The Best Finds

Have you ever walked into a store and found the perfect find? It's an awesome feeling, isn't it? I love it when I see something and I'm immediately drawn to it. Well, it's happened twice for me this weekend.

Every Friday, I attend (and have hosted) a writing session at a Starbucks in mid-town Toronto. For the past couple of weeks, I have seen a mug sitting on one of the shelves. It made me smile every time I passed it so, on my last visit to that Starbucks, I bought it.

Inscription on the mug: Fresh-brewed inspiration for the day ahead.

As a writer – a writer who makes herself a cup of tea before sitting down to write –, the inscription on the mug is uncannily fitting. When I showed it to my fellow writers sitting around the large table with their laptops, they all agreed on how well it fit in with what we were there for. While we don't always get a lot of writing done (if any), we arrive with the intent to write. Most of the time, our writing turns into four hours worth of procrastinating and immense giggling. But, we always have a good time.

One of my favourite stores to browse through is, Value Village. It is full of gently used items, and every week there is are new items to be discovered. I found the entire Chronicles of Narnia book series at a location in Ajax for around $10. I was very happy. Yesterday, my mom and I took a gander through the location in Scarborough nearest where we live. I'm glad we did. We stopped by the music rack, and I started looking through the vinyl LPs they had there. I found five of them.

From left to right: Top: Hair, Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music (all Broadway Musical soundtracks).
Bottom: The Kingston Trio, Once Upon a Time (a live double album), and Neil Diamond, Stones.

I don't know many songs from the Neil Diamond album, but I cannot wait to learn them. It does have one of my favourite songs of his though, I Am, I Said. I have never heard the Kingston Trio album, but I will very soon. Hair is a musical I wish to one day see, and now, I have the soundtrack on vinyl! The Sound of Music is one of my favourite films, and, even though I have the soundtrack on CD, there is nothing quite like listening to music on vinyl. Oklahoma! was an album my father had a long time ago. About seven years ago, he decided to throw his records away because we didn't have a turntable to play them on. My mother and I both could have killed him. My mother, because many of those albums had been hers, and me because I thoroughly enjoyed listening to them. Oklahoma! was one I played over and over and over again. But now, I have that record in my possession once again.

Last night, I listened to two of those records. Oklahoma! had the honour of being played first. Good heavens, it brought back some good memories. It had to refrain from singing too loudly as my mother had gone to bed. Oh, and the record itself is in amazing condition. The second album I played was, The Sound of Music. Side one has a couple of scratches that cause the record to skip forward a bit, but it's tolerable. Side two, unfortunately, has two deeper scratches that cause the record to repeat in parts. (This is why we tell someone they sound like a broken record when they've repeated something many, many times over.) Despite the flaws, I can't complain. The vinyls were $2.00 and used. I can't wait to listen to Hair, Stones, and Once Upon a Time.

Oklahoma! being played on the turntable.

Acorn investigating the strange, twirly, sound-emulating thing.

For me, the best finds are the ones that speak to you the minute you lay your eyes on them. They whisper your name, wish you good day, and ask to be your friend. Then, you pick them up, and realize they are perfect for you. Have you ever walked into a store and found something (or a few things) you felt was perfect for you? What was it? How did those items make you feel? Let me know in the comments below!