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Sunday, February 28, 2010

My new old cocktail dress

Isn't this the prettiest aqua/green color?.  It's so shiny and satiny.  There are  sparkly sequins in the bodice along with giant shoulder pads.  I'm thinking about adding some rhinestones to the round belt buckle to give it a little more bling.  I took off work on Friday to go to First Monday on my way to our Lake House, but got side-tracked and ended up going to several thrift stores in Dallas, Mesquite, Terrell, Kaufman, and Canton, so I never made it there.  I got really side-tracked but I had a blast.  I bought some amazing outfits that I'll be showing off soon.


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Here's a close up of the pretty fabric and the belt.


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The price tag showed $9.00 but when I checked out at the register, it was only $4.50.  I get surprised like that all the time.  That's what makes thrift shopping so fun.  You never know when they're going to give you a better deal.


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I didn't have any dressy shoes with me in East Texas for my new dresses, so I wore this pair of Faded Glory pumps I got for $3 at Goodwill.  Works for me in a pinch.
 
 
 



Thursday, February 25, 2010

I love this denim skirt I found at a thrift store.  I've had it awhile so I don't remember where I bought it.  The price tag was still on it this morning when I put it on, so obviously I sorta forgot I had it.  (Oops!)  It's got a little ruffle on the bottom that's been frayed so there are threads hanging off all around it.  I started to cut them off, then changed my mind.  I'm thinking they are supposed to be there. The belt was a fun find for only 50 cents.


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 The top is a wooly looking fabric and is cropped short and pretty oversized.  Very comfy. 


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I got these boots at Goodwill for $7.99.  I just love this style with the rounded toe. Lots of wiggle-room and such a classic look.  They're brown suede and the brand is Zodiac if that means anything to you.


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I'm skipping work tomorrow and heading to East Texas.  On the way I plan on hitting a couple of my favorite Goodwill stores, and then stomping the grounds of First Monday in Canton, Texas.  I expect to find some great stuff so keep watching!  I'm so excited.


 



Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Goodwill Hunting

Saturday, my friend Becky and I shopped til we dropped.  We hit all the thrift stores we could find in the Dallas/Irving area and I came out with quite a haul.  I picked up lots of skirts and Ts for the Spring time so I'm primed for warmer weather so I can wear them. 


Shopping


Today I'm wearing one of the dresses I got at Upscale Retail .  I resisted it at first because it was not on the sale rack (heaven forbid that I pay full price of $9.99 for it) and then I wasn't sure if I really was in love with it.  When I turned it around and saw the little fishy on the back I caved.  It's so unusual and very comfortable.  The bodice is black velvet and the rest is a very soft t-shirt cotton.  The label is 'Cite'. I looked it up, but couldn't find any information on the brand not that I really care. 


The front has a kitty-kat....


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.....Here's the fishy on the back.


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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Fringe Benefits

We got another dusting of snow this morning so I decided to wear this very warm wool shirt with a turtle-neck underneath.  I got this at Goodwill a few months ago for under $5 and I can't tell if the shirt was originally made this way or if someone got really creative and made it fringy on the bottom. I think I'd like to try to do this sometime.  It can't be too hard. There's a row of stitching at the top of the fringe, and then all the horizontal threads were pulled out.


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 Since I was feeling 'fringy', I dug out my fringed MIA boots and frayed Levi's jeans to complete the look. I've been so comfy all day long.  
 

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

I found a jumpsuit!

BINGO!!  It didn't take me very long to find the first jumpsuit for my collection.  It's not exactly what I was looking for, but as far as I'm concerned, it counts as a jumpsuit.   It's a black velvet strapless number with a stretchy bodice.  No zippers, buttons, or snaps.  It just slides up and stays!  Very soft and very comfortable.  I don't have a single place to wear it right now but I'm sure an opportunity will come my way.  I'm still on the lookout for more and I'm betting I'll find a few out there.  Keep an eye out.




