Value Village 50% Off Sale.

Did you manage to make it out to your local VV's 50% off sale yesterday? I sure did. I didn't have as much time as I would have liked, but in 1.5 hours, I did some serious damage. Not in the pocketbook department of course, but I found a lot of items in that short time. 21 items to be exact!

I've frequented these sales over the years and its been my main form of clothes shopping, especially for the kids. Back when the kids were still "wee," I would be waiting until the doors opened, first thing in the morning, with all the other crazy thrifters by my side. As the kids got older (and perhaps I got a little more sense), I started going a little later in the day. And now it seems the only reasonable time for me to stop by is in the evening.

Here are a few of my 50% off day tips...

-They usually hold these sales every 3 months or so, often the day following a major holiday. So if you missed this one, don't fret, there will be another. Probably mid-Fall, around (Canadian) Thanksgiving.

- If you join their SuperSavers club (a free club), you can go in the day prior, during the last 2 hours before the store closes and also get the 50% off rate. Highly brilliant.

- Go when you can. Of course, the later you go, the less selection there is, but lets be serious, it is Value Village. Isn't the slogan "The thrill of the hunt?"

- Go up and down every aisle. I know that sounds like a lot, but I'd say within 45 minutes I had scanned every t-shirt/sweater/tank top rack in the place. I walk down the aisle and scan racks on either side of me. Your eyes are generally drawn to colors or patterns that appeal to you. But also slide the items down the racks, looking for ones that might be less visible. And look in all size ranges. Even though you might be a medium, often larger shirts can shrink or smalls can be fitted larger that usual.

- Be prepared for crowds and lines. Last night was fairly tame, but usually the greatest source of congestion is at the change rooms line-ups and people lining up at the tills. Last night I was primarily shopping for shirts and sweaters, so I avoided the change rooms line-ups completely by wearing a tank top. That way I was able to find a mirror at the end of one of the aisles, and throw shirts on over top of my tank. It was incredibly fast. No line ups, no waiting, a few strange looks from other shoppers, mind you, but I think it worked quite well. Of course if you were trying on pants, skirts or shorts, this wouldn't necessarily work so well, and I imagine the strange looks would increase, but to each their own.

- Make the check-out process less painful by removing all the items from their hangers, and make sure the tags are easily visible so the cashier can scan away.

- Bring along some fabric bags that you can load yourself. Again, a major time saver (not to mention earth saver).

- Remember, they have a 7 day exchange policy. So while you won't get your money back, you do have the option to go back and find something else. Of course, it won't be 50% off, but let's be serious, it's Value Village. You can find something.

I'm quite pleased with all my finds. I spent a total of $50.66, for 21 items! Yowza. That works out to just $2.41 per item. The kids stuff was generally cheaper overall (some items ringing in at 75¢), but I the most I paid for an item for myself was $3.50. Not too shabby.

Three new sweaters for myself (Total: $10.50). Unfortunately I just noticed a stain on the white one, so I'll likely exchange it, but I'm fairly thrilled with the other two.

I couldn't pass up this blue sweater. It screams classy Grandpa. And its the real deal, retro. Loving it!

