Ask and Ye Shall Receive: Wish Lists from Party Girl & Portlandia

While Laurie is out there power thrifting and being all professional, I continue my journey of underemployment and casual to moderate thrifting, both of which are just fine with me. Despite this, I realized this morning that it has been a long time since I hit up my favorite thrift shop, the Arc Value Village in Richfield, a.k.a. the place where dreams are made (like the Halloween Bootique and the best coat in the world), and I started feeling the "thrifting fever." Over my years of thrifting, I have come to recognize when the thrifting fever comes over me—more often than not, this is an indicator that there is something amazing out there with my name on it begging for me to come get it.

So when I got the thrifting fever today, I decided to make the most of my day off and hit up Value Village, as well as Saver's to see what I could get with my remaining $20 in gift certificates.

Sure enough, the thrifting fever was not lying! I found not one, but three pieces that have recently popped up on my every evolving thrifting wish list—something leopard, a floral crushed velvet mini dress and a vintage A-lined skirt.

My number one find of the day was found at Value Village, and even though it set me back $12.99, every penny was worth it because it is simply amazing—the leopard reversible vintage cape!

Every since I saw Parker Posey in Party Girl, I have been jonesing for more leopard in my wardrobe (which, until today, was severely lacking). Even though that movie is baffling (with a Netflix description that is the exact opposite of the actual plot), her outfits are dope.

I had been under the impression that I would find my leopard fix in a over-sized silk top, as they are rather plentiful. It was only when I saw a rather ratty leopard coat at Value Village that I thought, "duh, I should go extreme and go for a leopard print COAT!" And wouldn't you know, I rounded the corner and found this amazing number:




Not only is it a cape, vintage, reversible, and leopard, the fabric is in excellent condition, with none of the gross matting that often happens to faux fur coats. Truly, truly amazing. I know that it was this piece giving me the thrifting fever (and thank god I took note!).

My other two wish list finds are a bit more understated, but still worth discussing. Both arrived on my wish list via my recent viewing of Portlandia. I actually started coveting vintage, thick (think tweed, wool and plaid) skirts recently at work when I bought one for the store and found my own that has an amazing triangle pattern on it. I wanted more, however, after seeing one of the wives from the Ordering Chicken skit. She had on the perfect mid-calf, plaid, a-lined skirt with a tucked-in button down cap sleeved top and I thought, "I want to be her." So now, with my new vintage, tweed, a-lined skirt, I am almost there.



My second Portlandia-inspired find is from the love it or hate it "I Dream of the 90's" skit/song—a floral, crushed velvet mini dress. When we were watching the video, my friend Sheila and I were both, like, "I want her dress." And what would you know, the very second that Sheila texted me while I was in Saver's, I landed upon an excellent take on the floral, crushed velvet mini dress—except that, unlike Carrie Brownstein's, mine is fitted and has gold detailing. Which makes it better, which means that I win.



The winning dress (pay no attention to Neko, the dogs just love to examine my new finds when I bring them home)! Stay tuned for more finds that rounded out my $50 shopping spree at Savers!

Day 7: Last Minute Wishlist Addition/Lace-up Black Booties

I am a major "list" person. Our house is littered with scraps of paper with my scrawl penned all over them, with some items crossed out. More often than not, however, these lists stand for testaments of all the chores and errands I have put on my plate for the day and failed to get to. While I find lists necessary to keep track of all my "to-do's" (even if I don't get to them), I make so many of them because I am constantly remembering, forgetting and re-remembering things I need to add to a list.*

When Laurie suggested doing "wish lists," I knew I had it covered—until I went to actually write mine. As I previously mentioned, I'd rather go blindly into a thrifting situation than focusing on a specific item I am willing into existence, so when it came time to condense all my thrifting hopes and dreams into a master wishlist, I panicked. It wasn't until breakfast time of BLACK FRIDAY THRIFTING that I was able to clear my head and jot down other items that I have been searching for.

