Back on Track

Hi-ho. You're never going to believe this. I went to many thrift stores on Saturday with a large group of people and I'm going to blog about it. Right away. No months of letting the pile of unphotographed flotsam sit on my kitchen floor. No weeks of guilt as I look at said pile and wish I had the time to tell you all about it. No pretending as though I don't owe you anything.

So get ready, because here it comes. Everything you see was bought at my absolute favorite and cheapest of the thrift stores: AmVets.

I didn't have the gumption to look at clothes this time. Our (one, small, coat) closet is spilling over and so are all the drawers in our place. I need to do some serious purging before I can be allowed to bring more clothes into this small space.

I did, however, look at all the "stuff" areas. Got me some good junk.


As I look at this photo I'm really reconsidering that last sentence. The 99 cent vintage frame is well and good. I snag them whenever I can because they look smashing when spray painted (or not) and I use frames all the live-long day. The Christmas devil, on the other hand, might have you wondering. Wondering if I'm into haunted dolls that will stalk and kill me from the shadows of my own home some dark and stormy night. I'm not. That, my friends is a gift. A gift for my aunt, who has other such...pieces. But I don't think she has a Christmas...one. Now she will. I can't tell you how much I paid for it. It's embarrassing. It's the kind of thing you should only have if you lost some kind of bet, not if you paid for it. But I think it will make my aunt and the other imps in her collection happy, and you can't really put a prices on happiness...right??

Don't look directly at it. You'll turn to stone.

My colors. Pink, green and black. (My jam, if you will. As in, "This here is my jam!") Don't even say "Another polka dot purse? How many polka dot purses does one girl need?" Because you know the answer: Many. At 99 cents, it's not about need, anyway. It's about 99 cents. You don't think at that price. You just act.


Yes, I've bought another pair of pink shoes. That I probably also will not wear, like most of the other pink shoes I've bought. It always seems like a grand idea at the time. But then, when you're going out to lunch in June you put them on and look down and think, "My, but those are pink!" and then you kick them off and put on some flip flops instead. But, I'd like to point out two things. One: Made in Italy. Everyone knows shoes made in Italy are better. Why or how, I wouldn't know. But they are. Two: 99 cents.


Green plastic earrings: 99 cents. Marked down from nearly three whole dollars! See why I love AmVets? The pink tablecloth was a whopping $3.89. It's in gorgeous condition and worth about $40.


This is a gold tone cat pin. With jewel eyes. I have a friend who collects critters with jewel eyes. I can't help it, I know some weird ass people, ok? The fur in the background isn't just to make the photos look sexy and dangerous. It's a faux fur collar and I'm going to attach it to my jacket at this year's Tweed Ride.

So, in summary:

Vintage Frame
Devil Doll
Another Purse
Shoes I Won't Wear
Green Earrings
Fake Fur
Vintage Tablecloth
Scary Cat

The Usless Card

It's no secret. By now you should know. I frequent thrift stores. I love them. I love the variety, items that have a history, the way it's like treasure hunting, the prices, I mean, there is a lot to love. Henrietta is thrift store Mecca. There are tons of them there, ripe for the picking.

The first time I ventured into Savers it was the day before one of their major sales. When we went through the check out we were offered a pamphlet letting us know about the Savers Club Card. This card was free and would allow us to get major sales the day before the sale. There is nothing quite like a pre-sale to whet the appetite of a great sale-er.

All you do is sign up on the website! I greedily took the pamphlet and read it over, twice. Special coupons, deals on your birthday, random sales for card holders only, plus the pre-sale sales! I felt like Ralphie salivating over his Little Orphan Annie secret decoder ring. All I had to do was sign up!

So...off to their website I went. I'd signed up for other cards online. Panera Bread and Subway. These cards racked up points with each of your purchases, giving you FREE items! I'd just like to state for the record that the Panera card is one of the best card programs I've ever been in. I swear, I get a free item just about every other visit. And it's not cheap stuff either. It's good stuff. For free.

OK, so, I've got my pamphlet, I'm on the website. I sign up and then...am asked to print out a confirmation to be brought back into the store where they will then issue me a card. Mmmmkay. See, here's the thing. This is no longer convenient. In fact, it's starting to smack of stupidity. With the other cards I've signed up for they issue the card in the store. They have them right out for anyone to grab. Then you go to a website, register said card and BAM! You're in business.

So, now we have to get the pamphlet, go to the website, sign up, print a confirmation, bring it back in to the store, get a card and then bam? OK, fine. But this is the most bass-ackwards way of doing this that I've ever heard of. If this was for a regular store I'd ask them to bend over so that I could dispose of their paper confirmation the proper way.

