Thrifty Finds Thursday--the Friday-Almost-Saturday Edition

Believe it or not, 

I haven't gone thrifting at all this week!

All's going to be right with the world tomorrow, though.

My sweet hubs has 

"given me the day off" 

to spend with my cousin (yes, the cousin that shops for me).

We have grand plans of shopping the huge Madison, WI, farmer's market,

then hitting up every thrift store between there and home...

and there are A LOT of them!  Thank goodness!

I think I'm having withdrawals.

Despite having not gone to any resale stores,

I have, indeed, managed to score this past week in the thrifting arena.

"Managed to score" may just be the understatement of the century.

Check. These. Out.

Ummmmm....

yah.

You counted right.

There are SEVEN of them!!!

I have been wanting

{{"wanting" is putting it mildly}}

a vintage classroom pull-down map for ages.

AGES!!!...as in a VERY, VERY long time!!!

About a year and a half ago,

I followed a hunch I had about a place to find such things.

It wasn't eBay.

It wasn't Craigslist.

It wasn't online at all.

Unfortunately, I can't tell you where I bought them.

If I told you, I'd have to kill you.

Not really.

Well, maybe.

Anywhoo, 

I followed my hunch.

For a year. and. a. half.

There were times (days, weeks, months)

when it looked like it just wasn't going to pan out.

And then...

Last Friday, while we were at homeschool group,

these were delivered to my house!

Delivered, as in delivered in person!!!

As in, I didn't pay a thing for delivery!

Not shipping, not handling, not anything!

I did, however, pay for the maps.

Again, though, I can't tell you how much I paid.

If I did...

Well, you know.

They are beautiful.

They are gorgeous.

They are worth every second, minute, hour, and day that I waited for them.

And I'm in love with them.

I might actually be in love with all seven of them.

My dilemma now is almost as bad as not having them at all.

What's a girl to do with seven ginormous maps?!?

I only have so many blank walls in my house...

and I assure you, I'm not going to cover all of them in maps.

Although, that proposition is mighty tempting.

I've got to say,

these maps are one of those "silly" things 

that I actually prayed for.

Many times.

More times than I can count.

And this prayer?

This prayer, my big, wonderful, gracious, 

generous Heavenly Father decided to answer "yes" to this one.

In fact, He answered "yes" seven times over.

He's so incredibly good to me.

Keepin' It Real--The Language of Loss

I'm keepin' it real today, friends.

Really real.

Not that I'm not usually real with you...

But today...

today is different.

Even as I sit down to write, my hands are shaking,

there's a not-so-little lump at the back of my throat, 

and I feel tears pushing their way out from behind my eyes.

Something (or SomeONE) is telling me to share with you,

to let you see this raw, wounded side of me.

I keep trying to put it off...

to think of other clever, crafty topics...

but this is what I continue to come back to.

I'll be honest with you.

I'm having a rough time.

I've had a few bad days here, all in a row.

And I feel like there's a few more to be had, too.

I miss my mom.

If you could see my face now...

now that I've written that out...

It isn't pretty.

I've set aside all hope of holding in the tears.

They're streaming down my face...

dripping on to my green shirt.

{I always wear green when I'm trying to make sure I have a good day.}

Fall has always been my favorite season of the year.

Two years ago, smack dab in the middle of the fall, 

Mom went to Heaven.

So now, Fall and I have a love/hate relationship.

I love Fall for all of its Fall-ish-ness...

crisp air, college football, orchards, apple cider, pumpkins,

sweaters, bonfires...

I hate Fall for all of its memories of "lasts"...

the last time I spoke to her

{I told her she was my best friend}...

the last time I took her to her doctor...

the last time I walked into her house

{the house that is now mine}

to be greeted by her...

I'm crying in earnest now...

and I don't know why I'm sharing this with you...

I feel so foolish..

so open...

so naked.

But honestly,

right now, the hurt is so bad.

It feels good to just let some of it out.

I'm so tired.

I feel so worn out most days.

Do any of you have an iPhone?

You know how some days the battery power lasts forever?

And other days, you get to noon and your battery is down to 17%...

and you can't for-the-life-of-you figure out why?

And then, some way, some how, you find that you had some crazy app running in the background...an app that drained your battery power without you even realizing what was going on.

That's what these days feel like.

I sleep like a rock.

