I wasn't really allowed to watch "Pretty in Pink" when I did. Being the music lover he is, I am sure my dad allowed my sister Arwen and I to watch the opening credits. There is no way we would have been able to convince my conservative parents to let us watch the rest. The opportunity came one evening when we had a new babysitter, a babysitter who happened to be from a much more liberal family than ours. Arwen  and i swore to her  that my parents gave us permission to watch the movie. My folks were not pleased when they came home. We never had that babysitter again.

The damage was done though and my parents gave in. They watched the movie again with us. ( I remember feeling very uncomfortable during the pantie dancing scene. ) I am not sure how many times we watched it that summer. It got a lot of play, almost as much as "The Goonies". The rest of the summer was pretty repetitive; watch "Pretty in Pink", put on makeup out of our Caboodles, beg mom to take us to the Salvation Army, do paper route, watch "Pretty in Pink", put on makeup, reorganize our Caboodles, beg mom to take us to the Salvation Army, buy makeup with paper route money,and so on. My mom did eventually take us to the Salvation Army. She hated every minute of it I am sure.

That first trip to the thrift store started a slow smoldering fire in my heart. I know it was the same for Arwen. We had no idea what to do when we got there or what to buy but it was the experience that made us crave more. I can still remember what I bought that day. I remember looking through racks of men's pants. I remember the way the store looked and the smelled. I even remember what I was wearing. We spent hours after that trip strategically planning our wardrobe. I wonder what mom thought? She must have thought we were crazy. It took us a long time to bring her around to our passion. Guess what we did with her this last weekend? WE SPENT 8 HOURS THRIFTING!