Saturday Secondhand Shopping trip!

Every May, after my birthday and Mother's Day I usually take a day to myself to go shopping in London. This year my friend Laura and I went together, with the goal of only shopping at thrift/second hand stores. We left home at 8am and after a great day together arrived back in town at 9pm.

First stop: Talize.

I had never been to Talize before. In London it's at the corner of Highbury and Huron. There's one in KW too. It is a chain like Value Village, with a similar set up. If you bring a bag of donations into the store (clothing, toys, whatever) they automatically hand you a coupon for $5 off your purchase. Laura brought enough bags for both of us to take advantage of this offer. :)

I quite liked this store. We were in there for a couple hours I think. Here's what I came away with:

A pair of jeans and 2 short sleeved dress shirts for Jeff, and 2 shirts for myself.

The yellow shirt is from Cleo, the blue tank top from Reitmans.


Oh, and this shirt for me too, from Old Navy.

Jeff's jeans are from Gap, the shirts are Columbia and Wind River.

Total spent here including tax and the $5 off coupon: $36.78

You can also get a Points Card. Once you accumulate enough points (each item is wortha different amount) you can apply those towards your purchase price as well.


After a very satisfying buffet lunch at Manchuria Garden, we headed to Value Village at the far end of Wellington Road.

For myself: 2 pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts, work capris and a shirt

The shirt is Cleo, the shorts Old Navy, the capris Reitmans, the jeans Old Navy and Bluenotes.

For Jeff: 2 Shirts. The brown one is Gap, the green one is Denver Hayes.

And for Makenna: 5 tank tops, which were Gap, La Senza Girl, Bum Equipment and 725.

Total Spent here for 5 tank tops, 2 mens shirts, 2 prs of jeans, a pair of capris, shorts and shirt for myself: $68.39


We took a break in the afternoon at Rainbow Cinemas, where we watched a $6 movie.

Next, we had a quick look around Goodwill on Oxford St. I say quick because it closed 15 mins after we got there.

Before heading for home we stopped at Value Village on Dundas where yes, I did find some more stuff:

For Jeff: jeans and 2 shirts.

Mavi, Old Navy and Bluenotes

For myself; a tank top for work, a casual tank top, brown T Shirt (Old Navy) and long brown sleeveless knitted cardigan (Suzy Shier).

And for Jack: a movie.

Total spent herefor 7 articles of clothing and a movie: $48.92

Value Village has a new rewards card program. Among other things, this card allows you access to the store for 2 hours on the night before one of their 50% off sales to take advantage of those prices before the general public can the next day. Their next 50% off sale is tomorrow, so with this card, you could go tonight from 4-6pm to take advantage of the sale. Great for those who can't get there the day of the sale and also great for those who don't want to fight the crowds the day of the sale .

There are other benefits with this card as well, as you will read on the website:

To get your rewards card, go to http://www.supersaverclubcard.com/. Once registered you will be emailed your confirmation form. You print that out and take it to the store to recieve your wallet card. AND, you get a coupon for 25% off your next purchase, if you go within 2 weeks of printing off the form. I think it would be pretty great to take this in tomorrow to the 50% off sale and receive an additional 25% off your entire purchase, but that isn't possible for me.

Talize has 50% off days as well, and their next one happens to be tomorrow too.

I AM going to London next weekend though, to take the kids to see Splash n Boots, so we may just take a few minutes to stop in.

Both Talize and Value Village allow exchanges/store credit if items are returned within 7 days of purchase.

I loved this shopping trip. Thanks so much Laura for introducing me to Talize and Manchuria Garden. I think Talize is my new favourite store. They have an impressive book collection, including many many many current best sellers. Stores like this are my favourite as you can get great deals and I love the thrill of the hunt. You have to be patient, be in the right frame of mind for this kind of shopping, and willing to take your time and look. Laura and I both agree that the more shopping like this you do, the harder it is to pay regular, retail price at big box stores or shopping malls. None of which we felt the need to go into yesterday. My mom is so proud, I know.

The $6 movie was a nice treat too, at a price cheaper than our own small town theatre.

I must also mention here, that while I was away for 13 hours, Jeff spent most of the morning at the YMCA between Makenna's swimming and Yoga classes and playing soccer with Makenna, Jack and a bunch of other kids in the Gym. After her full morning Makenna spent the afternoon with a friend (thank you for that :) ) and while Jack had a 3 hour nap Jeff worked hard cleaning the house inside and out. He even washed the windows! Before supper they hung out at the playgrounds down at the beach, even walking up all the beach steps because the kids wanted to. After making their own mini pizzas for supper, they settled in to watch Peter Pan before bed. Thanks hunny! xoxo.

So, even though it was a couple weeks late, my birthday and Mother's Day "Day to Myself" was definitely worth the wait!

Is it wrong that I am already itching to go again?

;)