For the Love of Shoes

I know it sounds like a cliche`. All girls like shoes. My oldest daughter isn't overly girly-she prefers jeans and sweatshirts to dressing up-but she loves shoes. My youngest thinks she has flair to spare, and loves shoes (more specifically: boots). Most of my girlfriends love shoes.

And shoes that I would most like to own are far out of my league. Those beautiful Blahnik's, Choo's, Miu Miu's, Louboutin's............I mean, they are works of art! But that sad truth is I only have a beer budget and Grey Goose dreams.

I have large feet. Not like basketball player size 15, but a 9-1/2. I don't often find nice shoes in thrift stores for my size. I find tons of 7's that are the most adorable ones that want to jump into my cart, but I must break it to them gently that I would need to remove my toes for them come close to fitting. And I like my toes.

Last weekend I introduced a friend of mine to Arc's Value Village. I myself had only recently tried them myself.  We had a fun day of thrifting and a wonderful lunch at PF Chang's.

I wasn't having a lot of luck finding clothes that I wanted. I did find a dress and some shorts, but to my amazement: shoes. As in 5 pairs. 1 pair has never been worn, 3 have very light wear and 1 pair are nicely broken in.

Back row: Bandolino, Cole Haan, Born

Front row: Bare Trap, Naturalizer

My hubby was none too happy. Apparently he feels if you get a pair of shoes, you need to get rid of a pair. I think he was dropped on his head as a child. 

We stopped at Turn Style Consignment after visiting 2 Arc's Value Village locations. Kelley found 2 pairs of shoes and a pair of cropped pants for work. I couldn't find anything for me, but I found something for my love bug!

Children's Place 'fur' coat-tags still on

It was a really fun day with a sweet friend.

Cole Haan Nike Air pumps-- $36.99 + 25% off with coupon. Retail around $125-150

Bandolino faux alligator wedge--$28 + 25% off with coupon (never worn). Similar about $48

Born sandals--$10.49. Retail around $100

Bare Trap sandals--$7.49. Similar retail $40-50

Naturalizer slide sandals--$6.49 + 25% off with coupon. Can't find comparable-guessing $40?

Children Place jacket--$7. Tags on but price torn off. Guessing $25

I think Coco will look quite cute in it next fall!

**UPDATE: hubby says he WAS NOT dropped on his head. He just thinks like a 'normal' person.

Spring Weather Separates

The weather is warming, a little.

The snow in these pictures are gone-it will show up in a few more posts as I took several pics on one day. While we had a couple of very nice days last week, we are back to more normal temps this week-ranging between 40 and 55 degrees.  Time to shed heavier layers and start wearing lighter weight options.

I have a lot of black in my wardrobe due it's slimming effects, but also because it is a good neutral. It goes with just about every color in the closet.

This is the softest shirt I have ever worn

Perfect for my office, which is way too warm all the time

In addition to the blouse above, here are a few items that I found while thrifting a couple of weeks ago.  The scarf doesn't have any tags, but it reminds me of one my Mom wore back in the 70's.  The baby blue cardigan is deliciously soft and has become one of my favorite things I have found. The fabulous t-shirt reminds me of my teenage years in the 80's. I love it for the gym.

                      

     


Black A.N.A. blouse-thrifted $1.29
Black and white striped Merona skirt-clearance $7.98
Black Peep toe Merona shoes-sale $18.99

Blue polka dot with red trim scarf-thrifted $1.29
Baby Blue Designers Originals sweater-thrifted $1.29
Grey L.O.L. Vintage crop t-shirt-thrifted $1.29

The items thrifted for $1.29 are from Arc's Value Village that has a different colored tag sale every Sunday where all clothes with that color tag are, you guessed it, $1.29. The blouse was $6.99,                                                              the scarf was $3.49, the sweater was $7.99 and the crop tee was                                                            $5.99.

Sunny and Bright

While we here in Minnesota are always complaining this time of year that the winter was sooooooo long and horrible and that we just want to see grass, hear birds and wear something other than tights, wool socks, down parkas and long underwear.

Happy to report that all this snow is now gone!

The truth is,we have had a pretty mild winter this year.  We did have many cold snaps, but our winter was not too bad. Last winter-that was bad. Huge amounts of snow, blizzard conditions, horrible icy roads. And it snowed in May. That was a bad winter.

