Fifty Cent Thrift Day Post - October 22, 2014

Yesterday was the monthly day that one of the local thrift stores clears out its older merchandise for 50 cents a piece. The selection was picked over - the woman working claimed it was because the store had sold so much the month prior, which is possible, but there also were many more shoppers this time around and they had gotten there before me and had armfuls of clothing.

I still found 10 things but one (which I will still put in the pictures) had a hole in it, so I have already thrown it away (DISAPPOINTING). And I am not sure about two other pieces, but for 50 cents I figured I could sell or redonate or give away or whatever.

I could lovingly Photoshop these pictures but today I just don't feel like it.

I went back and forth on these, but they are Ann Taylor Loft wool pants, and they fit, and they were only 50 cents, so I bought them. The legs are really, really, REALLY wide though and I don't know if that works for me. Still, such nice pants...

Tommy Hilfiger shirt! It's so cute and it fits really well except the sleeves are perhaps a smidge too short. I can roll them up though. I like this a lot.

Boring squishy not necessarily flattering Old Navy shirt. I liked the sleeves.

Cute stripey shirt.

Purple Old Navy shirt that I think will match some of my many skirts.

I cannot resist a black waffle/thermal shirt.

THE SHIRT WITH THE HOLE. Sure it was just 50 cents and was just a basic Target shirt. I liked it. I liked the neck and the fit. And it had not just a tiny hole but a spiderweb of tiny holes at the bottom. I thought I looked carefully but not carefully enough, it seems. I trashed it.

Ann Taylor Loft top. It's see-through but with a camisole under it, it will be darling. It fits so well!

Shirt for the kid. I'm undecided and it may not fit her but the kid section was so sparse and I just wanted to get her something.

On the other hand, I love this other shirt I found for her. It's hysterical and will totally fit her.

So, $5 total (plus tax) and I absolutely positively will wear at least 75% of what I bought. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Review and #Contest - Purex Crystals Aromatherapy

As a Purex Insider, I am often given the opportunity to test out products for free. The products are provided to me by Purex but I am under no obligation to do anything, as far as I'm concerned - I don't have to say nice things and I don't have to write a review at all if I don't feel like it.

This time around, I jumped at the chance to try Purex Crystals Aromatherapy - because I misunderstood what the product was. Wait, stop. I'm not saying I didn't like the product (I did, you'll see), but I am saying I didn't realize that this was not Purex Crystals fabric softener. The fabric softener aspect of the Crystals seems to have been removed completely and all that remains is dryer sheets under the "Crystals" label. And I am very, very disappointed at this - I liked the fabric softener crystals because they smelled nice, had reasonable ingredients, and actually worked - even on my workout clothes. But now it's just a fragrance booster, which is...whoopdedoo?

Purex Crystals Aromatherapy - not to be confused with fabric softener

 I mean, I've noted this before here in reviews - I do like pleasantly scented things, but I don't necessarily want my everyday clothing to smell like anything. I gravitate toward free and clear detergents in part because of this. I like to wear BPAL fragrance oils, for example, and I don't want them competing with my clothing. To me, "scent" doesn't equal "clean."

HOWEVER, on the other hand, I do like my towels to have a light scent - and sometimes my sheets too. So when I get a scented product like this to try, I use it on my towels and I judge it just on how well it works on my towels.

Purex Crystals Aromatherapy works just fine. I was sent the "Energy" scent, which is citrusy (more orange than lemon, I'd say), and it made my towels smell nice. I can't really say much more than that - they weren't softer and they weren't cleaner. They just smelled nice. It wasn't overpowering and it has lasted a few days (which also makes my linen closet smell nice, a little bonus). It's not a product I'd necessarily seek out in the future, but I am curious about the other scents. (I think I'd prefer "Serenity," which supposedly is calming and smells like water lilies, to "Energy.")

I was also sent two coupons to give away to two readers of A Place to Write Things who might like to try Purex Crystals Aromatherapy. Judge for yourself. If you like to add scent to your clothes, this will do that. Also it's absolutely fun to try new things. So check out the Rafflecopter widget, do the tasks honestly (I'll disqualify you if you cheat), and enter. US residents only. Contest runs from October 15, 2014, to October 22, 2014.

Thanks for reading!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mini Thrifting Trip - October 1, 2014

This trip was mini in a few ways.

I don't really need more clothing right now, my closet is bursting and needs to be emptied not filled.
My kid does need more clothing so I had to buy small things. (MINI getitgetit?)

My phone's camera hates me and so the pictures are not the best. But I found some cute things for both me and the kid all at the two stores we hit. (Three if you count Goodwill - I bought a copy of 13 Going on 30 for $3 there because I gave in - I watch that movie every time it is on random TV so I figured, might as well just own it. It's so damn cute...)

The save-the-animals store!

Really, this was the best thing I bought all day:

Yes, that is two boxes of little plastic lobster gems. It was $1 for the two (they seem to have originally been from the Target Dollar Spot) and I LOVE THEM. They're just so cute and...lobstery. Every time I send a package, someone's getting a lobster, I think.

As for the rest, I did buy things for me. I couldn't resist. But you should have seen all the things I put back! So clothes in my kid's size are 50 cents, clothes in bigger sizes for kids are $1, the skirts were $1.50 each, the owl shirt for me was $1.50 too, I think, though I'm not actually sure.

My kid probably will never wear this poncho (I put it on her when we got home, she took it right off) but LOOK. PONCHO. For 50 cents. Had to have.

I love Halloween, I love cheap clothes, I love this shirt that I got her for 50 cents. Also she's a fan of the peace sign. I call it a win.

Just a cute little sweater. NBD.

This Gymboree shirt looks like it was never worn. It was "specially priced" so it was $2 instead of $1. That's fine. It's so cute.

Hello and goodbye, cute pants. These are destined for resale at the upcoming consignment store. For $1 each, I took a risk.

Plain black skirt for me.

Ridiculous, almost-too-small Banana Republic skirt for me. BUT SO CUTE. I just...lost my mind and bought it. I'm hoping it will work with the sweater I bought (see next pic) and some brown tights.

TERRIBLE picture of amazing deep green sweater with boat neck. Just trust me. I think this might've been $2? I also think it does sort of match the skirt. We'll see.

I shouldn't have bought this and yet OWLS and PUNS and HALLOWEEN - of course I should have... $1.50.

Then we went to Value Village. Not anything particularly exciting this time around (although I do like VV's new tag system - bar coded and much more clearly color coded as well).

This sweater was so cute and also a half-price color. 75 cents.

HELLO KITTY. I couldn't resist. $1.50.

$1.50. I think it will fit her next year.

Limited Too sweater that I hope will fit her. Half-price, $1.25.

And my other favorite find:

This was $3.50. It's a Nino Bossi purse and I guess that means it was expensive at one point? I can't find a thing about this style (looks like a sweater/knit) anywhere so if you've seen it before, holler. I bought it because it was a) cute and b) fancy. Also I needed a new wintery purse.

And that's it!