{"id":226678,"date":"2026-06-24T09:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T09:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/226678\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T09:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T09:41:08","slug":"looking-for-a-little-change-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/226678\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Looking for a little change\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n \/My American Story
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\n City girl adjusting to pace of life in Monongahela <\/p>\n

1 \/ 2<\/p>\n

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Lauren Kelly grew up as a supporting cast member of Act One productions, earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Slippery Rock University, and always harbored dreams of opening a thrift store, a dream that came true in April. \u201cI\u2019ve always been a thrifter,\u201d said Kelly, who grew up thrifting with her mom. \u201cEspecially, once I was a teenager, I got really big into thrifting T-shirts. I just love a T-shirt.\u201d Her shop, Solo Thrift & Vintage, along Monongahela\u2019s West Main Street, is filled with graphic tees and a myriad of other wondrous finds, including shoes, accessories, and home decor. [Katherine Mansfield]\n<\/p>\n

2 \/ 2<\/p>\n

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Lauren Kelly\u2019s childhood was, in many ways, a dream. \u201cMy parents are still together. They still live in the same house they\u2019ve always lived in. They\u2019re the best. I love them. They\u2019re the best family ever. We still go on a family vacation together every year,\u201d said Kelly, who last year relocated with her fiance from Pittsburgh\u2019s Southside to Monongahela, where they and their dogs and cats are enjoying the quieter, slower lifestyle. [Katherine Mansfield]\n<\/p>\n

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EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: This is one in a monthlong series of profiles of the people who live and work in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, in celebration of the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary.<\/p>\n

Lauren Kelly can probably count on one hand the number of times she\u2019s been truly astounded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always know what every surprise is,\u201d shrugged Kelly, an effervescent millennial who grew up in Ross Township. <\/p>\n

But within the last year, life has gifted Kelly three grand surprises: a new home, a timeless treasure, and a dream realized.<\/p>\n

The most apparent is that timeless treasure, the ring on her left hand.<\/p>\n

Last July, the day before her birthday, Kelly and her then-boyfriend were en route to his grandfather\u2019s 99th birthday party. <\/p>\n

\u201cI fell asleep in the car,\u201d Kelly recalled. \u201cI woke up, and he was just holding the ring while he was driving. He said, \u2018Are we doing this or what?\u2019 It was the only way he knew he could surprise me, I think, because I always, I just know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before they began dating eight years ago, the pair had been good friends, so it was an easy \u201cyes.\u201d That surprise engagement followed the couple\u2019s unexpected move south, to Monongahela. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had never even heard of it,\u201d laughed Kelly, who\u2019d been living in Pittsburgh\u2019s South Side. \u201cWe were kind of looking for a little change and some quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her fiance\u2019s friend owned a house in the little city. Kelly\u2019s beau showed her a map of the area (\u201cHe was like, look, it\u2019s cute. They like Christmas! And I was like, OK, yeah, you sold me,\u201d she smiled) and that was that. In June, Kelly and her fiance celebrated one year as Mon Valley-ians. They\u2019re currently settling into the slower lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s quiet. It\u2019s certainly out of the city,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cWe\u2019re calling it our retirement year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retirement is quite the understatement. <\/p>\n

When Kelly arrived in Monongahela, she was a seasoned corporate-world employee working remotely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, I don\u2019t want to do this anymore. I want to experience what\u2019s going on here. I applied at City Mission. I thought it was just going to be for the summer, and then I worked there until they closed,\u201d said Kelly.<\/p>\n

Late last year, with the Mission\u2019s final day set for March 14, 2026, Kelly began brainstorming her next career move.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been a thrifter. That\u2019s me and my mom\u2019s favorite activity: We go thrifting and antiquing,\u201d said Kelly. \u201cI had always talked about opening a store. It never seemed like the right time, or I didn\u2019t know how to go about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the Mission\u2019s closing loomed on the horizon, Kelly revisited her thrift store dreams. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy fiance was like, OK, I got you something for Christmas. I\u2019m gonna give it to you early. And we also have to go to it,\u201d Kelly said, remembering how she drove herself crazy trying to guess what the gift might be. \u201cWe got in the car. I was like, it\u2019s a store, I know it\u2019s a store. We got here and he pulled up and he was like, \u2018Here\u2019s your store. Get to work.’\u201d <\/p>\n

Kelly and her fiance transformed the space into what is now Solo Thrift & Vintage, which opened April 20 along Monongahela\u2019s West Main Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely stuff to work out and a lot of adjusting. But overall,\u201d Kelly said, \u201cit\u2019s amazing. It is better than I thought it would be and harder than I thought it would be. It feels worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lesser surprise is how Kelly\u2019s background in English and acting has come into play as a small business owner. She writes and produces quirky sketches for the shop\u2019s social media account (find her on Instagram at @watch.solo.tv). Fittingly, she\u2019s the star of those reels, the leading lady she wasn\u2019t during her childhood acting days, when she was a character actor at Pittsburgh\u2019s ACT ONE Theater School. During her last year with the program, the troupe performed a play based on C.S. Lewis\u2019 \u201cThe Chronicles of Narnia.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThey like to give all the senior kids an actual role. So I got a role. They made it up. It\u2019s not even in the play, I don\u2019t think. It\u2019s called the Old Hag. I just did a little monologue to introduce a scene. I was like, all this time and I finally made it, I\u2019m the Old Hag,\u201d she laughed. <\/p>\n

Now, she plays an enthusiastic small business owner growing roots in the Mon Valley, along the Monongahela River, a waterway her English student sensibilities might romanticize for the way it ties Kelly\u2019s old home in Pittsburgh to this little river town. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a little bit of a culture shock,\u201d said Kelly, about her move to Monongahela. \u201cPeople say hi to you. You don\u2019t even look up when you\u2019re walking around in the city. It\u2019s nice to have community, like actual community.\u201d<\/p>\n


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