The One with the Sweet Thrifting Experience

Yes, the title wording is a reference to F.R.I.E.N.D.S, one of my favorite shows. I love to relax to the soothing familiar humor that I’ve heard and seen a bajillion times. And my sweet husband stayed up with me on our mini vacation to watch reruns. BLISS.

Our two-year anniversary was Wednesday, and to celebrate we took a one night vacation to Huntsville, AL. I LOVE road trips. Love ‘em! And a short one in the middle of the week was such a treat! I packed my “new” Andy Warhol screen print tote, filled up the car with gas, picked up some snacks and hit the road!

My sweet husband planned a fun-filled trip for us! As soon as we got there we went to Monaco Pictures theater to see The Words. The theater had something called the Prive experience, where you get to sit in high-back leather recliner loveseats, and purchase upscale concessions. They even had a wine tasting bar. How luxe! We went to a lovely Indian restaurant for dinner (we LOVE Indian), and then collapsed in our King-Size bed and watched the Property Brothers on our huge LCD TV.

The next morning was a day of SHOPPING! We hit up both a new retail shopping area and local thrift stores. We found a few things at h&m and I found my dream jacket from community and charity focused retailer Altar’d State. We then geeked out over the hot sauce sampling bar at our lunch spot, Lime. Next stop was The Ark Thrift Store, which is the special place I’ll be talking about for the rest of this post.

The Ark is a no-kill animal shelter, with an incredible thrift store attached to help provide funds for their operations. Our shopping experience at The Ark Thrift Store was one of the sweetest things that has ever happened to me. We pull up almost 45 minutes after they had closed. I go up to look at the hours (and to see some pretty little pups through the glass door), and sadly walk back to the car. I had heard amazing things about all the stuff they had and was looking forward to seeing it. I get into the passenger seat, when I look up and see a man coming out of the shelter and walking towards us. He informs us that the ladies who run the thrift store had left for the day, but he’d be glad to open it up for us to look around while he closes everything up. “I can only take cash since it’s closed, and the item has to have a sticker on it” were the only stipulations he gave us as he left us free to roam through the rows of treasures. and boy am I telling you did this place have some awesome stuff! Everything was super organized and clearly labeled too!

The nice man comes back, and he talks with Justin about how he used to live in Nashville too as I finish looking around. I found MANY things that I wanted to take home with me, but two that I absolutely had to have – an incredible vertical briefcase purse bag and a popcorn bowl set. Justin heads out to the car to grab our cash while I exude giddy-ness over my finds. Justin walks in and reminds me that we used all of our cash to get gas. This is where the story gets interesting. Justin asks the man if he can run to the store or gas station nearby and get some cash to bring back. The man says that just won’t work. My giddy grin rapidly fades as I know I’ll have to leave the items, I only have $3 in my pocket, and I needed $10. The man then tells us to take the items, and my $3, and bids us safe travels and a “come back soon”.

Yes, I’m serious. That happened. I think I just stared at him blankly for a moment, not knowing what to say (i’m not too comfortable receiving gifts or generosity). I couldn’t believe that a complete stranger would be so nice and so generous, and for no reason at all. He knew we had enough money to go take $10 out of an ATM, but he decided to bless us anyways.I am still floored at the gesture, and I was so happy walking back to the car it was all I could do to keep my eyes from welling with tears! We started the car and hit the road headed for home, but not before thanking God for generous people and praying for blessings and financial favor for The Ark. And we’ll go back again, this time with plenty of cash.

We took some pictured of my “new” items when we got home:

Remember that shirt? I told you I’d be wearing all the time!

xo,
ashley