52 Tuesdays: Favorite Thrifts #17

What: Yellow Chair
Where: Lynnwood, WA Goodwill
Level of Love: 10 out of 10

I love this chair. It's my favorite color and it's in really good shape. Can't remember what I paid for it, but I know it was a pittance. I spotted it while just walking near the furniture section and made an immediate quick dash towards it. Then hovered over it like a protective parent until a store clerk wandered by so I could proclaim my love (for the chair not the clerk) and have him put a sold sticker on it. Because when you're thrifting alone you simply cannot risk abandoning your treasure to walk to the front of the store for a clerk. Of course. 

This chair has a great how-I-got-it-home story, too. We still had our Ford Taurus at the time and I used to pride myself on being able to eyeball what sorts of things would be able to fit in it. This came from the numerous dorm move ins, apartment moves, and even the big cross country move we've done together. Not to mention IKEA runs and past thrifting excursions. In short I was pretty freakin' confident the chair would fit - one way or another. Note the smug look on my face as I check out and carry it through the parking lot. Then, I get to the car. Confidence is still high as I attempt to hoist it into the trunk. No go. While the trunk is very spacious, you have to be able to get things in at just the right angle. Which I could not manage this time. No matter, there's always the back seat. I have fit surprisingly large items in the back seat in the past, so I'm not sweating it (yet). Case in point: this dresser. Much bigger than the chair, right? Well, sort of...bigger, but again it's the angle needed to squeeze it in with the door not being able to open all the way. I reposition it, twist it this way and that, and still the chair is just not having it. Ugh. At this point, I'm starting to feel a little nervous that I might have to sheepishly drag it back into the store and be that customer. You know, the one who buys things willy nilly without thinking through how to get them home. The situation is not helped by the fact that it is dark and raining. Yep, raining. Luckily my favorite chair is upholstered with classy vinyl so there's no risk of damage. But of course I'm not wearing a rain jacket and am starting to get soaked. Add to this the group of Goodwill workers watching and snickering at me from the donation drop-off area and you can understand both my urgency and rising panic. Nevertheless I continued to try to finagle it into place, going from one side of the car to the other and giving the trunk another go. Some might call it persistent optimism. I'm going to be blunt and call myself what I am: stubborn. Combine that with a high threshold for hanging on to my willing suspension of disbelief and I was absolutely not leaving that parking lot without my chair. At some point I decided to give the front seat a try. I pushed the seat back as far as it would go, reclined it all the way, and prayed (literally). It still needed some persuading but I finally managed to make it fit! I triumphantly (and gently so as not to accidentally shatter a window) shut the door, cast a once-again-smug look toward the Goodwill workers - who likely could not appreciate it due to the lack of sunlight - and set off. I may have ridden home with a chair leg jabbing into my ribs, but I made it nonetheless.