i'm blue... and red and white

one of the qualities i really wish i had was the ability to shop better in thrift stores. i see my friends come back with the coolest finds from these stores but i can never quite get it right. i don't think it would be unreasonable to say that the few things i actually did purchase at a thrift store did not last very long at my house before finding their way back into the goodwill cycle.

i think part of my reason for the lack of thrifting skills is the fact that my mother used to constantly drag me to thrift stores and flea markets, which was usually the last thing i wanted to be doing--that and the fact that i cannot shop very well in unorganized stores. i like everything to be in it's place, organized by size and color and have room to slide back and forth on the rack or rounder. i also have this challenge in large department stores because their goal seems to be to cram as much on to one rack as possible out on the floor. why? would it be too much of a challenge to put say one or two of each size out at a time and then fill in as needed? do you really want to buy something that they have multiples of in stock just to assure the possibility that you will show up to work one day wearing the exact same outfit a coworker is wearing? yeah, not for me.


but i do like old things and the more i want to own my own little shop, the more i want to train my eye to find the gems out there. so i ventured out to gladstone this weekend to check out red white and blue because it has come highly recommended by friends of mine who like to thrift. and i was very pleasantly surprised. it's a thrift store that is organized, just imagine! i didn't have a lot of time to shop so i plan to head out when i can throw myself into shopping because i just know they have some good stuff hiding in there.
(photo from vjpdx)


i especially loved the way they had the toys bagged together with some very peculiar toy combinations.

have you been to red white and blue? if not check it out. and let me know if you have any other suggestions. i'm expanding my thrift-shopping horizons.

red white and blue is at 19239 se mcloughlin in gladstone.
(toy photo from spychic)