Goodwill: For Those Afraid, Intimidated or Grossed Out...

(Part two of the consignment shopping excursion...)

I dedicate this post to all the folks out there who think that Goodwill doesn't have things that fit within these descriptors:

• Cute
• Trendy
• New
• Modern

We were on our way to Roswell Road location Alexis Suitcase when our plans were derailed — derailed in a good way! I got a call from my brother's girlfriend Becca. She was a little behind in grabbing a costume for a Halloween party on Saturday night. She said she knew I was familiar with the local thrift and secondhand and wanted to know if I could do a little shopping with her. Little did she know that we were out-and-about on a similar path. 

So, Lauren and I switched gears a bit from checking out higher-end secondhand shops to seeing what was culminating at one of our local Goodwills. I'm glad we stopped by!

Becca dug around for an SNL skit character costume while Lauren and I were distracted by the shoes. It was shoe jackpot day at the Buford Highway Goodwill. Either someone with really great taste passed away unexpectedly or a local fashionista unloaded a surplus of shoes right at our feet.

Too bad most of the shoes were a size 5.5 and 6! But no joke, some of the shoes were brand new (no scuff marks to be found) and from fantastic designers ranging from Guess to Steve Madden. We also saw casual brand pairs (e.g., Old Navy) and some not-so-familiar names that happened to have fantastic looks. And all for under $15.00!

If these shoes (or any pictured, for that matter, had been in my size, they would have been SO mine. Love love love).

Lauren was trying to "behave" for the rest of the weekend in terms of spending (a decision that could rub off on many of us) so she made the decision to leave empty-handed. I felt like I had to leave with something (especially to make this particular blog post more fun) so I grabbed a pair of AWESOME red bootie stilettos. LOVE them.

Too bad I was busy chatting and not thinking. I should have included this piece of advice in the thrift-shopping 101 guest post I wrote for the DC Goodwill Fashionista blog: always check both pairs of shoes before buying (to see if they're the same size, still have sound structural integrity, etc.)...

That's right. When I got home, I realized one of the shoes was a size 8 (fit) and the other was a 7. Super lame. Argh. I'm so disappointed. I had big plans for these shoes! I was going to wear my new burgundy tights with them... and pair them with fun black dresses or patterns. Oh well. It's over.

Moving on. At least I snagged this fun pair of earrings and this silver brooch (it looks gold but it's silver). I'd love to find a rhinestone brooch to go with my new My Sister's Closet dress, but this brooch MAY work with that purple or beige satin ribbon that I'm envisioning.

Take that people who don't think that they could ever shop at the likes of a Goodwill or Salvation Army... Give it a shot, ladies and gents!

Goodwill was great as always — and Lauren and I delay our gratification for Alexis Suitcase until her next visit. Hey, it never hurts to spread out the spending, right?

Oh, and of course it seemed like a good idea to polish off our shopping with a little Yogurt Tap action. Mmmm. The caramel apple (tasted more like apple pie) was delish.