I found my own copy for .99 cents at Goodwill. "Zum Wohl!"
Whip out the wiener schnitzel and grab your favorite beer stein from the cupboard. It will soon be the first week of October. Hosting your own Oktoberfest gathering? Don't forget to put a record on, really set up some German ambiance.
You know what season I'm talking 'bout. It's that lovely time of year when the wind blows crisp and clean, and the leaves change color. It's perfect for layering all of your cute thrifted fashion pieces and cozying up to a hot cup of coffee for a horror movie marathon. God, I love this time of year.
And I love, love, love going through my closet and subsequently making a new fashion thrift wish list for the changing temperatures. This season I am dying to find a poncho that doesn't make me look like a sack of potatoes...or some sort of a cat lady. I would also like some saddle shoes, colorful tights (which are not likely to be thrifted, but hopefully bought on discount), a few fashionable tunics to layer over leggings and anything else that'll blend together for a comfortable look that works with the cooler weather.
And this is exactly the reason that the "Odds 'n' Ends Thursday" post will actually be published in the wee Friday morning hours. I spent a considerable amount of time today hunting the Salvation Army and the clearance racks of a few of my favorite stores for looks I love. I did find a lovely black and white print dress which I plan to layer over leggings and top with a cute cardigan. And I got some cute costume jewelry from Forever 21...including a... wait for it... robot necklace. Pictures will follow shortly.
Back to the "Odds 'n' Ends Thursday" topic...I find it a bit odd that no one has officially entered the Let's Go Thrifting! My Memories Suite Giveaway. I'd really like someone creative and thrifty to win this software. Did you miss the initial announcement? No worries.
Post about the My Memories Suite Giveaway on your blog. ( 1 Entry)
Follow Let's Go Thrifting! through Google Friend Connect. (1 Entry)
Just follow these instructions and then comment on the original post letting me know which entries you've completed. Please use separate comments for each one so I can make sure all of your entries are counted toward the giveaway. Also be sure that your comments have your name and email so I can let you know if you're the lucky winner.
Be sure to read my rave review of the product and the official announcement of the My Memories Suite Giveaway for more details.
Sometimes it's a slow news day when thrifting. Nothing strange spotted and nothing awesome acquired. This was one of those days. I was hoping to prove the dreary weather wrong with an abundance of thrifted oddities. But the shelves of the thrifts were just as dreary. Two Goodwill stops and a trip to 2nd Ave proved a futile effort. And I was really hoping to score some fall fashion pieces too.
In other news, Let's Go Thrifting! has been featured in an exclusive interview with DeDe of Vintage and Flea. So if you're looking for a heartfelt story, a mysterious encounter, a few how-to thrift tips or just wondering how we got started, check out "Seven Questions We Ask Sites We Heart: Let's Go Thrifting"
You've been reading about it for months and now the time has come. The Trading Post has offiically gone public. So stop by the new Trading Post tab and take a look at the rules of the Let's Go Thrifting! bartering system.
Please keep in mind that this is a new venture for me and we may have some technical problems in the early stages. Though I'm hoping that Blogger doesn't do me wrong by jumbling up my posts, like it has in the past. But I digress.
Do you have items up for grabs? Are you looking for anything new-to-you? Stop on by!
One reader even suggested I expand the idea to include trade offers posted via the Let's Go Thrifting!Facebook fan page. While I like the idea of utilizing Facebook for future thrifting projects, I think I'll let initial test run take place solely on the blog. Don't want to take on too much at once...
Being thrifty means saving money, shopping sales and buying secondhand. "Thrifty" is a quantitative term, measured by dollars and cents. But sometimes, being thrifty could mean more than how much is in your wallet or what is bagged up in the back seat of your car following a trip to Goodwill.
Sometimes being thrifty means taking the time to pause, to breathe, to think and to enjoy the little things in life...things that happen everyday that are often overlooked.
