My pants were half off!!

Hello friends!!  For the first time in 2015, we experienced temperatures in the double digits (without a negative in front)!! That's right it was a balmy 16 degrees Celcius here in Northwestern Ontario.  The strange thing is that there are still banks of snow sculking about in the shadows.  But rest assured snow, your days are DONE!!  Well, at least until the next snow storm, which let's face it, could happen next week.

Meanwhile, here are some pics that I took last month. It's another thrift haul from the Salv Army. They've been killing it lately with amazing sales.  The pants were 50% off, and I scored.  The nice thing is that this was a weekday sale, and I got to shop in an uncrowded store. It's nice to leisurely peruse the aisles without constantly bumping into people.

Banana Republic flares

Ann Taylor lined dress pants

Wierd label, wide leg pants

Vintage, mint condition lime-green pants!

Whew! I totally scored with the pants.  I'm really loving wide legs and flares lately - so these pants were a great find. They varied in price from $2 to $8 each. It always pays to try stuff on, as the Ann Taylor pair were a size 4, and I am definitely not (nor will I ever be) a size 4. But after eye-balling them I tried them on, and lo and behold they fit! Huzzah!

Due to recent donations I made to the Salv, I had in my possession a coupon for $10 off a $25 sale.  Witness what I used the coupon for.

Old school black and gold Adidas.

Crisp Jones New York dress shirt.

Open-knit American Eagle sweater.

SQUEE!! More powder blue!

Le Chateau flowy t-shirt

Aha! Fur collar - I always wanted one of these!!

Nicely made bling, Monet and another great label.

Well, my closet is now full to the bursting, and I must purge some more.  I've decided that since I have everything I need (and more!), I cannot go shopping again until September. So far it's been a couple of weeks - and I've resisted a few sales, but I'm holding firm.

happy thrifting ;)

Spring shopping therapy

Hello friends! I hope that you are enjoying the warmer spring weather (unless you are checking in from New Zealand or Australia - in which case 'hello fall!').

I was 'hoping' to get away for a road trip to Duluth.  I find nothing more calming that the scenic drive along the north shore of Lake Superior.  Sadly, finances didn't permit, so I went on a shopping stay-cation instead. 

The Salv Army obliged by having their kick-ass "Buy 4 items for $15" sale.  That's right folks, individual items of clothing (including 2 pieces suits) cost only $3.75.  It was a great opportunity to rejuvenate my wardrobe.  You could purchase a complete, head to toe outfit for less than $15.  And the selection of sping-y clothing was amazing, as witnessed by the following picture of my shopping cart.

Yikes!!  The threat of an impending clothing avalanche is real!!

I found a great selections of office worthy blazers.  You'll see 2 powder blue blazers hanging from my cart handle.  I've been obsessed with powder blue lately.

Always try stuff on!!  Sizes vary, flaws that aren't obvious on the hanger become obvious when you try on.  I usually wear a layer (leggings and a t-shirt) while I try stuff on.  I purged a lot of stuff after the try-on, but I walked away with some awesome deals.  Including the coral blazer pictured above (Ann Taylor, still had the protective plastic on the zipper pulls), the 2 piece powder blue Jones of New York suit, and the following:

• Nautica blouse with secretary bow
• Jessica cotton skirt
• vintage prairie skirt
• RW blousey tunic
• an AMAZING Donna Karan silk/linen skirt
• Kasper geometric print skirt
• vintage 80s broomstick skirt
• an Aeropostal thermal knit shirt
• an oversized man's shirt (for quilt material)
• a dusty pink cardigan
• a bright turquoise peasant blouse

I can hardly wait to wear my spring duds. The fantastic thing is that some of the stuff still had the tags!

But wait! There is more!!  Living in Canada, I'm always on the lookout for sweaters (sweater weather is 365 days per year here ;).  And I found some really nice cotton sweaters, behold.

Love the colors on this vintage cotton sweater!!  Here is the back.

I recently purchased a cotton sweater from RW, and I was disappointed when I threw it into a wash and some yarn knots popped through.  So I hand washed these sweaters carefully and they are now air drying. I can hardly wait to wear them!!

I figured I purchased enough clothing to create about 10 office looks for $7.50.  I'll show you OOTD as soon as I can.

happy thrifting ;)

Marsala madness!!

Have you checked out Pantone's 2015 color of the year?  It's a delectable shade called "Marsala".  It reminds me of burgundy tinged with taupe.  I love it!!!!

A few months ago, I picked up this vintage blouse at the Salvation Army.  It's Marsala baby!!

Check out the pleated, pie frill collar...I originally purchased this blouse to wear to a fashion costume party.  But now I think I may take it in, and shorten the sleeves.  The beauty of Marsala, is that it can be paired with so many other colors in my wardrobe.

Vintage Mister Leonard!