Trying to wish spring here, I pulled out some sandals, a lightweight bright blouse and my favorite thrift purchase ever-a pair of white Ann Taylor jeans. The are the best fitting jeans I have ever put my booty in. They are the curvy fit and I think I want to wear them every day.  The pants had the tags on when I bought them. so I went to the website to check on ordering another pair-gah! $89! Which is what the tag said, but sometimes 'retail' isn't 

'real-tail'.  I couldn't bring myself to spend that much right now-but maybe when I win the lottery ;)

Ann Taylor Jeans-$20 Clothes Mentor

Apt 9 blouse for Kohl's-thrifted $5.99 Goodwill

Kate Spade bag-thrifted $8.99 Savers (I don't think it is real-but it's cute!)

Sandals-Target (old) gift

Ugh

8 full days of being sick.

I felt like a leper in the waiting room.

The drugs aren't helping.

Cold now bronchitis and asthma attacks.

Bed.

What Would You Suggest?

I am stuck.

I have this sweater of my Dad's that I want to make something else out of.  I will never be able to wear it A) because I'll never be that small (it is from when he was in the Navy and weighed about 110 pounds) and B) it is wool and I cannot wear wool next to my skin.

So does anyone have any ideas?

Pink and Brown

One of my favorite color combos is pink and brown.  I was so happy when I spotted this on the rack at Arc's Value Village. Not only is the color combo I like, IT IS POLKA DOTS!

Why yes, that IS a really big skillet

Polka dots just make me happy. I have been enamored with them since I was young. Remember that fabulous dress Julia Roberts wore in  "Pretty Woman"?

I found a very similar dress for a special event-unfortunately I couldn't find the shoes :(

I liked the randomness of the polka dots on the shirt-a little more casual and fun. 

For a pop of color, I pulled out my yellow purse.  My youngest daughter gave it to me when she was done with it. I don't think it is a real Guess purse, but that doesn't matter to me-I just think it is pretty. 

I included an "artistic looking off into the distance" shot. I hate my profile and I look terrible in pics if I'm not smiling)

I like the little detail on the sleeve and the band around the neck

And for some reason all the comments on my previous posts have disappeared. Since I'm soooooo not techie orientated, I have no idea what has happened.


Shirt: no tags thrifted from Arc's Value Village $6.99 half price-$3.50
Jeans: Lauren Conrad for Kohl's-old
Purse: Guess-gift

Thrifting Heaven

Living in Podunk like we do, we must drive to the big cities so see some thrift action. Really, 25-35 miles isn't so bad considering we have to drive 10 miles just to get some milk.

We have a radio station in the Twin Cities that is talk radio, but not your normal talk radio.  MyTalk 107.1 is an entertainment station. They talk TV shows, movies, music, strange news. Pretty much Pop Culture. They have spoken of Arc's Value Village for as long as I have been listening to the station. They are all in the Twin Cities metro area, which means a drive.

They opened a new store about 27 miles from us and I took a wander up last Sunday. I hit the jackpot, baby. For about $83 I got a couple dresses, many tops, two jackets, 7 pieces of jewelry, the shoes posted in my last post, some baby clothes for CJ, some books and a blue vase for my desk at work (a place that is stuck in the 70's, but that is a different story).

Today my youngest wanted to go see what it was all about.  She took over my job as Office Manager when I went to the 'Mothership' of our employer.  She is a young, single Mom (both kids and a grandchild are under our small, small roof) who doesn't have much money to spend on herself, so she had thrifted since she was a teen.

I love to find different pieces of jewelry. 

Just a pop of color is sometimes all you need to make an outfit

Cleaned and ready to be worn, including a Lane Bryant dress, a Limited tank and a Style & Co top

Some of the lighter stuff-Style & Co, Merona and Jones of New York

Every week at Arc's, there is a colored tag sale for 50% off everything with that color.  On Sundays, they pick another tag color and all the clothes with that tag color are $1.29. A BUCK TWENTY NINE!!

My daughter got some Limited pants, a Banana Republic blouse, an Old Navy skirt and a Gap sweater. The sweater was $6 but the other three were $1.29 each.

We had a fun afternoon out scooping up deals and treated ourselves to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Mmm, probably won't be going there again anytime soon. Our food came before our drinks, there was tomato on my sandwich when I asked for no tomato and then our desserts took about 15 minutes to get to our table. AND it was horribly expensive. 

I'm off to eat my piece of cheesecake-it had better be good!