favorite used stores?

This weekend was a great time for the acquisition of Used Foo.

I got several pairs of shoes, some new-to-me shirts, and two fabulous new-to-me chairs. Also, intensely fabulous purple boots with lucite and holographic stuff for starkeymonster.

If you have time and not tons of money and you enjoy shopping, then stores that carry experienced goods are just plain wonderful.

My favorite stores in the Boston area for used items of all descriptions: Garment District, Davis Square Goodwill, Rodney's (in Central Square), Urban Renewals, and that used bookstore next to Sol Azteca that I can never remember the name of. What are yours?

long walks in new territory and old

Thursday I walked with foucauldian_ho along the Minuteman Trail to Spy Pond and back again. That is still my number-one favorite local walk. It's always nice to introduce it to someone new. She particularly liked the post-apocalyptic look of that weird plaza near Alewife station.

Yesterday I took a long walk in a direction I hadn't gone before. I went down Mass Ave towards Arlington, as I frequently do, but followed Alewife Brook Parkway to the right (away from Fresh Pond). I walked around the inside of Saint Paul's Cemetery. I walked on a trail next to the brook beside Dilboy Field, possibly created by teenagers sneaking smokes. I walked until I hit the Wild Oats over on Mystic Brook Parkway. Then I walked back down Mystic Brook Parkway itself further into Arlington, along the river. I walked until I was somewhat tired, which was at the corner of MBP and River Street. I turned left onto River Street and walked across Broadway back to Mass Ave and caught the 77.

It was a lovely walk. :) Especially once I got past Broadway - before that, it was a bit smelly. It was a few hours and a few miles. And surprisingly, my allergies didn't kill me, so that's good too.

I'm trying to work up to walking every day. At this point, a long walk every few days is about as much as my body is willing to do, but if I keep doing that consistently, I will start getting back into shape. So, Wednesday will probably be when I am ready for another one - conveniently, I have one planned with ceelove and her adorable babe.

Sometime in the next few weeks, I'm interested in checking out Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Arlington, and it's been a while since I visited Mount Auburn too. It's a nice time of year to visit cemeteries - the grass and flowers growing and the birds chirping is a good balance for the overwhelming yin of their energy.