And I wake up feeling like I had such a good night's sleep.

And then, by noon, I'm worn out.

I'm cranky.  I'm sharp with my children.  I'm short with my husband.

And after several days {it's actually been a couple weeks} of this, I've finally figured out why.

Grief.  Hurt.  Loss.  Pain.

Missing.  Longing.

They are the apps running in the background of my brain.

And for most of the year, I'm able to shut them down quickly.

But somehow, in the Fall, it's not nearly as easy.

Even as I write this, though, a thought dawns on me.

There is something that feels right...

it might not feel good, but somehow it feels RIGHT

to have this time of pain.

With the pain come the memories...

and the missing her...

and the wishing I could spend one more day, one more hour with her.

Loss is kind of a funny thing.

The only ones who want to talk about it,

the only ones who want to hear about it,

are those who've been through it.

{usually}

I've never been to Hawaii before--

I want to hear all about it, because I'd like to go there someday.

My cousin went mountain-climbing--

I wanted to talk with her about it--it sounded so interesting.

Lots of people like to talk to me about my vintage finds--

they wish for similar luck while thrifting.

Not many people ask how it feels to lose your mom.

That's uncomfortable.

No one wants to go there.

It doesn't sound interesting.

No one wishes for that kind of luck.

But still...

those who have been there...

sometimes they want to talk about it.

And sometimes they don't.

And sometimes they want you to tell them a funny story or a favorite memory of their loved one...

And sometimes they want you to give them a hug,

and to say that you miss her too.

Death.

It's the topic we all avoid.

If you come down with a nasty flu bug, I'm going to ask you how you're feeling.

If you have a cough, I'm going to offer you a cough drop.

If you break your leg, I'm going to offer you a shoulder to lean on.

...and that's the language of loss...

ask me how I'm feeling--

I may not want to talk about it...

but then again, I might...

you won't know unless you ask.

The words have stopped flowing...
and so have the tears...

for now.

I don't know why I felt compelled to share this today,
but I truly felt that I needed to.

I had to.

Please forgive any typo's...
I'm posting this now...

without re-reading it...

without editing it...

without making it all pretty.

Please...
go love someone today.

And if you know someone

who lost someone?

Love them a little bit extra, okay?

Thrifty Finds Thursday--the "My Cousin Shops for Me" Edition

So, it's no secret that I'm addicted to thrifting.  My favorite store, no lie, is Goodwill.  I'd rather receive a gift card for Goodwill than any other major retailer I can think of.  Honestly.  I just commented to someone the other day that I have little to no interest in "normal" retail stores.  

I had to make a quick run in to Kohl's a few weeks ago, and I was surprised by how blasé I felt looking at the clothing on the racks.  It all seemed so dull and boring...so all-the-same.

On the other hand, I love shopping at Goodwill (and other thrift stores, too, of course), where literally every item on the rack is different from the last.

My passion for resale stores has apparently started making an impression on some of those who spend a bit of time with me.  I've got one very good friend who, I fear, may now be nearly as compulsive of a Goodwill shopper as I.  I'm proud to say that my cousin has started doing her fair share of thrifting, also.  She lives about an hour from me, in Wisconsin, so she has an entirely different circuit of stores to hit up for deals.  She's got a pretty good idea of my likes and is great about keeping her eyes peeled for goodies for me.  

When we got together this past weekend for the Wisconsin Badgers game (read all about that here), she had accumulated several bags and boxes full of treasures for me.  Not all of the finds in this post are from her, but many are.  I'll denote her finds with a ♡, while my finds will still have the customary ☛.

Oh!  I keep forgetting to mention this...
Many of my thrifted finds make their way into my Etsy store...even if I don't specifically mention that that's where they're headed.  If you ever see anything here that's of interest to you, feel free to ask about it.  Chances are it's headed to the Etsy...and it'd save me a bunch of work just to sell it to you outright!

Ok...now that that's over with...

☛pink Navajo-style blanket with blue birds.  I've no clue where I'll use this.  But it's neat.  Really neat. 
♡windmill stitchery with an ugly mat and frame.  I'll redo it to some extent and put it in the Etsy.
☛brand new vintage camera case with strap.  I considered using it as a purse.  Or a makeup bag.  Or something.  I don't know.  I do know that I think it's cool-looking.
☛very large pile of extremely cool vintage sheet music.  The cover art is awesome on these.
☛vintage aqua portable typewriter (without case).  I don't know that I'll ever be able to pass up an aqua typewriter.  This is my second one...and I fell in love with it the moment I saw it.  I desperately want a pink or salmon-colored one.  If you have one to trade, give it up.  Seriously.  I want one bad.

