On Wednesday, I drove up to Ventura to spend a day with my mother-in-law. She had talked about taking me to the Thrift stores and honestly, I didn’t really care too much about it, because I thought they would be ordinary “second-hand” stores with a lot of crap. Boy, was I wrong.
We went to two Thrift stores and they were selling everything you can think of… shoes, clothes, furniture, kitchenware, books, videos, etc.
We looked around and a lot of the stuff was indeed “crap” and I was wondering who in the world would buy this stuff again, but to my surprise there was also a lot of good stuff, almost “brand-new” stuff for very (!) little money. I bought seven items [including a pair of boots] for $19. Can you believe this?
Here’s what I bought: a pair of boots for $3.99, a summer dress for $2.95, night panties for $1.95, jeans shorts for $1.95, a summer skirt for $0.99, a top for $4.95 and another black top for $1.99. Most of this stuff wasn’t even from “no name” brands, but several items were from well-known apparel stores.
This is how I like to shop :)
J’s Mom took me out for lunch at a Mexican Grill and afterwards we went to Nordstrom’s Rack and looked around some more, but honestly, after making these bargains, I didn’t feel like buying anything anymore.
So we went home, I had a nice chat with J’s Dad and I stayed till after dinner, because I didn’t want to hit traffic on my way back to LA.
When I got home, there were another two surprises awaiting me.
First, the camcorder that J had ordered from CANON had arrived, which means that we can start recording some video footage to put on the Internet soon. It’s a really cool, high-definition camcorder that you can also use to take photos. I am totally excited about trying it out. It even has a remote :) Very useful for the 365 days project!
Second, the care-package that my parents and sister had sent for my birthday, finally arrived. It had “only” been four weeks and the package arrived in one piece, so I was in high spirits :) Maybe, the postal service had somehow magically managed to not f**k this up this time.
But you shouldn’t count your chickens before they’re hatched… and I was disappointed once again.
When I opened the package, I noticed that the flour that my parents had sent me in order to bake dark bread, had spilled out into the box. I was swearing at my Dad for not putting the flour bags into separate plastic bags to prevent them from being damaged. I was able to save some of the flour though.
The next morning, I called my sister to tell her that the package had finally arrived and she was asking me how I liked the “surprise” birthday present that she put in the package. I told her that I liked the little book very much, but she said “The book is from Mom. Didn’t you find a little package with a concealer in the package? And what about the moisturizer?”
Well, as it turns out, my sister had bought me new moisturizer from our cosmetician and also had bought a concealer at our local perfumery to surprise me with – BUT, both items had NOT been in the package. That’s when I realized that the flour bags hadn’t been damaged during the transportation either [although the package looked pretty battered], but that SOMEONE had opened the package, had taken stuff out and most likely cut open the flour bags to check the contents of the bag.
I am SO pissed. The moisturizer and concealer alone were worth more than 40 Euros and they were not the only stuff missing.
There was NO sticker on the package indicating that it had been opened by customs. However, it was obvious – after looking more closely – that the package had been ripped open on the side and later been resealed with transparent tape [which my Dad and sister hadn’t used to seal the package].
I just don’t know what to say anymore. Why does this sh*t always happen to me? If this happens to me ALL THE F***ING TIME, it must happen to others, right?!
We’re going to file a complaint AGAIN. They’re messing with the wrong people. The package was insured and they’ll have to pay for it. PERIOD.
sylvia
April 7, 2007 at 3:15 pmThese fuckers!! That happend to me multiple times!
Once at the airport they opened my bags at customs and told me i was only allow one of each (i had 3 packages of gummibears and about 4 milka’s) and i believed them, and they took away my stuff.
2 years later i went through customs again with the about the same amout of sweets and they checked my bags and didnt take anything away!! I then followed up on it and they said there is no set amount of anything you can take (as long as its not liqour, tabacco, etc)but the officers can take away things at their discretion!!! Unbelievable huh?
Such cute stuff that you found!! I wish we had awesome thrift stores like that round here!
Maribeth
April 8, 2007 at 2:07 amOh that just sucks! I’m glad it was insured though. I guess that’s something to be said for living in the sticks like this, No one cares and I haven’t had a problem. I wonder if it is a problem in larger cities like LA?
ute
April 8, 2007 at 6:56 amno way! that is crazy! i am so sorry! thats horrible!!!! i am so sorry i hope you can get it back somehow or at least the value! did you get my email about the hotel? happy easter hun and dont let them get to you! :heart:
Susi
April 8, 2007 at 7:36 amUh – too bad hun. This really sucks.
But still: Happy eastern to both of you!
kim
April 8, 2007 at 1:50 pmi love the stuff you bought. awesome deals! and i can’t believe customs – is moisturizer/concealer something you’re not allowed to send? that’s BS! i hope you will get your (or your sister’s) money back…
happy easter anyhow! can’t wait for some video-footage of the band! :)
sylvia
April 8, 2007 at 2:31 pmHey hun, i was just telling keith about what happend to you and then i was thinking – you remember how all liquids/creams etc where banned from being brought on a plane? Maybe they were also banned from being sent overseas and the law is still in effect and thats why they took it out?
That STILL would not explain though why there was no sticker/insert that it was opened and why certain things where removed….
san
April 8, 2007 at 4:45 pm@ sylvia… well, you were allowed to bring stuff on the plane in small bottles and i am sure the concealer/cream was not bigger than what was aloud on the plane. how was someone going to do something with it in a package anyways? i thought they just banned it from planes, because they were afraid that “terrorists” were going to make an explosive out of it.
Tanja
April 9, 2007 at 3:20 amZum Glueck *klopfaufholz* ist mir das noch nicht passiert und es tut mir wirklich leid. Was fuer Sausaecke. Du scheinst damit maechtig Pech zu haben und ich hoffe, dass sie es Euch ersetzen werden.
HUG
Sanna
April 9, 2007 at 5:44 amOh no, that’s horrible! :( I hope you get your stuff replaced soon without too much of a hassle (yeah right as if…) *hugs*
Maren
April 10, 2007 at 5:33 amProbably the same bitches that took half of the KINDERSCHOKOLADE my mom sent me…
Silke
April 10, 2007 at 8:25 amWhat huge assholes they are!
I sooo understand you, that you are pissed.
Hope you had a nice easter anyways!