Life's Simple Treasures

There's such a good feeling from bargain shopping! My dad first introduced me to Goodwill when I was about fifteen. We weren't the people that *had* to shop at Goodwill, we were the people that *wanted* to shop at Goodwill; because why pay full price for something when you could get it for $2?! My family got so much fabulous stuff there (much they still have today!) A beautiful solid wood coffee table, some lamps, our first big screen TV...


Another thing about my frugal parents, they never bought me or my brother name brand clothes. *sigh* I understand the reasoning behind it all (now), but at the time it was such a struggle for me. So as soon as I was old enough to work and make my own money and buy my own clothes, I found ways to buy cheap name brand clothes. One of my favorite stores was "Gabes" (technically named "Gabriel Brothers") which had a lot of overstock, broken, or otherwise not sellable in the big store merchandise. I spent sooo many hours picking thru the racks and finding such fabulous treasures! 


So, (back to the first story!) my dad got me started on Goodwill. The Goodwill by our house was okay, BUT the Goodwill in one of the other more ritzy town was A-MAZ-ING!! I got all the "rich kids" clothes that sometimes even still had tags on it! Best find was a pair of Abercrombie jeans for $4!!! Oh, those were the best jeans ever. When LFO's song "Summer Girls" came out and with the line "i like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch, i'd take 'em if i had one wish..." I knew I had to have Abercrombie clothes. (p.s. how wonderful is that song?? Enjoy it here:)

Anyway, even in my later years (ha, that makes me sound sooo old) I still love a bargain! I can spend hours going through the racks at Ross (or Marshalls. Or TJMaxx. But really, Ross is my favorite) Which, on another sidenote, I think really is an art. I think either you're that kind of shopper or not. When I've brought friends to Ross, and I'm going garment by garment looking for something fabulous, they get bored. They want to go to a store and just buy what they want. I want to search! I want the journey! I want the adventure! I want the cheap clothes!


Cheap! That is the whole reason I'm writing tonight. Because what is one thing better than cheap?


FREE!!!!

Which brings me to the entire purpose of me sharing this whole rambling mess with you! My neighbors had some fabulous things out in their trash this evening! Including, this:

Now, what I believe it *was* was a DVD stand? But! I have big plans for this! What it *will be* is a nail polish rack!!! The plan is to put some wood on the shelves (so the bottles don't fall through) and spray paint it something fun (pink? black? purple? sparkly?) And TA-DA! Nail polish display rack! 


I'm so excited. However! This is not my only nail-polish-holder-project. A little more than a month ago, I got this amazing display case that is wooden with three shelves on the inside and a glass door that closes on the outside for $8. A man said to me, "You know what that is right?" and I said, "Yes, it's a nail polish case!" and he said, "It's actually for golf balls" Really? Who wants to display GOLF BALLS?! *sigh* It's in much better hands now. It's a "project" right now because the shelves had to be taken out and re-positioned so the height is right for the bottles. 


So, the whole point (if you didn't get it yet:) is that I love a bargain! I love cheap (and free!) stuff! And it's important to appreciate the simple things in life. So often we find ourselves so focused on problems or stresses or just drama in life that we often miss the simple things. It's easy to feel bad about what we don't have instead of value those things that we do have. 


I found out this afternoon that my friend Maggie's mom passed away yesterday. Suddenly, it made everything that was concerning me seem so minuscule and well, honestly, kind of silly. Every day we need to be grateful for what we have and who we have in our lives. 


And appreciate the simple things! Whether it's a compliment from a stranger; a new bottle of polish; or a beautiful sunrise--take time to appreciate something in your life.


xoxo,