While
we were on vacation, Ariel and I, along with the friends we were visiting went
shopping. In case I haven’t said it 100 times already, I hate shopping.
However, I’ve been known to shop if it’s a good thrift store and If Ariel comes
with me.
You
see, thrifting isn’t really shopping. Thifting is more like treasure hunting.
You drive to a part of town where the rents are cheap. You enter store that
looks like it hasn’t been painted it the last decade, or two. First, the smell
hits you. If it’s nauseating, you turn and leave. If it smells like Great Aunt
Millie’s house, you’ve hit the jackpot. An important fact to remember is that 99%
of the stuff in the store is dreck. This is where the treasure hunting comes
in. You have to find the one percent. I’m not skilled at this. You’d think that
with Dutch blood and a tight pocketbook, I’d have the necessary skill set. I
don’t. But Ariel does.
For
example, I grab a couple of pairs of jeans. They fit. I look at Ariel. She
says, “No. Those are Mom jeans.” I say, “But I’m a Mom.” Ariel says, “Not that
kind of Mom.” I say, “Yeah, but—” Then, Ariel plays her trump card, “Dad will
not like those jeans.” And she’s right. My friend hands me a pair of pants—they’re
my size, they’re hip, a very good name, and cheap--$3. The pants were keepers.
My
thrifting forte is shoes and purses. I found a cute pair of backless red heeled
sandals for $3. And I found the mother lode in purses. First, you have to
ignore the purses that should have been put in the garbage. Then you have to
pass by the ones that are so big that they ought to have been labeled “luggage.”
Finally, you have to steel yourself against the styles that were popular in the
80s and 90s. Then, you can find a brown, leather Tommy Hilfiger purse that’s
never been used for $3.50. You can also find a deep red leather, snakeskin
patterned purse that matches the cute red heels for $3.50. And then, when you
hem and haw over whether you really need it, your precious daughter says, “Let
me buy that for you.”
Here are the red heels.
One more bit of news, my YA novel, Screwing Up Time, got another five star review on Amazon. Yay!
