Hello and welcome to the blog 🙂

So my very first thrifty road trip was to the big easy. The month was July, it was time for the Essence fest and since I’d never been, I decided on a whim that it’d be a perfect time as any to cross it off my list and while at it, I’d check out their thrift scene and all it had to offer. This is how it went…. I decided I’d prefer to drive(I live for road trips!) so I got a rental and hit the road!

Oh, a couple of tips when you decide you want to go to an event as big as Essence fest:

Do not decide on whim that you want to go, the get a rental and hit the road! Why? Here’s why.. I paid alot more than I would’ve paid for EVERYTHING and still got the worst of EVERYTHING.

2. Don’t believe everything you see online. Meaning, when you go to book, say, your hotel and you see all those beautiful pictures of the rooms and amenities. Don’t believe the that that’s what awaits you at your destination cos I learned the hard way that those beautiful pictures I saw online were just that, beautiful pictures. The reality? See, tip one 🙁

I mean, let me illustrate.

What I thought I was getting:

What I got:

Got it? Good! Now back to our previously scheduled broadcast 🙂

So, after I’d sprayed the holy water on my hotel room and summoned all my ancestors to stand guard over my belongings I was leaving behind….. I was finally ready to go do my hair so I’d look a little decent for Essence fest but more relevant to the blog, a bit of thrifting and some sight seeing.

Ready to feast your eyes on the items I got while thrift store raiding in New Orleans?

My loot:

So, I was able to only able to go to one thrift store and then another store that sold vintage items but wasn’t quite a thrift store in my opinion. I’ll start with the vintage store as I didn’t get to many items there. The first item that caught my eye was this rosary:

I picked this one up for $20 and didn’t mind. Why? I got it specifically for my mom as she bought one about 5 times the size of this one for our home Altar growing up. Wanted to give her something similar anytime she dropped by to visit and thought it’d crack her up the first time she saw it, lol.

Next item was this calendar:

I picked this one up for $5 and really like the fact that I have an actual calendar for some reason and that was about all I picked up at this store. Now, why didn’t I get more stuff here? Well, I didn’t because, one, it was not an actual thrift store so, their prices were rather high especially when compared to the prices at an actual thrift store and two, I had just left a Goodwill and already bought my fill of thrifted items and the prices I was seeing at this vintage store were in stark contrast to the ones at the thrift store.

My thrifted items:

The first item I picked up at the thrift store was this dress:

The first thing that caught my eye about this dress was the fact that it was a black, floral dress and wrap, to boot. I really didn’t want to get it when at the last minute, I had realized that it’s tag color was not the color of the day but decided to keep it at the end of the day.

Next up, these vinyl’s:

I was lucky enough to find these vinyl’s on my thrift store raid that day and the icing on the cake, of course, would be that they were all priced 99 cents though not the color of the day.

Next item was my favorite find of the day, which was this gorgeous table:

I must admit that I almost left it behind due to some last minute caveats to the thrift store’s pricing policy but am so glad that decided to get it despite my initial hesitation.

Next item up would be this faux leather file folder:

This was a white tagged item so it would have been 35% off the tag price of $4.99.

My last find of the day was this quirky little hat:

I honestly picked this one up because it looked so unique and was priced $1.50. For something so unique and that could have a bit of history tied to it, I couldn’t leave it behind. I mean, can you imagine what stage it might have graced or what parties it could have been worn to? Well, with that in mind, I had to rescue this beauty and give it a place in my home.

This brings us to the end of my New Orleans thrift haul. I had loads of fun at essence fest, treasure hunting at the thrift store and of course, putting this post together and hope that I was able to capture the essence(NPI) of my trip on this blog post and as always, I’ll be seeing you on the next one.