These shots were taken this evening while watching my best friend practice for the Philadelphia International Dragon Boat Race. The colors alternated from a golden glow to a deep blue, to shades of gray with each passing moment. And I adjusted the aperture trying to capture the shift of color in anticipation. But these are my favorite from the bunch.
And you know what? Sitting along the Schuylkill River, entranced by the rippling of the water, feeling the cool breeze and capturing that moment when the sun makes its dramatic departure...it's free. Entirely free.
Now hopefully next week, I can tote my entire lot of cameras around the town and better appreciate the little things in life...sunsets over skyscrapers, dingy back alleys, businessmen, crosswalks, hiking trails. Just pause, breathe, take it all in, point and shoot.
"A high-powered novel about Public Relations experts--smart, brazen and ruthless."
Pocket Book Edition, 1952.
"This is a crackling, high-powered novel about Clint Lorimer, a smart and ruthless operator who had every qualification for success as a public relations expert except for a small, deeply-buried shred of self-respect. And about Anne Tremaine, an advertising agency expert who was successfully Clint's partner, mistress and boss. And about Harvey Holt Ames, an amiable nitwit who inherited a company he didn't know how to run until he got the build-up. And about Peggy Devon, a reporter who couldn't help loving a phony.
The Build-Up Boys is fiction but it has a solid basis in fact. It will tell you how the Public Relations business can operate and what it can do to itself and its clients."
________________________
I just love the scintillating pulp cover. And just maybe I'll learn a thing or two...on how to be brazen and ruthless, or how to not fall in love with a phony.
This is what the PR business is really about, folks.
Of course we all remember this creep show of classic literature. In honor of tonight's final competitive Weight Watchers weigh-in, I've decided to resurrect the fine art of body watchin'.
For the past thirteen weeks my dad and I have been competing in the annual Weight Watchers Battle of the Badges, a friendly weigh-off challenge between police and fire fighters and their families. Tonight is the last weigh-in. While I know I didn't win top prize, my now baggy jeans and ill-fitting pajamas are prize enough for now. I've decided to stick with the program beyond Battle of the Badges and hope to lose another 50 pounds in the next six months. But after tonight's weigh-in I'm treating myself to a hefty dose of crab fries with cheese and muscles in red. It will be...glorious.
But come tomorrow morning, I'll be back on track again. I need to be. Because apparently, in accordance with Body Watchin' author and self-proclaimed "Chief Watcher" John L. Shirley, I'm a classic Endomorph. And given this eye-opening illustration, I am also incidentally a bowling enthusiast in drag. Who knew?
"Endomorph: The Fat One" is a chapter dedicated to we fatties who are "awkward in movement and prone to stumble," we who "have a strong aversion to yard work." And word to the wise from The Chief Watcher:
"Never aggravate the endos over their need for food and drink." We might get volatile and chew your arm off for a midday snack.
But don't worry, readers. John L. Shirley loves looking at all body types. This thrifted read is dedicated "to all the bodies I've watched...the knowledge gained has made the writing of this book not only possible, but a lot of fun!"
So keep in mind that next time someone is sizing you up, they may very well be drafting a book on somatotyping... one that will someday end up on the shelves of your local thrift store.
This mischievous elf/wizard/pointy-hat-wearing troll was spotted at Goodwill yesterday afternoon.
He was tagged at $4.97.
Five dollars.
A four-inch-high, hideous-faced fantasy creature?
Five dollars?
Don't get me wrong. I don't mind forking over some hard-earned dollars for kitschy thrift-found oddities. But this is some kind of deranged secondhand price gouging.
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In other odds 'n' ends notes of miscellany, I've been experimenting with my novelty faux-vintage stereo the last few days. This modern wonder is a record player/iPod dock/CD player and recorder.
After messing around with track intervals and recording levels, I finally ripped a few albums from vinyl to CD. Then I just popped the discs into my laptop, typed in the track names and loaded them into my iTunes library.
