The Thrill of the Hunt

I love shopping thrift stores. I am always on the hunt, often for friends. I have a friend who is a kindergarten teacher who is always excited about good books, items for her writing center, toys for choice time. Delivering fun finds to her classroom is a favorite past time!  I was looking for months for a large wooden bowl for my friend Shannon! I found one, different than what we had envisioned, but still pretty cool.

My friend Bethany is doing a recipe exchange with a Women's Bible Study at church. She thought it would be fun to find lined white index cards and also decorated recipe cards for the women to use. It is hard to find recipe cards anymore. (Not to mention Bethany and I really weren't wanting to spend full price on NEW packs) It seems it is a thing of the past. Makes me a bit sad. But, Bethany and I found "the hunt" to be very fun! She visited Rock Bottom Treasures, a funky thrift store on the way out to my house. She found two packages of recipe cards there. I made it my mission to keep searching for more in Moses Lake.

Today I went to the Calico Cat. The owner, Twila, improves my mood every time I walk in. I don't know if she knows the therapy she offers. Thrifting, in general, has been therapeutic for me. It has been a way to clear my head. My opportunity to visit with Twila on top of the thrifting has made it more fun.

I told her a couple of months ago that I am always on the hunt for Gonzaga gear. Through the years I have gotten some great Gonzaga, Mariner and Seahawks apparel while thrifting. She told me her late husband was the biggest Gonzaga fan she ever knew. When the Zags played, everything stopped. You simply watched the game! She was excited to be on the look out for Gonzaga donations to pass onto my crew.

My appreciation for Twila may have began when I walked into her store several years ago with my sis Natasha. We were going to do a treasure hunt for Merit, Willem and Lane later that afternoon at my place. The prize at the end would have been a real treat if it included baseball cards. We asked her if she had any. She handed us OLD packs, classics, the ones that come with the bubble gum. And guess what? Hard as a rock, the bubble gum was still in them. I asked how much we owed her. She said she had just been saving them for people like us.

This morning I walked in. She smiled and asked "what are you looking for today?" I told her I was hoping to find "birthday" children's books, index cards, recipe cards and Zags stuff. She told me she would be tucking away Gonzaga stuff for me. (It is risky for me to report this on my blog!) Together we scoured for recipe cards. We talked about the sweetness of a hand written recipe and we laughed a bit.

As I left I said "Have a good day." She said "They are all good. Just some are better than others."

I could not agree more. Thanks Twila.