As a result, I grew up going to thrift shops before they were anything anyone talked about-- without being teased on the playground, that is.

 

Yet through them, I discovered something truly amazing. Every time I walked through the doors of the Salvation Army, or stood with those flea market aisles stretching before me… I knew the delicious anticipation of possibility.

 

What would I find this day? Vintage jewelry glimmering in the light? Piles of leather bound books waiting to be read? A black velvet painting bearing Willie Nelson’s smiling face--

 

Er, okay. So, I never actually wanted a velvet painting of Willie Nelson. But somewhere, someone once had; a thrift store proved it. And, hey, that’s all a part of the adventure.

 

At thrift stores and flea markets, a kid could really make her allowance stretch, too. I’d come away with a handful of rhinestone baubles, a pretty tea set, or a fancy old dress for dress-up-- even on fifty-cents a week.

 

And today, as an adult with a home of my own and a love of beautiful old things, I still revel in thrift shops, flea markets and antique malls. Only now I come away with…

 

…Okay, so pretty much the same sorts of things I bought before, really. But now I also know how to use paint stripper, a staple gun and Mod Podge. The opportunities are endless.

 

When I’m not compulsively decorating my house, or searching for things with which to compulsively decorate my house, I actually work. A lot. As a writer for an Internet marketing firm. My personal writing, on the other hand, has been included in Romantic Homes magazine, The National Thrifter webzine, and a fiction journal.

 

 

Otherwise, I spend my spare time watching too many movies, regretting the lack of Johnny Depp types in my area, and learning to paint. Oh, and trying to wash off paint. And going to work realizing I’m still wearing paint. And wishing my painting style was just a little more Pre-Raphaelite and a little less, say, Preschool. But all in good time, I suppose….

 

All in good time.

 

Wishing you bounty in your shopping and beauty in your home,

 

-- Jenn Thorson