Hidden Treasure

So, despite my general opposition to shopping for clothes, I needed a pair of shorts for Music Midtown this weekend, so I pulled on my patience panties and headed out to find some.  This day, however, I ended up with much more.  And all for a whopping $25.  I bought six different items, averaging around $4 each!

When those low prices include J. Crew, Charlotte Russe and BCBG shorts, along with an Argentinian leather belt, a book and yoga cards to boot, it took everything for me not to run, shouting whoops of sweet victory, from the sliding glass doors.

This one's for the broke college students, the penny pinchers, clearance rack creepers and thrifty shoppers everywhere.. But, particularly in or around Atlanta.

If you've never ventured into Goodwill Buckhead off of Roswell Rd., then, boy, do I have a treat for you!  This is the place to find designer clothes at the best price imaginable.  When I worked in Buckhead, people always told me to check it out because it was "the best goodwill."  To me, a Goodwill is a Goodwill.  (Or shall I say was)

After finally giving in and traversing the labyrinth of metal and asphalt that is Piedmont Rd. to get to the Goodwill in Buckhead (which if you ask me, is half-way to Sandy Springs and barely Buckhead).. Well, let's just say that labyrinth isn't so intimidating now that I know what awaits me on the other side.

This thrift store is a diamond in the rough.  There is no Whole Foods-esque Heaven smell when you enter.  I wouldn't consider it the most aesthetic atmosphere, either.  Taking into account the size of it, on the other hand, with rows upon rows to scour, (all of which have signs with single dollar amounts printed above them) it has become this broke girls amusement park.  The key here in Buckhead is the surrounding community, too.  I've discovered the quality of clothing at any given thrift shop generally depends on the quality of life surrounding it.

I kept hearing a man come over the speaker to inform shoppers that the red tag was the sale tag of the day, too.  This, I found to be quite amusing, because this place was the sale of the city, anyway.

I have always wanted a braided leather belt and couldn't have been happier when it rung up for $2.92.  I had approached the register willing to give back any item too pricey for my conscience.  I bought everything that I was holding...

Once I was satisfied that I had seen every last short, blouse and skirt possibly tucked out of sight between the hangers (because this is how you must thrift.. carefully), I sidled over to the book section.

Bad idea.

I could have stood in the aisle for hours scoping out the forgotten pages donated so graciously, for which I could now buy for less than two bucks each.  The highlighted and underlined favorite quotes in novels and splattered pages of cookbooks make them all the more alluring to me.

I abstained from asking the men to load the shelves on a cart and send them onto my imaginary library, and left the store with the Essentials of the Theory of Fiction.  I figure a textbook I buy for pleasure might actually be utilized.

Aside from the clothes and book, I also toted out something I'm very excited about.  Yoga cards; 62 of them to be exact.  

I'm experimenting with yoga at the moment, and I feel like I'm turning back time to the 90's if I put in a DVD and do it in my living room.  I'm a bit embarrassed to go to a class without some sort of understanding, though.

Like a sign from the Goodwill Heavens, these handy yoga cards (with a $14.99 tag) only cost me $1.91.  The thing that made me most excited, I think, was that it was the singular one there and I found it.  A special treasure, stocked just for me to discover.  Now I'll learn a bit on my own without having to post up my laptop in the process.  I'll keep you posted on how it's going, too.

I guess what I'm trying to say is go check out Goodwill Buckhead, or any thrift shop for that matter, because you never know what you might knock over.