Celebrating My Mama with Clothes Mentor Bling

Today is my mama's 'un-birthday.' She's a lucky Leap Year baby! My mind boggles when I try to figure out just exactly how many 'real' birthdays she's had.........suffice it to say, I'm older than my mom :P

I love to get my mama sparkly stuff for her birthday. Someone's gotta fill up those fabulous jewelry storage drawers! This year I decided to stop in at Clothes Mentor in Westerville and check out their fabulous goods.

I've talked about Clothes Mentor in an earlier post. Brought to you by the same people who gave us Once Upon a Child (children's clothing) and Plato's Closet (junior sizes), Clothes Mentor is the resale store for gals like me who love the finer things in life, but would rather not pay full price. The store is organized by category and designer, and their stuff is just beautiful. Be forewarned: they are extremely picky. A buyer's paradise means they reject an awful lot of things brought in for them to buy to resell. That's ok though.......when I'm in the market for a beautiful purse or gorgeous jewelry, I'm glad they hold out for the really good stuff.

The earrings and necklace are what I bought my mama for her birthday. She is truly a turquoise gal, so I knew the color of the earrings would please her immensely. The chain on the necklace is beautifully textured, like a Lois Hill piece, at far less $$$. She was excited and thrilled by the jewelry, and I was amazed at what I was able to get her for such little coin.

Check out Clothes Mentor especially for their Vera Bradley and Coach collections. Drool worthy for sure!!

My Dream Job: Thrift Store Stylist

I'm posting an article about a real life thrift store stylist from Minnesota.......I would LOVE this job!

http://www.alreadypretty.com/2013/02/fascinating-and-fashionable-michelle-the-thrift-stylist.html

Bangin' Bangle Friday 2/22--'Tanks' For the Savings

Ah, the Cartier Tank watch. A sign of wealth and good taste. Jackie Kennedy Onassis had one. So classy, and they NEVER go out of style, which is a good thing, since the first watch above retails for &7,400.

I'll wait while you control yourself.

I have always been a big fan of the style of this watch. The price, not so much. I love the style of designer goods, but I also know a Timex is just as trusty, if not more so.

Timex and other brands of quality timepieces do a great job of emulating more expensive watches, but I never found one that had the easy going style of the Cartier Tank. Believe me, I've looked. Walmart and Forever 21 are two retailers that have beautful knock offs, but after years of searching, I'd still not found my heart's desire on their racks and websites.

Until this week, when I ran into Sears to buy my husband his work boots. And ran head first into a tableful of fabulous wannabees.

The second picture above is MY new watch. At $9.99, it's light years away from the thousands needed to purchase the Cartier Tank. However, I am thrilled with my purchase. It sits comfortably on my wrist and will go beautifully with everything I wear. The gold may wear off, but the replacement price will still go nowhere near it's designer counterpart. I could have bought 100 of these and not gone anywhere near that $7,400.

Good job, Sears. I'll add you to the line up :)

Sears? Yes, Sears!

Have you seen that commercial? Were you like me and thought it was just another last ditch effort on Sears' part to boost sales?

Were you a bit dismayed when you heard the Kardashians had a new line at Sears and swore never to set foot in the store again?

When I think of Sears, I think of the very first credit card I ever got. Back in the ark, everyone started out their financial lives with a Sears card. When my first husband and I bought our first house, we filled it with beautiful furniture from the 'scratch and dent' room at Sears. My former in laws bought us a washer and dryer from Sears, and those things ran for years and were beyond reliable. Remember the Sears Christmas catalog? It was required reading for my brother and I. I never understood why Sears carried Ouija boards. How could such a great company espouse the devil?

Anyway, not since I got that credit card have I EVER thought of Sears in terms of fashion. Their clothing looked like something from the "Golden Girls," no matter WHAT decade I stopped in. Pastel double knit polyester makes me break out in hives just thinking about it!

