Bargain Shopping

I'm totally into bargain shopping lately. I guess with the economy the way it is, I've been thinking more about being frugal and it's opened up a whole new world for me. I've never been a thrift store shopper, although I've always liked a bargain. Because of my weight loss, I've needed a lot of new clothes and that can get expensive. So I finally broke down and started checking out St. Vinnie's and Goodwill as well as a couple of used clothing stores and feel like I've hit the jackpot. I've been finding designer clothes for just a few dollars. Yesterday I bought three tops, a DKNY, a Liz Claiborne and a beautiful fitted white blouse - all for under $10! A while back I bought a great pair of Coldwater Creek shoes for $6 at a used clothing store which I wear nearly every Sunday and a Coldwater Creek Tencel denim shirt/jacket for $4 at Goodwill. I only buy used books now which I get either at St. Vinnie's or Smith Family Bookstore and then I sell them back if I don't want to keep them. Lily's mom told me she bought 3 cashmere sweaters really cheap at another St. Vinnie's in town so I'll be checking that one out.

I went to the Gem & Bead Faire at the Lane County Events Center last Friday and Saturday and, boy did I have fun. The prices were wholesale so I went a little crazy because of the bargains and stocked up on lots of semi-precious stone beads, glass beads, freshwater pearls, seed beads and silver clasps, chain, spacers and other findings. Then I found a great price for 500 Swarovski crystals (variety of colors) on Ebay so I should be receiving those soon. I'm loving learning new techniques and finding new jewelry patterns to try. I just made a silver chain and turquoise necklace, with matching bracelet and earrings.

I had lunch at Ruthie B's (a unique and fun antique shop in Springfield that has tables for lunch hidden in little alcoves around the shop) with Lily and her mom last Monday. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed talking about the wedding. Things are coming together and getting finalized. My biggest issue right now is trying to find the right dress. I had ordered a sundress but the shade of green wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I'm keeping it, but probably won't wear it to the wedding. I just ordered another dress from Target (Isaac Mizrahi) that was on clearance for $9.99 so I figured it was worth a try. I haven't gotten it yet, it's kind of a 20's flapper-style in mint green with a sheer overlay. I'll just have to see how it looks on me. I need more dresses anyway.

Our ward recently heard about an opportunity to get free leftover bread rolls from a Big Town Hero sandwich shop near us. They make their rolls fresh everyday so they've been throwing away the day-old bread. I've started going over there every morning and picking up a BIG bag of rolls (onion, white and wheat), packaging them and freezing them. I took them to church on Sunday and people were thrilled to take them. I got rid of all of them. This week, the Activities Committee Chairman is picking up some of them to use for our upcoming ward dinner - they were already planning to make sub sandwiches so this will save them lots of money. I ordered bread bags today, because buying gallon size storage bags was getting too expensive and didn't work very well anyway. I think I'm going to try to get people to help me pick up, package and freeze because my freezer won't hold a week's worth of rolls and it's a big commitment to have to do everyday. The rolls are really good, though and we're happy to have them.

Joshua & Lily got the cutest, sweetest kitten Sunday. She's a little black cat named Flicker. I guess she's pretty energetic and driving them a little crazy at night scratching on their door and meowing. I remember when our cats did that, thank goodness they don't anymore. Although, we've found we can't cook without locking Chloe in the bedroom because she meows constantly wanting food, gets underfoot and tries to get up on the counter. She's become so skinny but eats a lot and wants more food all the time. I think she has a thyroid problem and I know I should take her to the vet, but that'll be several hundred dollars so I'm putting it off for now and just feeding her extra food.