On one afternoon of my trip to California, Anna had to go to
Watsonville for a meeting at the library and then pick up a dress from a woman for an exhibition and I decided to tag along. It was a quick drive and as we headed downtown, Anna pointed out the Goodwill right on the main street. She met, I thrifted.
Wastonville is primarily a Hispanic community, so I stood out a little from the crowds of kids on their lunch break from the local high school. Not to mention, I was wearing a green on green argyle sweater with khakis which wasn't exactly the local uniform. The Goodwill was huge, filled with lots of people looking for bargains, even though it was the middle of the week. Of course the first thing I found was a beautiful blond corner cabinet for a mere $9.99. Would it fit in the overhead bin? I think not, so I passed it by. Dishes. Dishes I could stash in my carry-on. So I moved to the dishes.
The first thing I noticed was a small set of little glasses that had sheafs of wheat etched into them. They were bigger than a shot glass, but smaller than a juice glass. I looked them over and was seriously thinking of getting them, but couldn't decided. I continued looking at rest of the dishes and in less than a moment, a very quick woman swept over and had those glasses in her basket faster than I could say "donation." A lesson. If you see something you think you might want, for Pete's sake, but it in your basket fast. You can always decide you don't want it later and if it's in your basket, no one is going to snatch it from you.
I did find (and manage to hold onto) a glass with black and gold designs of films and movies on it that coordinates with a mix of glasses I already own. Also, a very large Pyrex cup, white with a green stripe on it. Delicious. You know I'm a fool for Pyrex.
The decorative items section was pretty sad. Nothing that I could see that anyone would want. That is until I spotted yellow and white box on the bottom shelf. I opened it and low and behold, a complete set of twelve
white ceramic tea light holders from IKEA for a mere $2. I've always liked the candleholders, but had never bought them. What a pleasant surprise.
Afterwards, I stopped into a little shop and got a double dip of coffee almond fudge ice cream in a cup. The nice lady at the counter commented on the lovely weather and how the clouds from the morning had cleared into a beautiful day. She topped my ice cream with a vanilla sandwich cookie and I sat on a bench and watched all the people hanging out in the town square.
Lessons learned:
1. Put it in your basket.
2. Open boxes.
3. Treat yourself to ice cream after.