This red cardigan is so pretty and I'm thinking it could be a cute way to dress up a black tank top with jeans, or it could be worn over my black linen dress for a Christmas party. I'm fairly certain I was drawn to the sparkles! (My Mom always said I was part crow, drawn to the shiny stuff). Not to mention it still has the replacement button attached, making me think its never been worn.
One long sleeve, and two short sleeve t-shirts.
While I am in no way affiliated with Vangaurd College, I do like their t-shirt and their logo. Not to mention the color. Its a bible college here in Edmonton.
This brown one is a bit tight yet, but hopefully I can fit into 'er soon. Loved all the buttons. Joe, of course.
I'm liking these two black shirts, although I'm thinking the one on the left may go back. Definitely a boob shirt, and I just can't seem to find anything to bridge that gap (hardy har). The one on the left is super cute with giant black buttons connecting the straps. Its a long shirt and Rob said its almost long enough to be a dress. Making me think if I could find some super cute patterned fabric (with black details), I could put a strip around the bottom, making it into a dress. We'll see.
Even though I was mainly looking for fall shirts, I couldn't resist these three tank tops. I'm fairly certain the center Gap tank (ranging in shades from white to blue) was designed with me in mind. I LOVE IT.
Here is the bundle of kids stuff I picked up. I shopped mostly for Abbi as she seems to be the one lacking in the fall department this year. I'm loving that pink polka dot dress. I'm thinking picture day. Gabe got a few hats (one was left at the park a few weeks ago), a pair of shorts ($1) and a pair of cargo pants that should fit him this fall. 10 items for a total of $15.50!
So those were my fantastic finds of the day. My next Value Village mission will be to get the kids outfitted for winter (snowsuits, toques, boots, etc). They still won't get those items in for a few weeks yet, but I love being able to get my kids totally set for winter for $26.96 (2010's total) and $29.26 (2009's total).

Bathroom, numero uno.

So the upstairs bathroom is finally done. Not like it took all that long. These days it seems to be taking me longer to actually find the time to sit down and post about such things. I figure I'll reveal this bathroom and also include a tour of the downstairs bathroom in another post. The downstairs bathroom was essentially completed last fall, but its been oh-so patiently waiting for some artwork to be hung over the toilet. I finally decided on a frame and a picture and I'm pretty pleased with it. Anyway, lets not steal the upstairs' bathroom thunder...

The thing I realized was just how tricky it is to get a good picture of a bathroom. At least one outfitted with CFL lighting! So you'll have to put up with my bad photography and overexposed pictures.

Here's a before picture. Not a terribly great picture, but it shows how much filling and sanding was required to get this wall to a presentable state. It had awful teeny holes in the drywall on this seam, all the way up the wall. Probably little air pockets that they never bothered to fix before they painted. Ugh. So I went a little crazy here, but I no longer have to stare at nasty holes and I am happy woman!

The before color was a rose-esque beige. Not really my cup of tea. The vanity counter top is in a similar tone. With the new paint color, its less offensive, but I'd love to find a old dresser, stain it up in a rich, chocolatey brown and revamp it with a sink. And the husband even likes this idea, so this is a good start! Another shot of the before color, with a tester color on top (not the color I ended up using).
This is the shower curtain that started it all. Beth on Seersucker. $22.47 at Zellers. So pretty. And I love my little white curtain knobbies.

The picture below gives a pretty good idea of the paint color. Its from the Rona Eco line; the paint color is called "Wheat." I'm impressed with how nicely matches the grout on the shower tiles.

My cushy, plush red towels. I'm fairly thrilled with them.
I'm quite pleased with how well the ceiling turned out in this room. In the downstairs bathroom I did the ceiling first, and I'm not super pleased with it. So doing the ceiling last worked really well, and I have a beautifully crisp line.
I picked up this little storage unit off of Earthcycle for free a few years ago, I just had to drive to Beaumont to get it (about a 10-15 minute drive). I'm pretty pleased with it. The toilet paper basket was bought at one of our churches silent auctions. I was really after the basket, thinking it would work perfectly for toilet paper storage (which it does), and as a bonus it happened to be full of bath goodies. The box on top was a wedding gift, which we both love. It looks like this beautiful antique mini chest.
We still haven't hung my little birdies because I'm still deciding on a location. I'm thinking over the back of the toilet. I do like the idea of them being on display. Below is a picture of their current state...and its not pretty. Of course, 2 or 3 necklaces draped over a watering can definitely has cute potential, but this has just gone way too far.
I also thought I'd show off my $6.99 scale. A Value Village classic. I picked this up 6 years ago. I've always been impressed with its accuracy. I would follow along with my pregnancies and compare the weight it showed to the doctor's scale. Well folks, apparently price has nothing to do with the accuracy of a scale, because she's always been painfully honest (and accurate) with me! Thankfully, we've been on good terms lately, so I keep her around.
This room is so tiny, its basically impossible to get a picture of the entire room (even whilst standing on the edge of bathtub, believe me, I tried). So here's the best shot I could get. Still not sure if I'm going to do any artwork in this room. I think with the shower curtain being so detailed, its not entirely necessary, but if I see something, I'll likely pick it up. I was thinking a trio or quartet (can you say that about pictures?) of floral-ish scrapbook pages on the wall to the right of the toilet. We'll see.
So there you have it. One bathroom done. One bathroom utterly adored by the makeover artist. I now have my bathroom, suited to my liking (the downstairs bathroom is definitely Rob's territory). I haven't indulged in a bubble bath yet, but when I finally get around to it, I'm sure it will be doubly delicious!

