It's no secret that I love thrift stores--almost as much as I love carbohydrates. Most of my wardrobe is thrifted, most of my furniture is thrifted, most of my dishes, shoes, sewing supplies, and artwork is thrifted. Of course, the price of said items is the great draw, but what keeps me going back time after time is the hunt. You never know what you'll find, but you'll find it there. Additionally, everything I buy secondhand is one which I won't end up buying retail, which means that by shopping secondhand I've greatly limited my support of iffy manufacturing practices.

Needless to say, I go thrifting regularly (and fully support the use of the noun, "thrift" as a verb, by the way) and thought I'd document my finds here--afterall, part of the thrill of discovery is in sharing it!

I got to visit my favorite thrift stores earlier this month as I was up in Virginia for my mom's birthday. If you're ever in the Norfolk area, I recommend Thrift Store USA and Thrift Store City. Kris and I usually devote half a day to perusing both those stores thoroughly. I picked up two things at the latter store:

a pair of black leather flats: $2.98

(which, thankfully, finally replace my squeaky, synthetic, Millie-nibbled black flats)

and a seafoam colored silk shirt, which I am converting to a tank: $0.99

I've been compiling a list of the things I'll need to set up house, and my current preoccupation is dishware. Thus I'm taking stock so that I know exactly what I need when I browse the thrift store shelves.

glasses: 12

tumblers: 4

teacups with saucers: 5

teacups sans saucers: 3

saucers/dessert plates: millions

canisters: 5 big + 12 little

platters: 1

salad plates: 11

bowls: 15

little bowls: 10

mixing bowls: 2

pitchers: 2

The dotted hexagonal plates are representative of the simple everyday pattern I'm collecting, a satisfying fusion of the simple, the farm-y, and the modern. I've picked up eight salad plates and five saucers in this pattern thus far and hope to find dinner plates eventually. Besides these, however, I'll continue to hunt out serving pieces such as casserole dishes, more platters (really trying to find a tiered ceramic piece!), and large mixing bowls. But things are looking pretty good so far.

A successful bit of shopping Saturday morning:

• about 1 yard of coral and gold upholstery fabric: $0.50


• glass pitcher and stirring rod with six glasses: $2.00


• small ceramic mixing bowl: $0.50

Don't you love yard sales?