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Monday, April 29, 2013

Gifting/Giving away

I should add to today's post that while I bought new (thrifted) things over the weekend, I also tossed an equal number of items in my Goodwill bin, ready to drop off, and took four scarves to school today, to give away.

It was a win-win. I put five items in my bin, took four scarves in... and three young ladies got new wardrobe items. One of my girls wrapped up her scarf and tied it on immediately, as it was a great match for her Monday dress.

Thrifting Weekend

On Friday and Saturday I went thrifting, looking for some items to fill in gaps in my spring/summer wardrobe, especially for London.

Friday: I went to Buffalo Exchange and used one of the two credit cards I'd acquired by selling excess clothing. I bought a denim jacket ($8) and black&white polka dot dress ($15), each of which fits perfectly. The demin jacket was one piece I was determined to find, and the cost was $0 because I used the card.



Denim Jacket similar to this one
 


Polka Dot Dress just like this one

Saturday: I went out to a strip with several thrifts where I had never been. At the first one, I bought two coats, a blue 3/4 jacket in a particularly lovely shade ($4.98) and a silver tissue coat that is nothing like my usual fare ($6.98).

Blue Jacket similar to this one, in this exact color

Silver Coat similar, but softer in its lines

At the second shop, I bought a small gold-framed mirror to hand by the front door ($7) and a basket the perfect size for the monthly magazines/catalogs ($5).





At the third, I found a paisley cardigan ($7), a black&white tweed linen jacket ($6.50) and a Willi Smith skirt ($8).


Similar, but waist-length and without buttons

Tissue-weight linen, with center closure

Full skirt, black with fuschia and white floral pattern

The good news is that each piece will not only go well with most of the others, but will mix into the basic black/white/blue/rust scheme of my summer clothes.



Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Howdy, Spring!

Here in the Big D, it is past spring. Those cool, clear, crisp days are gone, replaced by muggy, hot days... already. A little breeze, a lot of green, some rain.

In the past two weeks, I've produced my annual playwriting festival, complete with seven plays; co-planned my summer in London, teaching another history/theatre/performance course, including details about travel, coursework and packing; cleaned my house and done another round of Goodwill (brewing a third round, as I write); and bought a new mattress and box spring, to be delivered... tomorrow.


Old mattress set: taken away and disposed of.

My new mattress set!


New mattress set: put in place and sheeted up and... sigh. That's a happy sigh, by the way.

I cannot wait.



BTW: buying a mattress set was just like buying a car. My salesguy was a car salesman, basically, which is not really a compliment. I had done my homework, had two coupons (for discount and free delivery) and got a great salesprice. I bought a $2600 mattress for $1200, with free delivery. Another... happy sigh.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Good news, Bad news... April Fool's Day

This was a weekend full of errands, and the week ahead is full of commitments.

Good news: I replaced my spare (and an old tire with a HUGE hole) with a new tire... for a decent price, in less than an hour on Saturday morning that I spent reading in a sunny waiting room. Bonus: I turned down a free yet totally ugly baseball hat.

Good news: made a HUGE drop-off at Goodwill.

Good news: donated excess pantry goods, cosmetics and toiletries to students. Free stuff! Out of my house and into theirs. Score!



Bad news: pollen count and blooming trees make for allegens floating into my sinus passages in mad amounts.

Bad news: I must take my new/old car into the Honda dealer to replace all power brake hoses.

Good news: I will get reimbursed for the $450.00 I paid out in 9.12 for replacing only one hose, due to same recall. Huzzah! And the replacement hoses will be replaced for free! Double Huzzah!



Bad news: my nights will be full of students' plays through Sunday... no time to myself, or for class prep or grading or anything else... wait--is that bad?

Bad news: I've got one extra class and two meetings this week on top of all I'm doing...

Good news: I'm getting paid for the extra lecture. Oh, and I'm showing a movie in one class on Thursday...

Good news: I returned 3 out of 4 items ordered from a catalog to the store in town (no mailing charges), and found 3 better items, using a coupon to save mailing costs again. A pretty equal trade, but I am coming out of it with more useful, better-looking items.

The best news is that I found a clothing steamer. Yes: "found" one. I had been thinking about buying one to use instead of an ironing board, but couldn't really justify the expense. However, one of my fellow tenants who was moving put his out on the curb. I took it home, washed it out with vinegar and green cleaner, and tried it out last night. Great news: it works, and steamed the wrinkles out of four shirts in practically no time. I found the model online and it has mixed reviews... which might be why it was out on the curb. I'll see how long I can make it work. But it was free!