♡super-cute patchwork quilt in greens and yellows.  My cousin found this and texted me photos of it, asking if I wanted her to buy it.  It was one of those things that I kind of debated about, but went ahead and had her get it anyway.  I'm so glad I did.  Pictures do not  do this quilt justice.  It is cute.  It's actually cute squared...which means cute-times-cute...which basically means REALLY cute.
♡red enamel-coated cast iron pot.  I'd guess that this is 2-quart size.  The brand is Range Kleen.  I like it.  Of course, if you coated Tom Cruise in red enamel, I'd probably even like him.  And that's saying a lot.  I'm not a Tom Cruise fan.  But I am a red enamel fan.  So, I like this pot.  I do.
♡vintage blue mason jar.  This is definitely headed for the Etsy...to be made into one of my vintage blue traveling mason jars.  You've already seen these, right?  Because if you haven't, you need to check them out.  Now.  Right now.
♡Several vintage little stitcheries.  All in ugly frames.  All needing to be spruced up a bit...and then headed for the Etsy.

☛fruit painting.  I bought this planning on doing my negative painting technique on it (oh! that's another good one!  read all about that here!) but now I don't know if I can bring myself to do it.  Something's wrong with me.  Seriously wrong.  I buy these paintings with full intentions to take them home and completely deface them...and then somewhere along the way, I fall in love with them.  I've got a problem.  Any-whooo...the frame is as ugly as homemade sin, but I'm kind of loving the painting.  And don't even get me started on plain, unframed paintings...you know, just stretched canvas on a wood frame?....aaaahhhh...love.them.so.much.  Ok...moving right along...
☛vintage train case.  That's what it's called, right?  I swear I've heard them called that.  Well, you get the drift.  This is one of those.  And it's blue.  And the inside is in immaculate condition.  Purty.
☛two vintage paint-by-numbers.  Both in hideous frames.  And the one with lots of black?...all the black you see is black velvet.  Classs-yy.  Classy, baby.

☛vintage throw-size afghan.  Love, love, love the colors in this thing.  Unfortunately, my good friend, Becky (she's the newly-Goodwill-obsessed friend I mentioned earlier), has also decided she loves it.  So it may not be living with me very long.
♡two incredibly-gorgeous all-wool blankets.  These are probably headed for a very short stint in the Etsy.  And if they don't sell, I shall felt them and make them into all sorts of crafty-schmafty things.  Although, honestly, that bottom one is sooooo beautiful.  It would pain my heart immensely to chop that thing up.
♡two more stitcheries from my cuz.  The sunflower one just so happens to go perfectly with that green and yellow quilt I showed you.  The other stitchery has such amazing 3-dimensional detail, the likes of which I've never seen.  Someone spent some major time working on this...and then years later it ended up in Goodwill.  Makes you wonder, huh?  I can't imagine getting rid of such a thing if I had some connection to the one who made it.  But I don't.  So I probably will.  Get rid of it, that is.  Etsy, here she comes!

☛barn and mountain paintings that I bought to craft with negative painting...and then...well...you know...  They are so pretty, though, aren't they?  Don't you even kind of love them?  See?!?!  This is a problem indeed!
♡kitty paint-by-number headed for the Etsy, once I fix up the frame.
☛Pancho Villa paint-by-number.  I think this will end up in my son's vintage Western-flair bedroom.
♡bird painting...this one will definitely get negative painting.

♡three fabulous orange-and-yellow-sunburst drinking glasses (vintage, of course).  These are going in my vintage drinking glasses collection.  (I have a mismatched, hodge-podge collecting of vintage glasses...luuurve them!)
♡vintage round tablecloth, probably headed for Etsy.
♡vintage round lidded dish.  I've got a set of bowls set aside for a special friend...I'm fairly certain that this dish matches those bowls.  I really, really hope so.  She'll be delighted!
♡another stitchery, also probably going on Etsy.

