sweet finds...

consignment shopping has its extremes--the well-run, nicely organized, high-end kind of shop where you'd like to buy everything, and the less dreamy, kinda-sketchy, piles-upon-piles of worn-out clothes place where you're stuck to find anything worth spending money on. we recently went to a huge consignment faire in sacramento, hoping to find a crib and rocker for the new arrival. no such luck for that. what we got was mostly the "piles-upon-piles" kind of place. the kind of place where you have to dig. and if you have the time to dig, which we did, some treasures can be found amongst it all. in our case, the treasures included 3 vintage puzzles, a very puffy tutu, 3 pairs of like-new footed pajamas, a pair of jeans, and a never-worn pair of soft soled shoes. oh, and a set of feet for our arm's reach cosleeper. 

i've learned a lot about consignment, resale & thrift shopping over the past few months as i've resolved to buy only used for lucy's fall & winter wardrobes. the high-end places are great, but can sometimes cost nearly the same as actually buying new. the low-end places have a head-spinning disorganization to them, along with some truly disappointing items (who honestly brings stained/ripped/tattered clothes in for resale? and who's the buyer that's purchasing this stuff?). thrift shops and goodwill-esque places are super cheap, but can feel a bit scummy. garage sales can be a major hit or a major miss, depending again on the sellers and the profit they intend to make (i think 50 cents for a standard, good condition item is a great price, and try not to pay over $1.00 unless it's something truly spectacular. but that's my "garage sale" mindset--quite different than when i'm at a higher-end, boutique shop). 

that's my musing on the state of children's resale. and i'm honestly quite happy with the way that lucy's closet is shaping up. for once, i have no real desire to head to baby gap & drop $80 on a few items. that's a good thing.