Last time I stepped foot into Sears, it was over a year ago, and Michael and I were in the market for a new stove. We found a really nice one in the 'floor model' sale area. That's how I think of Sears now: appliances and tools.

Fast forward to the present day. My hubby needed new work boots. He'd found some at Sears, and sent me to the mall yesterday to pick them up. I had to walk through the jewelry and purses to get to the shoe department.

THAT was a revelation.

Designer-look purses in lush fabrics and colors. Fabulous sale prices worthy of Kohl's. Absolutely beautiful jewelry and watches for rock bottom clearance prices. I have been looking for a (much) cheaper version of the Cartier Tank Watch in silver and gold, and found one reduced to $9.99!! It's spectacular! I will post a picture of it, probably for 'Bangin' Bangle Friday.'

I should have known things were getting better fashion wise at Sears, when Claire's bestie Kelli wore a beautiful formal to the winter dance that she bought there. Will wonders ever cease?

The Economics Of A Good Haircut

Those of you who are my Facebook friends may notice today's 'do is a little more relaxed than when I had it done this past Saturday. We can blame the snow for that.......but I'm still happy!

By now, you should know I'm a pretty low maintainence gal. I do things as DIY as possible. For most things in my life, that works perfectly fine. Until recently, the same went for my hair.

At one time, I was able to spend $150 on a haircut and highlights. Wow, that was a looooong time ago. For the past 8 plus years, I have had my mom color my hair, and she does a fabulous job. As for the haircuts, other than a very short blunt cut I got in 2009, I have managed with yearly trips to the First Choice across the street from my house, and, yes, I'll admit it........I've been cutting my own bangs :X

In the past year, I've noticed my hair has been going through a teenage rebellion. Troubling, since I'll be 49 this year. I have cowlicks and odd stuff happening all over my head. All my usual tricks aren't working, and good hair days are very rare. Most days, I'd rather not look in the mirror.

My family is very nice to me, and they don't say anything about this change in my 'do. Maybe it's not as noticeable to the world as it is to me. I know my husband and kids are on top of things though.......they let me know when we ate out yesterday I had something questionable hanging out of my nose. Thanks, gang.

A couple weeks ago, after pretty much going crazy trying to get my hair to behave, I had finally had it. And I decided to call Saki.

Everyone should have a Saki in their lives. I met her when I was 18, and my regular hairdresser had left for California, leaving her clientele in Saki's able hands. I came to be grateful my original gal left!

I have followed Saki through numerous salon changes, a stint getting my hair done at her house, and ending up working for her as my second job back when Phar-Mor cut my hours for a few months. I have ALWAYS been thrilled with her work, and she even did my hair for both my weddings. She's a keeper.

Back to being a tightwad, low maintainence gal. I pretty much cut all beauty services out of my life a couple years ago, when things got tight. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had Saki cut my hair, and it was beginning to show.

Sometimes, you have to suck it up and spend money to look good. As we age, we need more help. Clothing needs to be cut differently, things need to be covered up, shoes need to be more comfortable, and we need to have flattering hair.

Saki does NOT charge that much for a haircut. At $40, my hair looks fabulous with just running my fingers through it, and I was a big girl and made an appt. for 6 weeks. I am determined to make sure I keep it, and that I put aside $10 a week so it won't set me back that much. Those of you at home are probably going, 'Duh, Erin,' but aren't we all like this? Things appear so expensive until we save manageable amounts weekly (monthly? bi-annually?)toward our goals.

When you find a good hairdresser, you'll know because they listen to what you want. That's what Saki does. She knew my aging hair needed some good layers to make it lay correctly. She uses marvelous products to make it behave. An added bonus was getting to catch up with a very good friend. I'm so glad we reconnected.

The best part of my haircut? Having my husband call me 'sexy.' That alone made my trip to Saki worthwhile <3

A Beautiful Wedding for less than $1000

This weekend, Michael and I attended the wedding of some good friends from our church. The bride wore a gorgeous gown that looked vintage and very expensive. When I found out she got it off the clearance rack for $100, it just reinforced my opinion that you do NOT have to spend yourself into bankrupty to look beautiful at your wedding.

