Why I love Monday holidays

Monday holidays are few and far between. I know I’m not really the one who should complain since I have every Friday off, but still … I yearn for 4-day weekend with a passion.

I don’t want to downplay the reason for the holiday. I am genuinely thankful for the men and women who have sacrificed for our freedom. They have my utmost respect.

But let’s face it, nothing makes me more happy than the Monday holiday sale at Value Village!!!

Yesterday mom and I woke up early and drove to the Tacoma Value Village. We were set to score on some adorable baby clothes at 50% off. You see, every Monday holiday (MLK, President’s, Memorial and Labor Day) Value Village does a clean sweep of their inventory by attracting all hardcore bargainers. All clothing prices are slashed and therefore, my heart starts beating faster. I am a hardcore bargainer and this is the kind of thing hardcore folks live for.

Some have an issue with “used” clothing, and yes, in case you were wondering, I do know Value Village smells weird. But here is the thing, I am willing to overlook the stink for a deal. I obviously wash everything with super delicious smelling laundry soap and only buy the best brands/styles with no flaws or stains. Alas, I have not always been this sensible…

When I was in elementary school my mom either made my clothes, found them on clearnance racks or got them at Value Village/Goodwill. I was fine with the first two, but couldn’t stand Value Village. It smelled and was quite un-cool according to Princess Gretchen. My mom would come home with the cutest things and I would refuse to try them on. Looking back I admire her patience … she was just a bargain mama out to get the best bang for her buck, who could blame her? If we guessed something mightfit, she would wash it up (to remove the hated stink). I almost always loved it and rationalized the coolness of “vintage” without ever telling anyone Value Village was the source of my vintage flair. Luckily, my best friend’s mom was also a bargain hunter so I had someone to survive the Value Village clothing saga with. It became such a conversation piece between our moms and us girls we decided to give Value Village a code name … “VV”. This way no one would know what we were discussing. Pretty genius for 3rd graders :) We even knew sign language for VV so no one had to utter to words in our presence. Oh to have the problems of a 3rd grader again!

Somewhere along the line I had a change of heart. VV and I are now friends … especially on Monday holidays.

After flying through the racks at the Tacoma store we hit up the Olympia one. Since it was a big sale day the VV staff had games going on for free $1 gift certificates. The Olympia store was doing a purse search and when they called for kleenex over the loud speaker my mom bolted for the front. She was the second one to get there, but they still gave her a gift certificate … funny how $1 can get you so excited, especially when $1 goes so far at the VV sale.

As I’m sure you guessed, we scored on lots of baby outfits … lots of Gymboree, some Janie & Jack, Gap, and my favorite, Old Navy (they have the cutest little people clothes). Everything was between $0.50-$2.50 a piece, SCORE! I also found a lovely duvet cover in an Anthropologie-esque print. Once it gets washed up I’ll have to post a picture.

Yes, Monday holidays are good. I wish it was yesterday again :)

DISCLAIMER FOR NOW AND THE FUTURE … Dominic keeps telling people the most fun part of keeping the gender a surprise is buying both boy and girl clothes. He always forgets to tell people we are shopping bargains/consignment/VV etc. which makes alot more sense. We aren’t made of money … just common sense, deals are the way to go and that’s how I get by with buying boy and girl clothes … $1 at a time.