Getting my sister to shop in a thrift store has been like getting my cat to take a bath. Ain’t gonna happen. I thought.

Chalk it up to tough times or kowtowing to big Sis, but there we were, days before Christmas, in the Goodwill in Nanuet, New York and she had her list in hand.

I headed straight to housewares where I found a tub of Christmas decorations for $19.99. Most of it was awful: blue glitter balls, snowflake cutouts and broken snow globes. But lining the bottom was at least a dozen vintage ornaments so I snatched the whole thing up. Later I trashed everything but the treasures: sixteen Shiny Brites from the 1950s. Just what we needed for a last-minute mini tree.

Out of the corner of my darting eyes I spotted an unusual pair of green silk balloon pants for $6.99 which my sister the skeptic wore that night to a party.

As we sat waiting for the dressing room, a distinctive figure sat slumped on a nearby chair. Something about the bushy eyebrows, pate of sandy pink hair and rude red tie gave it away. Could that be? It was! Trumpy Bear. I remembered the iconic marketing campaign from 2016. Had to have🤭for $2.99.

Needing one last gift, I found a Blair quilted white jacket new with tags. Luckily there was a gorgeous silk scarf with Audubon mallards in the bins. Instantly I had a sporty LL Bean country look.

Standing in line to checkout, we started grabbing things like hand cream, new socks, headbands, angel ornaments and notebooks for stocking stuffers.

The only difficult choice we faced was where to grab lunch–what could be better than a thrift store wedged between a White Castle and a quintessential East Coast diner.

Merry Sismas