☛vintage pink(!) wooden doll bed.  I don't know if I'm going to sell this or if one of my girlies is going to lay claim to it first.  We'll see.  It came complete with side ruffles and a covered "mattress".
☛quart-size, wide-mouth, handled mason jar...headed for Etsy.  A one-of-a-kind traveling mason jar--well, one-of-a-kind unless I find another one like it!
☛vintage hanging wooden box with hinged lid.  
☛small mid-century modern teapot
☛small vintage strawberry teacups for a special friend
☛four vintage flower paintings--two are a coordinating pair.  See what I mean about un-framed paintings?  I love those two floral ones on the bottom.  I haven't decided if I'm going to un-frame the ones with the dark green backgrounds or leave them as-is.
☛vintage wire basket

So!  There are all my treasures from this week...well, and to be perfectly honest, from last week, too.  Also, for the sake of full disclosure, I should probably tell you that not pictured are: a nearly new pair of Bass shoes and Land's End boots for Colton (8); two pairs of church pants for him, too; brand new brown patent Keds for Eden (2); nearly new Born sandals for Addison (4); vintage flat sheet; vintage pillowcases; more vintage glasses; wooden embroidery hoops; four all-wool sweaters to felt for craft projects; brand new package of construction paper; vintage scallop-edged shelf liner paper; and a bunch of fall/harvest/Halloween goodies.

I've really got to figure out how to turn this into a linky party.  Because right now, all I want is to see/hear about YOUR thrifty finds for the week!  If you post some, please let me know about it somehow!!!

Mimi's Raspberry Bars--Super Quick & Easy!

Mimi (my dad's mom) made these more often than any of her other sweets.  It seemed like every time we went over to her house, she had some of these tucked away in the green tupperware container in her pantry.  (Thankfully, I'm now the proud owner of that container--isn't it funny how such inconsequential items hold such memories and significance for us?)

Raspberries are my dad's favorite fruit...and they just so happen to be my favorite, also.  I woke up this past Saturday with a hankerin' for baking something, and this recipe popped in my mind almost instantly.  Just a little while later I was pulling them out of the oven.

The recipe is so quick and easy (only 6 ingredients) that I thought I'd share it.

Mimi's Raspberry Bars
~1 cup of butter (very soft; slightly melted is even okay)
~1 1/3 cups brown sugar, packed firmly
~2 cups flour
~1/2 teaspoon + a pinch of baking soda (a pinch would be a little less than 1/4 tsp.)
~2 cups old-fashioned oats (not the quick-cook kind)
~10 oz. jar of raspberry jam (or more like 14-16 oz. for me!)

Preheat oven to 400°.  Grease 9" x 13" pan. (I always prefer to use a glass pan--if you have a vintage Pyrex pan like mine below, that's even better!)
Combine butter and sugar until well-blended.  
Add dry ingredients.  Mix well, but do not over mix (over-mixing will make the crumble hard).  Mixture should be crumbly, but not dry.
Press half of this mixture into the bottom of your greased baking pan (press it firmly, but again, don't over-work it).
Spread with jam.  There is nothing scientific about the amount of jam you use.  If you prefer your bars to be scantly jammed (is that even a word?!?), use less jam.  I prefer mine heavily jammed, so I use a bit more jam.  Also, if you don't care for raspberries (horror of horrors!), you could really use any type of jam that you like. 
Sprinkle remaining crumble mixture over the top of the jam (break apart any crumbles that are too large).
Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes, until edges are golden brown.  I bake mine for a maximum of 25 minutes.
Allow to cool completely (if you have that much self-control) before cutting into squares.
Enjoy!!!

What's Been Filling My Days...

I started my blog with grand plans of posting at least four times a week...every week, of course.  I'd never be the blogger that just disappeared for days, or even weeks at a time.  Don't you ever wonder about bloggers like that?  I do.  I go to their blog and it is so pretty, and so informative, and full of such great ideas...and the last post was dated March 2011.  (If you are a blogger and your last post was in March of 2011, I am NOT talking about you!  That is truly a random date I grabbed off the top of my head.)  And I get frustrated, because their blog looks so interesting, and I want to read so much more from them, and I just can't figure out "what happened? why in theee world aren't they blogging anymore???"  Yes...those are the ones I'm talking about.  I was never going to be "one of them".

And then I figured it out.  I know why many awesome, talented, incredible bloggers aren't writing anymore.  I figured out what happened.  And shore enough, it's a four-letter word.

