Thrifty Thursday is keeping me honest!

After last week's debut, I'm even more excited about my new commitment.  If anything, it keeps me posting at least once a week... erp.  I haven't gotten around to making any Pinterest projects with that lace and my mason jars yet, but I have been actively searching for a sweet shade for the lamp.  Each time I look, I'm more and more convinced that I should just buy a cheap, possible thrifted shade that fits and then make it over myself.


I've decided to disclose all of the locations that I visit, for a few reasons.  One, I have different opinions about the different shops, and I want to, of course, share them with you.  Two, I think that the different stores are good for different things.  Also, I think it's just good consumerism to share these sorts of things with the public.  We're all on the same team, here, right? Good.  

I should note, that in my humble opinion, thrifting in the Cincinnati area can be one of the following three things:  (My heartfelt apologies to the non local readers, as this is VERY location specific.)


1. A "stop in" since you're in the area.  This is the case with a few of them on my list because I drive by them so often, or they're just close to my house and I want to get out for a bit.


2. An all day event, circling the 275 loop.  My sister and I have been known to go to a store in Anderson Twp. and Colerain in the same day, and then maybe cruise up to Hamilton.  We usually end up lunching at an off beat place somewhere along the way, and we ALWAYS have the best time.  This takes commitment, and honestly, I haven't done it since I've had kids.


3. A destination/ road trip.  I may have spotted one out in Lebanon and so I'll make a special trip to check it out, even though it's 30+ minutes away.

Each week I will share a general list of some of my favorites, why I like them (or why not).  I may end up making this a link at the top of the page just as a quick reference guide in case you're curious about where a particular item came from.  It's too much to list them all at once right now, plus I'll keep you on your toes?


Valley Thrift- Evandale, OH
This one is close to me so I go pretty often.  It's great because it's big.  I don't love their adult clothing selection.  They are pretty lacking in the furniture department as well.  I have gotten some great knick knacky type things there.  They also have a great selection of fabrics, curtains, etc... Last week's white ceramic lamp base came from here, as well as the lace.  They have a respectable kids' clothes section.  Also worth noting: It is less than 5 minutes from a drive thru Starbucks and it backs up to another thrift store, SVDP.


Saint Vincent DePaul's (SVDP)
There are several of these locations in the city, and they all have different perks.  I frequent two of them, but have been to all of them.  
The Evandale location is right behind the Valley Thrift, so it's crazy to not go to both if  you're there.  This location is very small for a thrift store, but always worth going in.  They always have furniture displayed outside, with a decent selection inside, they're always willing to negotiate price, and they have a great accessory section (belts, jewelery, etc...) This is where I found last weeks white ceramic owl.  It's also where I scored these adorable footstools, below.  The clothes selection is pretty dismal, but my sis and I have found that what they do have clothes-wise is worth checking out.  
The Esty Avenue Superstore location is HUGE and also not far from me.  If I'm looking for ANY sort of furniture, this is usually the first place I check.  The made over book shelf in Sofia's room was a ten dollar steal from this place.  Almost every time we go in here, we wish we had a bigger truck or a need for some of the gems they have in there.  And, they just opened up another room full of furniture! Their prices are right and they will give you a cheaper price if you take the piece home that day.  (SVDP does the same).  If I'm by myself, you can probably find me snapping pics of the furniture to send to my sister.  No joke, this place is usually STACKED.  It also has a great knick knack and art selection.  I never really look at the clothes because I always spend too much time in the other departments.  But, I know they have a color coded pricing system.  For example, all yellow stickered items are $1. Personally, I find that just a tad confusing, because the little chart is up by the front door, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.
All of the other SVDP locations get my good review, too.  If I'm ever in the area and not with toddler, I'm sure to stop in.

Moving on, here are my latest finds! 

These retro orange and green colors (or the leather or faux leather) may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I can't get enough of them.  When I spotted this pair, I immediately thought of how much fun Sofia would have with these. Jumping off of, rolling over, sitting on while reading, using as a step stool, I could go on and on.  The style goes perfectly with our retro basement which doubles as the playroom, so I had to take it.  There was a moment where I considered making slip covers for them and pairing them with a little table for Sof's bedroom.  But, alas, I'm going to stick with their original condition and keep them in the playroom for now. They were marked for $8 each.  I asked if she'd sell them for $5 each.  She said no, because they'd just arrived, so I walked away.  She tracked me down and agreed to the two for ten deal. SCORE!

Sweater pants? With feet? YES! Baby Gap size 3-6 months. Perfect condition, $2.89.  Maya may wear these tomorrow, just as soon as I give 'em a good wash.  LOVE!

