Best Thrifty Finds: May 2014

Mark and I might need to buy a house soon, just considering how much crap we both collect.

First is the crown jewel: The bar cart I found at an Ohio flea market for five bucks! I plan on fixing it up, but haven't gotten around to it yet. This bar cart, from Kate&Stripes, might serve as motivation. I would love to repaint this a sky blue or dodger blue color. Neither one of us is a big fan of the gold.

One of the glass panels is also missing, so I was hoping my dad could cut out a couple wooden panels that I could repaint. We'll see.

After months of longing for succulents, I finally got a few! From Ikea.

The thrifty part of this are the tins, which I got for a dollar each at different sales. They're making a lovely little home on our coffee table right now.

My sister Ashley and I scored big at a flea market with vintage magnets. I picked up some strawberries and beer can magnets.

This is from a couple months ago, but I picked up an ice cream cookie jar at a flea market for five bucks. I'm afraid to use it so far, since it's ceramic and all and I'm the clumsiest person of all time, but it looks great on the kitchen counter.

And of course, my ever growing drink glass collection. Newest additions are the vintage Hamburglar glass, to go with my creepy Ronald McDonald glass, and a pumpkin mug.

Also, let's not forget my garbage bag and rummage sale finds, which got their own dedicated posts.

Have you gotten any good thrifty finds lately?

Jenni and I Were Like Peas and Carrots (Part 2)

Fun fact: I'll be visiting Jenni on her birthday weekend this August. (Here's Part 1 of the story.)

Coincidently, we also celebrated her birthday while we were at YES! Magazine. It's particularly noteworthy because her mom sent this epically large chocolate cake to the office. While there weren't more than 20 people at the YES! office, this ginormous cake could easily feed 100 plus people. It was hilarious... and delicious. (pictured above, even though photos don't do justice of this cake's size) I remember the cake was mermaid-themed because Jenni is from Florida. We were eating that cake for months. We froze big chunks of it. Side note: Dylan is her dog back home.

I guess there could be another large cake on the horizon... not that I'm complaining.

I've also been reminiscing about our trip to Mt. Rainier, one of our last outings together before I left Seattle. It was our only double date; Mark flew in to visit during the last week of my internship. Before that, I hung out a lot with just Jenni and her then-boyfriend pretty regularly.

Jenni probably enjoyed making snow balls a little too much, since it was a novel experience. Mark was also in rare form: Happy!

Sigh. I do miss YES! a lot. There are many memories and beautiful things out in the Pacific Northwest. I hope I'm able to return there soon. Between the weather, the people, the climate, the culture... Everything about that place was surreal and amazing.

I'm sure Jenni and I will be reminiscing a lot!

All the YES! interns, from left to right: Jenni, Idil, me, Ayla, and Sara.

Road Trips are like a Wild Goose Chase

This skirt makes me want to go on a road trip.

My coworker Kim shot these photos beautiful for me after work last week. They were taken at the local conservancy. Going there almost felt like a mini road trip.

Apparently it gets even prettier in the summer.

Those geese in the photo are deceivingly adorable; they kept hissing at me and sticking their tongues out! I guess they were just being protective of the young ones, but still.

Anyway, I was so happy to incorporate this skirt back into my wardrobe. It makes me think of road trips, summer, having a good time. The a-line cut is incredibly flattering. It's also extremely versatile; it can be dressed up or down. Best of all, I bought it half off during a ModCloth sale a few years ago! It's held up really well since then, even though I wear it a lot.

Outfit: Skirt, Modcloth (old); shirt, Target; cardigan, J. Crew (outlet); flats, Famous Footwear.

What are some of your summer wardrobe staples?

One Man's Trash

Sunday was one of those days where things simply weren't going as planned.

Mark and I had intended on going to the Pirates game. However, the bees/hornets/wasps/evil black and yellow things with wings at our house had other ideas. We're pretty sure they made a nest in the shutter outside our bedroom window. They've been getting inside through the window somehow, or through the air conditioning unit. So... we've had 10 plus bees get into our bedroom for the past week. Three more came in just before we were about to leave. We stood our ground and conquered. For now.

I called the landlord about it last week, but the maintenance man hasn't come over yet. :(

Anyway, the bee situation held us back awhile. By the time we got to the city, the Pirates were in the second inning, so Mark just scalped the tickets and we explored the city a bit.

While we were there, we went to Avalon, my favorite secondhand shop in the city, but had no luck finding anything. We decided to go for a walk, and I passed a garbage bag sitting on the sidewalk full of clothes in my size. They were marked free and clean. Hoping there weren't any discarded body parts in the bag, I swooped it over my shoulder and brought it to my car to inspect through it a little more thoroughly.

Seriously. Don't judge me. It isn't like this happens every time I decide to go for a stroll.

The items were in great shape and clean. Probably cleaner than things I've found in thrift stores.

In addition to the things pictured above, there were some old dress shirts, sweaters, and dress pants, but they were in smaller sizes, so I'll probably just donate them. While some of these things aren't necessarily my style, particularly the pink knit shirt and the purple skinny jeans, the price was right. I might experiment with altering them a bit, with dyes, or just mixing them up in my wardrobe. We'll see.

The black dress, however, is perfection. I might just have to wear it as a tunic, though. It looks like it'll be very short on.

Are there any clothes you've inherited under unusual circumstances?

ModCloth Sale: Campfire Chic Inspired Outfit

Pictured: Bonfire Stories Tunic in Red Gingham;
Shop at the Antique Store Jeans;
Sweet Sentiments Bag;
Cement Our Friendship Boots.

ModCloth sales seriously kill me, at least in the sense that all my money disappears when their sales happen.

