Treasure hunting in thrift shops for unique value and priceless memories

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EL PASO — I have found amazing valuables while thrift shopping that will probably remain with me forever. Some of those have been a vintage monogram Louis Vuitton tote from The Label Exchange, another time I found a classic empire waist dress from Vintage Mode, and I found an awesome flower print clutch when I stumbled into a garage sale in Tokyo once. These are the items I treasure the most. The ones I find while traveling because they also bring fun memories along. I think I started thrift shopping when I was 12 or 13.

Dressed for Success

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Teaching and Learning and Caring Blog

EL PASO — I began thinking about how people dressed and how much money they had when I lived in East Oakland.  I kept thinking about it for many more years. I lived in East Oakland for about a year with a husband who just returned from Vietnam and had some months left to serve at the Oakland Induction Center, least favorite hangout of young men in northern California at the time. The neighborhood we lived in was almost as crazy and rough. On Sundays I swept condoms and hypodermic needles from the sidewalk. Sly and the Family Stone practiced until all hours within earshot, and a badass motorcycle gang roared up and down east 14th.