She works hard for the money

I love the end of that video where all those hard working women come together for a choreographed dance number in the street.
I've been working hard and neglecting to share some of the fruits of my labor. That doesn't seem right...the fruits would be the money I worked hard for, not the pictures of my treasures, which is what I'm sharing with you. It's gonna be a work/office themed post!

I took that picture of a somewhat recent haul from the Goodwill Outlet. I was so pleased with my very cheaply scored findings that when I got home I laid it all out for a photo to commemorate my success. Do you see the quality vintage slips (for under dresses) hanging on the left? On top of that great blue train case is a bag of puzzle pieces from a fabulous mid century puzzle of the United States. The pieces were scattered through the bin, and I scooped each one up, bringing it home with faith that all states were accounted for. Nope. They were not. That picture doesn't even show my favorite find of that day. Behold:

buy it here!

That amazing gown which might actually be handmade was somehow relegated to the depths of a Goodwill Outlet bin. Like some eager archaeologist, I stood amazed at this unexpected treasure as I slowly uncovered it from under a layer of old clothing and blankets. It's awesome and it's in excellent condition.
I'm showing an old prom gown after I just said that I was doing an office theme. Typical. Back on  track, I would like to introduce some of my many recent finds for the office or workshop.

  Cool, retro-looking metal thing for your paintbrushes, pens, or whatevs

Really cool 3 ring binder. Not as useful as it was in its time, but aesthetically pleasing!

Faux bois/ fake wood grain metal bookends! I already sold those things. Of course, it wouldn't be a thrift share post without the cheap plug. You can find items like these in the office, sewing, miscellaneous section of my Etsy shop!
If you look at that table of stuff I pictured up there, you'll see not one; but two vintage desk lamps. Well now I have three vintage desk lamps.

And guess what? Two of them were revamps! I'm not actually that excited as I seem with my exclamation points. But, check out what I did.

There's that weird little indent on the base. WTF is that? The next time I was at Walmart--I mean local, independent, small business store--I looked in the cheap-ass toy section and grabbed little pack of plastic animals and trees. $2, and I can already think of ways that I plan on using the rest of the pieces. Glue gunned that cheapo tree to the lamp base and the spot is gone.

That little globe bank is featured as a staging prop for many many listings. How do you feel about the tree lamp? 

I neglected to get a "before" pic of my next item, so let me paint you a mental image. There is a flat metal area on the base of this lamp where the on/off switch is located. It looked kinda scraped up and where it read "lo" and "hi" were both pretty worn out. Easy upgrade; shelf liner paper and Mod Podge. 

If you look close enough, you can see the design on that paper...faux bois. Long live cheesy, fake wood grain! I put these in the apartment section of my shop, Sweet Scores Vintage. Ya know, to keep them with my many other lamps. 

Tune in one of these days to find out how I manage to fix this fail:

Oh, Goodwill...I'm calling you out on this. A great mid century clock that sells for a decent amount on Etsy and you chose to protect the price sticker with packing tape. I direct your attention to the lower left corner and you see the damage done to the veneer(?) by this tape which could've easily been applied to the back side. If I zoomed out on this picture you would see my hair dryer that I used to carefully heat up the tape during the pulling process to aid in its removal. It was no use. 

There's like, a whole damn thing with this clock. I'm going to continue with its renovation because of the sunk cost fallacy.

Belt buckle transplants and a really awesome dress

I really like belts and currently own several tons of them. In fact, one of my nifty little belt/scarf closet hangers just broke from the weight. When it comes to this particular item, I'm mostly talking about the waist-cinching style. Those thick elastic ones that don't hold your pants up, but do help to create an hourglass figure and draw attention to your best feature. Well, my fave feature. So, look at this slightly tacky but necessary for my wardrobe belt:

Ooh, it's a large, blue bird...birds again?! Yeah birds. I got that at Savers awhile back for $2. Anyway the white belt may have worked ok: it didn't look terrible. It was a little dingy, though. No prob, I'll just remove the belt buckle and put it on a more practical belt. Here's one:

There they are, side by side. That black belt had an interesting...texture? It also had a dated knot glued to the belt buckle that I could do without. So, I removed both belt buckles from their elastic belts. Then I gave that black one the bird (te he).

That works!Yea, black with blue bird belt. And then...

