A Day Well Spent

But you already knew that.  And I have the dresses to prove it.  Again.  Day 3:

This is way too much fun.  If only I could wear my niece's shoes, then I'd really be in business, but my joints say "no way".  I have to be content with the dresses and with that, I have no complaint.  I'm not always on the receiving end though.  Remember my amazing Geiger Austria wool cape?  I found out it was far pricier than I had imagined, but I had no intention of selling it.  But, on Christmas, my niece announced that after seeing it on the blog, she needed to have it.  Her exact words were "don't post it if you don't want to sell it".  With some chiming in from the rest of the family (aren't you running a business?) I had to let it go.  Now I'm on the hunt for another one.  Or, I could just wait until she purges it, which, if history tells me anything, she will.  

Our snow days are coming to an end.  Oh, the snow isn't gone, and we're going to get more, but the whole idea of shutting down due to the weather has run it's course.  School is back in session tomorrow, and along with that, everything else is getting back to normal.  The "too cold" excuse is only going so far in Chicago, and the minus 45 wind chill is making way for a very balmy 19 degrees.  That means that EVERYTHING is up and running again.  Anything above zero is just a chilly walk in the park.  I tried to make the best of the two days when not leaving the house was a-ok.  Besides playing dress-up with my free clothes, I painted my bust (I agree that sounds a little odd) and the results were gorgeous:

I've been looking for one and was extremely happy to find this at Village Thrift. 

Totally loving this!  Rust-o-leum Bright Metallic Gold.


Creating something beautiful, trying on "new" clothes, staying in out of the cold and staying up late to write about it means today was well spent.  Here's to a great tomorrow.

Snow Day!

    I spent some time painting THIS today, because I was snowed in.  We finally got the driveway shoveled at around 5p.m.  Don't believe I was snowed in?  Check this out:

This is what I woke up to!  Dude, where's my car?

With a whole day on my hands, I decided to try on a few more dresses.  Working my way up to 27!

                                

 Two more from my "Motherlode" freebie haul.  

As the freebies were being tossed about, this Calvin Klein
sleeveless number caught my eye.  Not too crazy about
having the arms exposed, but I went with it.  

I have at least six more days of this.  Let me know if you get bored. 

Last Closet Purge of the Year!

Free Clothes.  I have no shame.

Once again, I was at the right place at the right time.  My niece was "purging" her closet...again.  As a member of the Society of Mannequins, she has a reputation to uphold.  I however, do not.  I take my clothes gifted, thrifted and anywhere in between.  This time, she had a fashion student/aspiring stylist in charge of the mass toss-out.  This twenty-something year old had her own ideas on how my niece should dress, and she shamelessly kicked Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and other well and not-so-well knowns to the curb.  Never one to pass up a curbside donation, I skillfully wielded my giant shopping bag, oftentimes catching these ravishing rejects in mid-air.   

I've never worn a peplum before.  Another myth shattered.
It was my favorite freebie of the night.

I tried to "skinnify" this one because the dress
is too big, which I've finally accepted can
make me look bigger.  Still, I love this
dress and will be wearing it--a lot.

There is more to come.  I had to give my daughter, who didn't want to do it anyway was overjoyed to help me, a break from camera duty.  Free stuff, free help. What a concept.

More Favorite Finds...

Another new year is here.  It's so strange that morphing into another year in a matter of seconds seems such a non-big deal.  I remember when I was younger, it took me weeks to process this, and if I was awake at the "big moment" I was totally overwhelmed.  A minute ago it was one year, and now it's another.  I'm guessing that I'm not alone in this, but seriously, the fascination is gone. I don't have problems remembering to write the correct year, the thought of a new year doesn't keep me up, and in fact, I'm basically unfazed except for being extremely grateful to see another one.  Growing up does have it's disadvantages.  I have to find new things that fascinate me.  

I started listing my favorite thrift finds of this year---well, now that would be last year.  I got up to May and stopped browsing through my pictures.  I realized that I have spent a LOT of time shopping this past year.  I listed some amazing housewares, home decor and accessories, but didn't dare touch the clothes.  I'm taking a stab at this huge task now:  




This $6 sweater turned ugly Christmas sweater contest winner.  It won because it was so "beautiful".  
The competition is getting tough in my favorite stores, and the prices of Christmas sweaters was jacked up unbelievably.  I made my own. 




This stretch satin caftan.  I never intended to wear it myself, but I was hanging out at my niece's house and needed something comfy to wear.  I'd just spent the morning thrifting and this was in the car.  Needless to say, it's not going anywhere.  Color me golden.  Color me happy!




