Shopping find...

The Mr. is off spending a stupid amount of money on a Kindle Fire (he has a regular Kindle) instead of saving that money for hospital bills.  It makes me mad when he does this sort of thing.  I feel guilty for spending $50 of my Christmas money, but he runs off to spend $250.  I told him to put it away for an emergency or to buy something in a few months, but he doesn't listen. 

 

While I was out returning gifts, I went into Luxor (the inexpensive vintage shop) & found a gingham dress for $20.



Mostly likely handmade.

It was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but it was in good condition & in a large size.  The tag dated it between '53 & '59.  I've been on a gingham kick, so I decided to treat myself.

 

Pocket & seam that needs to be fixed.

 

It's a tad tight in the chest, so I will have to wear a tank top under it.  I had one on when I was out and it worked well.  My chest is ridiculous & now that I'm losing weight, my waist is getting smaller.  I rarely find anything made to my measurements & I have to take a lot of things in for the waist & hips.  I was happy to pick something up that I didn't have to take in. 

 

 

The only change I may make is to remove the ric-rac because it seems childish to me.  My mom put it on all of the clothes she made me until I was 6.  It just doesn't work for me 30 years later.  I'm worried about what the material looks like under it, so I may have to add some trim over that area.  I'll have to see.

 

Stressed Polska...

Well, my trip home didn't pan out.  I got a call a few hours after I got to my hotel, "You're husband is in the hospital & it doesn't look good."  He's fine now, but I'm exhausted & in bad physical shape.  It's hard taking care of someone when you're sick.  

 

I had be so good about watching my spending, but being under so much stress caused me to go on a small spending spree:

 

2 (one blue, one yellow) $15 each Etsy seller Suzy from the CRAVE yard



Secrets in Lace Vibrant Bullet Bra $20.40



Cherry hair clip from My Baby Jo $6 (I also got pads for the bra)



Mode Merr peasant top in black gingham $33 before coupon

 

Blue Topaz (Dec. birthstone) ring for $4 on eBay



Figgjo Mirror from IKEA $20

 I also have one auction going on eBay, so it might be another $25 & I ordered $40 worth of medical supplies.  I've also had to spend more on food & cooking supplies since the Mr is on a special diet because he almost died (not exaggerating at ALL).

 

While lamenting my irresponsibility at the doctor's office the other day, one of the nurses had a good point.  I spent 3 weeks at wits end, dressed in pajamas to try to stay comfortable while cleaning up someone else's blood & phlegm.  (Ew, I know, sorry!)  I need to feel cute again. Plus there's the ever present issue of my horrible self-esteem.  I'm still getting unemployment and have gone with out a lot of things for a long time.  I didn't really spend THAT much. 

 

Should I have spent that much money with a huge hospital bill coming up?  Probably not. 

 

Was it a help to my terrible self-esteem?  Yes.  I've gotten a ton of compliments on the top & my hair.  The bra is sooo comfortable that as soon as I have more funds, I will order another one. 

Tax-free laziness...

Two weekends a year, Virginia does tax free weekends on clothing.  In PA, we don't have sales tax on clothing or food (unless it's a restaurant). 

 

I forgot about the tax-free weekend until this afternoon.  I need something to wear for job interviews, not that I've had much luck on that front.  I want to make sure I have some to wear in my closet so I don't have to rush out to the mall to find something.  I hate the malls around here.  The people are even more horrible than they normally are & they're much worse during tax free weekend.  You'd think they were giving things away for free. 

 

Fortunately, it applies to online shopping for stores in VA so I can watch an "I Love Lucy" marathon while shopping.

 

I settled on this dress:



$35 (I have a better belt for it)

I've had good luck finding inexpensive dresses with a retro feel at JC Penney.  I got a dress for the office Christmas party there for $10.  It's a dress I could easily dress down for an interview, but it's heavy and is much too hot to wear when it's 100 degrees outside.  

 

They had a few pairs of shoes that were cute, but out of my price range.  I have a pair of Mary Janes that I can wear.  

 

I decided I'm going to wear a cardigan instead of a jacket.  I never wear them and it's a waste of money.  It's kind of a gamble, but I think I can look just as nice with a quality cardigan.  I'll see what it looks like when I pick up the dress. 

 

One thing that really irritates me about JCP's online ordering is they charge you to ship to the store.  It was only a dollar cheaper than shipping to my house, too.  Most stores will ship to their own stores for free.  It's stupid to charge $6 to have something sent to the store when you're already sending shipments to your stores.  I wouldn't have ordered the dress if I hadn't found a coupon for free site to store shipping.  If they'd offer that all of the time, it would bring people to the store where they might find other things to buy. 

Social Sunday

I managed to drag myself out of the house to have lunch with friends from out of town.  It was in the low 90's and felt decent compared to our 100+ days.  We went to the shopping area with Bygones & Luxor.  While waiting for them to show up, I tried on a few dresses at Bygones. 

