Thrift Shopping for Men… Look what $5 gets you!

Hey, check it out! I found another place where you can find quality thrift items for the man in your life. Jeans, belts, button down shirts… all good finds and in decent condition. Better yet everything in the Thrift Trader is $5.99 or 4/$20.

Thrift Trader
4879 Newport Avenue
San Diego, CA 92107
Web: www.thrifttrader.org

Mind you, I’ve been to the “clearance” store for this shop where everything is priced $2. Not that paying $5 is really anything to complain about! Luckily, I was at the Ocean Beach location for Thrift Trader and only two doors down from the “clearance” store called 2Dollar Thrill.

And, for the ladies reading this post– here is a cute $5 dress I found. It seems a little on the sheer side and a bit on the shortie side so I would likely wear a tank top under this and wear it with jeans– due to my advanced age 🙂

Cheers and Happy Saturday! xoxo

Happy Flip-Flop Friday!

How can you go wrong with a fun pair of flip-flops on a Friday? Or any other day for that matter? Too bad they aren’t legal at the office! I went on a little stroll thru the mall tonite in search of… you guessed it… flip-flops. I love flip-flops which means there might be another Flip-Flop Friday in my future. Cheers and happy Friday everyone!

My first stop was Nordstrom to “visit” my friends the fabulous Tory Burch flip-flops pictured below in some festive colors. These babies ring up at an impressive $50– which is why I only “visit” them and have not officially busted out my credit card.

Moving on thru the mall and on to Macy’s, I found these beachy white flip-flops from Michael Kors.They come in a variety of color choices including white, orange and hot pink. A bit more economical, they ring up at $29. We’re getting closer to my price range….

The last stop in my flip-flop Friday shopping adventure was Cathy Jean. I found these cuties for $22.50. Not bad. I really liked the animal print version pictured below. They also come in several other shades.

I’ll have to keep shopping– I’m determined to come in under $10…. wish me luck.

$9 Jeans… Fantasy turned into reality for this bargain-hunter!

I thought finding cute jeans for $9 was something like finding a unicorn on my patio. Probably not going to happen. I kept hope alive and last Saturday was my lucky day at My Sister’s Closet here in San Diego.

Okay, so maybe these aren’t over the top glamour-jeans but for $9– I’m okay with that. My original idea was to use these to make “distressed jeans”. I had a plan to use sandpaper, razor blades, a scissors and possibly bleach to make these a little more interesting. I’ve worn them a number of times already this week and now I’m not so sure I want to ruin a good thing. After all– fabulous $9 jeans… like finding a unicorn!

My Sister’s Closet
8610 Genesee Avenue #200
San Diego, CA 92122
Phone: (858) 455-0045
Web: www.mysisterscloset.com

DIY – How to Rip Your Own Jeans… on a budget

Happy Saturday everyone! This weekend I’m going thrift shopping for jeans. I’m planning to hit up my favorite “everything $2” store in the hopes they will have jeans I can be creative with. (I have my supplies all ready…) Cheers!

How to Rip Your Own Jeans

from wikiHow – The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Acquiring a fashionable pair of ripped jeans can be expensive — unless you know how to make them yourself. It requires a little patience, but the process is pretty simple.

Steps

Do some research. Look online and in fashion magazines for the best-looking rips. Most jean companies seem to place them in areas that you wouldn’t naturally tear.
Find your jeans. Try jeans from a thrift shop for practice if you’re new at this.
Decide on the size and shape of the rip. It may enlarge each time you wash your jeans, as the frayed ends get caught in washing machines. In a word, be conservative.
Decide which techniques to use. You may wish to let the fabric become thin on its own.
Gather your jeans, coarse sandpaper, pumice stone, wood file, grater, utility knife, scissors and a small, flat block of wood.
Draw a cutting line or pattern on your jeans with a pencil.
Place a block of wood inside the pant leg beneath the area.
Rub and scrape the fabric in several different directions. Use sandpaper, a pumice stone, wood file and grater. These will fray the fabric.
Loosen fibers by scraping with the blade of a utility knife.
Using the scissors, cut a hole through the loosened fibers.
For a cute look, you can wear colored nylons or stockings beneath your ripped jeans.
Bleach parts of the jeans for that extra destroyed look.

Things You’ll Need

Jeans
Coarse sandpaper
Pumice stone
Wood file
Grater
Utility knife (Straight Edge razor works well to wear the denim down)
Scissors
Small, flat block of wood
Pencil or dark marker

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Rip Your Own Jeans. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Eco Land and Sea — locally made spa goods

Feeling tired and stressed? Want to soak in a steamy tub with eco-friendly soap? Herbal ingredients calling your name?

Eco Land and Sea is made from an eco-heritage that spans the land and sea.

Get clean with botanical, no palm oil or animal-body fats type herbal soap bars. No detergents added, just pure, natural soap.

You can also stock up on bath salts, bath powder and bath bombs. (oh yesss!) The best part about all of this– the stuff is locally made and eco-friendly. Everything was really pretty. Word on the street– they suds up well. I should know– I met Chris who told me he is the person who makes the soap. Sounds like he is working on some new formulations and made a special order for a customer last week.

I met up with Chris last week at the farmer’s market in San Diego’s UTC neighborhood. He was working the booth and singing the praises of eco-friendly soaps. I just loved these tiny heart soaps priced at a budget friendly 50 cents each.

Lots of lovely choices on the table! And wrapped in delish looking ribbons– by the way they smell just as delish.

Eco Land and Sea
UTC Farmer’s Market – Thursdays 3 pm to 7 pm
Web: www.EcoLandAndSea.com

Thrift Shopping for Men?!

