More Thrifting More Thrifting Always More Thrifting - October 9, 2015

Yesterday was full of those little things that make it feel like the universe is messing with you.

My trip to see Amy was complicated by a "major" MARTA delay. I nearly turned back and went home but I decided to brave the drama and in the end it only delayed me by about 15-20 minutes, though that included the train stopping up on a trestle in the trees for about 10 minutes and my ensuing panic that we'd be stuck there FOREVER. Also, I was overcharged by one thing at the thrift store (I'm chalking it up to "awesome deals are still awesome.") and I broke my favorite sunglasses (I ducked into a store and bought a pair for $2 on BOGO clearance - Amy got a headband).

Anyway, I did go to my favorite thrift store despite protesting that I shouldn't, I didn't need anything, I really shouldn't go. And I spent too much - but I love everything I got, so it's OK, right?

I only know the prices of a few things and like I said, I was definitely charged for one phantom item but I can't figure out WHICH item (the receipt is confusing).

Braves!

Falcons!

Thrashers! (RIP)

I needed to represent nearly all the sports of Atlanta, apparently. The Thrashers sweatshirt is REALLY squishy and comfy.

Tahari

Tommy Hilfiger

The Hilfiger dress is adorable and way better than it looks on the hanger - plus it has pockets! And the Tahari dress made me feel fabulous. (Update: I sold the Tahari dress. It was too big.)

So hoodie - very very soft

I don't feel like retaking this picture but it's an amazing tan corduroy Bass skirt.

All shorts were 50 cents so I got these. Amy hated them, I liked how they fit and I'd gotten in a rut of either denim capris or skirts so...something different.

One "specially priced" shirt for the kid - $2.50 because it's Gymboree. It's very cute.

Favorite purchase I think, though I waffled. It's a BRAND NEW Lily Bloom crossbody purse. I had been searching for a new fall purse and this fit the bill. It's adorable and was $10. (Update: I carry this almost EVERY DAY.)

And finally...

Boden!

BODEN!

Two SUPER SUPER cute Boden pieces. I'm trying to sell the sweater immediately because it's the wrong color for me but is perfect otherwise. The skirt is a maybe - I love it but I'm not positive I'll wear it, so I might sell that too. I'm hoping to make back what I spent total (about $38) but even half that would be nice.

Yay thrifting!

End of June Thrifting! - July 1, 2015

The fact is, I've been pretty down lately. A job hunt, behavioral issues popping up in the kid, worries about all aspects of my life. I asked Amy if she wanted to go to the movies, hooray! (spoiler alert: we saw Inside Out and it was awesome.) But when we met up, she first slipped me a $20 in an adorable card and told me to have fun at the thrift store. I cried, I won't lie.

So off we went to my favorite store. I didn't buy a lot (I didn't even spend the whole $20) but I'm pretty happy with what I did buy. (Not shown, a basic pair of shorts for the kid.) I think everything was $2 each - the jeans might've been $2.50 each.

Apparently this is a brand sold in Anthropologie. It's "Tulle." I liked the vintagey look to this top and the way it fit. It's a bit low cut but...

Amy said "Hey, I found this tank top with a built-in bra - get this and it will go with the shirt." So voila, I bought both. I actually haven't tried this on yet but I loved it - and it's Express and looks brand new!

I have several Old Navy shirts in this style, with the buttons going up and around the neckline. Cute cute. UPDATE: When I wore it out and about, I discovered that it has A HOLE. A teeny hole that probably nobody will notice, so I'll continue to wear it in certain instances but ARGH A HOLE COME ON.

Nice basic Gap T-shirt with some funky shoulder/back detailing.

This is Faded Glory. That's K-mart, right? That amuses me greatly because I grew up in the era of K-mart being so terrible and now here I am going "Oooo this is so cute."

And finally, two pairs of skinny jeans - Aeropostale and Gap. Both are short which means they won't bunch up when I tuck them into boots this fall.

See, not much, but enough to give me a little boost. And the movie was great - and the matinee price was only $5.25 and they actually had popcorn and candy for $2/each (but I snuck in candy from Dollar Tree and an iced tea (spearmint and honey!) that I'd bought using Ibotta (referral link!) to get it for way cheap). I'd absolutely go see another movie in a theater for those prices!

