the girl with the golden shoes

If you've read my blog for very long or know me very well you know how much I enjoy a good bargain. A little too much, in fact. I love this time of year because of the sun and warmth and all of that, but one of my favorite things is getting started at garage sales! Part of my love of bargains is born out of necessity, since I stay at home and we live off of just one income, but even if I worked and we had extra money floating around, I'd still go--bargain hunting is just a hobby for me! I especially love a good kids stuff garage sale. I actually hadn't been to any garage sales in quite a long time (growing up we used to go to them sometimes, but I never liked them much) until my little one was born and I realized what great shape so much baby stuff was in that I'd find at garage sales for a fraction of the price of buying it new. Around the same time of rediscovering garage sales, I discovered kids consignment sales. I've gotten so many great deals on stuff for her through these different sales.

Sadly, my luck hasn't been so good so far this year. But it's only April, so there's plenty of time for that to change. Last weekend I went to two consignment sales. I guess my luck hasn't been as good because I've been looking for very specific things--summer PJs and sandals, mainly. When you go into the sales looking for certain things, it makes it much harder and disappointing when you don't find what you want.

At one sale I found some PJs, but they're long sleeved, and I really need some short sleeved ones for her. No sandals either.

At another sale I didn't find a single thing! Drove all the way there (about 30 minutes away--how much money did I waste in gas?!) and didn't buy a single thing. Very disappointing.

Yesterday at a consignment sale I got several cute things, but nothing on my list...good deals, but just things I liked and not pressing needs.

Today at a garage sale I found a couple of other things, but again, nothing on my list.

The most immediate need was sandals. There have been several very warm days this week and I've wished I had sandals to put on her. But every time I try a pair on her in a store, they're too big and too wide. The smaller size is too short (and still too wide--she has narrow feet like me). This left me with two choices. One: go without sandals for awhile and hope I found a pair of Stride Rites (the only kind that fit) at a garage sale, which sometimes happens, but not likely, or Two: actually buy a pair of Stride Rites (gasp....at full price.....unheard of in my world--I don't pay full price for anything!). After striking out at every sale and every store, I decided to suck it up and actually get them for her. At Nordstroms of all places--my husband can't believe I actually set foot in the store, let alone bought anything there. But they didn't have her size at the Stride Rite store, and they did at Nordstroms.

And at the price I paid for a pair of shoes for a two year old who loves to get dirty, and that will last her (hopefully) through one summer, I'm wondering if they're lined with gold???? Here's what they look like....cute, yes, but worth about a week's worth of groceries???? Not sure about that. But they stay on her feet...more than I can say about every other pair I've tried.She's really only ever had Stride Rites, with a couple of exceptions, but I've always found them either on ebay at a fraction of the cost (trust me, I looked this time, but her size must be very rare or something, because there's NOTHING!) or at a consignment store/sale, so I've never actually paid full price for a pair. I'd better have my head examined.