I believe in second-hand goods. There is a certain magic in owning something that has had a useful life before becoming mine. There’s a moment when I see something useful and beautiful on a thrift store shelf. I can picture exactly how it will fit into my life and I know it will be coming home with me on a new adventure. Also, because those paintings, and pants, and plates have already served their purpose once with someone else, they do more than just entice me with their history, they help me keep a few extra nickels in my purse.

My love for second-hand treasures started at an early age going garage sale shopping with my mother and brothers. The sales I found most exciting back then were the ones that had infant clothing. Cabbage Patch Kid dolls were very popular, and newborn sized clothing fit them perfectly. A few quarters could buy my baby a whole new wardrobe, so while my mom was looking for shirts for my brothers, I waded through onesies hoping to find tiny dresses that would look nice with my doll’s brown yarn hair and bright blue eyes.

Lately, I’ve been on a quest to purchase vintage dinnerware. I’ve found three bowls and two plates, each with their own design and character. My favorite is a large stoneware platter with scalloped edges and a hand-painted floral design in the middle. I like to imagine that the plate has enjoyed the experience of a church pot-luck dinner, where it was topped with wobbly green jello slowly melting onto the crispy crust of the neighboring fried chicken.

One of my favorite things about old items is this nostalgia value they seem to adopt during their first life. A simple throw pillow can bring me back to my grandma’s living room, sitting on the couch and eating a bowl of red raspberries with milk and sugar, or listening to my grandma, dad, and uncles playing doubles cribbage. A polyester shirt can transport me to my 21yr old self, living on my own for the first time, trying to make friends in a new city, and meeting the man I eventually married. That platter I recently found? It reminds me of Thanksgiving dinners surrounded by family, and finally moving from the kid’s table to the adult table.

I find that shopping second-hand also makes me think “Do I need this?” more than shopping at regular retail stores, despite the low ticket prices. Knowing some of these paintings, and pants, and plates have been on this earth longer than I have helps me appreciate the wares that accompany me home. Buying something new is fun, but it can’t compete with buying second-hand.

(This is an edited version of my Personal Essay from this summer’s English class)

On the fifth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… Continental Breakfast!

On the sixth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… Malted Killer Brownies

On the seventh day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… A Sloppy Joe at Isaly’s

On the eighth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… An Ice Cream Cone at Handel’s

On the ninth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… A Galley Boy at Swenson’s

On the tenth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… A Large Banana Slurpee (Slurpees bring back a lot of college memories, so even though I ate some awesome food at Brat House Grill in Wisconsin Dells, it had to be the Slurpee in the song!)

On the eleventh day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… Smoked String Cheese in Nelson

All in all, it was a very tasty vacation! I can’t wait for the next one!!

On the first day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… some twizzlers and a diet rootbeer. (This is reminiscent of road trip food from my childhood, which it why it’s awesome.)

On the second day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… Organ Piper Pizza.

On the third day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… CarmelCrisp from Garrett’s

On the fourth day of ‘cation I put in my tummy… George’s Yummy Gyros

Hopefully we find something great for today, as it’s a very important part of the song!!

Also, I’ve only had time to post a couple so far, but feel free to keep an eye on my Flickr page for photos of the trip!

I did laundry for him on occasion during the first couple years of our marriage. One day, after the sweater came out of the dryer, I formulated a plan. I rolled it up the way you would if you were packing a suitcase, and I hid it in one of his storage tubs. I didn’t want to throw it out, I know how sentimental he can be, but I had to stop him from embarrassing me in public. It took him a while to miss it, but the day came when he asked if I had seen his red sweater.

I lied.

What does my complex have that yours probably doesn’t?

