I love the 90s

So this is happening in Grand Rapids right now.

This dollar store is going out of business and selling everything for 29 cents - and this isn't just any old dollar store, it is an incredible time capsule.  

A good percentage of the merchandise must have been shipped in from some top secret 1990's vault.  I love the 90's, and if you do, too, then this store is for you.  You can find anything from Berenstain Bear valentines to Hulk Hogan bumper stickers to Sabrina the Teenage Witch folders.  I've never seen so many weird, amazing old things in my life!  The doors will stay open as inventory arrives for another six months.  God knows where this stuff is coming from, maybe some long forgotten warehouse in China?

This is a basket of slammers--as in what you used to play POGS with in 1993!

(If you are under the age of twenty five, I have included the POGS wiki site so that you can know the excitement we experienced back in the day, before the internet was available)

Here's a little fact about me that might impress you: I still have my POGS, and many, many more. I've been collecting them for years from yard sales and thrift stores.  During college, this made me very popular.

**Disclaimer: there is nothing impressive about a grown woman with a collection of POGS.  I lied about that being cool.  If you chose to collect POGS, do it for the love of the game, not for the glory

Here are a few of the wonderful things that I bought:

clockwise - Pacman stickers, Troll stick-on earrings, Crash Test Dummies party invites, and Rugrats goody bags.

At the current moment, I have no plans for these wonderful little gems from my childhood, but how could I go there and NOT buy them?  I felt like I went through some portal and came out in a Scholastic book fair.  I had to go back a second time, just to make sure this place really exists.

Unfortunately, Patrick and I have this agreement about not bringing home massive amounts of useless crap (ask him sometime about the elephant lamp and robotic ape he found at a yard sale).  Occasional junk is okay, but I already walk the line, so I had to play it safe.   There were soooo many things I had to leave behind: Goosebumps book folders, Little Mermaid wrapping paper, Troll ponytail holders, Blues Clues bags, dinosaur candles, Garfield toys, a few dozen copies of Is there Life after Sixth grade?, Powerpuff Girl party decorations, and the list goes on.

If you live nearby, you must experience this! The store is located on Chicago Drive.  

Go, now!

If for some sad, sad reason you aren't able to visit this 90's television emporium, then I suggest watching a few episodes of Hey Arnold, Inspector Gadget, Beakman's World or Fraggle Rock on Netflix.

(image from wikipedia)