L.I.F.E.

That's what happened.  Life happened.

And that's what happened to me.  Life happened to me.  And something had to give.  And I'm so new to blogging and all it entails that my blog was the first thing to get nixed.  And I missed a few days...
er, ummm...several days...ummm...more than a week, actually.

And my goal is for that to not happen again.  But I'm declaring that my goal along with my newly-held knowledge that it most likely will happen again.  

So....Life has happened...
Here are a few snippets of what's been filling my days...

☀We had friends come in to town from the West Coast.  Friends that have three kids.  Three kids under the age of three.  So...for four-ish days, we had four adults and SEVEN children in my little house...FIVE of those children were under the age of five!  It was interesting...to say the least.  Add to that the fact that our friends have very different parenting techniques and expectations than what we usually maintain, and it became even more...interesting.  (Don't worry...my friends read this blog regularly...these comments will not offend them.  In fact, these are things we talked about openly while they were here.)

☁My oldest daughter, Austyn (9), started in Stepping Stones at our church.  It's a Girl Scouts-type club for junior-age girls.  They meet every Sunday afternoon, between our morning and evening services.  Sounds easy, right?  Except they come home with a book filled with 734 ideas for how to earn badges!!!  Ideas that, of course, Mom has to help with!  Please don't get me wrong...I am thankful for Stepping Stones--in fact, I was in the club when I was in 6th grade.  I so appreciate the time and dedication that these ladies invest into my daughter.  I'm just saying, it has definitely added another item (or several items) to my usual to-do list (which was already quite long enough, thank you very much)!

(Austyn taking her first batch of banana bread--baked for her Stepping Stones Baking Badge--out of the oven.)

☂I'm trying to exercise at least 30 minutes every day.  It seems like I'm always hearing others say how easy it is to lose weight during the summer months.  Not so for me!  I must be one of the rare people that gains weight over the summer.  I'm faced with soooooooo much yummy food...and the weather is so warm that I have no ambition to exercise.  Now that the days have turned cooler, I'm trying to squeeze in a bit of daily activity.  I'd love to be able to fit in a full hour of exercise, but I'm trying to be realistic...right now, 30 minutes is all I have to give.  And I'm eating more sensibly, also...much more sensibly.  I know that eventually these choices will make themselves evident in the numbers on the scale...and in the way my clothing fits.

☀My hubs and I went to a Wisconsin Badgers football game last Saturday.  It was my cousin's birthday, and we were able to go with her and her husband.  Although Wisconsin's skill leaves much to be desired this season, they still managed to eke out a win...and we all had a great evening together.

☁We started our school year.  This is our fifth year of homeschooling.  I taught for five years before we had children, and to a certain extent, I still miss that experience.  God has been good to allow me to stay home while my children are young (and my hubs works hard to make sure that can happen)...so I always say that homeschooling "scratches the teaching itch" for me.  I'm not one to throw a few worksheets at my kids and call it a day, so the planning, teaching, and grading involved in their education definitely has an impact on my personal schedule.

☂Addison (4) started speech therapy on the Monday after Labor Day.  She sucked her thumb for several years and also has a naturally high palate.  Although she has quit sucking her thumb (thanks to our family dentist--but that's a story all its own), she still has difficulty with many of her consonant blends and, most noticeably, with her 's' sound.  She sees the speech therapist at our local school for 30 minutes on Monday mornings.  I'm trying to be a good steward of my time, and use that period to do small, running-around-town errands.

☀I've found that I'm very happy when I'm in the midst of creating something.  I'm trying to spend a little more time being crafty...working with my hands.

☁Unbelievably, although my days have been increasingly busier, I have had more opportunities to go thrifting.  We've had some doctor's appointments and other obligations that have taken us near a few of my favorite Goodwill stores.  I've gathered quite a collection of goodies for my next few Etsy shop updates...now to find the time to doll them up...photograph them...list them...whew!

☂I'm participating in a Fall Swap and a Halloween Swap...basically where a bunch of women exchange names and send each other fun packages.  The goal is to be crafty and include a "bit of yourself."  After all, who doesn't love to get happy mail?!?