1. 102.9 Lite FM is piped through the hallways during the daytime. Yes, just the daytime. It is turned off every night around 8pm or so.
2. A ‘Take-a-book/Leave-a-book’ bookcase full of old treasures. Today I scored a 6th edition (from 1961) copy of 500 Recipes by Request: From Mother Anderson’s Famous Dutch Kitchens. Awesome. *grin*
3. A pretty good sized group of women does a Tai Chi exercise VHS tape together in the lobby some evenings. This ‘community benefit’ is not advertised anywhere. I think it’s a by-invite-only kind of thing. I find it totally adorable.
4. Jigsaw puzzles sometimes appear in the lobby for tenants to put together. I’ve been so tempted to kidnap a few pieces for a couple of days, just to see if anyone notices! I’ve been good though.
5. Cheap laundry!! A wash cycle is $1.00, and a dry cycle is $0.50. An entire load is clean for just $1.50! Around here that’s nearly unheard of!! It’s probably because half the renters can remember back to when it cost $0.25 to wash. At least one person has lived here since the place opened in the early 60′s.

I’m sure I’ve missed a few things, but those are the big ones. I’m really quite glad we moved here. The location isn’t perfect, only having close access to one bus line, but it’s totally homey and cool here. (Is it homey or homy? Google results seem to suggest it is both!? They’re listed as variants of each other… it’s an infinite loop!)

I knew pretty early on that he was the kind of guy, or rather THE guy, I’d marry if I let myself. Our first New Years Eve, after we’d only been together for a month and a half or so, Jon’s friend asked me if I thought I’d marry him. I’m sure I turned bright red, but I managed to say something un-scary like “I dunno” rather than “Yeah, probably!” I mean, you can’t tell a guy after just a month and a half that you’d probably marry them, right? *smirk*

The photo is from our trip to Wisconsin Dells in 2003. Weren’t we cute back then? Awww…

If I don’t have to work on our anniversary, we’re thinking about going to Kozy’s for lunch. Our brother-in-law is a chef there and if he’s working I think I’ll just have him suggest a menu item for me. How fun is that, right? Get the chef to personally recommend something? Love it. *grin*

She had the most fantastic raspberry bush behind her barn. It was crazy – the berries on that bush grew twice as big as any on her regular rows of bushes. Black raspberries on one side of the yard, red on the other. She taught me to put them in milk with sugar, and then squish the heck out of them til the milk was bright red or purple.

She had a great front porch, too. It faced a good sized road and I remember using it as my own personal stage. The passing drivers were my audience. I’d plug my boombox in and dance up a storm. The trees in the front yard were enormous too, so it was always nice and shady on that porch.

She also had the best game closet upstairs. There was an old board game version of Family Feud up there. I remember having a really hard time figuring out the answers to some of the questions since the game was older than any of us kids. There was also a great marble game called Avalanche. I don’t think we ever played by the rules – it was way too entertaining just letting the marbles go through the board.

There were a lot of regular customers.  We didn’t have a milk maid, but we did have a guy who went through all of the Sunday newspapers before deciding which one to buy. We also had a few people who’d attempt to stock up on coffee creamers and ketchup packets, even if they weren’t buying anything. *smirk* If only there had been a Jay and Silent Bob style duo hanging out in front of the store.

OH! On another Kevin Smith note… My husband got yelled at by Shannen Doherty while Mallrats was being filmed. He was working the drive-thru at a fast food place, so when the guys inside messed up her order, she chewed him out. *chuckle* I wish I had been a fly on that wall!

As an adult, I started experimenting with grilled cheese a bit more. Could I use colby-jack? Yes! It just took a little longer for the cheese to melt. Could I use whole grain bread? Why, yes! Eventually, I discovered all the ingredients for my ultimate fantasy sandwich: a sourdough bread and provolone grilled cheese! Even ordering out at restaurants, nothing has yet to top my sourdough/provolone combo.

That’s not to say that you can’t get fantastic grilled cheese at restaurants, because they do have some killer choices. At the end of March, I tried one at Acadia Cafe. At just over $6, it was priced well for the size and came with a generous portion of fries. I chose to order mine with ham, and let me tell ya, it was no thin slice of lunch meat! Also, it was possibly the crunchiest grilled cheese I’d ever eaten, but somehow that improved it. Perhaps it’s because the sandwich was so flavorful, yet didn’t have the usual greasy feel to the outside of the bread. I highly recommend it!