This Memorial Day Weekend sale they're having (30 percent off!!) was good enough to not only warrant a post, but also create Polyvore account. I think this outfit was partially inspired by the fact that I've been dying to go camping lately. It's gorgeous outside. Hopefully Mark and I can go exploring in the woods sometime next month.

I'm not sure how functional these items would be in the wilderness, but I can dream, right?

I'm definitely considering buying the top and the boots. We'll see if I follow through.

Hope you all are enjoying the weekend!

Jenni and I Were Like Peas and Carrots (Part 1)

Jenni is my YES! Magazine bestie, where we were both editorial interns back in 2011.

My time at YES! (which is based in Seattle) was by far my most unique internship experience. While the work there was unpaid, they provided free housing for all interns in a house that the magazine owns. It was great for intern camaraderie, but with Jenni and I working the same position, and the only ones in the house who weren't already living in Seattle, we bonded pretty hardcore.

Between trips to Lake Crescent (pictured above) and Mt. Rainier (pictures to come), and working and living together, we were practically inseparable. Unfortunately though, even with spending every waking moment together for more than three months, I could only find a handful of photos of us together.

I'm hoping that will soon change, since I'm planning on visiting her in Austin, Texas this summer!!

It's been about two-and-a-half years since we last saw one another in person. It was weird to suddenly spend that much time with someone out of nowhere, and have it taken away just as quickly. We've exchanged the occasional letter, text, and video chat, but obviously that's not the same as spending time in person. Needless to say, I am so freaking excited to see her again.

Other adventures while we were in the Pacific Northwest?

I can still remember our first weekend together. We found old bikes in the intern house garage and decided to ride them to a nearby farmers market. Little did we know that the bikes had no brakes! That was a day to remember, to say the least.

After that, we picked about five million wild blackberries, participated in No Impact Week together, and carved pumpkins while wearing the creepiest animal masks ever. And let's not forget the endless number of ferry rides, since we lived and worked on Bainbridge Island, which is a half hour ferry ride from downtown Seattle. :)

I'm so excited to have some fun summer plans in place. Sadly, this will be my first time flying since 2011, when I returned to Pittsburgh from Seattle.

What kinds of plans do you have for this summer? Planning on visiting old friends? Anything I should know about the capitol of the Lone Star State?

Ready for Takeoff

When your dress has an outer space print, you're bound to get compliments.

I bought this dress from Modcloth as a birthday gift to myself in July. While I hated dropping $75 on a dress, it was so worth it. The sweetheart neckline and the print were just too much to pass up. I literally get compliments every time I wear it.

While I was living in Ohio last winter, I visited the Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Neil Armstrong's hometown. I kind of wish I had this dress to wear there. It would've been perfect.

As for the denim jacket, it's a pretty recent development. I used to hate denim jackets, for one reason or another, but I think that might be because I always see people wearing those jackets with jeans. It totally adds a badass factor in the wardrobe.

I'm trying to get myself away from a cardigan addiction, since that's my normal go-to for outfits with dresses. I think this works pretty well.

In other news, I'm loving this summer-like weather. After the incredibly harsh winter, I enjoy seeing all the greenery and the cartoonish clouds. And for fair complected folk like me, getting sunburnt after being outside for an hour. Haha. I have a really weird triangle-shaped burn on my chest from the day I wore this outfit. Can't win 'em all.

Outfit: Dress, Modcloth; Denim Jacket, H&M; Shoes, Marshalls; Ring, flea market; Sunnies, Avalon (secondhand store).

What are some of your splurge wardrobe pieces?

PS In case you didn't hear, as of yesterday, THE GAY MARRIAGE BAN IN PENNSYLVANIA WAS RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL. So happy for all of my LGBT friends. :) :)

My BFF Jack

Another day, another flea market.

My recent trip to Trader Jack's, a flea market in Pittsburgh's South Hills area, was more of an impromptu trip than the trek to Rogers Community Auction a few weeks ago.

Mark was at a nearby University card show satiating his hobby appetite (baseball memorabilia), so I decided check out the nearby flea market. Mark and I have been here a few other times, and it's usually pretty hit or miss. This time around, I picked up a few cool things, but nothing major. I found a vintage Hamburglar glass, a calligraphy book, an old postcard of Mt. Rainier, and a few vintage tins. Stay tuned for a few pics of the tins in a future post. Anyway, I think I spent 5 bucks total.

While the finds were mediocre, what stood out to me was the attitude, the feel of this place. The friendliness of sellers at Jack's, especially with me holding a camera, was a complete 180 from the experience I had at Rogers.

I didn't mention it in the Rogers blog post, but I had been heckled for taking photos at the flea market. At Jack's, however, people were more curious than anything else.

"Is this for a project?"

"Are you a student?"

"You can take pictures, as long as you're not with the IRS."

I told a lot of people about the blog, although I didn't mention it by name.

One guy, who was selling the glass bottles pictured above, talked to me for about 15 minutes. The royal blue bottle, he said, was for a laundry detergent called moonshine. (If you look closely, you'll see moonshine etched on the bottle.) It apparently was a blue detergent that kept white clothes white, back in the old school days. We then discussed Pittsburgh history for awhile, including the time period when Pittsburgh didn't have the H. Blasphemy, if you ask me. Ha.

I think the conversational aspect of this place is something that's kind of a regionalism. Pittsburghers are friendly. Many talk to strangers as if they're good friends. I think it's welcoming and refreshing. While it's happened to me several times in Pittsburgh, it's also something I've never experienced anywhere else I've lived.

My favorite overheard quote? (I heard some good ones, so it might be worth a dedicated post during my next flea market trip.)

A mom talking to her kids: "This is a lot better than church, isn't it?"

What have your more memorable flea market shopping experiences been like?