Fun in the...bathroom?

OK, I don't generally get too excited about bathrooms. I mean they really serve one, well technically, two purposes. A fairly utilitarian room. Our upstairs bathroom has been tolerable for the 3 years that we lived here. It was good enough and I was okay with it, but I knew it didn't have my signature on it and I didn't love it. I finally decided to get out my roller, my brush and my Mp3 player (Royal Wood is impressively inspiring to paint with). Enough was enough....

So, I don't technically have any "after" pictures yet, but its only taken me 3 days and I'm almost there. Seriously, a bathroom has to be the easiest room to do a makeover on. Its basically a weekend job. Not to mention the cost is quite low (depending on what you do). I was just at the $41 mark, but I did splurge and buy a few new sets of towels last night. With a pretty new room, I couldn't exactly resist some new towels to go along with it. Although, in my defense they were buy one get one free. $27 for 4 bath sheets and 3 hand towels is a fairly good deal, in my humble opinion.

Here is just a sneak peek at some of the inspirations for my "new" b-room.

This shower curtain started it all. I've loved it for 2 plus years. I'd always check to make sure it was there every few months while I was in Zellers. Why oh why did I wait so long?
I couldn't find the paint color online, but this is Rona's Eco paint, and I am a FAN! They have 16 pre-mixed colors. It covers beautifully and has a lovely velvet finish. And only $16.97 for a 4L can! I still have 2/3's left. What else can I paint?
My new towels. I've always wanted big plush red towels. Yummy.
I picked up this little trio of birds while I was at Coombs this year. They have an amazing assortment of iron hooks and doo-dads (for uber cheap!). I thought this would make for some cute necklace storage. At the most excellent price of $1.99!

So that's all I have for now. I better get to that final ceiling coat and then in a few hours I can start putting it all back together. I do love it when a makeover all starts to comes together.

Coin Geek.

Confession time on Nepper's Landing. I am a self-professed coin geek. Of course, being a coin geek isn't actually geeky when you are 88 and have been doing it since 1923. Then coin collecting is actually cool. Back when coins were actually hip, and the monarchy was changing on a fairly regular basis. Nope, not anymore. Now old Lizzie just keeps on truckin'. Just been on the throne for oh, I don't know, 59 years!

Yup, I'm officially a coin geek.

I think I come by my love for rare and unusual coins honestly. My Grandma always had a fairly fantastic coin collection that I loved to sort through as a kid. The best part was that even though it was probably worth a good amount of money, the top-secret hiding spot was behind their living room drapes. And the one time they did get broken into, the theft totally missed their valuable coin collection. Who knew 1970's mustard yellow drapes worked so well as a home security device?

When my Granddad died in 2007, I went to spend time with my Grandma and my Mom. Abbi came along too. It was a sad time, but it was so nice just to be together and share in each others sorrow. One of my tasks during my visit was also to roll the coins from the jars that she and my Grandpa used to hold their winnings from their daily games of Smear. And yes, it actually makes me love them just a little bit more, knowing that they played each other for money, daily. Of course, Grandma's jar had considerably more money it, and it is said that I have somehow inherited her good luck with all of my contest winnings.

