This week at Goodwill...

Someone picked up THIS:

  {he also had to take a trip to Guitar Center for 12 strings}

 But, he was proud of his $14 purchase

And it really is quite entertaining watching him play

 I picked up these three sweeties

 The inside of the Vintage train case is in perfect condition.  

I didn't need it, but for $.97 how can you not purchase it for storage?!?

 The two plaid cases made their way to my oldest son's basement bedroom.

I'll have to wait until he's back from college to find out what he will store in them....

{his room offers a large amount of options to choose from-

shoes, magazines, books, cd's, junk, dirty laundry, etc etc}

 Anytime I find something old and well-loved, 

I wonder about its history...

Where did it come from?  

Where has it been?

Who used it?  

What secrets does it hold?

These two came home with me on a different Goodwill trip.

They were just the right color and just the right price

They are a little overly loved

but their flaws are somewhat comforting.

"Frugality without creativity is deprivation."

-Amy Dacyczyn

If you're looking for a freebie, 

head over HERE to one of my favorite blogs for a chance to win a brand new pair of running shoes!

And while you're there, 

scroll down for a peek at the sweetest dog EV-er!

stumbling...

You know how part of the reason we "thrift-lovers" enjoy the hunt is because it's just challenging...

and the other reason is because we live in a throw-away society, so re-using something makes us feel like we're giving back...and the other reason is because it is cost effective and makes sense to our budget???? 

{Longest run-on sentence I've written today}

Yeah...well, I realize that I can easily over-spend by the sheer force of allowing myself to walk in the doors of my favorite Bargain Barn.  And, frankly, I probably have more stuff than I need simply because 

I liked it

and 

it was cheap.

For this reason, I am practicing self-control when I drive down Route 30 

and am tempted to turn Left into my favorite 

Goodwill Wonderland.  

As a result this blog has sat stagnant because I had 

nothing new and thrifty to be excited about. 

 I also have zero advice or suggestions 

that are worth writing down.

  {Unless, "just don't get in your car and drive out of your driveway" sounds like good advice to you.}

I guess you could say I'm in a creative funk.

So, to shake out of it 

or at least to see what others are doing with their creative juices,

I've joined stumble upon.

It's a massive internet conglomeration of 

everyone in the whole wide world and their sister

I don't really understand it all yet.

It's just too big.

But I think they're on to the next big internet craze.

It's like a great big marriage of Google, the blogging world, youtube, Martha Stewart, CNN, your local Library, Home Depot and every other random thing you can think of.

You pick your category of choice,

press "stumble"

and spend the next hour looking at everything you ever wanted to know about that category.

It's really crazy.

And somewhat overwhelming.

But sometimes I go there just because...

and perhaps in the hope of stumbling upon someone else's creative juicy-juice

and having it spill on me.

Like just now, when I stumbled, I found this place

Check her out, she seems to have a lot to say today about being frugal.

But don't be gone for too long...

I might actually slip in someone else's creative juice and 

post something worth noting.