☀This Friday and Saturday, I'm participating in a Mom-to-Mom sale with a good friend of mine.  Her organization puts on this sale every spring and fall in our local high-school gymnasium.  There are hundreds of sellers and literally thousands of items.  It is soooooo well-organized and operated that it is a pleasure to attend and shop.  This sale will be the first one in which I will actually be selling and working.  I'm excited.  I'm passionate about thrifty clothing purchases, especially for my children who outgrow their clothing so quickly anyway.  This is the perfect opportunity for me to sell some of their outgrown (but not worn out) clothing, and to get some of their needs at reasonable resale prices.

Along with all of the above, we are having a family dinner at my home on Sunday...a field trip at the orchard on Friday...church on Wednesday evening...and I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting.

But I'll still be here.  That's my goal.  That's always my goal.
Unless...well, you know...
Unless Life happens.

By the way, tomorrow I'll have a **yummy** recipe to share with you.

Which reminds me...
Austyn wants to bake yeast bread and cookies this week.
Add that to the list.☺

Giveaway Winners!!!

Remember these?☟☟☟

and this?☟☟☟

Well, we have ourselves TWO winners!!!

I numbered all the comments 

and used Random.org to provide me with two winning numbers.

Becky!!!

Your number was drawn first!

You get your pick between the "EAT" painting 

or the "Tea Time Duet".

Simplymama!!!

Your number was drawn second!

I'll be in contact with you as soon as Becky has made her choice.

A big "Thank you" to all who participated.

I had a lot of fun reading your comments...

and hope to do this again {{{very}}} soon!

Thrifty Finds Thursday--Mississippi Edition

We left home last Thursday evening to go visit my husband's family down in Mississippi.  My sister-in-law, Elizabeth, and I had already planned a resale-shopping date for Saturday morning.  

I don't know how you are, but I'm always very excited to thrift in a new area.  I hold high hopes that I'm going to find some fabulous treasure at a ridiculously low price.  For whatever reason, I held particularly high hopes for my thrifting adventure in the South.  

☛Collier's World Atlas and Gazetteer from 1947

☛Pyrex "Square Flowers" 404 bowl with stand and lid

The Atlas is the first item I found.  Elizabeth and I went to this hole-in-the-wall flea market, and I chanced upon this at the second table.  The maps are in fabulous vintage condition and the colors (all done in blues and greens) are amazing.  My plan right now is to use the pages for various projects.

This Pyrex bowl is my first "Square Flowers" piece.  I've been wanting pieces from this pattern for quite a while now, and though I've found them in several places, I've been too cheap thrifty to spend the price the sellers were asking.  Although neither the lid nor the stand actually "go" with the bowl, they are both Pyrex accessories and will be useful with other items in my collection.  All in all, it was a good buy--all three pieces for $7.

☛pair of vintage wooden embroidery hoops

☛pair of vintage metal trays

☛pair of vintage Hummel stitcheries

In this case, good things came in pairs...although there are three pairs, so one could argue that good things still come in three's.  All of the items in this photo are actually larger than they appear.  

The embroidery hoops are 14 1/2" round.  I'll use them for Etsy projects.

The metal trays are 14 1/2" x 9" and are adorable with their old-timey kitchen motif.  I'm pretty sure they're going in the Etsy, too...along with the pair of Hummels.

☛vintage mustard Royal Traveler toiletries tote

☛vintage girl's jewelry box

☛vintage handmade doll

I couldn't resist this vintage mustard make-up tote.  I had just envied a gorgeous aqua one posted on Instagram days earlier...and although this isn't aqua, the lining is in fabulous condition and it was so reasonably priced, I couldn't leave it behind.

I would have passed up the jewelry box...except for the fact that it still has the twirling ballerina inside...and she still dances...and the music still plays!!!  I cannot remember the last time I found one of these in working condition.  I had to get it.  I still don't know what I'm going to do with it.

The handmade doll came home with me, headed for the Etsy.  My 4-year-old Addison saw her...and that.was.that. She has been officially named (by Addison, of course) Allison Rain Feather.  Yes.  My child is destined to be a hippie.  For sure.

All in all, I've got to say, I was a bit underwhelmed at my luck down South.  We went to two very large flea markets, along with several thrift stores.  I certainly thought that I'd find more goodies. Still, Elizabeth and I had a blast together...laughing...chatting...eating...and laughing some more.  In my book, any day spent thrifting with a dear friend is a very.good.day.indeed!