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!

Joy is Thrifting

I don't have any new photos, but upon cleaning out my computer I've discovered a few series of photos I had previously taken for this blog (and never got to posting).

Unfortunately it's been so long since I got these items that I'm not 100% positive where they're all from anymore, but I will do my best!

If I remember correctly, this one comes from the Salt Mine Thrift Shop in Lincoln, CA (I'm totally guessing right now). There was usually a shelving unit with items like this lined up like books that I loved sifting through. The cool part about this particular item is that my birthday is actually in June :)

I believe I got this ship tile from a yard sale. I haven't added this one to my wall since the color is a bit brighter, but I'll find a spot for it one day!

I got this at a church yard sale/carnival in New Jersey with a few of my friends from college (awesome, right?!) It was one of those "fill a box or bag for a set price" kind of deals. We laughed at the quote on the bottom but for some reason I just really wanted this haha.

Happy Thrifting!

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My Wall: Part 2 & 3

Once upon a time, I wrote up a post about my wall. And since that post, we've moved a few times. I've since set up my wall twice - two different ways.

If you're just catching up now, I'll do a little recap:

I have a collection of hanging wall decorations that I like to hang all together. I just love the look of having a collage of semi-matching things up on the wall. A lot of these end up being owls or nautical themed, but it can really be anything as long as it looks nice together.

This is the current setup of my wall. It's in our living room above the couch. I stopped hanging stuff as it reached a closed shape. I have more items that I might add eventually, but I will only do so if it doesn't look unfinished at the end. That was what I didn't like about the original spot - it never looked finished.

This was at one of our previous apartments - in the bedroom. (Low quality photo, taken on my iPod touch.) I noticed this open wall space above the closet doors and thought it would be perfect for my decorations. I love how it turned out up there. As you can see I have a lot more of them hanging in this space.

So far, in each apartment I've set up my stuff in a different spot. First the den, then the bedroom, and now the living room. Who knows where it'll be once we have a house of our own!

I normally mention where everything was from, but I have smaller posts for the individual items, some of which I've posted and some I have yet to photograph. Everything was thrifted, though!

Happy Thrifting!

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Rainy Weekend

A couple weekends ago, we got up early on a rainy day and hit some thrift stores. We grabbed a few things that day, including these two from Goodwill. (I'll make a separate post about the other items later.)

And when the cashier rang me up, it was less than expected - an even bigger win!

We used to live near Lake Tahoe, so I thought this mug was appropriate. It's such a beautiful area!

I also love the speckled inside of the mug. It's the perfect size for a small cup of tea or coffee. 

I don't remember the last time I bought a new book. I scanned the books, not expecting to find anything, but I spotted this one right before we left that section. I was intrigued, so I texted my friend Michallynn to check the rating of it on Goodreads (I don't have a smartphone). I usually just buy ones that pique my interest, but this one was a little more than I usually spend so I wanted to make sure it had a good rating (it did).

I also didn't want to fall victim to judging a book by its cover - look at that artwork!! I love it. Hopefully I love the book as much once I pick it up to read.

Happy Thrifting!

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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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Puzzle Feature #3

It's been a while since I showed you some thrifted (and completed) puzzles!

A while back we picked up a box full of assorted animal puzzles. Here's the first bunch that we completed.

My usual OCD setup.

This one took a whiiiile. We usually stick to 500 pieces, but this one was 1000.

Just some little animal cuties to brighten your day, thanks for stopping by!

Happy Thrifting!

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Suitcase Score

A while back, Ed suggested the idea of checking out the Goodwill Outlet store. We had never gone to one before and were willing test a new experience. After reading online reviews, we grabbed some gloves and hand sanitizer and were on our way.

The outlet was set up as rows of bins into which employees just tossed all of the donated items. There was a pricing guide on the wall and you basically just had to dive in (hence the gloves and sanitizer). A lot of it was junk, and it was hard to sort through since many things were broken and most people didn't care about personal space. The most interesting part was when they wheeled out a bin of clothing. They brought out the bin that was covered with a sheet and wheeled it to its spot, between two lines of people waiting for it. Then an employee took the sheet off and everyone just went crazy scavenging, taking anything and everything. It was quite like a scene on the Discovery channel.

Despite all this strange activity, we both ended up finding a suitcase each! Both were in good condition and were decently priced. After taking them up to the register to pay, she rang them each up as half price! That was a totally unexpected but welcomed surprise.

We've used them a few times already - they're perfect for weekend trips!

The blue one is mine (did you guess that?) It still had a return address stuck to the inside!

I already had one of those incidents where I thought it was closed all the way, picked it up, and all my clothing fell out (classic movie blunder). It was so funny I couldn't even be mad!

The brown one is Ed's. Someone wrote "TOP" in marker on the outside of his (on the top of course). We think it's funny since it's not that hard to decipher which way is up.

I haven't had much time to take new blog photos since we're in between moving right now, but hopefully I'll get back into the habit soon.

Happy Thrifting!

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