blogaversary giveaway the second

The second giveaway for this blogaversary month is this Gap bag, found at Frenchy's awhile ago. I love it but never use it, so if you will, leave a comment and it could be yours! It's in pristine condition, and has a magnetic snap closure and an inside zippered pocket. It's not terribly wide, but would be great for carrying a few magazines or books.

To win the bag, comments on this post should be a story of the grossest thing you've ever seen (or bought) at a thrift store. Because we all know that along with the great finds, there can be some not-so-great finds. And some plain disgusting things. I think my find just might be the grossest of all.

I was looking for a pair of pyjamas at Frenchy's one day, many years ago. When I was in high school, actually - I've had the Frenchy's bug (not the one that leaves you red and itchy) since junior high. I picked up a pyjama shirt, and something fell onto the bottom of the bin with a small clatter. It was hard and dry and brown and had a sort of handley-looking thing on it. I looked a bit more closely, and realized what it once had been. The 'handley-looking thing' was a tail. I found a dried up, dead mouse in a Frenchy's lingerie bin. And the strangest part, looking back, is what I did with it - I picked it up (picked it up!) and took it up to the cashier. I can't remember what she said, but she promptly whisked it away.

If you can beat that story, you win the bag. If there's no standout winner, I'll get my friend the random number generator to choose a winner. Now these are stories I really can't wait to read! Have a great weekend!

Edited to add: The winner will be announced on Wednesday, September 17.

magical number 7!

And the winner of the scarf is comment #7 from Ms Ready! I was tempted to choose this one just because it's great, and then the random number generator chose for me!

"I don't know if this counts but I will share it anyway because I think it's a great story. There I was, completely engrossed in my Frenchy's shopping. I had just tried on a boat load of clothes and had the 'no' pile at the top of my basket to return to the proper bins. Finally I made my way up to the counter with my purchases. As I began unloading my basket I thought, wait a minute, didn't I come in here with a jacket? Frantically I retraced my steps looking for my favorite comfy $150 wool coat in every bin and dressing room I could find, but alas, the coat was nowhere to be found. Suddenly the cashier says...um...actually I think I might have just sold it to someone else, for $5.00. Nope, I wasn't loving the Frenchy's bargains that day. She didn't really know who the person was that she sold it to, but I left my name and number in the hopes that some miracle would occur and my coat would be returned. A week passes by, and one afternoon my phone rings. God love caller ID when I saw "Guy's Frenchy's" blazing across the mini telephone screen. The lady who had accidently purchased my coat a week before, and subsequently had it drycleaned, had returned to Frenchy's and been recognized by the same cashier. She was calling me from Frenchy's to say yes, I could have my coat back. The next day I meandered into Frenchy's with a thank you card and a little gift for the good samaritan to retrieve my long lost, freshly dry cleaned coat. My best thrift store find ever :)"

E-mail me at grahamsherrie at yahoo dot ca, and we'll work out the details! Thanks to everyone for your stories, I loved reading them! I'll try to post the next giveaway tonight after the boy is asleep.

so many things to share (or umm, yes.)

I wondered what the parcel delivery slip was for when I saw it on the table. "Oh," I thought, "Someone's swap soaps must not have fit in the mailbox." Imagine my surprise when I picked up a big box (still not sure why it was such a big box) with a customs declaration of 'calendar'.
"Oh YEAH!"
I flipped through to September 15 and found my inchworm! I'm famous! I didn't bother to mention this whole thing when I was asked about it, just in case nothing came of it. Meg from Cute Overload contacted me several months ago and asked if I would like my photos of Inchy McIncherson, originally posted here, included in the Cute Overload Page-a-day calendar for 2009. Umm, yes. Pretty exciting.
I'm also tickled pink every time I use my new mesh produce bags. I whipped them out at the Farmer's Market on Saturday, and the cashier at the grocery store was asking me about them today. Adam laughed at me today when I picked up two avocados. I asked him what was so funny and he asked "Are you just getting two so you have a reason to use the bag?" Umm, yes.
Hmph. Do you know what this is? It's my Black and Decker bread machine, which is one of my most used wedding gifts. Love it, use it regularly. But do you know where it is? On my counter. In the place where my Kitchen Aid should be. Yup, I managed to get not one expensive dud, but two. I seriously think that someone's out to get me with sub-par products. Remember the Mac we bought? It's working like a dream now and we didn't lose any data. The problem was that Macs aren't supposed to have problems, and mine did! And neither are Kitchen Aids. But mine started making a high pitched whiny awful sound while stirring. And now it does it every time, and not intermittently. So after a long saga, they sent me a mailing label and my machine is somewhere between here and Ontario. I really, really hope that they just send me a new one so I'm not wondering when it's going to start falling apart. Hopefully I'll have one again soon!

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post before tomorrow at, oh, let's say one o'clock Atlantic time. ("At the start of the long dash following ten second silence, the time will be one o'clock Atlantic Time." Thanks, Olga!) I'll have the random number generator choose a winner of that gorgeous Burberry scarf when I get home from work. And I'll also post the next giveaway item - it's a good one, too. Happy Thursday!

blogaversary

I found this beautiful scarf at Frenchy's today. Yes, that's a Burberry scarf. The scarves currently on their website sell for 150-450 pounds. No, I'm not kidding.

This month marks three years of blogging here. Umm... three years?! That's how long it takes to build a $7 million luxury yacht or for a corporate reputation to recover from a crisis. (did you catch that, Maple Leaf?) I could have been doing what this woman did, and have taken a picture a day for three years...





or not, since I would inevitably forget.

I really enjoy sharing little snippets of my life with you imagined readers (not imaginary, but as in I imagine you all sitting at your computers when I post) and I like to think of this blog as a collection of the daily pleasures which might be overlooked if not for the thought "I could blog about that!" I share here what I enjoy on others' blogs - photos (my photography has definitely improved over the course of this blog's life), recipes, household tidbits, garden goodness, sweet babies (well, one in particular), and of course, things I find at Frenchy's.

Anyway, what better way to celebrate this month than having a few giveaways of Frenchy's items? First up is the Burberry scarf. Leave a comment with your favourite thrift store find (and if you've never been to one, I feel very sorry for you. You can just write about your cat or something) and the random number generator will choose a winner on Friday the 12th whenever I remember.

I have a few other items up my sleeve for future giveaways that I think you might like, so stay tuned!