Episode 8, pre-cap

Ah, thrift stores.  Where my style life started and will undoubtedly end. Ahem.  

Let me tell you a little story.   It's called 'Playing in questionable locations as a child.'  Here's how it went.  

When I was little we lived WAY out in the country.

It was idyllic.  Truly.  

But garbage service didn't come to us, (I told you, way out in the country) so every saturday we had to load up the trailer (not that kinda of trailer) with that weeks garbage and take it to the dump.  

Now, there are two dumps right next to each other - the 'icky garbage' dump and the 'unwanted things' dump.  This is before everybody took their unwanted items to thrift stores to be resold (in my town at least), 
so off to the dump they would go. 

While my dad and brother were dumping garbage into the yucky dump, i snuck off and played with the unwanted things.  I got so excited to go every week, to play in my secret world and my secret friends - er, i mean, things.  

While this sounds cookoo for cocoa puffs, I firmly believe that this is not that weird (cut to me chanting in the mirror as an adult,  'playing in the dump as a child is not weird, playing in the dump as a child is not weird').  

Kids love playing with adult things, pretending to be grown up, creating worlds with their imagination, and that's what I did.  In the dump there were old chairs, lamps, boxes of dish ware, bikes, toys, encyclopedias, etc. etc.  

It was always different, exciting and a universe of infinite possibilities.  Everything had a story, a past, a history.  Things had age and personality.  

(for the record while the dump was not dangerous, my parents did not encourage or condone this and eventually stopped letting me go and instead just took me to the two thrift stores that were in town.  

They aren't the weird ones, i am.)  

The point?  I am super comfortable (ecstatic, really) in thrift stores, junk shops, vintage stores, antique malls,
flea markets etc. etc.  

And this challenge rocked my Good Will world.  

I still get that same rush upon entering an antique mall or flea market - its half panic, like 'how can i possibly see every booth at the same time, at once!', and half calming, like 'Hello Emily, welcome back home, we missed you. oh and you look smashing'. (yes, the flea market is british).  And 95% of my apartment and my sets are vintage, because meloves vintage.

I remember walking into the thrift store designed space for this challenge and knowing that with enough time I could do a number on all this stuff,  'cause i've played in this world before. 

  It knows me, and we like each other.  a little too much.

But with these kind of expectations of myself (and now your expectations 'cause i hyped myself all up), can i deliver?  I've been on the bottom twice now and I think the judges are awaiting my real arrival into this competition.  I think they trust my taste and they like me personally,  I haven't won a challenge.  I have very few regrets, but also very few standout moments.  

Whats gonna happen, yo? whats gonna happen?

**update.  no spoiler alert, but i'll post my review of tonight, tomorrow.  stay tuned.