Peace on Earth, Goodwill to (Wo)Men!

Katrina - my sister-in-law, for those of you who don't know her - is one of the best-dressed, best put-together women I've ever met. Ever. Hands down. (Sorry, Cory. You're fab...but here's what I mean...) I love her clothing. All of it. She's a ruddy super-model. Dressed to kill. Looks like a million bucks. And every - count them, EVERY - time (can you count an "every"?) I ask her where she got her outfit/shoes/pants/dress/blouse/skirt/top/jacket/sweater/coat (she is always so perfectly dressed that I'm constantly asking), she tells me SHE GOT IT/THEM FROM A THRIFT STORE!!!

I'm SOOOOO serious, people!

And I smile and think, "Wow...too bad that sort of thing never happens to me," and move on.

A few days ago I was browsing ebay for "lots" of kids' clothes for the munchkins when, thrilled at the pricing on ENORMOUS lots, I was getting ready to place a bid...and saw immediately before I clicked "Place a Bid" that the shipping costs exceeded the going rate for the clothing. We're talking $5 for 15 articles of clothing...and $25 for shipping here, people. Which may or may not be reasonable; they DO have to find a box, pack up the stuff, tape it up, drag it down to the post office and send it off from Timbuktu. But I digress. I thought to myself, "If I've posted something on ebay and it doesn't sell, what do I do with it?" Answer: Since I don't shop exclusively at Polo or Gymboree or TCP, I can't trade them for credit at one of those fun little consignment-type stores, so...I DONATE THEM TO GOODWILL. (Most of you have DI; I have St Vincent de Paul's, the Salvation Army, and Goodwill.) If I do that, maybe other people do that!

So the next day it was off to SVDP's (practically across the street) to look into kids' clothes. Jackpot. All clothing was on sale that day for $1 per item (!!!!!) and I spent exactly $24...for 24 articles of kids' clothing. Some of it had been washed a time or two too many (but they're kids; they play, they destroy their clothes, and they certainly don't care if the train shirt has pilling!) and a couple pieces had negligible staining, but all in all...14 NEW PANTS/TOPS for Tyler and 10 for Goo!!! I had both kids with me, of course, so hanging out to look in the adult area wasn't feasible after an hour in the kids' section, but since Tyler was with Nona and Papa last night and today, it was just me and Magoo...

...and what did I do with her? Took her to Goodwill. For 2 hours. No, I'm serious. She hid amongst the clothes, darted back and forth between the aisles, rearranged all of my credit and debit cards in my wallet, hooked (and I unhooked so she could rehook) her shopping cart seatbelt (over and over and over...) and I spent...ooooooh, here it comes!...about $175. On myself, and for me alone. (That's not entirely true...Jason benefits too.) :)

And I learned something about Anaheim...or Orange County in general. Katrina would LOVE thrift-storing here. LOVE it. Why? Because OC'ers spend WAAAAAY too much on their clothes. We're on a budget (okay, ignore the $175...it was a fluke, and this entry is too long already) and I can't afford to spend $89.99 for the pair of perfectly-fitting, in-perfect-condition GUESS JEANS I bought today! Nor can I afford to pay $75 (buy one, get one half-off promotion going on at Express right now) for the 2 EXPRESS BLOUSES I bought today, also in perfect condition. People, that right there is only $10 shy of the money I spent today...and what did I get that made that $175 so worth the splurge? A new wardrobe:

3 blouses (2 Express), 5 tops (Express, Banana Republic, Gap, etc), 2 LEATHER jackets!, 1 LEATHER skirt from Nordstroms!, a floor-length black formal gown, a knee-length Rampage cocktail frock, 2 pair of shoes, 3 pair of jeans (1 Lee and 1 Guess), a pair of tan cords from Chico, and a couple other things I can't remember off the top of my head. (19 items plus 2 pair shoes in all!)

I feel like I robbed a bank, people!

And all I can say is this: Cory, you're right about well-made, expensive clothing. It's worth every penny because of the quality involved. (I'm an Old Navy and Target girl usually...)

And Katrina, you're even more right...the ONLY place to get it is a THRIFT STORE!!! THANKS, LADY! (Now come visit and lets go shopping!) (Oh, no, Cory!!! I've finally turned!)