Morning All!
As promised, here’s a pic of me in my $7 thrift store find:
It actually had tags on it! Side note: shapewear is the true “miracle” here. Jersey material isn’t always a curvy girl’s friend.
Have a great Tuesday!
I have a thing for bargains. The best places to shop are TJMaxx (remember Zana’s tantrum?), Marshall’s, and eBay. My love affair with discount shopping began in high school, when I starved my way through lunch so I could save $10 a week to spend on clothes. My weekly shopping budget has increased (slightly) over time, and so has my love of great deals.
Lately, thrift stores are my favorite. It all started one day after the girls’ dance class on H Street… which just happens to be on the same block as a Salvation Army. Wasting a little time before Zana’s nap, I decided to stop in for a quick look. Within 5 minutes I found a pair of like-new Tory Burch wedges and some Citizens of Humanity jeans. Total price tag? $13!
I was so excited by the rows of disorganized racks of clothing that I barely noticed the disapproving stares while the girls played hide-and-seek around the store. I took them home, had my own personal fashion show, and realized neither the jeans nor the shoes fit well. Not to worry: I sold them on eBay and came out $120 richer!
That was only the beginning. Now, I stop by that Salvation Army store every Saturday and rarely walk out empty handed. I did some cleaning over the weekend and had a few boxes of things to give away. My favorite spot doesn’t take donations, which made it the perfect excuse for me to discover a new thrift store. I ended up at the Goodwill on South Dakota Ave in NE, and it was so much fun! Plenty of space, and the dressing rooms were spacious and clean. In fact, it was a much better experience than my nightmarish trip to Burlington Coat Factory earlier in the day (picture a mom giving her kid nebulizer treatments while waiting in line to buy a Baby Phat romper. Son pukes Hawaiian Punch everywhere and she’s annoyed at him. Don’t worry, she still bought the romper.) But back to Goodwill… I spent $17 and left with 3 treasures: a green, dolman-sleeve sweater, a double-wrap belt, and a hot pink, Ann Taylor “Miracle Dress” (with tags still attached). Can you believe people just give this stuff away?! (says the lady who just dropped off a bag of like-new shoes that didn’t fit quite right).
Anyway, here’s what the dress looks like on the Ann Taylor website:
I’ll post an updated pic of me wearing it when I get around to it (probably tomorrow).
Until then, I leave you with a few tips for thrift store shopping:
1. Know your labels. Why were those Tory Burch shoes just sitting there untouched? Because people don’t know these things!
2. Try things on. Don’t count on the sizing label; often times clothing is altered. Of course, if you plan to resell your finds then it doesn’t matter.
3. Keep an open mind. You will have to rummage through dozens of blouses that someone’s grandma wore in 1937 before you find that gem.
4. Have fun! If you don’t enjoy the journey, don’t even bother. You may find nothing! If that bothers you, stick to the department stores. Or bring a friend and enjoy a latte while you shop– you may accidentally find something.
Discount divas, did I miss anything? And where are your favorite places to shop for bargains?
In fourteen hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
And thanks to that, a lot of Americans had the day off today– especially in D.C. I wasn’t one of those lucky ones. Instead, I spent the day at work panicking over a contractor in the U.K who disappeared when I needed him most. Does the U.K. celebrate Columbus Day too? Anyway, the rest of the fam had a lovely day hanging out without me.
Columbus Day sure has changed since I was a kid. I remember making construction paper boats signifying the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. Christopher Columbus was a hero to be honored. These days, people seem to be keeping it real. I saw a whole lot of this on people’s Facebook feed today:
Since Dave is a history buff, I was curious to get his take. He said “Columbus enslaved the Indian population in the name of converting them to Christianity.”
And there are a lot of people, quoted on the internet, with much more harsh words that that.
One historian called him “an unrelenting social climber and self-promoter who stopped at nothing— not even exploitation, slavery, or twisting Biblical scripture— to advance his ambitions”
Well that doesn’t sound like someone I want to sing songs about. Do he make you want to sing? That doesn’t even sound like someone I want to take the day off for. (ok, I’m lying– I still want to take the day off.)
The wine shop/florist on Lincoln Park had a lovely sign outside that sums it up well:
Perhaps I’ll end the day with a glass of wine while thinking about Columbus… or maybe I’ll just have a glass of wine.
What’s your take on Columbus Day? Should Columbus even have a day?
About a month ago Dave bought tickets to a play. I know– way to take some initiative, right?! The play was called Black Watch and the tickets were for this weekend.
