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Unplanned Adventures & Thrift Store Jackpots! 🛍️
Today took a totally unexpected turn into pure fun and laughs! It started out like any other day, pretty low-key. Just the usual routine of driving my oldest granddaughter to her summer activities and working on an art project. But today also brought an exciting milestone: my very first Social Security check officially hit the bank!
Naturally, I felt like doing a little window shopping. I decided to recruit the youngest to join me, using the ultimate bribe: a trip to Dollar General. It worked like a charm. She perked right up and agreed to come along.
But the real magic happened when we arrived. Right next to the Dollar General was a thrift store I hadn’t noticed before. Of course, we had to detour inside first. The second we stepped through the door, I knew we had hit the absolute jackpot!
One of my absolute favorites to rummage through is the frames. I have found many that I have hung on my walls of the pictures I’ve taken. I also enjoy replacing the images in frames that have the old fruit or flower pictures already in them. You know the ones from the 1960s and newer. 😉
I thought this was really neat. I could envision this old door being used as some sort of divider.
The Children’s Section
As I was having the time of my life digging through the endless treasures, my youngest companion decided to inform me that I was, in fact, “torturing” her. Dramatic, I know! Realizing I needed a tactical survival strategy to save her from her tragic fate (and desperately prolong my shopping spree) I set out to track down the kids’ section. I hoped a little toy-aisle pacification would buy her silence and extend my treasure-hunting clock!
The kids’ section found. Can you see if it worked? 🤣
The Great Thrift Store in the Sky
If you predicted the kids’ section would turn her frown upside down; congratulations, you were dead wrong. Her face in the photo is the absolute definition of “unimpressed,” and she looked like she was actively planning her escape.
Dragging her out of there, I decided to play the long game and remind her that she was making this a truly banner day for me. I told her that when she’s grown up and I’ve gone to the great thrift store in the sky, she’ll look back on this day and remember how much joy it brought her grandmother, and how much I laughed. She didn’t seem entirely convinced, but lasting memories were made!
The Dollar General
On our way out of the thrift store I saw more neat things.
When I said, ‘Let’s go’, she high-tailed it out!
As promised, we went to the Dollar General. Look who’s much more engaged in the shopping experience!
Proof that the Best Treasures Already Have a Story
Talk about hitting the ultimate thrift store jackpot! This dress is an absolute stunner. I wouldn’t even want to guess what a masterpiece like this would cost brand new. Honestly, anyone walking down the aisle in this would look like royalty.
The best part? It’s in incredible shape. No snags, and every single bead is perfectly intact. There are just a few minor spots on the inside bust, but nothing a quick trip to a professional dry cleaner couldn’t easily fix.
While it looks white at first glance, I highly suspect it’s actually “antique white.” It immediately took me down memory lane. I wore my mother’s original white wedding dress, which hadn’t been preserved. After spending twenty years tucked away in a cedar chest, that bright white had aged into a gorgeous, warm yellow-antique shade. To make my veil match, we actually had to dip the white tulle in tea (dip, dry, dip, dry) until we got the perfect matching hue. An older family friend (Mrs. Barkley) passed down that brilliant little trick, and it worked like magic.
The Price Sticker
And the price tag on this absolute jackpot? A whopping $89.99. Yes, really!
Now, I have to know: would you say “I do” to a jackpot find like this? Do you love the thrill of the thrift hunt as much as I do? Drop a comment and tell me what is your ultimate, all-time favorite secondhand treasure?
Yesterday is today’s memory.
Be sure to capture your memory today!
All the best,.
Debra Ellen
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