Yessir, yessir, five bags full

Okay, I wasn't sure if I should post this, because those of you who are NOT here might shrivel up and die with envy, and then I would feel bad. But not that bad, so here goes:

I have just returned from the ultimate Seattle destination, and now I can die happy. But preferably not today. Where is it, you may ask. Where is this pleasure palace? Is it the Space Needle? Pike Place Market? The EMP? The chocolate factory in the old Redhook brewery? No, no, no and NO, though those are awesome places and good guesses.

It's the Goodwill outlet, where you can buy goods by the pound: $1.39 per pound for clothes and shoes and $0.69 per pound for toys and housewares. For $52.15, my sister and I came home with the equivalent of five tall kitchen garbage bags full of stuff, including a pair of Seven jeans. I might be a little too old/short/fat to wear the Katie Holmes baggy jeans look, but they sure are comfy. And expensive, if you're not a clever shopper. We also got:

8 pairs of shoes, including some Keens for mom
Winter coats and clothes for Weston and Shane (almost a whole bag full)
4 books, including a very nice full color anatomy textbook
3 Slinkys (yes, I do need three slinkys, just in case you were wondering)
A teapot
Dragon Halloween costume
Cool linky toys (see picture)
A Mondani bag
Miscellaneous clothes, toys and housewares

Now, before you sprint down to 6th and Holgate, I should warn you, there is a catch.
A couple of catches, really; I'm not going to sugarcoat it. You really have to work for your goodies here. The stuff is just dumped in bins with no presorting, so you have no idea what you're getting into when you start digging. Also, the place is populated with some fairly skanky people. Some of them come in to dig through the purses and wallets for forgotten cash, and some of them work there, because it is a job training center. Did I say fairly skanky? Because I meant really, really skanky. But it doesn't bother me; I'm totally going back tomorrow!