OBSESSED: ALASKA

How gorgeous is this place? I've always really liked Alaska but ever since I read Raven Stole the Moon last year, my interest has really grown. I even got a vintage mug from ebay for my collection to commemorate...but more on my love of mugs later.

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IF I ONLY STILL HAD A CAMERA

...then I could blog about all the beautiful lovelies that have been bestowed upon me by the thrift gods. Sadly it was being held onto by my purse which was stolen months back. I really miss blogging. Even if I'm the only one that visits her, I feel like a little piece of me is fulfilled by this side project. In the meantime til I can raise the funds to buy a new camera, I'm going to start trying to find ways to pop up here now and again.

In other news, my sister started a blog! It's called Hello Crow. It's lovely and I'm glad she decided to add her voice to the community.

More to come soon!

NAVAJO OR BUST!

I have been eying this quilt from Urban Outfitters for I can't tell you how long but it's more than I can afford to spend. Especially when I still have a perfectly good comforter already.

But then whilst visiting my favorite local Salvation Army the other day, the clouds parted and bestowed before my very eyes a comforter so awesome I couldn't believe my luck. I was so excited I didn't even think to check if it would fit my bed. (It did!)

 My cat, Roswell, approves.

Tacky? Maybe. Freaking sweet? Most certainly. It came with the two pillowcases and is double sided with that same fabric, which I also love. And all of his became mine for the low, low price of $7! Now my bed matches even less than it did before....but hey, I love it anyway.



P.s. Anyone else totally miss Domino magazine??

THE JOYS OF ETSY

Now, I'm all about the thrill of the thrift store hunt but I definitely love the convenience of Etsy. Recently I bought this beautiful dress which was one of those pieces that you see and gasp because they're so beautiful and unique and you know that you'll keep and pass down to your future daughters. Those are definitely worth investing in.

(The tag is from the store I bought it from)

P.S. I KIND OF HAD AN AWESOME OUTFIT DAY

So, I've been trying really hard to exercise and eat well because, I gotta face it, I've been a snacker face lately. Let's just say that if I don't intervene myself soon, I'm gonna be looking at buying a whole new wardrobe if you know what I mean. Today I was feeling really good about myself and decided to actually have some fun in my closet and this is what I put together! Nothing life changing but I felt awesome.

Forgive the picture quality/staging/the face I'm making. I don't really take pictures of my outfits. To add awesome to awesome, both my cloche hat and jeggings I got on super sale at Urban Outfitters for $5 each! The bag, jacket, gloves and boots were all also on clearance and the shirt and scarf were cheap! Ftw!

CLOSET INVENTORY

I'm always curious when I'm wearing an outfit how much of it was thrifted. So tonight I took a little headcount of where the items in my closet came from. I went through my tops, skirts, dresses, jackets/coats, sweaters and shoes. I recently organized my closet so this didn't take me any longer than about 15 minutes. From my closet the amount of items that were.....

Thrifted/Secondhand = 90
Free/Gift = 32
Full Price = 31
Sale = 29
Clearance = 21
Ebay = 8
Etsy = 6

I'm a predominately thrifty person, so even the items that were bought full price were on the cheap side...and if not, then I probably had to have it right then for fear it'd sell out in my size. All in all, pretty good! The reason I didn't count ebay and etsy in the thrifted category was because even when you buy stuff secondhand online, it's almost always more expensive than what you'd pay in a thrift store plus there's shipping.

Here are some of my favorite scores

From Goodwill

Urban Outfitters clearance + 50% sale

Vintage from Etsy

Anthropologie from Ebay

Vintage from Etsy

Hmm, not all thrifted really but some of my favorite! Mostly, when I'm thrifting (which these I wouldn't exactly consider thrifted except the first) I keep my maximum cost per item at $10 unless I feel the price is justifiable.



THE MOST AWESOME THRIFT THERE EVER WAS

A few months ago while wandering through a local Goodwill, I came upon "The Most Awesome Thrift There Ever Was." Vintage Hunter brand rainboots. Now, I had been dying to score a pair of these for years so can you imagine my abounding excitement when I saw my boots in the exact color I wanted and in my size. Tell me that isn't fate. Here is where it gets even better. There was no marked price on the shoes so I was thinking they were probably going to ring up around $20 because Goodwill does price their nicer items accordingly. Total damage....$4. I kid you not. So thank you very much to the woman who donated these still-in-great-condition boots who's new price tag is over $100.

Since the label looked different than the current one, I did a little research. Uniroyal Limited made the rubber for Hunter boots from 1966 until 1987 when they were bought by another company. The Huntress boot is designed specifically for women with more room in the calf for better fit. How stellar! Thanks again Goodwill!