An Excuse for the Beach…

There are two benefits from thrifting for beach equipment. 1. What house doesn’t have a few things that were bought for a family beach trip, used only one time and then stored in the garage for the next however many years? This means you can buy those things, barely used, and at a fraction of a cost. 2. Once you have it, you have the perfect excuse to go to the beach!

For example:

$2 for both of those watermelon umbrellas. They aren’t just regular “Stick them in the ground and hope they stay put” umbrellas.  They’ve got nice clamps on the end, so you can attach them to your beach tables or chairs.

$1.50 for the beach blanket / tablecloth. Much nicer than a towel because you’ll have room too move around and set down your things without covering them in sand.

In the event that the weather turns gloomy while you’re out at the beach, as it did with me, don’t worry. That’ll just give you time to check some of the local thrift stores where you’ll find things like super groovy cowgirl boots…

A large, shaggy, pleather jacket…

Or a nice straw hat for your next beach trip…

Happy Summer!

Key West on the Cheap

I already posted about my favorite things to do in Key West. Now, for all the things that you can do on a budget…

1. See all the typical Key West landmarks.

The Southernmost Point. Get your picture taken with the famous monument, and grab a snow cone from the vendor that is always there on the street. Trust me, you’ll be hot enough to want one.

Mile 0 of highway 1.

The Sunset Celebration on Mallory Square.

2. Shopping! Both window and otherwise.

There are plenty of touristy stores where you can find souvenirs and handy travel underwear..

Or you can pop some tags in one of the many thrift stores…

3. Go see the Key West Aquarium.

It’s tiny, but well worth the $15 entry fee. You can even get cheaper tickets if you pre-purchase them online.

There’s a petting tank with stingrays and other ocean critters..

You can feed some fish and see some pretty large sharks…

4. Grab a cheap book for charity and do some reading in the sunshine.

On your way down the Keys, you’ll pass Baby’s Coffee…

…stop in and grab a drink, I recommend the chai iced latte, but all the drinks are good..

… then grab a book and give a donation. If you have any books with you that you’ve already finished, here is the perfect place to drop them so another traveler can enjoy them…

… Then go sit by your hotel pool or the beach with your chai iced latte, read your book and work on your tan.

5. Play pool at the Green Parrot.

The Green Parrot isn’t right on Duval, which makes it more of a locals hangout. “Locals hangout” can also be translated too “full of strange Key  Westers who make for good entertainment via people watching.”

I’d love to hear any other suggestions!

Reverse Retail Therapy

As of yesterday, Summer is officially here! If you missed the drop on Spring cleaning, like I did, now is the perfect time to make up for it. Go through your closet and get rid of all the clothes that you haven’t worn in a while because they don’t fit quite right, aren’t your style anymore or  because you never really liked them in the first place. Here are my cast-aways..

The white dress with the butterflies? Bought that one in 2009 and haven’t worn it ONCE! All in all, that’s two pairs of shorts, three sweaters, four shirts and eight dresses. I normally rotate donations between my favorite charity thrift stores. This time everything went to the Hope Chest which raises money for abused women and families. Apart from making extra space in your closet and helping to raise money for charity, you’ll also clean out all those extra hangers you have cluttering up your closet…

Well go on then! If you go do it now, you can justify taking that afternoon nap later. That’s reason enough for me!

Nashville Farmers Market

We found the Nashville Farmers’ Market by accident while we were driving around the city and we were not disappointed by our decision to stop. They had plenty of BEAUTIFULLY ripe fruits and vegetables..

Local honey..

Jams and pickled things…

Inside, they had several small booths selling different beauty products and candles etc…

This candle booth had candles that smelled like everything from fresh linen to fruit loops to leather. I was boring and just went with “Breeze.”

There is also a nice cafeteria…

…with everything from Indian food…

… to BBQ..

You know you are in the south when there is an entire menu section dedicated to varieties of Grits!

My favorite was probably the kettle corn place.

I have never seen so many varieties of kettle corn! We sampled many of them, and they were all fantastic!

Of all the food we tried in Nashville, this was probably the best. I have to recommend that you go there and buy a couple of bags. I can’t believe I never noticed the White Cheddar Jalapeno and the Dill Pickle! That’s it! Time to go back!

Tennessee Thrifting: Part 2

I mentioned in my last post about the really cool mod clothing store where I couldn’t buy anything because I had already purchased too much. Here are a few of my favorites…

Anthropology Skirt- $10

Plaid Old Navy Shirt- $5

I have to admit, I wasn’t 100% sold on the skirt, until I found out that it was from Anthropology. Have you been to that store?? It is my absolute favorite place, but I can’t afford anything there. I first discovered Anthropology in the Chelsea Market and I’ve been dying for something from that place ever since.

Columbia shirt- $12

That’s normally more than I would pay for a shirt, but Columbia fishing shirts are pretty popular in Florida. I’ve been looking for one for a long time and you never find them in thrifties down here.