Polo shirts for $10 and nice looking suits. Wow, I was shocked when I browsed thru the men’s section at My Sister’s Closet. Typically the selection for men is meager at best when I’m out and about at the thrift stores. The back section of My Sister’s Closet is totally devoted to all things menswear. I found a wall of shoes– yes, a wall of shoes!

And the shoes were barely worn at a fraction of the cost of a new pair. Check out these two suits. Both are great looks for the new grad interviewing or maybe someone who needs an economical style punch. I really like the blue shirt and the patterned tie pictured on the right, below.

As far as accessories, I found a really good quality day bag and several beautiful watches. By far, the shoes were the biggest surprise “find.” Anyone into colorful and beautiful ties will be excited to check out the selection here.

Maybe the man in your life is more casual and maybe looking for bargains? I found an entire rack of cool clothing at 40% off. Some of the shirts were under $9 and all were good quality and barely worn. The light pink dress shirt pictured below would look great with a nice pair of khaki pants, jeans for a night out or even black dress pants.

Guys– thrift shopping isn’t just for the girls! This place rocks.

Well Suited – men’s clothing & accessories
8610 Genesee Avenue #210
Costa Verde Center (across from UTC mall)
San Diego, CA 92122
Phone: (858) 455-0045
Web: www.shopwellsuited.com

A Potpourri of Hats!

Who doesn’t love a cute hat? I literally bumped into a fantastic hat kiosk tonite in Westfield’s UTC Shopping Center. Personally, I wear a lot of hats on the advice of my dermatologist. (you can never be too careful with your skin and sun protection in the summer!) Check out this small but mighty kiosk…

Chapeaux – jour au nuit apropos
Email: ChapeauxHats@yahoo.com
Westfield UTC
4545 La Jolla Village Drive
San Diego, CA 92122
Phone: (619) 944-0381

So, fellow San Diego residents– if you are getting ready for opening day at the Del Mar Racetrack this might be a good place to shop for that necessary new hat. Prices range from $20 to $45 for basic hats. If you want something more on the fancy side prices go from $45 to $110.

I found a fantastic selection of floral headbands for $10 to $14. These are perfect for younger girls.

That sign below w/ the visors being “buy 1/get 1 at 50% off”— nice! That visor would be easy to roll up and pack into a travel bag for a weekend getaway or vacation, right?

I had a nice conversation with the owner, Jenifer C. She told me trunk shows are available upon request. A percentage of sales can either go to the host or benefit a charity.

I’m thinking one of these visors might be good to wear either at the beach or maybe when I’m out and about on weekends. After all, I am in sunny San Diego!

Of course, check out the photo below with the amazing floral headbands. What a great way to add a little color into your world.

Cheers!

Lovely Lilac Dress – $9.95 – what a deal!

Looking for something pretty to wear for weekend brunch? I found a fabulous lilac dress at my fave shop My Sister’s Closet in San Diego’s UTC neighborhood earlier this week for the bargain price of $9.95. (perhaps I need to branch out to some other neighborhoods to shop??!!) You can’t go wrong under ten bucks! This dress has lots of possibilites from casual weekend wear to office-appropriate. Lucky for me I have plenty of accessories to keep it interesting.

My Sister’s Closet
8610 Genesee Avenue
San Diego, CA 92122
Phone: (858) 455-0045
Web: www.mysisterscloset.com

From Trash to Treasure…bookends from A to Z

Dumpster diving is sometimes viewed as an urban foraging technique.Dumpster divers typically scour thru dumpsters for items such as clothing, furniture, food and…my good luck… bookends… in serviceable condition.

Imagine my surprise and delight when my friend BC found these cool bookends near his dumpster in the North Park neighborhood in San Diego. Location to be kept secret– I have to protect my sources! BC is an avid “dumpster watcher” who is always on the look-out for trash-to-treasure opportunities. What a score!

As you can see, I had books all in disarray in the living room. Well, maybe not this bad but you get the idea, right?

So… the bookends look really cute on my shelf in the living room. And the books look a little more tidy as well. Not bad for a dumpster diving find! Bravo!

Pandora Beads: Can You Ever Have Enough Memories??

My answer to this question is No! I love love love my Pandora bracelets and beautiful beads. Lucky for me most of mine were gifts with a story to tell.

Typically this blog is about thrift shopping however tonite I couldn’t contain myself when I passed by the Ben Bridge jewelry store in Westfield’s UTC Mall. (Due to major mall construction it was a bit of a struggle.)

There were lots of sparkly things in the window (which I managed to avoid). I did cave in and purchase an additional Pandora bracelet for my excess beads. I had a near death experience in Iowa over the holidays when a clerk in a jewelry store unclasped my bracelet full of memories and the beads went spilling/flying all over the floor of the shop (I screamed… and then quickly gathered them…)

My orphan beads were in need of a new home and this double wrap leather bracelet was exactly what I had in mind. I grouped together all my red and black colored beads for this newest bracelet creation. How cute is that little lady bug?! (It has special meaning because of my nickname “Bugs”) I’m not a big fan of bugs/spiders or creepy-crawlies of any kind and I guess this bead reminds me to chill out and let the bugs go free. (or smash them depending on the situation… or the size of the bug in question)

Here is the finished creation– looks perfect. Except now I find myself wanting a few more beads…. It’s true, you really never can have enough Pandora beads…. or memories. Cheers!

Ben Bridge Jeweler – Westfield Shoppingtown UTC – Phone: (858) 453-9996

Pandora – Unforgettable Moments

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Steps

Things You’ll Need

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