These included:
Black cut-out booties
Cropped/shwide print graphic/phrase t-shirt (I used to have this yellow one I won at bingo in 4th grade that had "Jean Naté!" across it in amazing black script and I want it back)
Knit hat (large)
Long sleeved/long netted sweater
Black lace-up boots (à la Laurie)
Awful scoop-neck baby tee
Led Zep tee
Purple Rain (on VHS)

I share these with you because, I kid you not, the very first item I scored with upon entering St. Vinnies (and promptly walking right to the footwear section**) was my #3 pick: the black lace-up boots (à la Laurie, who may have actually found these first and passed them on to me (I was so excited, everything is hazy in my memory)).





Not only do these little boots fulfill a major item on my list (great footwear is one of my most favorite things in the world to find thrifting), but they are unlike any lace-up black leather boot I have seen. I am absolutely in love with the subtle variation in leather texture (plain, smooth leather and one that sort of looks like an uneven reptile skin), the skinny laces and the cut at the top of the boots. Somehow, they seem both modern (with the differing leathers) and Victorian (with the cut)—perfect for the Gemini inside me!

*If you are thinking I should just have one big master list, I have occasionally done this, usually around New Years or at some arbitrary turning point in my life. The results are similar to my daily lists, so after about a month, I usually abandon master lists.
**Tip: I always hit up shoes when I first walk into a thrift store because, as I mention in this post, great footwear always ranks extremely high on best thrifted finds. Shoes are also the easiest item to get through, as you just need to scan shelves, as opposed to riffling through bins or racks. This is, however, a purely personal preference, though it is good to prioritize based on your interests, values and needs.

Black Friday Wish List: The Holly Version

As most of you know (I hope), the day after Thanksgiving marks the most epic day of our capitalist system—BLACK FRIDAY. Now, because I am sane, I have never, and will never, take part in this wacky tradition of sleeping in a Best Buy parking lot to knock $10 off of a Mad Men DVD set, mostly because I don't like sleeping in the car and also because I value my life and try to avoid being trampled by rabid Wal-Mart crowds at every cost.

BLACK FRIDAY does, however, hold a very, very special place in my heart. And I bet you can guess why that is. BECAUSE IT IS WHEN LAURIE AND I ARE BOTH IN GREEN BAY AND ABLE TO EMBARK ON THE BEST THRIFTING OF OUR LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously though, we have only been doing this for the past two years and every time, we have hit gold mine after gold mine. And there is something completely self-satisfying about knowing that while grown women are wrestling each other for 75% off copies of The Secret, we are finding our own awesome deals—deals that are far better, more exciting (and unknown) and a whole lot less stressful to get.

So...as we have been planning our third annual BLACK FRIDAY thrifting trip for months now, Laurie has, in addition to laying out a full itinerary for the day, suggested that we each share with you, our loyal readers, our hopes and dreams for the very special day—our Wish Lists.

As she may have mentioned in the past, Laurie has a very strong belief in the ability to dream up items and eventually find them thrifting. In order to find such items though, you need several things: one, a clear idea of the item you are looking for; two, the willingness to hold out for the perfect item to fill this void in your life; and three, the refusal to let the lack of finding such an item get you down and the perseverance to keep going.

I admit, however, that I am less skilled at this practice than Laurie. My personal preference, in fact, is to stumble upon treasures that I didn't even realize I wanted until I see them.

Still, it is always good to have goals in mind, even if you don't reach them. So for my BLACK FRIDAY 2010 Wish List, I am looking for:

1. A wedding dress. For real. I am totally into thrifting a wedding dress. I am also not the kind of girl that has been dreaming of her "perfect" wedding dress for years, so my only requirement is that it is vintage and sparkly. And preferably not white.

2. Cool, colorful (possibly vintage) hankies. It is winter now in MPLS, which means that my nose is always running. I like it to run in (eco-friendly) style.

3. Winter biking gear. Lots of wool, specifically with socks and long johns/base wear. A cool face cover thing that either has, or can be easily modified to have, breathing holes. Stuff that is water proof. Bright colors. I want to look like a crazy winter biking clown.

4. X-country skis and boots (not really clothes, I know, but I want them).

5. Black leather short shorts. I sacrificed the tan suede ones to Laurie. I am hoping I am repaid handsomely.

Look forward to seeing how we make out—we will definitely keep you "posted"!