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Friday, February 19, 2010

Retro in the Metro

How 'retro' is this getup?  I grabbed these jeans off the rack as soon as I saw them.  They were just my size, and I love the tie dye effect on them, and of course, the big draw was the $7.99 price tag and then 1/2 off that.  So comfy with the slouchy over-sized sweater worn over them, and of course you know I got it at my fave store as well.


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Check out these 70's boots!  Goodwill for $7 and they look brand new!  See the heel?  Yep,,,they're a whopping 4" tall and the toe part is another 1" off the ground.  For someone who is prone to breaking her foot (done this twice already) I probably should not be chancing these, but I couldn't resist the outlandish style.


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Someone stop me if I start looking too tacky!  Puhh-leeeeze!
 
 



Wednesday, February 17, 2010

I'm loving padded shoulders!

Check out this jacket I got awhile back.  I found it (or rather it found me) at a Goodwill Store for only $9.99.  Can you imagine how this color stood out amongst all the other brown, black, navy coats?  It's absolutely EMERALD green suede with huge padded shoulders.  I'm really wishing this style would come back again. Talk about making the expanded waistline look smaller!  Whether stylists bring it back or not, I'm going to actively search for more padded shoulders.  It'll be a fun venture and I'm pretty sure they're out there at the places I shop.  I'm going to look for jumpsuits too.  Those were my favorite and they're pretty figure flattering as well.


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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)

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In French, "Mardi Gras" literally means "Fat Tuesday," so named because it falls on the day before Ash Wednesday, the last day prior to Lent...a 40-day season of prayer and fasting observed by the Roman Catholic Church (and many other Christian denominations) which ends on Easter Sunday. The origin of "Fat Tuesday" is believed to have come from the ancient Pagan custom of parading a fat ox through the town streets. Such Pagan holidays were filled with excessive eating, drinking and general bawdiness prior to a period of fasting. Since the modern day Carvinal Season is sandwiched between Christmas and Lent, with Christmas Day being December 25 on the Gregorian Calendar as set by the Roman Catholic Church, this means that other Holy Days are "floating" in nature. Easter always falls on a Sunday, but it can be any Sunday from March 23 through April 25, its actual date being the Sunday which follows the first Full Moon after the Spring Equinox. Mardi Gras is always 47 days prior to this alloted Sunday (the 40 days of Lent plus seven Sundays). The beginning of the Carnival Season itself, however, is also fixed...being January 6, which is the Feast of the Ephiphany, otherwise known as Little Christmas or Twelfth Night. Since the date of Mardi Gras thus varies, the length of the Carnival Season also varies accordingly from year-to-year. The origin of the word "Carvinal" is from the Latin for "farewell to the flesh," a time when one is expected to forego earthly pleasures prior to the restrictions of the Lenten Season, and is thought to be derived from the feasts of the Middle Ages known as carnis levamen or "solace of the flesh."



Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day

What do you do when you're invited to a Valentine's Day dinner and you have to wear red and nothing in your closet is red???  You head to your nearest thrift store and get something really CHEAP.  I saw this dress a couple of weeks ago at Upscale Resale, the store I mentioned a few weeks ago here.  I took a chance yesterday and headed over there to see if the dress was still there.  Not only was it still there, but anything 'red' was marked half price for Valentine's Day.  How lucky can you get??  I grabbed it and scooted over to the dressing room.  Much to my chagrin, it must have belonged to a Barbie sized person, because I could NOT get it zipped all the way up.  Did that stop me?  NO WAY!  I bought it  for $4.00, headed to the fabric store, and with the help of a couple of the seamstresses there, came up with the idea to just put some loops in the back and lace it up with pretty ribbon.  Worked like a charm!  There was still snow on the ground, so my camera, tripod, and I headed outside and worked the red dress against the white snow background.  If anyone needs a red dress, call me. 


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Hugs and kisses to all my friends!


