A secret passion I'm about to let you in on...
I treasure hunt.
I treasure hunt.
Since I was very little, my Dad would take me from flea market to flea market, yard sale to garage sale every Saturday morning. I would spend the morning hours rooting and sifting through boxes and boxes of "junk."
I was hooked.
I was hooked.
Dust covered stickers for $.25 a piece or 5 for a $1.oo.
Handmade shoelace hair bows in every single color combination 2 for $5.00.
My first long "dangly" earrings and Maybelline makeup,
bought for me by my Dad. At the Flea Market.
My treasures from a day's worth of sorting and searching,
all tucked away and organized in my special hiding places.
This little girl's dream.
*
On into the High School years, Saturday mornings found us in the local thrift stores.
Something about my Dad, he knows every "back way" around town.
We would go from one side of the city to the other, hitting every thrift store along the way.
Old man wool sweaters and thick, chunky cords topped my list during these years.
The hippie, grungy sort, I suppose.
I cut, sewed, rearranged and individualized these clothes and made them
into representations of me.
And I always had my eye out for unique candles/candle holders.
Different was what I went for, in style and in attitude,
during those somewhat unsettling years.
Different is what I clung to
when all around me was not what I wanted to be like.
*
Nowadays, thrift stores and flea markets are trendy and the "in" thing to do!
Who would've known!?
Still, the smell of the standard detergent that occupies second-hand stores
has the power to take me back to the moments of my childhood
where I find a smile on my face.
A trip to the mall or even after-Chirstmas shopping at Target
pales in comparison
to the excitement that fills up within me, even at the ripe old age of 30,
during a Sarurday morning of thrift store shopping.
It is among some of my most favorite feelings, ever.
The anticipation of discovering something's untapped potential.
Creating something with my own two hands out of what I find
or finding that perfect item that is just waiting for me to swoop it up in utter delight!
*
As I look back, I wasn't too far off my mark:
I still love stickers and collect them for my children's scrapbooks.
I am a cosmetologist and love make up and beauty products of all kinds.
I love jewelry and have quite the collection these days.
I create and design my own handmade hair accessories
for my own daughter now.
I still love to sew and design, especially things for my kids.
And, I still like
to
be
me.
They say, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."
How right they are.
My first long "dangly" earrings and Maybelline makeup,
bought for me by my Dad. At the Flea Market.
My treasures from a day's worth of sorting and searching,
all tucked away and organized in my special hiding places.
This little girl's dream.
*
On into the High School years, Saturday mornings found us in the local thrift stores.
Something about my Dad, he knows every "back way" around town.
We would go from one side of the city to the other, hitting every thrift store along the way.
Old man wool sweaters and thick, chunky cords topped my list during these years.
The hippie, grungy sort, I suppose.
I cut, sewed, rearranged and individualized these clothes and made them
into representations of me.
And I always had my eye out for unique candles/candle holders.
Different was what I went for, in style and in attitude,
during those somewhat unsettling years.
Different is what I clung to
when all around me was not what I wanted to be like.
*
Nowadays, thrift stores and flea markets are trendy and the "in" thing to do!
Who would've known!?
Still, the smell of the standard detergent that occupies second-hand stores
has the power to take me back to the moments of my childhood
where I find a smile on my face.
A trip to the mall or even after-Chirstmas shopping at Target
pales in comparison
to the excitement that fills up within me, even at the ripe old age of 30,
during a Sarurday morning of thrift store shopping.
It is among some of my most favorite feelings, ever.
The anticipation of discovering something's untapped potential.
Creating something with my own two hands out of what I find
or finding that perfect item that is just waiting for me to swoop it up in utter delight!
*
As I look back, I wasn't too far off my mark:
I still love stickers and collect them for my children's scrapbooks.
I am a cosmetologist and love make up and beauty products of all kinds.
I love jewelry and have quite the collection these days.
I create and design my own handmade hair accessories
for my own daughter now.
I still love to sew and design, especially things for my kids.
And, I still like
to
be
me.
They say, "One man's trash is another man's treasure."
How right they are.