I have this green belt with an ugly, 80s, snakeskin looking, double circle buckle. Another transplant. I easily separated those round things from the belt. Now, to find a better buckle.
I just happened to have a spare one; the outdated knot piece that I removed from that black belt. Luckily, the fabric knot was held on with glue, which I ripped right off. This left the hook hardware that I needed. Unfortunately, it didn't match so well with the other end which it would hook into. Easy solution: glue something on it. I have many buttons. I would glue a button on.

As you see, it's a brown buckle and not black and I like black. I think that button was just the best flat and fitting one, and rather than being picky about color, I fired up the glue gun. Wait. I got more.

Look at that cool fancy, old-timey buckle. And yes, all of these "before" pics were taken at night, so they look bad. I don't care much for the quality of the "before" shots. I find that buckle quite striking and I love how it attaches together at the center. The belt itself is kinda lame. It's like a regular elastic piece covered in some saggy, scrunched up casing.
I could either amputate the whole piece from the fancy buckle or rip it open, exposing the unseen elastic underneath.

Or I could do that. I just stretched the aqua material. I removed one side of the buckle and pulled the casing part until it was tight around the elastic part. I cut off the excess, sewed the raw edge and then resewed the buckle back on. That was one easy refashion.
Want to see these pieces at work? I'm not really asking, my vain self already got some outfit pics. I will now take the opportunity to show off an incredible thrift store dress find.

Look at that. Do you know what that is? Well, it's a 40s inspired, black and white, polka dot dress from the clothing label called Stop Staring. It fits perfectly! No alterations needed. I just Googled image searched and didn't see any pics of my dress. It's a really cool label featuring beautiful clothing that costs an arm and an ass. ( I wanted to make it an alliteration.) Really; click the link and get a look at them highfalutin' rich folk prices. Or look at me!

Thrift purists may scoff at the standard $6 price for dresses, but as I twirl around in this, I'm reminded that you can sometimes find something well worth 5 bucks and some change (with the Goodwill discount card.)
Here's the green belt:

I turned the floor standing fan on, as it was a warm afternoon. Got a little windblown effect going. The fancy buckle aqua belt didn't match polka dot dress. So I threw on something from my closet.

Oh, this old thing? I just pull this disco dress out, slap on some makeup, and pose in front of a fan with it. Then I hang it back up.
Thanks for looking and not leaving snarky comments!

Late Conclusion

Months later, I am finally posting the end of the story I started during the winter. My "first draft" has been trapped in a notebook since late February because I didn't feel like editing and typing and got busy with other stuff.

Now, the winter is gone. Each season changes and I'm struck by how different things become. Where life was once constant--the people, the places, the events--now seems ever changing. I think back on recent years and each is different from the next. It's as if each is a new era. 

The spring is so damn short. (Whispers) this forsythia bush is symbolic of that because this deciduous plant blooms in spring for a short amount of time. 

I hate when my leaves fall off. (Follow the metaphor...) Whether good or bad, I don't like to lose people or places. I yearn for those times in my past and the people who are no longer part of my world.

Look at this crushed velvet dress.

Continued from here. 

My story concludes...

So as that summer of 2013 came to close, so did the Moody-Falcon era. He used to leave his overnight job early in the morning and drive up to see me each Wednesday. Then one late August morning, I woke up alone with a feeling of dread. A phone call confirmed that my time was up. This story isn't about that.

It was like watching Ned Stark lose his head. My mind was blown and I just couldn't accept it. "Noooo!" I repeated, as if I could make him take it back. But, you can't just reattach a head to its body, and I could not hold onto a goddamn bird of prey as it flew out of my hands.

As I descended back into the abyss of depression (also my dad was about to have heart surgery) Falcon kept in touch. He cried with me and was very sensitive to my pain. I told him I wanted to say goodbye face to face, and he agreed that he would, saying that he wouldn't refuse to face me like John had. In September he came by to see me. I remember crying in my doorway as we hugged our final farewells. He had tears in his eyes as he looked back at me before walking out the door, leaving me to live a life all by myself. I was the loneliest girl in the world. 

WAW held its 14th Anniversary Celebrations in November. I had been gone a year, but old timers are invited back to participate. Falcon was only wrestling part time, but he invited me to appear at WAW 14 as manager of the Firebirds. 

That was us as a team back in 2011/2012

I was scared as hell to be back in that place again, but under Falcon's wing (sorry) I felt like I was safe with a trusted friend. Afterwards, he told me that as I walked through those old curtains to make my way to the ring that my tough/angry looked lit up into a smile when I heard the audience cheer.