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Thursday, February 11, 2010

It's hard to stay inside when there's this much snow on the ground. Some of my co-workers and I went out to play in the freshly fallen WET snow instead of staying inside to (ahem).....work.  Even our Travelocity Roaming Gnome took a little break to get in on the action.  


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The cold didn't seem to bother him at all....


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He's traveled the world over many, many times, but never has he EVER climbed a tree. Now his new travel adventure is captured on film. 


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Someone got really creative and built a Roaming Gnome-man.  Well , the pointy hat looks familiar anyway.


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Gotta go back inside now....Until next time.  Stay warm!


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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

A Penny (kind of) For Your Thoughts

Another great Goodwill find AND this was all purchased on a 1/2 price sale day.  Just when you didn't think you could get an entire outfit for under $5!!!  This skirt looks like it has shiny copper pennies all over it.  The little bolero just happened to match perfectly and has copper shiny thread interwoven throughout.  The belt was a lucky find as well.  It's huge and almost wraps around twice, but that just means I can wear it several different ways.  Total cost of the outfit?  $4.50.  Beat that if you can!!




Coin skirt



Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Gray Day, Gray Dress

What a FIND!!!  Salvation Army, $12.99.  I didn't even take the time to try it on because the line to the dressing room was a mile long.  Usually that doesn't stop me.  I have no problem slipping stuff over my head right in the middle of the store.  The bodice is beautiful black velvet and the skirt is gray crepe.  It even has a crinoline underneath.  Check out the giant bud at the waistline.  I thought the fountain would make a nice additon to the photo, but I ended up stuck to and stuck by that icky rose bush behind me.  Those nasty thorns grabbed on to my dress and it took me nearly 10 minutes to escape.  Luckily it didn't hurt the dress. 


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Here's a close up of the bud at the waistline.


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I got these shoes at a Goodwill store in Tyler, Texas.  They're MIAs.  They look miserably high, but actually with the platform they really aren't.  They're very comfortable.  They're a teensy bit big, but I just had to have them with a price tag of $3.99. That strap keeps me from falling out of them.


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Finally, here's the front view of the whole getup.  It's dressy, but can easily be worn to a nice dinner out without being overkill. 


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Sunday, February 7, 2010

I've always loved animal print.  When the trend re-emerged several years ago, I didn't invest in it because I was afraid it was just a 'passing fad'.  I didn't jump on the band wagon until a couple of years ago and have gone crazy with it.  I think it's here to stay.  I found this ,,,not sure what to call it,,,,pullover, at Goodwill a few weeks ago.  I haven't worn it out yet.  I'm not sure WHERE to wear it.  It's too warm to wear inside, and I haven't had an occasion to wear it outside yet.  Oh well,  according to the groundhog, we still have six more weeks of cold weather. 


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I got my hair cut yesterday.  I told my hairdresser, Daniel, to just 'have at it'.  I wanted more layers and a 'shaggy' look.  When I turned him loose, hair started flying everywhere.  He's so good, I didn't even care. I was ready for a change and I think he did a great job.



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I have this photo of my mother-in-law (I never had the pleasure of meeting her. She died at age 32 due to complications of surgery).  She was a model.  Check out the background of her photo.  ANIMAL PRINT.  This was taken in the late 50's which just shows animal print isn't going away!


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Saturday, February 6, 2010

Anytime, Anywhere!

I bought this little skirt a couple of years at a store in town called Charming Charlies.  You need to check out this store if you can find one near you.  The prices are VERY reasonable and they have great costume jewelry.  This skirt has all these poofs and puffs all around it.  I love it because it is so versatile and it's purple.  My mom's favorite color is purple, but she says 'Puh-pul' in her sweet little British accent.  Here's the dress worn as a skirt with a long sleeve t-shirt.


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Here's the skirt worn as a sundress.  Casual by day, dressy by night.  Just peel off the shirt and pull the skirt all the way up.  How easy is that to go from casual to classy?


