things from my wall that I put together for no particular reason (other than I liked how they looked as a group).

That mustached man was the one thing missing that I pointed out from this post.

I picked up this little guy from a community church yard sale a few years ago. I just thought he was so silly with that hair/mustache/hat! I kept him in storage until we had moved into our place in CA, and then I found he fit in quite perfectly with the collection on my wall. Thankfully he didn't break when he took a tumble!

This deer comes from the Salvation Army in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Just a random trip I took one day and I stumbled across it in the very sparse photo/wall decoration section. The stickers peeled a bit of the paper off, but that adds to the second-hand nature. (Why do they always put stickers ON photos rather than on the backs??)

I got this ship at a yard sale - out of a box of photo frames and the like. I grabbed some frames as well (featured in this post). They were all a quarter each. Definite score.

Happy Thrifting!

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