If you know anything about military history (I do not), then you probably know that Black Watch is Scottish infantry regiment of historical significance. Let’s just say I was less than amused when I found that out. Yay, a war play (*eye roll*). But I kept a positive attitude and didn’t complain (much).
On Saturday night, I got all dressed up, Dave put on a clean shirt (don’t worry, he still wore sneakers and jeans), and we headed to Chinatown. The Shakespeare Theater is beautiful; not sure how I’ve managed to pass it a zillion times without noticing.
It turns out Black Watch is about a group of Scottish soldiers who deployed to Iraq during the recent war. The production is launching it’s second international tour and Washington, DC is the first stop. This is the sign that greets you when you get to the theater:
I looked at Dave, batted my eyelashes, and said, “you had me at strong language and strobe lights.” Little did I know, Scottish people bring strong language to a whole ‘nother level. Thirty seconds in, I had already heard the c-word(!) twice. And it only got worse better from there. Pro tip: bring a flask and make it a drinking game. The play itself was excellent, but I have to admit that part of the entertainment included watching all the stuffy old theater folks’ eyes widen at the uniquely Scottish profanity. As for the strobe lights, nobody had a seizure….
No cameras allowed, but I managed to sneak this picture of us. I know, I’m such a rebel:
Other highlights of Black Watch included: penis pranks, bar fights and lots of football (soccer) references that I didn’t understand. Yet somehow, by the end, I was moved to tears as the bagpipes played and the Black Watch went into battle for the last time. It’s a powerful play that captures the spirit of the modern soldier to a tee. Reminded me a lot of my years in Jacksonville, North Carolina, home of Camp Lejeune and the military bar where I picked up my husband.
Black Watch was excellent, but wouldn’t have been my choice. I guess this is what I get for telling Dave to take the lead on date night. Next time it’ll be all pedicures and bargain shopping.
My name is Besa and I’m a slacker. There. I said it. Now I can stop beating myself up about not visiting my own blog for more than a week. Moving on now, here’s what’s been up:
Sickness
With the start of school comes the start of sickness at our house. Yours too? Our exciting kick-off to sick season began with strep throat this week. First Lira, then Zana. My attempts to keep the sisters apart while Lira had it were pointless; strep spreads like woah, and there’s no stopping it. It’s awful… especially if your kids get the pukey kind (and mine always do).
We are several days into our antibiotic regimens, and everything is improving. They’re both still coughing, but not enough to keep them (or us) awake. The worst thing right now is getting them to take their medicine. Picture this: me holding Zana’s legs down with my leg, her arms down with one hand and forcing the syringe into her mouth with the other. Twice a day. It’s awesome.
School
As you all know, we had a rough start. But I’m happy to report that both girls are (generally) happy to go to school in the morning. Lira actually enjoys doing her homework– although, since she’s my daughter, that will surely change in the coming years. Zana is really taking to the Montessori classroom. She likes doing the “work” (which is what they call all of the educational stuff)– because she feels like she’s doing the same thing as me all day. Work, work, work! And we both love our time in the car to and from school. Here’s a conversation we had today:
Z: Why are you going to work?
Me: To make money.
Z: Why?
Me: So we can live in our house, and buy things we need.
Z: And go to Disneyworld?
Me: Yes, that too.
We talk about all the important stuff. I’ll let you know when we solve world hunger.
Skinny Jeans
First of all, thank you all for reading Triple B and those Last 10 Pounds. That blog post broke the MomInDCity record for most reads and most comments. Nothing like food and fat to get y’all excited! I’m happy to report that I am halfway to my goal of losing those 10 pounds!
There has been lots of exercise involved. Mainly morning runs around the Capitol Building, but also stuff like hiking. Sugarloaf Mountain is ideal for non-hikers because it’s not super high.
The “diet” hasn’t been bad either. I’ve discovered that if I exercise every day, I burn enough calories to eat what I want (for the most part). The best part about all of this is that my clothes are starting to fit again. Haven’t popped a button in at least a month. I had a bag of jeans (mainly skinnies) that I put in an unreachable part of my closet after a horrible cycle that I couldn’t break. It went like this: try on jeans, attempt (unsuccessfully) to button them, get sad that I couldn’t, drown my sorrows in cupcakes. It was a bad scene. I took the bag down this week and am excited to say that I am wearing my skinny jeans again! No, they don’t look as good as they once did. But they button, and that’s what counts, right? Also, my muffin top is more of a mini-muffin. That’s hot, right?
Who knew 5 pounds could do all that?! Oh, and if you scroll down to the lower left hand side of the MomInDCity website you can see my “pounds lost” tracker from MyFitnessPal. Join me! I could use the motivation.
What’s new in your world? Any big weekend plans?