Sometimes you just have to look

On a reddit thread about best Goodwill stores in my area, this is what one redditor had to say about the Goodwill my husband, daughters and I went to on their birthday last week:

"I've always found the Shoreline Goodwill to be the most enjoyable one in the immediate area... less picked over, more treasures, big building, less crowded.... chill vibe. But of course now all the Goodwills skim the best things off the top and sell them online sooo..."

Yes, I believe it's true that thrift stores are either themselves selling off the best stuff online (like quality books) or resellers are storming the stores and cleaning out the best stuff to sell themselves online or in vintage stores. However, some of the good things slip through the cracks are are available for the rest of us to consider. 

A couple of years ago I caught this platter just moments after it was put on a shelf. It's my pattern so I know the expected prices for pieces in it. I knew this platter would sell for about $25 to $40 online. The thrift store had it priced at $3.99. Even though I hadn't come in looking for serving pieces in my dish pattern, I grabbed the platter, carried it around the store while I looked for other things, and thought about whether or not I would really use it. In the end I decided I would use it and bought it.

Last week when we all went to Goodwill together, I really wasn't planning on buying anything. I was just going to look. I always check dishes and glassware, because as I found out at Value Village with that platter, you never know when you'll find something. 

A year ago I saw some small tumblers in the vintage district that I really liked. But in a vintage store they were priced at $10 each. I wasn't about to spend that much on small tumblers. I did like them and made a mental note to check thrift stores.

So at Goodwill, I checked all of the glassware. Lo and behold, there were 8 individual small tumblers very much like the ones I saw in the vintage shop last year, only Goodwill was asking 99 cents each. Again, I wasn't sure I really wanted them, but I picked them up anyway and carried them around inside the store for a bit while I thought on it.

My husband and I really wanted a rowing machine to vary our workouts at home. We knew we wanted a collapsing, budget-friendly hydraulic one. We had been looking at machines online for the past year. We considered models that were priced around $100 to $150. Ultimately, we decided to wait until garage sale season. $100 sounds like a lot of money to spend on exercise equipment for our purposes. If we waited and checked the local garage sales, we thought we could find one at a good price.

The particular Goodwill we visited is a very large store and has a large exercise and sports equipment department. One daughter asked me to check out the sports stuff with her. She pointed to the rowing machine and asked what it was. We brought it out to the open floor area and set it up to try. After we both tried it, my husband came over, and we convinced him to try it. He liked it too. So we decided to buy it, spending $29. It's in good condition, has minimal wear, and works well for our needs. Both my husband and I have used it several times since last week. I can get a better workout in a shorter time using this than I can walking. Now I can alternate how I exercise and develop different muscle groups.

When I shop full-price retail, I always have an idea of what I want, like a new pair of jeans or shoes. But when I shop second hand, I often have no idea what I want, but I just want to check to see what they have. While thrift stores no longer are a treasure trove of goodies waiting to be snapped up (at least not in my area), sometimes you just have to look. You never know when something desirable will have managed to slip through the reseller crack and is waiting for just the right buyer.

Our birthday tea in photos

The table is all set. I used tea cups that I've thrifted, been gifted, and yard sale-d. The table cloth was a birthday gift from my grandmother when I turned 26. The placemats were my mother's.

The sundae cups were from both thrift stores and vintage shops. The pink glass plates were from Value Village 2 springs ago.

I filled the sundae cups with shrimp-avocado-celery-cucumber salad as a starter.

After the shrimp salads were finished, we started on the main course of the tea -- platters of sandwiches, fruit cups, and diced salad cups.

These sandwiches were fun to make and very springlike. I cut thin sliced bread into flower shapes using a cookie cutter.

Using my smallest cookie scoop . . .

I put a large ball of egg salad as the center for each flower sandwich.

The scrap slices of bread will become French bread tomorrow night.

a platter of egg salad sandwiches

a platter of roast beef and horseradish on rye sandwiches

a platter of chicken salad in mini croissant sandwiches

strawberry and blueberry fruit cups

chopped vegetable salad cups -- tomatoes, orange bell pepper, cucumber, black olives

My phone died just before the dessert course. We had small chocolate cakes, cookies, and chocolates. 

All of the above was served with copious amounts of hot tea, juice, and sparkling water. I waited on everyone, so they all could have the feel of dining out. I did spend most of last week's grocery budget. But we'll be fine. I have enough leftover grocery budget to pick up a little fresh produce tomorrow, and our pantry, fridge, and freezer are still full.

It was a fun afternoon. My daughters loved the tea. My daughter-in-law said it felt very fancy. My whole family enjoyed the food and tea. I thought we would have lots of leftovers. No such luck!