My New Hobby Has a Theme Song

Before I got pregnant, I worked in retail management (Dillard's, local boutiques, and The Buckle). It was hard and frustrating (believe me when I say that sweet little daycare children are a million times better than ignorant customers and flaky employees) and the hours were long and my feet felt like death at the end of the day, but it wasn't without its perks. For nearly a decade, I had a discount on almost everything I could want. For a long time, I purchased shoes, purses, jewelry, and clothing with an employee discount and it was awesome.

It's pretty easy to get used to 30-40% off and it's hard- really, really hard- to get used to full price once you leave the folding and merchandising hell that is the retail world.

Now that I live in the real world where I fold clothes for free, it's hard to pay full price for stuff. Purses and shoes are easier but I can't justify $90 for a sweater, not after living the discount life. I love clothes and love shopping but don't want to break the bank for one outfit that looks just like everyone else's overpriced outfits.

This is why I love my new hobby: thrifting.

I don't just love thrifting. I'm obsessed with it and have to stop myself from going daily. I'm blaming Colt's Grandma Rushton.

A few weeks ago, Calli and I stopped in to visit Colt's Grandma Sharron (coincidentally, both of Colt's grandmas are named Sharron... I distinguish them by the R's in their names. Grandma Adams has only one R while Grandma Rushton has two). Anyway, Grandma Sharron with two R's took us to her basement (Grandma Sharron's basement is a treasure trove for me and the old lady that lives in my soul... I'd love nothing more than an afternoon to rifle through all of her vintage goodies). She told us to look through some boxes of stuff she had set aside for donation and to take whatever we wanted. I looked and then I left with 12 shirts, most of which are probably older than me.

Over the next few days, I was shocked- and thrilled- at how much I loved my new/old clothes. I told Whitney about them (she has since made her own successful visit to Grandma Sharron's basement and is, by the way, determined to bring the house coat back). She suggested that we try thrifting (ok, I guess I'm blaming her, too). She told me about a new Goodwill store (the first one in Utah) that she'd recently found and we made a date to check it out. I went in clueless and skeptical and came out with three bags (three very full bags) and a newfound faith in the glory of secondhand.

And now, I'm a thrifter. So is Whitney. We're like a team and we are pretty serious about it.

I'm not kidding. We have a system and everything and when we go, we go for hours and then we spend the next few days talking about how much we love all of our awesome new/old (old/new... whatever) stuff.

It's like a game- a fun one- for me to find the best thing for the best price and to put outfits together. My new treasures, by the way, have helped me rediscover so many great pieces that I already had hanging in my closet. It's been great.

One thing that I have really appreciated about thrifting is the fact that it makes me far less aware of sizes. I don't even look at the size of something before trying it on and that's a first for me. It's wonderful and exciting to not worry about zeros and double zeros.

So far, I've come home with skirts/shorts/pants/sweaters from Free People, Banana Republic, J Crew, Guess, Gap, BCBG, Michael Stars, and Forever 21, and not once have I paid more than $6 for something. The really crazy thing is that, for a thrifty thrifter like myself, $6 is steep. True story. I like things better if they are under $4.

For example, the unicorn (more about this precious treasure later next week) I purchased today was only one dollar and even though I would have been happy with it no matter what, I loved that little unicorn all the more because it was so very cheap (honestly, you can't even get a Diet Cherry Pepsi for a dollar!).

The cheaper, the better, and when I find something special in the weekly 50% off color tag (Whit and I cracked that system, just so you know,  and we can barely wait for blue tag week), it's like Christmas.

Ridiculous? Maybe. I don't care. Gross? Not to me (no more gross than new clothing... I've spent years and years working with new clothes and I promise you that after manufacturing, shipping, merchandising, and being tried on countless times, new clothes are far from clean) and I still don't care. Thrifting can be ridiculous and it can gross you out (rest assured, I do wash everything the minute I get home) and I'll never care because it's fun and economical (less money spent on fully priced clothing means more money in Harper's college fund) and silly (if you don't think thrifting is silly, you haven't seen Whitney and me in a thrift store) and I like it.

In summation, thrifting is awesome. It's even more awesome when you have a partner. And it's even more awesome when you have a theme song (be warned: our theme song is not for innocent ears).



Do you thrift? If so, what are your favorite types of finds? Do you have a system? Do you go regularly? Do you have a favorite store? If so, what is it? What is your favorite thrifted treasure so far?

Just so you know, NONE of those questions were rhetorical.

Anyway, I was planning on sharing some thrifting pics but this post is already as long as it needs to be. Let's take a rain check and while we are at it, let's just make this thrifting thing a series. Sound good?