on the vary same day that we celebrated Bob’s 80th and went to the Waldorf store and found the beautiful babies, we also went to the Goodwill Outlet. and this was all before lunch!
the Outlet is a huge building filled with roll carts full of stuff. there’s some organization–clothes over here, books over there, miscellaneous junk right here–but not much. i was afraid that it would just be too overwhelming. i mean taking a two year old to any thrift store is an act of courage. but would the bins be more than we could handle? i set M up in a cart and started moving. we hit the books first and found a beat up copy of Little House in the Big Woods. glory! M would flip through the book and find a picture that struck her fancy, and i’d tell her the stories. yes, that’s the dance at Grandpa’s house after the sugaring was done. it was a perfect way to keep her interested in something while i looked. i never even pulled out the Goldfish i had in my pocket!
actually, having a toddler with you might make the bins experience better. it meant that i couldn’t get overly obsessive about looking through everything (an impossibility in any case). i just wheeled around, telling stories and grabbing at things as we passed. i found a pair of work pants for Papa, sweet, soft clothes for the new one, a summer weight blanket for Mabel’s big girl bed. and a plastic magazine organizer for me! live it up!
i also found a couple of rugs for my mama. and she of course had a cart full of things she thought i’d like. we were each finding things for the other!
so if you’re ready for a big morning out, try Milwaukie. it’s a rich, rich place.
oh, i miss the bins SO much. it was my saturday ritual for almost the whole time i lived in northeast. didn’t they move to a new location recently? (“recently” is probably relative; i’m so out of the portland loop).