Brand new Tommy Hilfiger Bermuda Shorts- $5

These are nothing exciting, style-wise, but they are perfect for work. They were actually $10, but this particular thrift store was having a half-off sale and I needed some new work clothes.

Priceless V8 Sweater- $6

We also got this for half price. It was just so ridiculous, she couldn’t pass on it.

$75 pants from The Limited outlet store- $17

I know this isn’t technically a thrift store find, but they were such a great deal that I had to include them. The outlet store was having a 30% off sale AND these were already on the sale rack. So, just a re-cap, that’s 30% off jeans that were on the sale rack and already discounted by the outlet store. How ’bout them apples. I also got a few other shirts, but no pictures of those, unfortunately. I did so much shopping that week, but it was hard to pass these things up!

Tennessee Thrift: part 1

I bought so many clothes on this last trip to Tennessee that I had to buy a second bag to get them all home! There were many great thrift stores, so it was hard to resist! My favorite one BY FAR was called “Pre to Post Modern,” just outside of Nashville. They had so many adorable clothes from every era..

I didn’t actually buy anything here because I was already over spent, but there were such good finds. I LOVED this jacket, but leather jackets are far from optimal in Florida.. 😦

Bed Jacket anyone?

Hats? Yes, please.

I need this light…

I took mostly video (go watch it!) here, so my photos don’t do it justice. I promise if you’re in the area and you stop in, you won’t be disappointed. The address is..2110 8th Ave S, Nashville, TN 37204…

Tennessee Video 2013

This is just a glimpse into my trip from last week. It’s one of the best trips I have ever had! I can’t wait to go back to Nashville!

Also, if you haven’t seen my New York or Las Vegas videos, you should!

NYC Coat Thrifting

On our recent trip to NYC, my mom and I discovered just how much we are nancies about the cold. After nearly turning into Popsicles on our first night there, our mission the next morning became finding better coats. There is an area near Morningside Heights, and near my bagel shop, that has three or four really good second-hand stores that are all within one block of each other. One is a fancy store that only re-sells expensive brand name clothes (It’s a bit pricey) and the others were the usual Salvation Army/Church types. Our coat prayers were answered in church… well below the church building, in their thrift store…

A whole wall of $5 coats!

This one was my favorite, but it was a little big. 100% wool though and so warm!

Then there was the leather jacket for anyone that wants to look like an extra from The Matrix..

There was also a TERRIBLE ’80s coat that was purple and hand enormous shoulder pads, I lost the picture of that one though sadly.. I didn’t really need a coat anyway, but my mom definitely did. She found this one… She loves having her picture taken…

Also 100% wool and made in America. Perfect for New York, but not so much for Florida. Because she only paid $5 for it, she was able to leave it behind for someone else to use! No trying to somehow stuff that thing into our luggage. No guilt in wasting the money since it was so cheap AND you get to help more people by re-donating the coat! Win-Win-Win.

Post Box Decor

The only credit I really deserve for this post is writing it, and staking my claim on something my mother found. All other credit goes to my mom for finding this cute little Post Box.

She went to a church sale, probably the biggest one in our area where they actually charge you for admission. A lady had picked up a microphone and said, “I’m selling this post box and I’ll start the biding at $5.” No one was listening to her so she just kept rambling nervously about how she was selling it for a little old lady who had brought it over from London several years ago. My mom felt bad that no one was listening to her, so she bought it. It worked out nicely for me, because I love it! It only had slight wear and it still had the screws and TWO KEYS!

After a little clean up, it was sparkling white. I haven’t yet decided where to put it, or what to do with it but I’m thinking this would be a nice spot.

That spot has just been waiting for the perfect thing, and this might be it. For now though, I am enjoying just having it on my desk. If you’re wondering about that cat picture on my desk top, you can read the story about it here.

If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

Travel Style 101: Scarving

I have this condition called, “I was born in Florida where we have no style sense.” Flip-flips are everyday wear, in many cases for work and church too. Outside of those things, shorts and a t-shirt are really all you need. I also had a double whammy in that I went to a school with a uniform. Not just a dress code, but full on plaid skirt, knee-high stockings and penny loafers. Traveling with any sort of style while not packing three suitcases was definitely a challenge for me at first.

When I went to Paris in 2008, I was walking around in jeans, flip flops and a t-shirt (terrible I know). It got really chilly in the afternoon, so we stopped at a market and bought some scarves.

I got this baby. I think I thought “Oooh shiny! Pretty colors!” I still do really love this scarf, but this matches with very few things, it’s pretty obnoxious and orange really isn’t a good color for me…. which is why, like a terrible daughter, I stuck my mom with the gaudy orange scarf and took her wisely chosen, black and brown scarf…

She’s so much better at this stuff than me! It matched with everything and it was really warm!

It started like this…. then the orange beast descended upon my mother…

And I “borrowed” the black one for the rest of the trip..

Much better right? Plus, how awesome is that subway entrance! Am I the only one with fashion slip ups? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments below!