I think this is a very versaltile, and lovely color...I'm looking forward to thrifting for more!!

happy thrifting ;)

Purse and fabric haul from the thrift store

Hello friends, I hope you are all staying warm during this cold month of February.  I've been purging clutter and unused stuff.  I dropped off a bag of donations at the Salv Army and I perused the purses.

There was a decent selection of purses.  They were in great shape.  My eyes were immediately drawn to the mustard yellow Anne Klein purse.  It came home with me for $17.

Pardon the sideways shot

I loved this color blue.  This le chateau purse was a nice size, but it wasn't in excellent condition, so I passed.

This cute velvet purse still had the tag on it.  Judging from the printing on the price tag, this purse was old deadstock from the 1990s.  The purse was cute, but I need cross-body purses, so I passed.

Here is my new Anne Klein.  Cool thing was that I had been lusting after a very similar Anne Klein at TJ Max - but I balked at the pricetag.

Trademark lion head design.

Cross body strap was in the bag.

No visit to the thrift store is complete without checking out the fabric.  This trip was a score...plus I was able to use a $10 off coupon I had.  From top, top to left we have, about 2 metres of purple daisy material $7.  Blue/brown Aztec print, about 2 metre $4.99.  The most softest flannel ever...very nice quality!! Sunflower print, about 3 1/2 yards for $6.99.  Burgundy print fabric, 2 metres for $4.99.  Blue sunflower print fabric, 2 metres for $4.99.  All of this fabric is going to  be used in quilts.

Here are 2 other purses I found at Value Village.  When I saw the black purse on the rack, I was hoping it was vintage. Sadly it turned out to be a Liz Claiborne repro - but it was in excellent condition,so it came home with me for $15.

The cute little red purse is vintage.  It has a long chain handle and sparkly rhinestones.  It was $7.

happy thrifting ;)

Go recycling!!

This was my recycling and garbage pile 2 weeks ago.

As you can see, I had a LOT of stuff that had to get recycled. Cardboard boxes, cans and lots of misc paper.

Here are some old pics on my phone that I'm finally using (hey, that counts as recycling, right?).  These are things that I picked up at the 4 items for $15 sale at Salv Army.  With the blustery cold weather we've had, I was magnetized to colorful, summer clothing.

Alia Bandana shirt

Joe Fresh print blouse

Ann Taylor silk blouse

Liz Claiborn camouflage print blouse

Blue and grey check shirt

Louben orange linen blazer

print blazer

Gap green blazer

Banana Republic blouse

Everything has been washed and packed away for the summer.  This haul also gave me an opportunity to go through my closet and get rid of some stuff...one bag in, one bag out...it's all about recycling.

happy thrifting ;)

Aldo shoes, Roots purse and other random finds from 2014

Hello! Whoo, look at me doing several posts in one day!! 

I was reviewing images on my camera iPhone, and I found some pictures of random finds from 2014.

This buttery-soft Roots purse set me back $15. These type of purses retail for about $100.  It was in mint condition!!  I love the color!!  It's the perfect size to hold a wallet, cell phone and chapstick. It's the kind of thing I take with me on trips - I can sling it across my body and walk for miles.

Three purses, a large red tote, an Ed Hardy purse and a vintage leather cross body.  Love them!!  I used the red tote a lot during 2014 - it was my goto purse for work.  I threw in my wallet, cell phone, lunch, water bottle, makeup bag etc.  It held everything!  The red tote is a shiny tote from Sears, I think I got it for a few dollars.  The Ed Hardy purse was used for overnight trips - it held a remarkable amount of clothing. I bought it for about $10, I'm not sure how much it retailed for. The leather cross body is vintage, circa 1980s...it has no cell phone pocket inside ;)  Love it!!

 Radom clothing that was 50% off. 

I purchased this shirt for the buttons....it's cheaper to buy a shirt for a few dollars, then to purchase new buttons.

The buttons went on this Ralph Lauren chambray shirt. It looks much nicer now!

Love this oversized cotton sweater by Jones of New York.  Oversized sweaters are my kryptonite (I guess that makes me the Superman of thrift stores ;).

This sweater was $3 on sale.

The pattern on this silk t-shirt reminded me of the iconic, Louis Vuitton pattern.  I snapped it up for $1.50.  It's a vintage Spenser Jeremy top.  I washed it by hand but sadly some of the dye bled on the sleeve.  It's still perfectly wearable though. I plan to wear it with black shorts and a green Gap blazer that I picked up.

This is a cute RW dress made of brown cordouroy.   I have it packed away - to be worn when the weather warms up.

I remember finding a lot of cute, new shoes in my size at the thrift store that day.  I walked away with the sparkly Aldo loafers on the left. They were about $3, they would retail for at least $50 in the store.  I wore them on my birthday.

happy thrifting ;)