During this visit, my Grandma also decided that it was time to give me her coin collection as she knew how much I loved it. The only catch was that it was located in their crawl space (they had moved into a new home, and the 1970's mustard yellow curtains had been retired from service). If you know me, I easily get spooked and don't do well with small, dirty spaces. Ugh. I shudder just thinking of it. If I wanted that coin collection, I would have to go and get it. "Oh and by the way, we did have a mice problem a few years back, but I'm pretty sure Grandpa took care of it with some poison." Gee, thanks.

I think, if anything, the sole purpose of gifting me with the coin collection was for comic relief during a very sad time. As I was crawling along on my hands and knees under their house, through dust and dirt, I could hear my Mom and Grandma up the small stairwell, chuckling away at my misfortune. They have a very similar laugh, and it was almost eerie to hear this cackle in the background as I'm crawling along in the dark, with my trusty flashlight. To my horror, there just happened to be a mouse trap, complete with a long-dead mouse, right beside the coin box. Ugh. I let out a shriek to rival all shrieks from the basement, which led to another roar of cackles from the main floor.

Possibly even more comical than me retrieving the collection from the basement was me trying to sort through the collection, fearing more dead mice remains. This took place on their patio with their garden hose, which forced me to stifle my shrieks. They still sat back with coffees in hand, laughing away at my misfortune.

Perhaps this story is an excellent example at my willingness to put up with most anything to get a good deal. But more importantly, I treasure this collection of coins that my Grandma has held onto throughout the years and has had so much significance in my life. One day I hope to somehow display this collection as it holds so much sentimental value for me.

I've also loved working in retail over the years, because almost daily a customer would give me money from a far away land to pay for their $14.99 way-too-tights jeans or their ridiculously overpriced $4.99 latte. I would often keep extra change in my pocket so that I could swap out the coins. Eep, can I admit this? The best one was when some customers from the States paid me for an item with five $1 Canadian bills. Poor souls didn't know any better. I've also had friends bring me back treasures from their travels. I realize countries advise against this practice, but really France, have you even missed that Franc? Doubtful.

I was reading a blog post recently about NOT collecting things. Any things. While I generally would concur with them, in this instance, I quite love my little coin collection. And technically if I ever decide against it, I'll have a fairly sweet consolation prize.

Thoughtfulness.

I had a fairly fantastic realization last weekend. Basically I recognized that I feel most in my element or niche when I'm being thoughtful. Of course this is a tricky word because its clearly my interpretation of what being thoughtful means. While others may not always consider my actions thoughtful (and at times, they are most definitely not thoughtful), for the most part, I do really enjoy the action of being thoughtful.

I looked up a few definitions and these were the two that stuck with me,

- Having or showing heed for the well-being or happiness of others and a propensity for anticipating their needs or wishes
- Showing consideration for the needs of other people

As to why, I cannot explain. I've been thinking about why something like this truly fulfills me, and to be honest, I don't know. A few years ago, in a contesting spree, I won a $500 gift card to West Edmonton Mall, and I was over the moon because that Christmas I was able to buy all the gifts I really wanted to buy for people. The ones I considered to be really thoughtful. I actually didn't buy a single thing for myself out of that money, and I felt so incredibly satisfied with the items I was able to bless people with.

Unfortunately for our bank account, my thoughtfulness often comes in the form of money spent. There are few things I love more than spending an afternoon shopping for gifts; it actually probably surpasses shopping for myself. In recent years, I've tried to change my tune a bit, and put more effort into free or cheap giftings. And I've found that one of the most priceless gifts you can ever offer is your time. Of course, everyone's time has a value (to them), but I know it is one of those things that I can give freely of, generally at my own choosing and will.