$19 (not a great pic, I know)

I won't post pictures of myself in them.  I need to drop at least 20 lbs and it's really obvious in the red Stop Staring dress.  The Trashy Diva dress fit, but the belt didn't.  They're a lot more expensive at Bygones than they are online.  The black dress was one was vintage & a good price ($19), but it was too small. 

 

They still had these gloves. 

 

 

They're cute, but I really can't shell out $14 for gloves right now

 

We ate & caught up, then went to Luxor.  I did have a bit of luck there. 

 



$1



This is handmade & the style is frumpy.  I thought it had some potential & I'm thinking of ways to alter it.  It's not great on the hanger, but once I tried it on, I decided I could work on it. 

$10



Close up of plaid

I'm thinking of shortening the sleeves & changing out the white trim for black. I'd like to add buttons or some other way to close it.  They did have a sweater clip that I liked, but it cost more than the jacket.  If they still have it the next time I go back, I'll get it. 

I had even better luck at the used bookstore.  $20 for a large bag, filled with books!  Most are in really good shape with no cracks in the spines.  I got 3 Marilyn Monroe books for my collection and 3 other old Hollywood bios.  The rest were mysteries & sci-fi.  They only have this sale once a year and I haven't had this kind of luck in the past. 

Seeing my friends was great and it was nice to forget about medical things for a while.  Now I have books & the jacket to distract myself with for a bit.

MeltyPolska

Going out in 100 degree heat today was kind of a mistake.  I feel terrible, but I was good and didn't buy things that weren't on my list.  It really helps to get a surgery bill before going out.  It's a lot less than I expected, but still motivation to behave. 

 

I did the boring errands first, then headed to Bygones & Luxor.  I parked in the free parking deck behind Bygones & by the time I got to the corner, I had sweat dripping off of my nose.  I'm convinced I lost some weight.  I found a few dresses that I really liked, but didn't try them on because I felt gross & couldn't really buy today anyway.  I really like the fact that they've started carrying reproduction clothing even though it's so expensive.  They do have a sale section and there was a cute dress there so I can always hope for what I want going on the sale rack. 

 

I like Bygones because things are easy to find and they have nice stuff, especially the jewelry.  There was a necklace in the first case that I really, really wanted.  I didn't get a picture of it though.  I'm funny about taking pictures of things like that because I worry they think I'm casing the place for some reason.  I did get a picture of a two pairs of shoes I wanted:

 

$75

They're Aris Allen dance shoes with suede soles & not a good idea for a major "fall risk" like me.  I love the style though. 

 

They had a few bakelite bangles, but no black ones.  They did have a green one similar to the one I won yesterday & it was more than I paid for the 3 I won.  Go me! 

 

I debated on whether or not to limp down to Luxor.  The heat & humidity is draining.  I decided to go ahead since I was already there.  Luxor has no a/c, so I didn't spend a lot of time there.  They had a few bakelite bangles, but a lot of hats that I wanted. 



$22 (sorry for the terrible picture)

 

$12 (velvet?)

Those are my 2 favorites.  There was a black halo style hat with leopard print trim that I didn't get a picture of.  I forgot to check the price, too.  I couldn't try the black & yellow hat on since I had my hair up in a bandanna.  It was a tad bit out of my price range, but I might go back next weekend with a friend and see how it looks.  They also had a few bangles.  I didn't have enough cash & they weren't expensive enough to put on my card.  There was also a patent leather black, yellow & white striped belt.  It was way too small & didn't have a price. 

 

I would have liked to spend more time there, but it was too hot for me.  I picked up dinner for the Mr. then came home and tried to cool off & get the swelling down in my leg.  It's supposed to be even hotter tomorrow, so I'm glad I went down there today instead of doing it tomorrow.  The plan is to stay inside & read. 

Cabin Fever

I had my second knee surgery about a month ago and now I'm even more limited in what I can do.  It's healing well, but I still can't drive very far or be out for long.  I kind of have cabin fever and will be going out tomorrow in the 100+ degree heat.  I can't handle heat at all, but I need to get out of the house because I'm getting nutty.  I usually go to Walmart or Target since I can get what I need in one place, which is important when you have limited energy, but I really need a change of scenery.

 

One of the local vintage shops, Bygones, recently remodeled and I haven't been there in a long time.  The clothing is a bit expensive & they usually don't have larger sizes.  They do have a really good selection of accessories & have started carrying some reproduction items.  I know I won't be tempted to spend a lot of money there, but it's fun to look.  They're supposed to have some nice Bakelite pieces.  I actually won 3 on eBay this evening; a buttery yellow, thicker carved bangle, a marbled green bangle & a "root beer" bangle.  I will post pictures when I get them.  Now I'm looking for some black spacers & a carved black bangle. 

 

There's another vintage shop about a block away from Bygones that has better deals.  It's not as fancy & you really have to dig, but it's cheaper and I've had pretty good luck there in there past. 

 

As an added bonus, I have a free sammich coupon for a deli that is on that same block.  I've been saving it for an "emergency."  It's not really an emergency, but if I'm worn out from limping around and the heat, it will count.