Day 3, 1 Item, $2.09

I'm back! Yesterday I was sent to D.C. on a "covert mission", ummm I mean errand for my job. My boss seemed a little embarrassed about asking me to go. Little did he know inside I was quietly doing somersaults. Immediately I began planning my own personal 'Mission: Impossible' to hit up as many thrift stores in the area. Late yesterday evening I used skills gained from watching countless James Bond movies to begin my assignment. As a special operative, I have access to highly sophisticated gadgetry. So, I punched the coordinates into my trusty GPS to locate the nearest thrift store and headed to the first location.

Thrifty was first on the list. It was only 0.3 miles away from the hotel where I stayed. So, I wonder why it took me nearly 10 minutes to get there (I won't even go into details). Instead of finding the store I was looking for I found The Container Store and a parking lot in its spot. Next on the list was Tacts Thrift Store. There was an office building at that location. Then I tried Faith Thrift store. Let's just say that it seemed as if my faith was being tested. The end result was the same when I tried to find Sisters Thrift & Consignment Shop, and Rainbow Thrift Store. I didn't find any of the stores and I was lost, to boot! My head began to ache. I felt so frustrated. I envisioned finding an eclectic style necklace, a pair of vintage boots, or even a bohemian scarf. All hopes were dashed. By then I'd worked up an appetite. I gave up and ordered pizza.

So on this very snowy Friday morning in D.C. and northern Virginia I found myself driving back home in disappointment, yet again. I think I was beginning to experience signs of withdrawal. I hadn't been thrifting in two days. However, after work I made up for it. I went to a store not far from my job and in a matter of only a few minutes I found a sweater for only $1.99! Ahhh, I got my fix. I paired it with my jeans and modeled it for "El Rey". He likes it. It has a classy look to it. Do you like it?

Day 2, 2 Items, $8.38

Yesterday's thrifting experience was not a good one.

Disappointment #1: I stopped by a thrift store that I ran across a couple of months ago. It was quite disappointing to say the least. I spent twenty minutes there and could hardly find anything in my size. I finally found an Ann Taylor corduroy skirt that looked like it might fit, but there was no dressing room. So as you can guess I am crossing this store off my list!

After spending so much time in the wrong store I decided to head over to one of my favorite thrift store hang-outs. I absolutely love this store (I'll tell you why some other time)! Within five minutes I found a "new with tags (NWT)" Old Navy corduroy jacket. Then my joy turned into sadness...again.

Disappointment #2: this particular store has a debit/credit minimum of $5....the jacket only cost $3.99. I didn't have any cash on me. So I spent more time than I planned searching for something that cost 99 cents to help reach the minimum. No such luck. It was 6:25 p.m. and the cashier announced over the intercom that the fitting rooms were closing in 20 minutes. Which meant the store was closing shortly after. I really didn't want to miss the opportunity to buy the cool jacket. I zipped down the aisles in a frenzy. I tried on 3 sweaters that were the right price but either too small or too large for me. Ultimately, I was forced to buy an H&M sweater for $3.99. I'm not too sure about the sweater. It's gray and sparkly. I don't really like sparkles. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Since I spent more money (and time) than I cared to yesterday, I've put a $4 limit on my budget for the next shopping excursion. Also, I doubt that I will be shopping tonight. I have to pick up my boyfriend, whom from now on I will refer to as "El Rey", and his daughter from the airport. I don't think that I'll be able to successfully convince them to go thrifting with me tonight. Especially after the commment the little one made the first time I took her to a thrift store. She said, "it smells like something farted in here". Fair enough. I'd rather go alone. I don't particularly like distractions when I'm thrifting. Focus, Focus, Focus.

Day 1, 1 Item, $8.99

Okay, I've tried my hand at writing blogs before but I didn't really have anything interesting to write about. That all changed a few days ago after watching the movie Julie and Julia. It's about a 30 year old woman working a boring government job who's decided to write about her hobby of cooking. She tackled a Julia Child's cookbook and prepared a meal for 365 days and blogged about it. Nice. Now if you think that I am about to start cooking you are absolutely out of your mind!

I've never liked shopping at the mall. The world would be perfect if I could buy all my clothes online and they all fit! So you'd probably be surprised to know that my hobby is shopping....at thrift stores, that is. As a little girl living with mom and grandma, I developed a love of receiving other people's "junk". My grandmother would go to the local thrift store and bring back toys, books, furniture, clothes, etc. I found it amazing that people practically "gave away" their stuff for such a cheap price. It was exciting for me to jump up early in the morning and ride off with my grandma in her big Chevy truck and beat the early birds to the neighborhood garage sale. I would oooh and ahhh while sorting through hats, dusty records, and puzzles the owners wanted to get rid of. Now at 30 something I find myself doing the same thing when I walk down the aisles of my favorite thrift store. I love bargain shopping. I'm a thrift store addict. Thrift store shopping has proven to be therapeutic for me. If I've had a bad day at work it makes me feel good when I can find a shirt for only 99 cents. It feels even better when I get a nice compliment on the thrift store item that I may be wearing that day. To top it off, alot of the items I buy are quality labels like Liz Claiborne, Banana Republic, J. Crew, and so on.

With all that being said my New Year challenge is to shop for 30 days at any thrift store i can find. But here's the catch: my purchases for each day CANNOT cost more than ten bucks! Follow me as I build a new wardrobe on a shoe string budget. I will post photos of some of my findings. By the way, the challenge started yesterday. Last night I found a cute handbag (see photo) for only $8.99 by United Colors of Benetton!