I was hoping to have all the technical kinks worked out so that I can share some of my thrifted albums with you. But damn, does finding a reliable source of streaming audio for Blogger have to be difficult. If any of you technically-versed readers/bloggers out there have a suggestion for a free simple interface that's compatible with Blogger, I'll send positive thrift vibes your way. Hell, I'll make you your very own thrifted mix album.
I mean, look. Look at this album. I know that you can barely contain your excitement, but this compilation gem of incredibly strange songs was worth every penny...all 98 of them. And believe me "Seven Little Girls (Sitting in the Back Seat)" by Paul Evans is testimony to the entire album concept.
The song is from the perspective of the driver, who is peeved because his buddy "Fred" is macking it up with seven... count 'em, seven "little" girls in the backseat. This is problematic for a number of reasons.
I don't care how "little" these girls are. How do you fit seven of them, plus one Lothario named Fred in the back seat and have ample room for all the described "hugging and kissing?"
Why are there seven girls back there swooning for the same guy at the same time? Hell, he doesn't even have a car.
How pervy is it that the driver is forced to witness all of these 8-person shenanigans from his rear view mirror, while being sung to in the chorus to "keep his eyes on the road and hands on the wheel" by seven squealing presumably prepubescent girls?
And lastly and perhaps most important for legality sake, how does one define "little?" Are these girls just extraordinarily compact? They must be... to fit seven back there, plus Fred. Otherwise, we listeners might assume "little" to be quantitative, as in numbers, as in age....as in age of consent.
Okay. I'll cave. Here's a video....of the 1948 performance... with puppets.
Looking to do something new with your odds 'n' ends? Howabout a trade?
In sorting through garage sale leftovers and potential thrift donations, I’ve been considering a few options.
I can rent a space at a flea market to sell some previously loved junk.
I can restock my Etsy shop with a few toys, books, bags and a miscellany of other vintage wares.
I can simply bag everything up and donate it to Goodwill.
Sure I’d like to make a few bucks when I can. And Lord knows I’d like everything to be neat and organized. But I would also like to try something different. I’d like to consider the possibility of a trade.
I’ve seen other bloggers attempt a virtual trading post, such as the always innovative professional thrift blogger Selena of Apron Thrift Girl. And I imagine things can get complicated in terms of comparable value of the goods involved. But I’m willing to give it a whirl.
In the next few weeks I plan to create a separate “page” on Let’s Go Thrifting dedicated to available trades for anyone interested in participating. I will use InLinkz for other bloggers to post and share links to any items they would be interested in trading. I will also extend an invitation for non-bloggers to participate via email. Just send me photos and descriptions and I will post the goods on your behalf!
Rules and further details will be posted in the near future, as well as a preview for some of my own junk ready to be traded.
Interested in the Let’s Go Thrifting Trading Post? Gather your goods for a photo shoot, jot down some details and prepare for a fair trade.
Well, we finally finished going through all of the boxes, bags and storage bins in preparation for Saturday’s garage sale. While I wasn’t particularly thrilled to have clouds of dust clog my nasal cavity, or to see itty bitty spiders that camp-out in the crevices of the garage pop out unexpectedly, or to have an entire wall-mounted cabinet to come de-walled only to slam on to my shoulder, it wasn’t all bad. Rediscovering previously treasured items from the past was nice.
We relived the Furby trend for a moment. We laughed at the unbelievable amount of collections we’ve amassed. We found things we even forgot we still owned.
Then we played with them…
My sister decided to play a game of “Which One of These is Not Like the Other” with a pile of pugs. Pugsley seems only mildly annoyed.
And this is the product of a 27 and 22 year old, respectively. We stuffed Rainbow Brite, Twink, Mr. Peepers the Owl and a tiny pug into this sweet set of wheels and rolled them around the carpet for the dogs to chase. Of course, the dogs grew bored of this before we did.
After a few minutes of playtime, we packed it up. Some things will stay. some things will go. But it was fun reliving the past.
Tomorrow we’re going to take a drive around to post up some fliers for the garage sale. I think they are sufficiently kitschy.
What childhood favorites have you reminiscing about the past?