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I got these shoes at First Monday (trades day in Canton, TX) several years ago.  They're made by a division of Birkenstock and are so comfortable.  They look like they are hand-painted with a vintage cadillac on them.  The head-lights are two 'diamonds'. 


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Thursday, February 4, 2010

'Ladyfingers'

So,,,this is not my usual post, but here's another 'side' of me.  I LOVE projects and always have something going.  I even have my own tool box that Douglas is NOT allowed to use.  It has a padlock on it to keep him out.  We have a lake house in East Texas that had this really ugly green vinyl siding on it.  One day while Douglas was playing tennis with my brother-in-law, I started ripping off the siding as fast as I could, just in the garage area, so I could see what it looked like underneath.  Turns out there was some really nice wood siding (still green though) underneath.  I quickly applied a coat of stain before he came home 3 hours later so he could get a 'feel' for what it was going to look like.  When he got home, he just shook his head, like 'what is she doing NOW???'.  He actually liked it!  I ended up tearing the rest of the siding off and stained the whole house and I did it in 7 days. Here are some before and after shots of the house.  I had a blast doing this and am now trying to think of something else to tear in to.  Once upon a time I was going to start my own business as a 'fix-it' person and call the business 'Lady Fingers'. I even have a pink tool-kit.  Heck,,maybe I should post something on the bulletin boards at Home Depot.


Here's the 'BEFORE' Picture....



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Here's the 'AFTER' Photo....



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And here's ME covered in stain......the most amazing thing,,,,I did not break a single fingernail!!!



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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

El TORO!!

Salvation Army find - $9.99.  I Saw it, I loved it, I bought it.  I didn't even try it on.  Had to have it!!  Someone said I looked like I was ready to take on a bull with this skirt.  I really need to go find me a petticoat somewhere for all the full skirts I've been buying.  This is pretty much 'out there' for work, but who cares?  It has silver sequins stitched all over it.  I'd blind someone if it were sunny outside.  I'm really running out of room to store all my finds.  I've turned an upstairs bedroom in to my work-out room, my sewing room, and my closet, all-in-one.  I'd take a photo but it's really a MESS. I need to take a day off from work and get it organized.


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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Flower Power

I decided to dress up a little bit for work today in a quasi-power suit jacket.  WHY NOT??  I think the last time I wore this jacket was back in the late 80's to a funeral or something.  It's a jacket made by Kasper and I love the little pink flower and the satin cuffs and collar.  It was hanging way back in the back of my closet and I had completely forgotten about it.  I'm glad I've held on to it all these years.


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It's hard to find cute shoes to wear these days with a brace on my leg (temporary of course) but I just happened to have these cute socks to match the jacket.  The opening in the boot allowed the pink bow to peek out.  ~BLING~


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Monday, February 1, 2010

Bejeweled!

I am such a lucky girl!!  A friend of mine at work cleaned out her jewelry box and was ready to toss  all this fun, funky jewelry in to a donation bin at work for it to be ripped apart and made in to new stuff. She must have noticed me drooling all over it as I laid it out across my desk and tried on each and every piece.  After re-thinking it, I guess she thought it still had a little life left in it and told me I could have it all.  I used my IPhone to photograph it and I actually left it spread out on my desk for the rest of the day so I could stare at it.  How fun is that??


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Pink Lady

This is a really cool jacket I bought at a thrift store really, really cheap. It's hot pink suede and the patches are stitched together with tiny crochet stitching.  Pretty awesome detail.  Even the buttons are covered in crochet.  It's rather large on me, but with a turtleneck sweater underneath, it was slouchy looking, but very comfortable with a pair of black slacks.  Check out the necklace.  One of the gals I work with gave it to me for my birthday.  She said it 'had my name all over it'.  Wonder what that means?  All I can think of is 'Princess'.  (grin)



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