In the time that followed, we stayed in touch. He was always so kind to me, a real freakin' gentleman. He actually appreciated my honesty when I made humorous jabs at his "evil ways." Sometimes, he would stop in and visit. He came by one day last summer and we took a walk through the downtown area where I live and had smoothies. It was great.
I should mention that during any visits or texting chats did he ever attempt to lure me into the sack. It seemed to contradict what I had previously said in the beginning about crossing state lines. He was actually taking time to talk to me as a friend. As if he actually cared.

On an unrelated note: a thrifted prom gown I recently listed

The last time we were in contact was on New Year's Day of 2015. I don't really remember much of what was said. What I remember was how he ended our text conversation: "keep in touch." It felt good to have a friend out there.
Less than a month later, he was gone.
This story has what they call a circular ending; it started at the end of the story, went back in time, and has brought us back to where I left off in my intro. (I'm not really sure why I chose to spell that out for my readers.)
On one moment I had a friend out there. I had someone that I didn't talk to or see very often, but was someone that knew me and cared for me. Then a moment later, that person ceased to exist.
Unfriended on Facebook, no responses to my pleas for answers... Why? I wanted to know. Acknowledge me, damnit!
If anyone has read my earlier stories and finds this part familiar to my previous struggles, then you would be correct to make that connection. It had been almost two years since the trauma of having my trusted friend and former boyfriend betray me. Even then I knew that in time, even if it took years and years, I would get over the pain. I had made so much progress and the wounds I thought healed had been ripped open. All those feelings of abandonment and confusion, the feel like I've been left drowning...all coming back to me.
When he left me the first time, he told me that he wouldn't refuse to face me like John had. This time he wouldn't even respond to a text message. I have no answers and have no idea what prompted him to cut off contact. All I know is that he did it again. He broke my heart when he kicked me to the curb, but it's not like he could break up with me again. I guess I was wrong because I managed to get hurt by him twice.
I was left to become a detective; to search for clues, to establish motivation, to talk to witnesses. As I previously mentioned, I had recently heard salacious rumors with him in the center. Any secondhand gossip is not my story to tell, so I will not discuss details of this "scandal" but I had my suspicions that his alleged wrongdoings were related to me getting the axe. (Which would be typical: he does the crime, and others are forced to pay.) Also, the "witnesses" I rounded up were not much help. Because of the "bros before hoes" clause, both his best friend and his roommate would not betray their villainous comrade by providing me with their testimony.
Just like that, we ceased to exist to each other. He has refused any contact with me and I will most likely never see him again. Like an internet executioner, his deletion of my Facebook-friend-status brought down the blade to my neck; the undeniable proof of a friendship being put to death. It's like I finally get that "Somebody That I Used To Know" song by Gotye.

Edited/updated for recent events

And that's about it. He was erased from my world. Where I once had a friend, now stands a proverbial "enemy." If his name comes up amongst mutual friends so does a lingering anger in my heart. He was glaringly absent from that "WAW Save the Dojo/Reunion" show. When his lifelong tag team partner, Pyro asked him to compete in a match where he would wrestle on the other Firebird's behalf against an opponent selected by Rocko (Pyro's opponent for WAW's special event, Legacy), Falcon declined despite the fact that he has had some of his best matches with that performer. That person be...

 Christian Sain.

As seen in that old picture from the year 2008, he is standing triumphantly on the ropes with his business partner beside him; that would be me, Moody Starr.
The first wrestler to work with Moody in a "client/manager" storyline, whom I later had a real life relationship with. He agreed to the match and I was along for the ride...provided that we could do a gimmick involving the best show ever:

 Game of Thrones

I escorted Chris in his King of the North cape to the ring and then sat at the commentary table. When Rocko got on the mic to address Falcon's absence, I took the opportunity to proclaim via commentary that his head was the first to roll and that he would not be flying north into my kingdom ever again. Then I pulled my index finger slowly across my throat, the international symbol for "off with your head."
And then I laughed my ass off. I may never get the answers I seek so that I may heal my wounds. I may never get the chance to confront he who has hurt me two times. But, I was able to act out a "victory" in the most dramatic insane way possible. I was Queen for one more time and for that I was happy.
And sometimes that's all I can ask for. Goodbye, Falcon.