It's a Giant Flask, Thrift Therapy, Kind of Day…

Thrifting can be a really good coping mechanism… I (Kelly) was having a rough day on Wednesday, so I decide to bop over to the GoodWill (GW) in Apple Valley after work. This is a newly discovered hotspot... sister and I have only been there once.

How is this like therapy, you wonder?
Well, first of all, when you drive into the Valley (that’s what I am going to call it, cause it sounds really hipster and I am cool like that) so anyway… when you drive into the Valley, it’s quite pretty… all rolling hills and watery and very beautiful. Then you get to the GW and excitement builds… what will I find? Maybe a set of those daisy flower glasses I have been on the hunt for, for like ten years (I found a small set last year, you would have thought I struck gold by the way I gasped!) or maybe I will discover a new treasure for the shop. At this point anyway I am not thinking about the distresses I experienced earlier in the day and that is really the point isn’t it.

Now you might be wondering, what could possibly be distressing her enough to warrant a GW run in the middle of the workweek? Well the answer to that is… the workweek... I started a new job in May. Actually, on May 1st. In the middle of COVID. I work from home. I have never been to my place of business, nor have I met any of my co-workers in person, except my two supervisors. I like my job and I like my two supervisors… but I think I underestimated the stress that might be involved in working from home, at a new job, in the middle of COVID.

Oh and did I mention... I MOVED AT THE END OF JUNE! IN WITH MY BOYFRIEND! INTO THE CITY! WHERE THERE ARE NO COWS. Nope, not a single one, no cows for miles. When I lived in Buffalo, (MN not NY) there were even Buffalo... Real and Fake! (You can actually do what they call "The Buffalo Roam" and look for the fake Buffalo all over town.
Whoa, how quickly I digress.
 
So back to the point… I am in the GW checking things out and there is where I find this puppy…

A giant camouflaged flask. And I think this is perfect… This is a perfect metaphor for my life right about now… Like why try to hide it? (see what I did there?) I need a giant drink!

Ahh, if only it were that easy… But into the cart it goes, because it makes me giggle, so I will cart it around while I look for other good stuff. I mean I am not going to buy it or anything… I mean my goodness; it won’t even fit in my pocket. And remember, I am practical!

But I am laughing at the irony of how huge this thing is and the fact that is is covered in camouflage… cause there is NO HIDING IT. And it is making me reminisce about when I first discovered that some people really do use flasks and carry them religiously. I was at a friend’s wedding... my bestie from grade school actually. We met in the first grade. Her name is Kelly. Yep, two Kellys. (Well actually there are three of us now but that is a whole different story.) So anyway, I kept noticing that many of her friends from Georgia had flasks, and I was all like... "how come y’all have flasks?" And they were like... “girl everyone in Georgia carries a flask…”
I am starting to think they might have been on to something…

P.S. The term "hipster" (According to the Gentleman's Gazette) was apparently coined in reference to people who carried flasks on their hip during prohibition. Hmmmmm...

​So as I roam around the store I am not finding much... until what do I spot nestled in between dancing Santa and unidentifiable metal sculpture, but this little sweetheart…

*Small white bunny!
She had a pink bow on her, so I pulled that off, and freed her from her gender identity restrictions. Then I put back the giant flask and proceeded to check out with my new treasure in hand.
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Sometimes a thrifty trip only produces one or two things, sometimes none. But small white bunny was coming home with me and she made me think of my mom, who has been gone for many years now… and for some that might seem like a sad thing. But for me it brings comfort and joy. Yeah there is always sadness too, but I know my mom was laughing with me when I found that giant flask and put it in my cart like I was REALLY going to buy it and then she did that “I found gold” gasp that I did, when I saw the small white bunny. And she probably knew before I did where small white bunny was going to live, because she knows me, and I am just like her.

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That is, I guess, how thrifting therapy works. It’s not really about how MUCH you bring home, but WHAT you bring home, and not so much the “concrete stuff” but the other stuff... The * feely stuff.

So small white bunny came home with me and she is now happily living in the flower box on my deck. She kind of peeks out at you as if to say, “Hey I am here if you need a little mom-memory shot.” Which in all reality is probably much healthier than taking a shot out of a giant camouflaged flask. And WAY more adorable too!

*But hey, don’t get me wrong… I will totally sit on the deck surrounded by the pretty flower boxes and cheers small white bunny/my mom, while enjoying a nice glass of wine. That is called deck therapy, and that is a whole different kind of thing.
 
If you don’t know where to go for some good thrifting therapy, remember, we have a shop in Buffalo (MN), where you can find all kinds of treasures like small white bunny. But there are other places too. Maybe you will find something to tuck into a special spot in your life. I hope you do, and I hope the experience brings you some of the good feely stuff.*
 
Happy Thrifting Therapy friends!

P.S. A giant flask might be an excellent thing to have with on The Buffalo Roam if you were thinking of trying that out! I am guessing it is still at the Apple Valley Goodwill in MN if you are interested... You're welcome. 

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Glossary:
* The Feely Stuff - emotions... yep, they are messy sometimes, and not always something we let ourselves experience... some of us are working on feeling them. It's hard. REAL Therapy probably helps. People should do that if needed. But right now, thrifting is MY therapy. ;) ​