This fringe-and-feather adorned ensemble.  My daughter humored me by modeling it.  Surely someone is looking for something just like this.  I can't wait 'til they find it. 

                                                                                                
My Ralph Lauren trench.  Designer labels in my size are nearly impossible to find.  It's hard out here for a big girl.  I know, I make it look easy.


Love this Evan-Picone dress, found new with tags at Village Thrift.  First day of work outfit for my daughter.  It fit her perfectly.


This quirky, super-patriotic parade dress.  People thought it was cute, but it didn't sell until my daughter added "Marian the Librarian" to the description.  It went quickly after that.  What was I just saying about someone looking for something just like this?  I'm betting a production of "The Music Man" was in the works. 


Vintage Oleg Cassini.  Perrrrrfect condition.  I love sending out packages with perfectly beautiful vintage items tucked inside. 


This cherry red coat came with it's very own crushed velvet scarf.  Meh.  But the bakelite buttons and embroidered lining are amazing.  I gave it to my niece recently.  I'd better remove that listing. 


Beaded top--my size!  I was so sick and tired of everyone else having all the shiny, shimmery fun.  


Michael Kors dress, JEANS, silk scarf, and my absolute favorite vintage shoes--navy blue patent.  Remember what I said about designer labels?  Lightning struck twice!


This dress that I bought for spring, but ended up wearing on Christmas.  It's one of my favorites because I spent no time trying it on and finding fault with it.  I just put it on and kept it moving.  It ended up looking really cute and with no stressing, I was actually very happy with the way I looked. 

I also found lots of sensible shoes, sunglasses and brooches.  Necklaces, gloves and purses.  Chairs and tables and mirrors.  Plates and mirrors and bar carts.  ... and ...and ...

I did mention that I shopped a lot. 

What a Year!

I was reading a friend's blog, where she counted down her top 10 thrift finds of the year.  She finds far more fabulous things than I do, and I can't imagine how she got the list down to ten.  I've decided...I CAN'T DO IT!  But I am going to try anyway.  Here goes:

This amazing vintage Soure handbag.  Quality, classy and fun!

I bought it last year, but sold it this year.  I got a great price for it, which definitely boosted my morale at a time when I was thinking that maybe this online selling thing wasn't going to work.  I sold it to a lovely and talented artist in Chicago.  I don't go out enough to need something like this, so I finally took it out of the pillowcase I'd been storing it in, and let someone else have at it.  With nary a bead out of place, this was an amazing find.  I've only seen one like it.

I found this huge, rugged and gorgeous doctor bag at a garage sale.  For $1.  I hated to part with it, but this is just the kind of quality vintage item I want to be associated with.  

After selling this extremely cool set of luggage, I saw the remake of the movie "Sparkle".  There was my set of luggage being loaded into a taxi.  I felt so legitimate!

This vintage adornment from a bridal gown.  I grabbed it as I was leaving an estate sale.  They told me to give them the one dollar that I was holding and call it even.  I experimented with placing it on a purse, a sweater...nothing quite worked.  I ended up selling it for a nice profit.  More importantly, some beautiful bride had an authentic vintage addition to her dress.  It was in pristine condition.

The sofa.  My first place, post-divorce was a lovely two-bedroom apartment.  The windows!  The floors!  The ceilings!  The crazy landlord!  I couldn't stay more than a year due to the latter, but it made for a great setting for hundreds of photos and really helped me advance my online presence.  Grateful.  This gorgeous couch also facilitated meeting my friend Ellie, a master upholsterer in Florida.  We bonded over this couch, the near-twin of one she had reupholstered.  Superb quality and style.  Perfect for this room.  I almost sold it, then had a change of heart.  It's in storage now, but I can't wait to find another "perfect" spot for it.  

My first pair of Prada shoes.  I know little about labels, but I knew that these shoes were special.  They ended up being too tight, so I sold them.  

My first vintage martini set.  It was in amazing condition, with the swizzle!  I sold it, and have continued to buy, collect and sell vintage barware ever since.  It it definitely one of my greatest pleasures.  I can hear the Playboy theme song every time I look at it.  I can see Hugh Hefner.  Eewww...

Tiffany perfume bottle.  Great story behind this company.  Lovely filigree sleeve, and it still smells good after 40 years.  SOLD.

A keeper.  This huge enamelware pot has been the home to many a soul food dinner.  I get happy just looking at it.  BTW, I got rid of all my cookware when I moved, then replaced it with vintage from the thrift store.  It fit perfectly into my vintage place, and my vintage budget.  And the food tastes better, I swear!

