No Whining Allowed

About a year and a half ago The Boy (aka Mr. Jiggy Fly) discovered a store that he wanted to patronize. It was called Value World. I did not have much experience with thrift stores, nothing against them mind you, just wasn’t really aware of where one might be. When the kids were younger, I garage saled quite a bit. Nothing important, but it was fun and the kids loved to spend their buck on something new and fun. So any how, one summer I took the Boy and his friend, Elyk, to Value World. They had MUCH fun and bought shirts. I walked around looking , but not touching. Several months later the Boy and same friend wanted to go back. So we went and brought the Girls. The very first thing out of their mouths was , “what is that smell?” It did have a musty old basement smell that I HAD noticed on my 1st visit. In our family 4 out of 5 have the hound dog nose gene, and the girls were having NONE of this place. The boys happily did their thing; looked for shirts, and I again looked &  touched a little. I did find the Little Girl (aka Muggins Q. Mouse) a really cute sweatshirt, light blue with snowflakes, and it was a popular brand (since I don’t know such things , I can only say it was astronaut-apostle or something like that) and at that point she was guardedly interested. I believe on that trip the Older Girl (aka Ab-Cat) found a Johnny Depp video and she was pleased as well. We have been back a handful of times since and went again last week. This time it was only the Boy, Little Girl and I. The boy found a shirt (of course and under $2.00)) Little Girl found a pair of gorilla slippers (for $1.60) and a pair of jeans (for $4.80) that she had to try on in the middle of a garment rack because they have no dressing rooms, now that is a funny memory! And I found this:

I seriously don’t think it has ever been used ! It is a “wear it across your body” purse, the kind I like for when I am doing a lot of shopping, or traveling and cannot bear the thought of carrying anything on my shoulder for that long. As Mrs. Schmenkman could tell you, I have a lot of rules about my purses. They cannot be too big or too small, cannot be open at the top (absolutely NOT), can’t have 2 handles (one always flops down), blah, blah, blah. Well, this is a perfect find for me, as it has slots for the credit cards & license, small space for band aids (hey, you never know) Splenda packets, & tissues and then a ZIPPERED  back compartment for cell phone, lipstick, gum, dental floss (I always have that) and other girl junk. It  also has the highly coveted feature of being both black (on bottom) and brown (on top). Most important the last few years, because I am too lazy to actually change my purse when I change my shoe color. And I feel weird when they don’t match. So, all that to say, look at my new purse, I got it for $3.20 at Value World!

This is actually not a January bargain. It was a bargain, but Honey and I found it and  Honey hung it before Christmas. It was bought with some money my Mom and Dad gave me LAST year for Christmas with a little added by us. I didn’t do anything right away because I was waiting for The Decorator to come home from her winter place and help me choose. I forgot all about it and we were both busy anyway getting our crash nursing degrees, and before I knew it, she flew south again. So I winged it. How did I do?

As I mentioned in my “About Capri Kel” column, I love a good deal. Sometimes I think I love something even MORE if it was a bargain. As a matter of fact we were discussing this very thing at our Bible study on Thursday morning. We not only love our fabulous bargains, we feel compelled to share the details of our hunt and capture. Hula Laurie had on a HOT new jacket that received MANY compliments. She looked great and it was our job to tell her. Her comment as she walked by was “Thanks! $7.00 on clearance at Kohls” We all nodded and aahhed with great admiration and respect. I love that.

I think I also mentioned that I like to shop at TJ Maxx, Marshall’s and Homegoods, the trifecta of good shopping. Imagine my shock and disbelief when making an after Christmas purchase at the TJ Maxx in Westland (I think we have been going there since I could drive! Some 30 years, oh my , that sounds bad) and the helpful cashier gave me the shocking announcement that they were closing in 15 days! Now this is probably the location I frequent the most, as it is semi on the way home from BSF (the Bible study) and I sometimes just pop in for a “Chai Run” (see a couple posts down) and a quick look-see. The following Wed. after BSF  I went in search of a bargain and found these sleep pants on clearance for $10.00 and everything in the store was an additional 20% off.

We Capri’s are especially fond of this brand ( you can hardly see the logo) “Life is Good”.  Cute stuff and it generally reflects our life attitude. I have recently converted from Nighties to P.J.’s and I am trying to MATCH my tops with bottoms (something that never bothered me, but Capri L assures me  is major important, that little quirk carries over to every area of her life too; sheets, clothes & shoes, home goods, undies & on & ON)  Love the daisies (don’t you think dasies are the FRIENDLIEST flower) & love the purchase. I am actually wearing them now.

Went back the next week (as if I didn’t SCOUR the place last week) just to see what was still there. Not too much , but I did score ANOTHER pair! And this week everything was store wide 40% off!!! And perhaps the best part was I already had a navy fleece top with 3 little , you guessed it, SNOWFLAKES, on the chest. How’s that for matching Mrs. Schmenkman!