After pressing print, nothing happened. This confused me. I pressed the back button to try again. It told me I had already printed a confirmation and couldn't do it more than once. This infuriated me. Let stupid Savers keep their stupid confirmation, their card and their stupid system, I thought. And I forgot about the card.

Until I started receiving their emails. Because I had signed up, you see. So I got to see all the promotions I could have been getting if their stupid card system would only work. That's pretty annoying in case you didn't guess. So I wrote to them describing my problem and trying (probably not very well) to hide my deep and growing resentment and frustration. After THREE email exchanges I learned that the confirmation will not print from browsers such as Chrome or Firefox. You pretty much are forced to use Explorer. (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little) Why this known problem wasn't mentioned on their sign up site is beyond my ability to imagine.

So, finally I got my printed paper confirmation (what is this, 1982?) and I took it with me to the pre-Veterans day sale. And I was issued my card, which inexplicably has a bar code on it. It was never scanned once. Not when it was issued and not when it was used. I just try not to think about it. I was also issued a paper coupon. What the crap good is having a card if you don't actually DO anything with the card?? I ask you?? I can't think about that. It will just send me in mad mind circles. I just have to concentrate on the fact that I got 50% off ALL of the items (except books) that I bought. Here they are. Just let the deals flow over your mind and wash away all the angst you've undoubtedly accumulated reading the beginning of this post. There weren't even any pictures in it. (Nobody wants to see bloody eyeballs, and brains exploding with inconceivable inefficiency, ok?)

Black (More of a really dark gray if you want my opinion. And I know you do) cardigan:
$3 with sale.


Green argyle sweater: $1.50 with sale


Blue dress: $4.00 with sale.

It's missing a button, but when I tried it on the button hits right about nipple level. That's never nice. So, I'm going to pick two fabulous buttons from my vintage stash and move them up to the lapels. I also think this dress is very Zooey Deschanel from 500 Days of Summer. What? You haven't seen that movie? STOP what you are doing RIGHT NOW and go watch it. That is not a request, people!! I'll wait....I'm glad you're back. You loved it, didn't you? You're adding it to your Christmas list, aren't you? Yeah, I thought so. I know, Joe is so cute, isn't he? I mean, that's why he's my boyfriend, after all. Come on with those freaking dimples, right?
So...what were we talking about?


I call this one the confetti dress. Even though it's not really. $5 with the sale. It had the original tags on it and hasn't ever been worn. Score. It is also a sun dress that was not made for someone with A cups. That almost never happens. I can't wait to wear it!
Check out the close up:



White dress with black polka dots: $4 with the sale.
Ridiculously adorable. I can't wait to wear it! I can probably just wear it tomorrow since it's been averaging about 60 degrees this November. We've broken the planet. That's it. They'll have to revoke that whole "no white after labor day" rule, because when it's a million degrees in November, why bother?

Oh, p.s. ... if you want to get any other coupons or deals from your "card" you have to print those out too. So really, the card is sort of like nipples on a man. They are there, for looks, apparently but they don't DO anything.

Oh, I can't leave you with that imagery. Quick, look at the buttons from the last dress. They're anchors. Cute, eh?

Swan Song

Yard sale season is winding down in a hurry. Maybe if summer hadn't started two months late I wouldn't feel so depressed about it. Usually I'm kind of ready to sip apple cider and eat cinnamon donuts. But this year, I'm not. I'm clinging to iced tea and mai tais. I want paper umbrellas and watermelon. I want neighborhood sales every Saturday!

Last weekend there were two church sales. Some of my fellow travelers scored big. Some of them should be imprisoned for buying more greeting cards when they have a whole dresser drawer full of unused cards already. I didn't get a whole lot. Just a few Christmas things. After the churches we went to the large Salvation Army in Greece, NY. I didn't get a ton of stuff, but what I did get is good. Real good.

Christmas bits.

Banana Republic black v-neck sweater. $2.99. Take that Goodwill! (grumblemumble prices) None of your sass about how I already own about seven black v-neck sweaters. You heard that I said Banana Republic. Plus, you know that black is the source of all my powers.

Mossimo cardigan $2.99. I love me some creamy green.

May I present: The Red Polka Dot Dress. (Sam & Max $5.99) My mother brought this gem to me in the dressing room. It fits like a freaking glove. Let's see...I love red. I love polka-dots. I love things that fit well. Nicely done, Lilah. Let's look a little closer, shall we?

Oh yeah, that's the stuff. I wore this on my birthday and it makes me feel like nothing so much as Little Red Riding...Dress.

We're going to a fall festival this weekend. I'll try to remember to take pictures but you know how I am "in the moment". I also have all my treasures from my adventures at The Craft Antique Co-Op to show you, ya lucky little devils.