Clothes and Cats, two reasons I’ve made trips to Roseville in the last three days.  Vastly different motivations, I know, but both trips had happy endings, so I thought I’d share.

Tuesday I went to visit my favorite clothing thrift store: Clothes Mentor.  I should be more specific, I went to visit the one and only thrift store where I buy clothing for myself.  You see, I love buying things at thrift stores.  Things for my house, books, vases, furniture, clothes for my kids, it’s all good!  But I just can’t stand digging through piles of random clothing to try and discover (if I’m lucky) one thing I might possibly wear.  I guess maybe I’m too picky.

But Clothes Mentor is different.  They only carry brand name items that have been in stores within the last one or two years.  The store is clean and bright and so well organized.  Everything is by type of item (jeans, pants, t-shirts, long sleeved shirts, dresses, etc) then subdivided by size and then they hang it all in order by color, which is fantastic.  I love it.  If I’m trying to locate, for example, a black t-shirt in a size medium, there’s just one little place in the store to look.

Here’s my loot from Tuesday’s trip:

One pair of Apt. 9 jeans, one GAP t-shirt, one Banana Republic top, two Limited tops, a Stone Mountain purse and a pair of (totally didn’t need them, but couldn’t resist) BCBG red suede shoes.  I think I did pretty good for $75 and change.

For anyone who wants to check it out, here is the link to the Clothes Mentor website.  They’ve apparently got fifty-seven stores in twenty-three states, so there may be one near you!

Today was my second trip to Roseville.  This one wasn’t something I was planning.  It all started when I was getting Lydia out of her crib in the morning.  I glanced out the window and noticed some movement in the corner of our yard.  It was one of the neighborhood cats who appeared to be batting at something.  “Oh good, he’s got a mouse,” I thought, then looked a little closer and realized it was a little bird.

Now I knew as I ran down the stairs that if Peter had been home, he would have thought I was being silly, but honestly, it wasn’t like the cat was hungry.  The cat has loving, attentive owners who feed him on a regular basis.  He didn’t need the poor baby bird for nourishment, so I intervened.  I scooped up the cat and sent him off in the direction of home, grabbed a box and an old towel from the garage and took the little bird (who had an obviously injured wing) into the house.

The girls were very interested in the baby bird, but agreed to let him rest while they ate breakfast and got dressed.  Once everyone was ready, Lydia, Alethea, Dee and the bird had a brief meet and greet before we all piled into the car and headed off.

Our destination?  The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on Dale Street.

My sister’s friend told me about it a while back.  They take orphaned or injured wild mammals (including rodents), birds and reptiles.  While the pictures in the lobby of the Trumpeter Swan and the baby beaver were a lot more impressive than one little fledgling Yellow Bellied Sapsucker (which is what they tell me our feathered friend was), it was still an exciting little excursion for me and the girls.  During the ride down I got to answer Alethea’s bird questions: “Are the birds in the sky dirty too? Or just the one we found?”  and “Why don’t birds wear shoes?”

So now you all know where to find deals on designer duds as well as a place to take injured squirrels, all in Roseville, Minnesota.  Aren’t you glad you stopped by?  And why don’t birds wear shoes, anyway?