Vancouver Thrifting Haul - Great Finds!

Timeline alert! This shopping trip happend about a month ago, I've just failed to post about it until now!!

Have I mentioned that I love the Salvation Army on 4th Ave in Vancouver? Oh, yes, I have:

Thrifting in Vancouver
Went Shopppppin: 4th Ave Salvation Army
Thrift Shop Challenge

This place is allowing me to satiate my hunger for retailing without tearing my wallet to shreds. Cool!

Here's what I snizagged:

I love a good purse as much as the next girl, but I always feel bad about buying them. One really only "needs" one everyday purse, I supppooooose, but it's a lot more creatively freeing to have several to mix and match with your whole closet of clothes (thanks, Pinterest's Women's Fashion category). I think it's legit for me to want a nice selection of color options for "everyday" purses - several neutrals and one or two unexpected colors. I have a black, a brown, a black/white and a bright mint green "everyday" purse, but my grey/taupe bag had been completely worn out and had fallen to pieces months ago. I'd definitely been feeling its absence in my wardrobe, so it was on my list of things to scoop up if I found a good one.

WELL BINGO BABY! This Salvation Army's purse selection is SEWWWW GOOOOOD. I've said it before, and now I can say with certainty that it wasn't just a fluke that the options were so great the first couple of times I went to the store. There are ALWAYS awesome purses there... probably close to 100 to choose from, all color-coordinated, and the bulk of them are in really decent condition. And like everything else at the store, they are very well-priced!

I found this one - it's in great condition - and because of a pricing question at the register, it only cost me $7.99!

When I was checking out at the register, neither the store clerk nor I could locate the price tag on the bag anywhere. I was sure that I'd seen one on it... and told the clerk that I thought it had said $7.99? (I really did think that!) So he rang me up for it and continued checking me out, but I kept looking all over the bag for the price tag, since I was sure I'd seen one. When I found it, tucked inside one of the purse's 37 pockets, I said, "Oh! I found it - it's actually $14.99," and the clerk just said, "Eh, we'll just go with $7.99." Sweet!! What up, half price?!

Wow, I am one chatty Cathy during this blog, aren't I?? LET'S KEEP GOING! What else did I get?!

This one is a bit of an inside joke between all of my friends. In college (Go ZOOMASS) we found a paperback children's book at a Salvation Army in Amherst called A Best Friend... and 999 Other Things to Make You Happy.

.  legend  .

Inside the book - you might have guessed - was a list of no fewer than 1,000 different things to make one happy. My group of friends is a very special one, and we used to do pretty silly things together like spontaneously play massive games of "Telephone" in the living room or build a paper mache volcano on a whim or have water balloon fights... or pass the Things to Make You Happy book from one person to the next, each of us reading aloud a randomly selected entry and then passing the book along to the next person. The book was a real sensation with us and its legacy lives on. At one point, my friend Brian found the book for sale on eBay or Amazon and bought up several copies for his friends. I proudly still own the book and refer to it from time to time. It always brings a smile to my face.  :)

When I saw this 14,000 Things to Be Happy About book in the Salvay's book section... I didn't even have to think twice before picking it up. I'll be sending it to my friend Brian, who is currently spending 2 years in Costa Rica for a teaching gig. I know it'll put a smile on his face, too!

So it's rainy in Vancouver, believe it or not, and I was in need of a decent rain jacket that I could wear around town - or up a mountain slope, if needed. I'd been borrowing one of Dave's hand-me-down Gore-Tex jackets for the last 5+ years, and while it kept me dry... it was way too big for me! Plus, it only zips down halfway, requiring me to put it on and take it off via a huge, clumsy "overhead" production. The jacket was totally free to wear, but completely un-ideal for me. I've been in search of a Gore-Tex jacket in my own size that would zip down completely, making it easier for me to take it off/put it on. I thought I was dreaming when I spotted this jacket amongst the coats at Salvay:

It's a Mountain Equipment Co-Op brand Gore-Tex jacket THAT ONLY COST ME $8.99. Eight-effing-ninety-nine. I deferred to David's judgment regarding how much this jacket would have cost when it was brand new - he says, "$250 - $300." SO. YOU DO THE MATH. Or I will do it for you - I bought this jacket for less than 4% of its original cost. Sha-wing!

The jacket is definitely old, and possssibly a little too worn for me to take up a mountainside. But for walking around in the rain in Vancouver, it's perfect. $8.99!!! Are you kidddddding me. EFFING GORE-TEX, BRO.

Brandy's Never Say Never album. This deserves some explanation... I mentioned it once before, but my entire CD book was stolen out of my car back in the summer of 2003. Inside the book was every CD I'd ever owned, except for the Maroon 5 mix CD that was inside the player at the time. I never fully recovered from the Great Compact Disc Heist of 2k3 - in both the physical and emotional senses. Physically, in that I haven't yet re-purchased copies of every CD that was in the book. Emotionally, in that the 90s gems that were in that book were classics that were from my hands untimely ripped. #Childhoodlost. #FAHK. So when I'm at a tag sale or a thrift store and I come upon a CD that I used to own, chances are good that I'm going to buy it. Especially if it's $2 or less, which this Brandy CD happened to be. This is the classic CD that came out when I was in 8th grade that featured the hits The Boy Is Mine, Almost Doesn't Count and Sittin' on Top of the World (featuring ya boy Ma$e!!) - it definitely needed to come back into my life.  On that note... if you happen to have a copy of Aaliyah's One in a Million album, do me a favor and make me a copy. ;)

Lastly, I snagged this beautiful, still-brand-new, coral-colored sweatshirt. It had its original tag still on it, had clearly never been worn, and was suuuuper soft and cozy. I love its big, jumbo buttons and high neck with drawstring. And the color! It's just so pretty and bright. I feel like it's a cheery day when I'm wearing it, even when it's overcast and rainy. This was the most expensive item for me that day, at $12.99.

This was one of my most successful trips to Salvation Army yet! For a grand total of $34.09, I was able to get a new book, new (ha!) CD, a quality rain jacket, a brand new sweatshirt and a new purse! Hoozah!

If you have a thrifting haul blog, please feel free to share the link with me below. I love a good haul!