I must've been in a pink mood (for my girls) today.  Although Sofia has a ridiculous wardrobe, even for a two year old, I feel like she never has enough warm shirts or sweaters.  So, when I saw this little prize with the adorable shoulder buttons, I pounced.  Children's Place, perfect condition, size 24 months, $2.89.

It's worth noting, that when you have one kid, buying them clothes is always justified because they're constantly growing, and you're so excited about them, you want to show them off, blah, blah, blah. Sound familiar, Josh? When you have two, and they're the same sex, and they were born in the same month? RIDICULOUSLY justified.  EVERYTHING I buy Sofia will now get double the wear as Maya will be an extremely well dressed, hand me down wearin' kid!  Disclaimer: this paragraph right here? That's called rationalization. Say it with me, fellow shoppers, RATION-AL-I-ZATION.


Oh, and just to end on a high note, and since I haven't been blogging about anything besides thrifing for the past couple weeks, here you go.  Yes, I know the cheeks (and thigh rolls) are the most nom-able things ever.  And, yes, once you have a little one, nom-able becomes a word. ;)

Thrifty Thursday

I've ALWAYS loved thrifting.  I remember my first trip to the Valley Thrift in Hamilton when I was eleven years old.  My best friend and I were dressing up as Siamese twins for Halloween, so we needed a giant shirt and pair of pants (duh).  Immediately, I gasped at the stench fell in love with all of the old treasures.  I would visit frequently throughout my teenage years.  Then, at OU in Athens, there were some fantastic spots, naturally.  And thrifting was starting to catch on with all the cool kids.  Nowadays, you just have to hope that you find a spot that the local hipsters aren't on to yet, or that you're hitting on a good day.  It's so trendy now, but I don't care.  Cincinnati/ NKY has some fantastic spots.  I'm not even sure if I want to disclose where I'm finding some things because I don't want to spread the wealth! Just kidding kind of.  If I haven't been in a while, I start to get that itch, and give my sister a call.  We always have a blast finding funny old things and other people's trash our new treasures. We both lean toward mid century modern design, and always get so excited when we find a great piece of furniture.  I've bought A LOT of thrifted furniture, including my awesome retro dining room set.  I do follow a set of guidelines when thrifitng, as you must, obviously.  

• Try to wear a scarf sprayed heavily with your fave body spray or perfume, then wear said scarf very close to your face.  There's no way around the awful smell of a thrift store, but I've found that this helps a bit.
• I have a $5 limit on almost ANY item.  If it's more than that, it should a). be furnitre and b). be WORTH it!
• I will NOT bring my toddler with me.  She would touch too much and I would be vomiting in my mouth dousing her in hand sanitizer too much.
• Set aside TIME to really look.  You may have to look past the awful seat covers on the awesome chair if it has good bones.  
• Never, EVER buy lingerie, bathing suits, pajamas, etc... because, Eeeeeew.
• I try to stay away from fabric furniture (NO mattresses).  Everything has been sterilized and bed bug treated before being sold, but generally, it's still not worth the risk.  
• It's OKAY to negotiate! As you'll see below, it usually works!  I got two awesome retro pieces for $5 each; originally $8 each.
• If you go looking for a specific item, you probably won't find it right away.  But be persistent, as their inventory changes daily.
• Wash EVERYTHING as soon as you get home, if for no other reason then to remove the odor and germs.  You should do this for non-thrifted merchandise as well, for that matter.
• Grab a coffee, bring a friend, and HAVE FUN!

One of my favorite thrift store stories occurred during my album collecting years.  I could spend HOURS sifting through all of the old records.  That got to be very trendy, too, and now it's really hard to find anything other than John Denver's Christmas album.  Anyhow, I came across Bob Dylan's Slow Train Coming and pounced.  

It was a great cover and I couldn't wait to hang it in my living room. I was looking through it weeks later, and noticed some handwriting on the back cover.  Upon closer inspection, I noticed that it was my own mom's name and it sure looked like her handwriting.  Wouldn't ya know? I took it to her house and she couldn't believe it- it was her old album! So awesome!  I cherished that album from then on, as well as some other fantastic ones.  I ended up losing it when our house burnt down, but I still have the memory of the sweet story.


So, with that overdrawn history of my love of thrifting, I introduce to you:

I will be sharing some of my recent finds, how I'm using them (if applicable), and what I plan to do with them.  I'm excited! Are you? Good. To kick it off, I'll share some finds from the other day because I just can't wait a week to start the sharing. (FYI- major camera issues (insert sad/ disgruntled face), sorry for the poor quality).

