Saturday shopping

I spent a half hour in a thrift store this morning and another half hour in Home Goods this afternoon. In the morning I was spending time with my sister. Bought two books for less than $2. In the afternoon I was rewarding myself for the long walk through Super Target to do the grocery shopping.

You can look at a lot of consumer goods in a short period of time at Home Goods. And in a thrift store you see how all those glasses and bowls and sofas and end tables age. Big square oak end tables -- soooo 80's. Vintage dining room sets, on the other hand--kind of a bargain, if you're willing to reupholster the chair seats and have a big traditional dining room to put them in. Sets of matching glasses? They're down to two-of-a-kind at best at the thrift store. 

I go into Home Goods looking for something that will, and I say this seriously, change my life. Might just be the convenience of having another set of sheets. Might be a color upgrade: a new flowered pillow for the living room couch. Might be a good new pot at a good price. Or a large and friendly coffee mug to add to the morning rotation.

Note that "change my life" is not the same as "spark joy," but it is close. Good tools change my life -- that's why I have so many different kinds of knitting needles. My favorite non-book purchase of the past six months is a heavy sheet pan from Pampered Chef. Sturdy, practical Lutheran that I am, utility is a door to joy. 

The clearance shelf is a path to life-changing purchases. Luxuries are better when they're surprising and cheap. I found a bright blue wood snapshot frame there today. I will soon have a picture for me framed by me, rather than gifted to me. (I treasure the gifts but choosing is also to be treasured.)

Home Goods is aspirational--so much wall art with script-y slogans, so many make-a-statement decorator pieces, so many things to be looked at. I picked up a glass swan,  a graceful necking curving around a feathered bowl. It would have awed me as a six- or seven-year-old child, when swans in fairy tales were the epitome of beauty. The piece was $29.99, too expensive for small-time nostalgia. Also, it failed the "where will I put it" and "will it stack" text. (I am tempted to Google "stacking swans," just to see what's out there.)

So many things in stores are sold to hold other things we buy: fancy hangers, cloth bins, shelves of all shapes and materials, tables with drawers under them, organizers. It's crazy. 

I browse, sucked into thinking, at least for a while, that life can be changed with just a couple of good purchases.