A couple weeks ago I started in on my goal to learn about Communism and Socialism. To kick things off I began reading Marxism and Communism: Essential Readings, a book I picked up from an awesome place in Berkeley called Urban Ore for 25 cents!

If you live in the bay area and haven’t been to Urban Ore, it’s a place you really should visit. I think it’s the first place the dreamboat took me when we moved here (he knew about it from living in Berkeley the previous summer for an internship). He was so excited about it. It is a creative/artist/pack rat/tech geek/eco-conscious/thifters dream. This salvage yard is full of all kinds of things; clothing, records, dishes, old Macs, techie geek parts, abandoned art, books, all the National Geographics you could possibly want, old tools, beakers, dentist moulds of teeth, bath tubs, doors galore, toilets, big vintage things like ovens and pianos, lovely old suitcases, sports equipment, door knobs, awesome file cabinets, picture frames and bike racks just to name a few.

You can’t just walk into Urban Ore and go through the motions either. You have to get into full on pirate mode and plunder others and hunt for your treasures. Find the booty! Some things in our abode that we have found at Urban Ore include…

Crazy hipsteresque Pegasus Art (there was a Cancer/Crab piece done in the same style, did you pick it up? Let me know if you did!)

Various picture frames

A child’s introduction to French record

and

Some of the speakers that make up our Entertainment area.

Thrifting/2nd hand hunting is a truly fun, cheap, and great way to furnish ones abode.

I was forced to spend Valentines Day alone because the dreamboat had to be in Los Angeles for work and Virgin America is the crappiest airline I have ever come across (they messed up my flight date).

I was determined to have a great day anyway, so after tasty lunch of Belgian fries and a delicious Framboise Lambic at Frjts on Valencia I headed out for a day of thrifting and doing whatever struck my fancy. A few things I was happy to find on my little trip?

From Valencia Thrift

1. A pair of speakers for the bathroom – Back in a November I mentioned the fact that I play music as a means to keep track of how long I’m in the shower. At first I was using cheap little speakers that I had purchased at Walgreens. Well, in typical cheap goods fashion, they both broke within two weeks. I been looking for speakers that were loud, small, and used ever since. Enter these new babies. They’re much louder than the previous speakers, don’t need batteries, and at only $4.25 for the pair, were less than the money I wasted on the two tiny speakers.

2. A bright pink belt

From Thrift Town

3. A “new” black bag – I go through periods of “big bag” love, and that’s what I was all about last year. Huge bags that could hold everything including the kitchen sink, because I thought I needed to keep everything with me. I have since had a change of mind. Bags with small handles full of everything you don’t need are a pain in the derriere to carry with you on a bike and just irritating when you no longer what to be holding them. This bag is big enough to hold what I need (mainly wallet, keys, camera, a couple makeup things, my sketchbook and travel water colors), and it has a long shoulder strap, keeping my hands free.

4. A foxy spring green wool pencil skirt – For a while I started to give up on colors and go for more neutral tones; black, white, brown, etc., because I thought they would make me seem more “adult.” Well my bizarre thoughts of adulthood be damned! I am going back to wearing colors. Black and white all the time, however classic, was getting boring.