There is a thrift store, just down Sandy Blvd. from my parents’ house, called the Teen Challenge. It is a international program to help young adults deal with issues of substance abuse. A good cause, but not why we go there.

There are occasionally phenomenal deals to be had at Teen Challenge, because often they just don’t know what they have. We (my mom and I) stopped there today, on our way to the very large, very wonderful, very expensive Goodwill. Think of it as an opening act for the much awaited headlining band. The selection was kind of sparse, but I stumbled across a very cool old coat rack (okay, I know it sounds weird, but really, it’s a great coat rack) for $5.95. So what if it’s just going to sit in my parent’s garage until I:

a. Move back to Portland

b. Decide I’m staying in Philly and rent a trunk to drive all the stuff I have in Portland across the country

c. Let my sister sell it (cause she’s always selling stuff)

The best deal of the day was the very soft, very gorgeous leather Fossil bag I found hanging between the business logo giveaway lunch bags and the naugahyde pocketbooks. It didn’t have a price tag, but when I asked the guy at the counter, he took at look and said, “$1.95.” I said, “I can do that” while internally gleeful at the bargain.

A nice pair of Diesel sneakers drifted my way at Goodwill, although initially I could only find one. I had to send my mom in to find the mate, because, isn’t that what moms are for? Finding missing mates to shoes, socks, gloves and the like?

So yeah, that was my day. God, I love vacation. We really should do this more often.