White Ceramic Owl votive holder.   Was that not loud enough? WHITE CERAMIC OWL!!! YES! And, it's like the heavy ceramic.  It didn't have a price on it.  I was in a little store and had already talked down some other items.  I stopped a young girl working to ask if she knew how much.  She glanced down at it for about 2 seconds and then wrote $1 on the bottom.  I could hardly contain my giddiness. (nerd alert, right here)

White Ceramic Lamp.  $1.99 with no shade.  I don't even think I'm going to alter this.  I can't wait to find the perfect shade for it.  I don't have a home for it, yet, but it could literally look great ANYWHERE in my house! SCORE!

A couple-a yards of delicate lace fabric. 69 cents.  There are just too many Pinterest projects calling for lace right now, so I needed to have some on hand.  I've also been hoarding mason jars, so there will be some cute things happening.

Classic Navy cardigan.  Size 2T, true vintage.  Perfect condition and so retro/ classic/ lovely.  I'm sure both of my girls will get lots of wear out of this little gem

Super, right? I think so.  Plus, having this little weekly theme should help me blog more in general.  And for the love of George Clooney, I need to do that. Sheesh.


Linked up over at Harper's Happenings!

I'm Baaaa-aaaaack...

Hello Readers! You're still there, aren't you? I'm Rachel, in case you forgot because it's been so long.  Don't recognize me? Or the blog? Yes, that's because I've been doing lots of behind the scenes action lately (all myself) to make this space pretty, and easy for you since... duhn, duhn, duhn.... One of my resolutions is to blog more and really build this thing up to what I'd like to see it be.  Hip Hip!  You like the new duds, yes? I do! Well, like 97%.  You know me.  Some tweaking is bound to happen. Meh.  Nonetheless, click around.  New stuff everywhere! And let me tell you, this blog designing stuff is NOT easy.  At least for a fogey like myself.


Moving right along... The goal was to debut this on January 1st and share all of my resolutions with all of you, blah, blah, blah.  But, life is insane busy, what with me having a toddler and newborn and all, so I'm considering the fact that I'm posting something on the eighth a raging success. Oh, and as long as we're talking logistics, let's talk about those resolutions.  Um. There's a lot.  I'm not typically a resolution type gal.  Mostly because things are usually pretty awesome in my neck of the woods and why fix what ain't broke, you know? But, times, they are a changin', and in true Rachel fashion, once I got started with 'em, I couldn't stop.  Some are super specific (i.e. eat more greens), and some are a tad more broad (i.e. be nicer. To everyone.). It's fitting since the name/ essence of this little project is improvement.  Score one for Team Rachel.  

Oh, and I suppose I should add this, even though approximately 100% of you reading this right now know me, there might be a straggler wandering around.  I haven't blogged since I was pregnant and I now have a beautiful, amazing 3 month old daughter, Maya Presley.  Life is SO different with two, and I'm sure that will come up more than once over the next few months years.

Basically, the resolutions can be broken down into categories.  And then subcategories.  Stay with me here, people.


1.Me (physically)
          a. 60 lb. weight loss 
               *Eat better/ change diet
               *Get more active
               *Improve overall health/ BMI/ FEEL BETTER!


2. Home (project wise)
          a. Organize like it's going out of style (ironically it's so in right now)
               *Basement pictures to follow.  It's my Monica's closet if you will.  If you don't know what that means, what the heck did you watch on t.v. in the 90's?
               *Toys.  It's ongoing and worth it.
               *The girls' clothes. They grow like weeds and I'll be instituting a bin system to try to maintain some sort of order to that chaos.
               *The garage. I'd like to put a car in it for the first time this year. 
          b. The exterior of our house (debuting Spring 2012)
               *Paint shutters and front door new fun yet practical color.
               *Change mailbox, porch light, door hardware, address numbers, and porch furniture.  This doesn't necessarily mean buy new stuff.  Refurbish is the name of the game (when possible).
               *Take out mulch bed in back yard and plant grass.  It's beautiful, but let's be realistic here.
          c. Small projects around the interior (new photo walls, art projects, etc...)


3. Work
          a. Etsy
               *build up inventory and client base (there's clearly SO MUCH that goes into this that I'll explore here)
          b. Photography
               *At least start a portfolio, but continue to treat it as nothing more than a hobby unless services are requested.


This list is obviously subject to change, and there is sure to be MUCH more added as the year goes on.  But this is a start.  I'm excited to share these challenges with you and hold myself accountable for these things via the internet. :/



See? There's lots to write about this year.  And I won't just limit the blog to these resolutions.  I've got two gorgeous girls and one gorgeous husband to keep you up to date on! I'm going to be participating on some other bloggers' projects, too, so I'm excited about that. 


Cheers to 2012! Let's do this! ::high fives all around the room::