My kid is around the corner from turning EIGHT. EIGHT. So I'm sure I'll have a post about all those feelings coming up soon.

Nifty Thrifty - May 20, 2015

Lately my kid has been exhibiting some behavior that just isn't in any of the blogs/books about CP. I don't want to get into it too deeply (yet?) but I will say that when I tell people "She has an unusual form of cerebral palsy, and you can't assume that all people with CP are the same," I am not kidding. So she's been driving me pretty much up the wall and I desperately needed a break. Enter Amy and a short thrifty day (I took the subway in both directions so we had less time than when I subway it up and get a ride home).

We went to two stores. The infamous favorite doggie-kitty-prices-are-so-low store and a Value Village. As ALWAYS AND FOREVER, Value Village continues to destroy clothing by stabbing price tags on plastic cords into the worst spots and making holes. But on the other hand, as I've noted, VV doesn't have consistent "all of these things are the same price" pricing, so the treasure hunt aspect is fun.

Not shown: I was actually mainly shopping for my husband (HA, SURE) but I'm not posting pictures of what he kept. Men are hard to buy for and of course it's hard to buy clothing for someone who isn't present - fit and style are so personal. But I took some risks. I bought him three shirts and a pair of shorts. One shirt he rejected from the picture I sent him after I'd already bought it. I lied - I'll show you that one:

OK, to be fair, I knew it was silly and I knew it wasn't entirely his style but I had hoped....  And then his emailed reply came too late for me to do anything about my purchase. So Amy bought it from me to gift to a more suitable recipient.

(I also did not buy him this one:

...which was an 80s Esprit shirt that was adorable....but I knew he'd never actually wear it. But SUMO WRESTLERS PLAYING TENNIS OR SOMETHING WHAT?)

Of the two shirts and the pair of shorts that I brought home, he only rejected one shirt and that is because *sigh sigh sigh* it had a tiny hole on the neck, just below the collar in the back. It looked like....a Value Village hole! I don't blame him for rejecting it, I'm just pissed that I didn't notice before I bought it - and the shirt itself was otherwise perfect. But for $4, he kept a pair of Eddie Bauer shorts and an Izod shirt. Not too shabby.

Here's what I got for me...

THE COAT OF MY DREAMS. There is a story about this and the story is that THIS is the coat that I wrote about in the previous post. I never forgot about it and I actually found it on ebay in a better size, but the price just wasn't right for something that was more of a novelty to me. When I walked into the store this time around, I went over to the coat rack to see and.....IT WAS STILL THERE. And it fits...enough. And it was $2.50 (it was in a section where prices are a bit confusing and subjective, so I asked and that's what I was told by the woman who sort of runs the place and I said "OH!" and she said, "Oh, wait....yeah, $2.50" and I said HOORAY). I have already twirled around the house in it many times. It's by True Meaning, which apparently is a schmancy brand to start with. I may someday splurge on the proper size but for now, this is happymaking. 

Amy found this for me and it's a smiiiiidge too small but you can't actually tell when it's on, I swear (it's very stretchy). It's BCBG/Max Azria, which, again, is apparently schmancy. It has the dry cleaner's tag in it and the care tag says "Dry Clean Only" but it's polyester. I'm washing it on delicate. Or maybe doing Dryel or something similar. $2. 

Ann Taylor Loft foofy skirt. The waistband is actually very cute but I couldn't be bothered to fix it for the picture. $2. 

Tommy Hilfiger jean shorts. $2.

J Crew "Boy Shirt" that I think will be very cute over a tank top. I think this might have been $1.50.

Love love love this yoga shirt but, well, I don't know what it says on the side. But it's from a high-end brand (it's part bamboo!) and it's so soft and comfy and fits so perfectly. Can you translate it? $1.50.

And then this is from Value Village. It was 20 cents and I bought it because those are my initials. HA. Turns out it's the logo of a Chicago bank, of all things. There were about 10 of these mugs in pristine condition but I don't really even need one mug...