Back in my youth group days, we would always have to fill out these lame questionnaires about what our "spiritual giftings" were. Of course we all wanted to be something fancy like preachers or musicians, you know, the big time stuff. But not for little 'ol me. Time and time again I always got stuck with having the gift of encouragement. At the time it seemed like an incredibly boring gifting, but as I've aged, I've come to appreciate the versatility of it. And for the most part, its stuck with me. I can recognize when I am most definitely not being an encourager, and for the most part, its usually in my home, where I become the exact opposite...a critic. Sigh.

Another thing I have come to recognize is that for the most part, we are thoughtful in ways that we wish people would reciprocate to us. Its a fine line. I think oftentimes thoughtfulness stems from observance. If you pay close enough attention, you will begin to see those things that make people tick. The clothes they wear. The way they decorate their home. How they spend their money. Their hopes and dreams. A friend recently shared with me how she loves to dance, despite the fact she's never taken any lessons. So when she's home alone she dances around her house, and considers it to be an act of worship. The thought of her dancing around her living room makes me smile, so much so that I sent her some music that I think is really beautiful. Of course, I don't know if she'll like the music, but I hope, if anything, she feels loved and recognized through my gift.

I thought I would share some of my most favoritest thoughtful actions. Forgive me if this seems totally self-absorbed. To be honest, I do spent a lot of time thinking and considering what would bless people. I usually have a little notebook going of things people have mentioned that I want to remember for their birthday or holidays. So while I am in no way an expert at being thoughtful, and I often fail, I was just so excited to recognize this recently, I thought I'd share.

- Leave a meal in the fridge of friends who are returning from a holiday. There's nothing worse that getting home to an empty fridge after a week of holidaying and then needing to run out to the store to get some food for dinner. What a delight to come home to dinner, ready to go. Its almost like one more day of holiday.

- Write a thank you note. I cannot emphasize this enough! Such a simple and quick act that leaves a lasting impression. And blesses the heart of the receiver, knowing that you took the time and effort to recognize their actions.

- Spontaneity. Recently I flew back home and surprised my Mom with a weekend visit. Of course my Mom was a bit of a ninja and had a sense that I was coming. But, to know that someone planned and prepared and took time out of their lives to spend time with you...well, not much can replace that. My friend still talks about the time I drove to her home, 2.5 hours away, ate dinner, briefly celebrated her birthday, and then drove another 2.5 hours home. That took time and gas money, but it will always be a memory we share and hopefully an example of how much she means to me.

- Gift someone with that small, simple, silly thing that they live without. I know, it seems silly, because they live without it, but at the same time, I've seen time and time again how it blesses their heart. In one instance it was a crepe pan for friends. Another time, a garbage can. Both items are neither glamorous or necessities in life, but they warm hearts.

- Babysit. For free. I must admit, I generally despise babysitting. As a teen I avoiding babysitting at all costs, that is unless my allowance was spent or I desperately wanted something. I've learned that I like my own children best, but I also know that having someone offer to care for them is one of the best gifts. Knowing that your children are in good hands and at the same time, getting a break from them, is so refreshing.

- Offer your skills. Having a husband who also happens to be a carpenter and a handyman is great. Seriously, I have no idea how I'd pull off 95% of my DIY ways without him. What I also love is to see him use those skills to bless others. Don't get me wrong, I love the extra money he can make with his talents. But I am equally thrilled when he randomly fixes a part on someone's dishwasher, or replaces a faucet, or installs baseboards, or repairs a storm door. Over the years I've learned the hard lesson of prematurely offering his talents, so now I always ensure that I have his permission before I offer. But it always thrills my heart to watch my man bless people with his giftings.

- Food. This is one that still challenges me, but I am slowly getting more confident in my kitchen abilities. Have someone round for a meal. Or give them a meal after having a baby or during illness. Or heck...for no good reason at all. Unfortunately in my churches culture, meal-giving is solely reserved for birth, death, and/or illness. The reality is that food can bless someone's heart any day, regardless of the circumstance.

Care to share some ways that you've blessed someone's heart lately?