and the lord taketh away.

the universe is a messed up place. this weekend initially seemed like an incredible thrift shopping sleepwalk through unbelievable deal after unbelievable deal. like all of my garage sale wishes were finally coming true. and then everything fell apart. in an expensive and heartbreaking way… but first, the dream:

score #1: the boyfriend and i were actually driving out of town to go flea marketing down route one when we stopped short (way short- about 4 blocks from our condo) at a small roadside garage sale. beckoning me from the street was a sunshine yellow solair chair. i have been lusting after one of these bitches for YEARS, and have on several occasions strongly considered stealing them from the poolsides of old orchard beach motels. upon closer examination- a little dirty, a couple of spider eggs, but in otherwise excellent shape. $10 price tag- SOLD. a super deal, even if i did have to carry it up the hill in 4″ platforms.

score #2: the ex husband (who i am mercifully still friends with) texted me early sunday morning to tell me that there was a hot looking garage sale happening on hampshire street next to the sketchy east end rite aid. um, this was no ordinary garage sale. this was a WARY FUCKING MEYERS garage sale. authors of the super-incredible interior design tome tossed & found, i’ve long felt fortunate to share a city with such awesomeness. and on sunday morning, i got to scavenge through that awesomeness with both hands. and by awesomeness, i mean the most gorgeous orange enamel electric fireplace (still working!) that i have ever seen. there was plenty of other cool stuff, but this was the only thing i could see. apparently the original price was $25, but i stood in front of it for long enough (trying to figure out where i would put it, how i would fit it in the car, and how i was going to convince the boyfriend bring this giant thing into our home), that they knocked it down to $10. $10!!! the universe was smiling upon me (save for the part where we had to disassemble the unit in the rite aid parking lot in order to get it in the car).

also rolled up in the best thrift store weekend ever, 2 strawberry patterned mugs, a wall hanging of 2 parakeets, a jeremy brett sherlock holmes feature length episode on DVD (still sealed), and a kathy martin book (juvenile nurse fiction from the 50s) that was missing from my collection.

but don’t forget that part about how much the universe loves to take me down a notch whenever things are going really well. while moving some furniture around to make room for the new toys, an old toy was inadvertently destroyed. a dear friend that i don’t see anymore gave it to me for my 30th birthday. and when i picked it up off the floor to put it back into its rightful place… the head toppled off and smashed into a thousand pieces on the floor. devastated. it had survived multiple moves and was one of my most prized possessions. i can and will replace it at some point (well, the next time that i have $175 rattling around in my budget), but it’s not really the same. 2 glasses of wine and an entire bowl of buttered popcorn later, i’m still bummed out.

like i said, the universe is a messed up place.

goodwill giveaway madness!!!

first and foremost, i would like to officially congratulate the fabulous colleen o. for kicking some jolly green ass and winning the april free veggie swag. woot! but that’s all behind us now. it’s may, it’s time for an exciting new giveaway, and i’m beta testing a crazy idea this month.

as you may already know, i am an avid thrifter. i make the rounds at my local goodwills and salvation armys pretty much weekly, and am constantly hunting for crazy vintage crap to put in my crazy vintage crap collections. at the present, i am collecting: 1940s era nancy drews, figures made entirely out of white porcelain, vintage fabrics, mod jewelry, midcentury modern furniture, and pretty much anything that seems just too awesome to leave at the store. many weekends i come home with nothing, but every now and again, i come home with something remarkable.

everyone, meet toot-a-loop (toot-a-loop, everyone).  about two years ago, while perusing the electronics aisle at the forest ave. goodwill, i found this little puppy nestled between the discarded 8-track players and multiple copies of herb alpert and the tijuana brass whipped cream and other delights albums. mostly, it just seemed weird and cool and was only $2.99, so why not. a brief googling, and i found out that not only was the toot-a-loop designed to be an am radio bracelet (that’s right!), but it also that it routinely sold on ebay for $40+. score! not that i sold mine, but it’s nice to know that i have the option.

so you might be wondering, does this seemingly pointless yammering about the toot-a-loop perhaps have a point? or perhaps, when do i get free stuff to entering a stupid contest? well, here we go: i just told you my amazing thrift find story, and i want to hear yours. the prize at stake is a $25 gift card to goodwill (or if your area doesn’t have a goodwill, we can work something out). here are the rules:

1. submit a picture of your hot hot thrift find (garage sales & flea markets are also applicable) to my email.

2. in the above mentioned email, tell me where you got it, how much you paid, and why it’s so freakin’ awesome.

3. i will then post the images on the broke207 flickr page for all to see and enjoy & comment on.

4. on the 31st of the month, i (and possibly a few trusted advisors) will choose the winner, and a great celebration will occur. (also, the aforementioned $25 gift card will be mailed)

i know this requires a little more effort than most blog giveaways, but i think it could be a really fascinating project. a project that i would like to keep ongoing. so please, get your photo on and show me what you got! enter as many times as you like.