Lastly, and not the best picture - sorry not sorry - an H&M shirt that was 75 cents because it was the half-price color of the day. It's purple and basic so even though you can't try things on at VV, I took a chance. (I haven't yet tried it on but it's probably fine.)

And for the kid....

Value Village! $2.50. Children's Place shirt.

$1.50. Evy of California shirt which apparently is also higher-end children's clothing. I didn't care about that, I just loved the skull.

Another near-perfect Children's Place shirt for $2.50. I asked my daughter what the design was. "Dragon!" she said. Close enough.

And from the doggie-kitty store, shorts for 75 cents.

It's such a rush going thrifting, isn't it?

First Thrifting Post of 2015 - April 17, 2015

How can this even BE? Have I really not had a good, intense, thrilling thrifting adventure at all this calendar year?

Truth be told, I know I have popped in and out of a few small thrift stores since January, but I bought so few things that I didn't take pictures or post or anything. Don't cry, it will be OK. (Actually I'm sorry I didn't purely because I use my blog as my own personal catalog of when/where/why I bought my wardrobe for reasons ranging from "Hey, I haven't worn that in a while and nearly forgot about it" to "I want to resell this piece - how much did I pay for it?" to "WHY ON EARTH did I buy this?")

In any case, yesterday I did escape to thriftland and managed to hit two stores on my quest to fill in my daughter's summer wardrobe a bit. I actually also went into a Goodwill with high hopes. Hopes that were dashed by the absurd management of the children's clothing section - two racks against a wall, with the one holding girl clothing so high that I (I am on the taller side) had to stretch to reach it, and no rhyme or reason for the order of the clothing on the rack. I'm not asking GW to arrange by size (though other stores manage it, but whatever), but perhaps by season? By pants vs. shirts? It was just a giant mess, with tiny onesies next to skirts for teenagers. I bought nothing.

But I did buy things at the two independent stores I love and adore. Things for her and things for me. Let's look at the things for me first, shall we?

Hard-to-photograph Merona (Target) dress that actually fits beautifully. Looks like it's made from a higher-end fabric than it is. $2 I think.

Fanciest purchase of the day! Lucky cropped jeans. Specially priced at $5. Fit adorably. Can't wait to wear these when this rain moves out.

Abercrombie jeans because I have another pair and I love how they fit. They're too long but have that frayed/cut edge that I actually find very charming. $2.

Tommy Hilfiger shirt for breaking out of my t-shirt rut. $2.

I was worried this Apt. 9 shirt would be too old-ladyish because it looks that way on the hanger (and in this picture) but I swear, it's not. It's great. Very flowy and cute and again, NOT A T-SHIRT! $2. 

But, I mean, I need T-shirts. Forever 21 (just like me!). $2.

And Target sometimes does clothing so well. I liked the flowers. The shirt is more gray than brown, trust me. $2.

So hard to photograph, so nice in person. Nine West black tank-top-swingy-shirt-thing. $2.

And then the things for my daughter:

Levis that I think might fit her now. Old Navy shorts that...I think might fit her now. (She's tricky.) 75 cents each.

These will probably fit her in the fall. Old Navy, Crazy 8s. 75 cents each, I think? (All kid clothes at one store were 75 cents, at the other they were 85 cents because $1 plus random daily 15% discount, and I can't remember which I bought where.)

I mean....I couldn't leave this there even if it's too big. 75 or 85 cents.

Super soft and nice Gymboree sweater for the fall. 85 cents, pretty sure.

Children's Place t-shirt that will fit her now. For some reason this was marked up to $2, which is fine just confusing. 

Cupcakes! OshKosh. 85 cents, I think.

These were 75 cents each and might be too small for her, maybe, but seriously. SERIOUSLY. 

Gymboree shirt in perfect condition. 85 cents, I think.

And finally, the non-clothing items. $1 for Liz Phair, $2 for the Wii game (still shrinkwrapped). Notice that I didn't buy any books! Ah, how much I've changed....

Also, I tried on, swooned over, sighed about, and then put back a super-cute green blazer/jacket that was just the tiniest bit too small in a way that would've been problematic. I've found it online though and might splurge on it....

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.