I bought this table at an estate sale for $5.  It has been decoupaged, tableclothed, and has served as my office, dining table and craft table over the past year.  I love this table.  I really do.  I did my taxes for the first time at this table.  

And that's ten!  And I am only into May!  I have another seven months of thrifting to sift through.  Stay tuned...

Caped Crusader!

As reported yesterday, I gave a bunch of winter coats away several months back.  It was the middle of summer, my apartment didn't have central air, and I was having a hot flash.  A major one.  It seemed to last most of the day, but I guess there was just a succession of them.  I was miserable and I happened to open the hall closet door and see wool, down, and fur.  Fake fur.  Anyway, I kind of lost it, and put all of them into bags and took them straight to SA.  

It got super cold much earlier than usual this year.  Last year on Thanksgiving it was 60 degrees.  This year, I don't think it was even 20 and it went downhill from there.  I spent all of November in a leather jacket layered with a sweater or two underneath.  I looked like an eight ball.  I searched the thrift stores for a coat, trying to stay away from wool since I'm allergic to it, but if I found one I really liked, I figured I'd just keep a safe layer underneath.  It didn't matter since I found nothing.  Thrift shopping has become a bit of a craze, so there's additional competition that didn't exist before.  I'm not happy about that.  Even though I'm the hot flash queen, I have to say that I was really getting cold and almost bit the bullet and went the "R" word---Retail.  Just before I caved, I hit the jackpot at Savers.  I found a down car coat, almost exactly like one that I gave away, plus a wool blend, Austrian made cape.  I was really excited about this.  Easy to wear.  Room for layers.  Instant chic.  My size.  YAY!

Free shoes from The Free Store.  Vintage Trotters!

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I was too cold to take my hands out of my pockets so I couldn't model it, but I carried this $3 estate sale purse to church yesterday.  

I've had it for a couple of years and finally got around to using it.  It's so pretty--no??

With two days left, I'm in good shape for Christmas.  I have a few more things to buy, but what I have bought is wrapped and ready.  I'm looking forward to chilling out tomorrow.  I got this!

The Countdown Continues...

I'm having major computer issues lately.  With the wifi not working here at home, and the desktop I'm using being old and slow, I haven't been writing much lately.  I'm going to try and remain patient so that I can stay connected to everyone--I'm going to use this dinosaur.  This post will be short because I'm sure that I'm not all that patient.

Today was a great day for feeling Christmas-ey.  Well, the whole weekend was, really.  I finally got on the train with my kids and visited Macy's to see the windows, the tree at the Walnut Room, and then over to Daley Plaza to get some roasted chestnuts at the Christkindlmarket.  It's not Christmas without these little traditions that my 16 and 22 year olds still enjoy doing with me.  I even got a mani-pedi while I was there.  Pink fingers and green toes.  Yep, I went there.

I got in some shopping early yesterday, before the effects of too much walking the night before kicked in.  With my aching feet propped up, and my aching back still aching, I settled in for some Christmas movies, gift wrapping and Christmas Blend Hot Chocolate.  Somewhere in the middle of it all, I helped my daughter with costumes for the Christmas pageant at church.  I never made it to my niece's annual Christmas party and it looks like I missed an epic one, but then, all of her parties are like that. 

Church today was great!  After service we had a potluck and pageant, and my daughter did a great job with the kids.  Christmas really should come twice a year...there's just too much great stuff going on to have to wait a whole year for it to happen again.  I finally got pictures of the green wool cape I thrifted a couple of weeks ago to replace the closet full of winter coats that I gave away one day when I was having a crazy bad hot flash.  Just looking at them in the closet made me nuts.  Someone asked me for pictures today and I happened to have them!  BUT...I can't post them right now because of the aforementioned computer issues I'm having.  I'll be up and out early tomorrow and I can be found at either Panera or Starbucks.  The library opens too late.  And yes, I have someone coming to resolve the issues, now that I have finally accepted that I can't figure it out myself.  

I topped off the weekend with a movie...a pretty bad one, but as always, entertaining.  Yes, I'm talking Madea, and this latest movie was just as nonsensical as the rest, but I did laugh a lot.  What could be better?  Now that I have everything wrapped (keeping my fingers crossed that all the online orders come in tomorrow), I've made several jars of cocoa, several plates of reindeer cookies, and even tried to make a scarf, (Never learned to crochet) I'm feeling that much closer to a no regrets holiday.  Of course there will always be a few things I didn't get around to.  Tonight, I'm making paper chains.  Why?  Just haven't done it in a really long time and it's always been one of my favorites.  I definitely miss working with kids at this time of year.  The glue!  The glitter!  The "holiday red" construction paper!

I have two more days to "get it in!"  Here's to trying!