secondhand goodies

those who know me know i'm a thrifter. a yard saler. and a trash digger. 

i'm not at all embarrassed by a hobby that was passed down from my parents...well, mostly my mom...because we've found some pretty awesome things over the years. like...tory burch sunglasses anyone?

the things we find range, obviously, and you can't have anything in mind when you go. you usually don't find anything you set out to find, so you have to have an open mind...and sometimes an open wallet. case in point -- at a yard sale this weekend, we found one of those gorilla ladders for my husband. we weren't necessarily in the market for a collapsible ladder, but when you find it for a good price, you grab it. because, like my family's motto says - "when you want it, you won't be able to find it (at all or for a good price), so get it when you find it!" 

so my hubby and i are now proud owners of a nice ladder and we can now pitch our old, rickety ones that have almost killed us more than once... (call us cheap, but hey! i've saved a lot of money over the years!)

to say i like secondhand items is probably an understatement. at this point in my life, it's my hobby and is something that gives me a thrill. what can find today? how much can i pay for it? how much is it really worth? of course it can be addictive, so sometimes i take breaks, but i've usually always got my eyes open.

how it started
saturday mornings used to be my enemy. my parents would drag me from my warm bed to join them on a weekly yard sale jaunt. i would get car sick, i hated having to eat breakfast so early, and i really had no interest in finding anything that was used. i mean, gross! i was young, cranky, and all i wanted to do was sleep. 

but i grew to love it and now it's something that i enjoy doing with my parents. we laugh, we convince each other to or not to buy something, we share stories (good, bad & the ugly) and we compare finds. it's not uncommon to do a saturday call-in to see what was found, passed up or missed (ugh, missing things is the worst!).

secondhand online
so when my mom and sister both mentioned thredup, i was intrigued, but not yet sold. not being able to see the pieces to determine if they were stain and hole-free kinda made me standoffish.

then, just recently, i connected with a fashion blogger who has moved to columbia, and she was featuring 2 super cute pieces that she had purchased from thredup.

i decided to took a looksy on the site and boy am i glad i did! they just happened to be having a 40% off sale, so naturally i was determined to find something! in the end, i found 2 pairs of shoes and decided to take the risk of them not fitting or not being "secondhand perfect," because for the price, they were worth it!

within a week, i received my package and waited no time in tearing it open.

the packaging was cute and each pair of shoes was wrapped separately. i eagerly unwrapped each and slipped them on. to my surprise, they both fit perfectly! i was a little concerned since the brands were not something i had worn before, but they were just what i'd hoped.

one pair is a leather espadrille wedge and the other a super colorful, beaded slip-on sandal. both are going to be perfect for summer!

i'm looking forward to styling these babies and can't wait to see what i find next...oh wait, i did find something else! ekk!

​this weekend they had an earth day sale with 20% off, and I scored these cuties! fingers crossed that they fit as well as the other two!

moral of this story: check out thredup! or go to your local thrift shop. you just never know what you'll find! happy hunting!