Thrift Shop Adventures

I called Jessa after I finished breakfast this morning. She was delighted to take us to several local Goodwills and thrift shops she knows well. We watched Sailor Moon episodes while she took a shower; she finally picked us up around quarter of 11.

Our first stop was a big Goodwill in Cherry Hill. They had a room for furniture in addition to the usual clothes, toys, knick-knacks, ancient electronics, and media. I found a Wilton cake pan in the shape of a house that was shallower than usual. It looks like it was intended to make a flat gingerbread house shape. I also grabbed a 99 cent copy of A Pink Christmas (the Pink Panther was one of the few characters I like that I didn't have anything Christmas for). Lauren bought a lovely purple-and-black-striped shirt.

Our next stop was Village Thrift Store, a large independent thrift shop in Pensauken, near the Collingswood Diner. This was pretty much the same thing without the Goodwill branding. No interesting doo-dads here, but Lauren and I both got clothes. I found a pair of khaki shorts that had never been worn and a mint-green set of workout clothes. Lauren bought two nice shirts for work (she's the head teller in a small local bank in Pittsfield).

We headed down the Black Horse Pike to an enormous castle of a Goodwill. Jess said it was a Goodwill Outlet, and it works a little differently than a regular Goodwill. Instead of slapping everything with an actual price, they weigh your purchase and base it on that. Unfortunately, everything is in huge bins scattered around the vast main room. This is a nifty idea in theory. In practice, it just makes a mess. It's fine for stuffed animals or books or other things that can't break. Board games were scattered everywhere; records were scratched and broken.

We did seek a few interesting things out of the bins. I picked up a vintage Better Homes and Garden Dessert Cook Book, a beautiful old metal colander with a star pattern that looks like the one my mom still has, and a blue and green plastic tumbler for the bathroom. Lauren found a book for her dad. (My order came to 84 cents - they didn't even weigh the book!)

(I also saw something I didn't buy, but haven't seen in years. My sisters and I got the classic white, orange, and yellow Barbie Dream House in the early 80s. Anny used to crawl through it when she was a toddler, much to the annoyance of Rose and me. Mom and Dad thought it was hilarious. They didn't have any of the furniture, but otherwise, it was intact, missing only a window or two. I hope some little girl who has the room for it has as much fun as we used to.)

By this point, it was past 1. The traffic on the Black Horse Pike was picking up. We decided it was time for lunch. Jess drove past the Acme and into Oaklyn. We had lunch at Aunt Berta's, where I ate at the day before Easter. This time, the TV was on ESPN Sports Center, and we were the only ones there. I had the salmon cake and collard greens again, along with candied yams (this time in the smaller lunch portions that only came with one cake). Lauren had baked fish, corn, and macaroni and cheese. Jessa had turkey legs, green beans and potatoes, and the mac and cheese. We all ordered iced tea.

Mine was absolutely delicious. The salmon cake was even better than in March, more lightly breaded and golden in color. The greens were a tad spicy for my taste. The "candied yams" were basically mashed sweet potatoes, and as such, pretty tasty. The ice tea came in huge containers normally used to carry food. They were very sweet, but flavorful, probably home-made.

Jessa came up briefly after she dropped us at my apartment. I showed her the flamingo-themed outfit that I bought for her AG mini-me last month and finally gave her the scarf I crocheted for her birthday (in February). After we put away our remaining drinks and our finds from the morning, we went right back out again to enjoy the rest of the day.

It was sunny and breezy in the morning, but by the afternoon, the heat had gone up and it was getting a little hazier and more humid. Even so, it was still too nice to be inside. We visited various stores in Oaklyn and Audubon, starting with the House of Fun on the White Horse Pike. I didn't see anything I liked there. Lauren bought two Three Stooges figures (she couldn't find Moe), and The Three Stooges original Nintendo game. We made a brief stop at the comics shop next door. I petted a handsome calico cat, but otherwise we didn't find anything there.

After dodging the rush hour traffic on the White Horse Pike, we made our way to the local music store Abbie Road in Audubon. We chatted with Bob the owner as we made our selections. Lauren bought several country albums (including a Jimmy Dean CD for her dad) and two solo Davy Jones CD re-releases. I bought:

LP cast albums for the original stage version of Funny Girl and the Broadway revue Ain't Misbehavin', which covers the music of Fats Waller.

An LP collection of songs from film operettas (yes, including MacDonald and Eddy's) and CDs of the soundtracks from the MGM musicals Hit the Deck and The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

The Rhino re-release of the Monkees' album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones Ltd. 

After Bob finally finished chatting, we headed a few doors down to Desserts By Design. We said "hi" to the owner and picked up some snacks. I bought a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake. Lauren bought her favorite almond paste cookie.

We were finally worn out when we got in. We spent an hour or so playing Uno before dinner. I made steamed snap peas, pan-fried turnips with their greens, and the last of the pan-seared turkey steaks for dinner. We watched Meatballs, then Tangled.

Right now, we're online and watching One Crazy Summer. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate long enough to let us get into Philly tomorrow.