if you follow me on Instagram (@southsocialandhome), then you know that a lot of my photos document my thrifting adventures. fun fact: your iPhone will auto-correct the term "thrifting" to "thrusting". this made for a lot of hilarious texts early on, but my smart phone earned that moniker by learning the word "thrifting" after a month or two of texting that word multiple times per day.
yesterday I hit a Goodwill deep in Simi Valley, while I was on my way back from picking out 14' trees at a nursery (loving my job these days, you guys). I'd been to that same Goodwill a few weeks prior, but one of the biggest tips I can give readers who ask "what are the best thrift stores?" is to just go to ALL of them and to go back as much as you can. sure, I saw a lot of the same ole shizz sittin' on the shelves during my second visit to this Goodwill, but I also happened upon some new treasures.
...treasures LIKE THIS CACTUS LAMP.
I stared at it for a while, thinking "...have I lost it? am I crazy for being reeeeally into this lamp??" so naturally I posted it on Instagram, to get some feedback from my design-minded followers. what ensued may not rival Lena Dunham's comments or Harry Styles' likes, but I loved how quickly I began hearing from friends and strangers...
"so into it"
"please don't"
"(insert thumbs down emoticon)"
"definitely into it"
...and so on.
the lamp is nearly as tall as I am, it's plaster, and it's got a vaguely mint-green tinge to it. I instantly envisioned it with a coat of matte white paint, styled in a mostly white room. the cord told me that it had a good amount of age to it- I was guessing 70s? I caaaaarefully leaned it over (that thing is HEAVY) and saw that an Alsy sticker was still attached.
some quick Googling (all while standing protectively close to the lamp, lest anyone else with weirdo taste get any ideas) pulled up a long-past auction for this dude:
mine even has the exact same finial!
so yes, I BOUGHT IT. duh. it was only $20 and I had grown very attached to it, whilst protecting it from tweaky Valley shoppers. since I'm not strong enough to lug it out of my backseat, it's now my funny little passenger. drivin' miss cactus.
who knows what I'll end up doing with it. painting it, YES, but will I sell it when I go back to Chicago? will this Southwestern icon find a new home in the Midwest? whoooo knoooows!
so. please chime in. do you love it? orrrr do you hate it?

