A couple hours later, we were driving to dinner. We happened to pass the Salvation Army where I suddenly remembered I had bought the sport coats and dress shirts for our boys when Michael and I got married, almost 8 years ago. Memories......

Obviously, we had been married before. My first wedding had been pretty big: 250 guests! I had no desire to duplicate that when I married Michael. In fact, I wanted it to be as low key as possible. I had already bought a nice top, skirt and heels to wear when we married at the courthouse.

A chance comment from little 9 yr old Claire, wishing we could have a 'real' wedding,' with dresses and cake, made me start thinking we COULD have a nice ceremony, minus the hassle and $$$.

Michael and I both wore brand new outfits. Michael needed a new suit, so we outfitted him at spectular savings from Men's Wearhouse. I happened upon a fabulous cream and gold strapless gown at Macy's for $179. I wore the pearl drop earrings my mom had given me when she married my bonus daddy Harold, and I found jeweled flip flops to complete my look at Payless (it was a hot July wedding!).

Brent and Brendan already had khaki slacks, so at the aforementioned Salvation Army, I found them very nice white dress shirts and blue sports coats. At Walmart, I found them similar but not matching blue patterned ties. Brent already had dress shoes, so I found Brendan a great pair, also at Payless.

What to do with little Claire? She still wore girl's sizes, but I found a junior sized prom gown at Plato's Closet ($16) that my mom graciously hemmed and adjusted the spaghetti straps. Claire was thrilled with her 'big girl' dress!

I made my bouquet, Michael, Brent and Brendan's boutonnieres, and the flowers for our parents. I was all set to make a bouquet for Claire too, but a chance stop at Goodwill allowed me to find a ready made bouquet in the same colors as her dress, for $1. It was perfect!

We married at Weddings R Us, a wedding chapel on Mccutcheon Rd. in Columbus, just south of Easton. I'd recommend this place to anyone wanting a nice, low key wedding. We had 30 family members present, and afterwards hosted a late lunch at our new house. Actually, it was originally Michael's house :) My parents bought us a beautiful wedding cake from Schneider's Bakery in Westerville as their present to us.

We spent no more than $1000 total on our wedding. I realize that this wasn't our first wedding and we could be a little more creative, but honestly, why are we bound by what others do for THEIR weddings, and think we must do the same? Unless you have $40K lying around, why would you go into debt spending that much on a gigantic wedding? Planning a ceremony that highlights the vows you are taking, and enjoying your guests afterwards, should take precedent.

I'm not saying don't have a big ceremony if that's what you want. Go all out with the full buffet, open bar and all night dancing if you choose. I AM saying LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS. Marriage can be expensive with furnishing a new place and everything else involved with starting a new life together. Why add unnecessary financial stress that keeps you up at night?

Covet Alert: Michael Kors East West Tote

Yeah, I said it. COVET. This beautiful tote bag speaks deeply to my love of all things gold and and shiny. It's. Just. GORGEOUS.

Friday night, at Claire's school play, there was a TEENAGER walking around with this fabulous tote. I couldn't take my eyes off it. Oh yes, it's beautiful. I finally had to walk up to the girl and compliment her. She seemed surprised and pleased I had noticed.

Tonight, I looked it up online. Well goodness. Only $198. Hmmm......I think I'll be drooling over the picture a while longer.

In my responsible, always-on-a-budget adult life, $198 pays an electric bill during the summer, when it's so hot we run the air conditioner all the time, plus the pump on the swimming pool. $198 takes a dog to the vet. $198 stocks the fridge when the electric's been off and everything inside spoils. Yeah, $198 for a beyond beautiful tote bag? Not so much.

Never fear, gentle reader. The picture of this tote has been filed away, never to be forgotten, and I will be on the look out for it at all my favorite thrifting and resale haunts. Because, sooner or later they all end up there.

I just have to be patient :)