Final Salvo Wednesday 2012

It has been over a week since my final Salvo Wednesday. A few things prevented me from posting my finds in a timely manner... some fun, like a visit from my college roommate, and some not so fun, like 2 days of meetings about APPRs and SLOs. If you don't know what those are, consider yourself lucky. All you need to know is that they are capable of making someone like me, who very clearly loves her job and her students, rethink teaching as a career.

Anyway, on my final Wednesday of the summer I headed out to Canandaigua. My husband works there, so I met him for lunch at the Canandaigua Wegmans (they have the best dining area of all the Wegmans, I swear - outdoor seating with couches!). Then I had a meeting at FLCC to start offering my theory course as a college level course, and then, finally I made it to the Salvation Army.

Only to be disappointed. I got 2 tank tops and a really scary white blouse (not pictured) to add to my collection of concert-appropriate-but-embarrassing-to-a-teenager clothing (for students who show up to concerts inappropriately dressed). 

American Eagle, $1

Gap, $1.50

And that was it. Since it was my last chance for the summer, I couldn't go out like that... so I drove to Henrietta.

Vingt-trois arrondissements, $3.50

 I don't know what this brand is - I even Googled it in the store and couldn't figure it out - but it was in French, and is made of good quality material, and is pencil-y, so it had to come home with me.

Old Navy, $3

 You can't tell in the picture, but this skirt is built of many layers of gauzy material. Add pockets to that and I was in love!

Kenar, $2

I love necklines like that, but more importantly, I LOVE that color. And it's a soft, stretchy fabric. (sorry, fabric lovers, I'm terrible at identifying fabrics and the tag was removed from this one.)

Old Navy, $3

I have only been able to find black casual skirts this summer for whatever reason, so I was happy to find this comfy tan one.

The only other thing I bought was a Banana Republic pencil skirt... WITH POCKETS... but since it was a size 0 I thought I should probably save everyone I know the trauma of seeing me in it. I texted a former student that I suspected would fit into it and she is now the proud owner of a Banana skirt. I couldn't be expected to leave it behind, now could I? I mean... pockets!

It's back to school on Tuesday... back to the kids I love and the SLOs I decidedly do NOT love... but I think the students will outweigh the SLOs. I hope. See you all next vacation!

New Dress A Day: A Skill I Do Not Have

More than a year ago, I became fascinated by a blog called New Dress A Day. This was being written by a girl who had made it her goal to take an ugly thrift store dress (for $1 or less) and turn it into something fabulous. It was mesmerizing (look at some of the posts and you'll understand). I wanted some of those dresses for myself, and moreover, I was SURE that I could do it myself. I had thrift stores, I had a sewing machine. What more did I need?

Well, it would turn out, a little thing called skill. I bought a dress that seemed to have potential and went at it.

The length of my hair in this photo should give you a pretty good idea how long it took me to go from start to... well, let's call it finish.

First thing I did was remove the sleeves. This made an instantaneous and amazing change.

If I was wise, I would have just chopped a bunch off to shorten it and called it a day. But oh no, I just HAD to have the scalloped bottom. So, I removed the bodice from the skirt to raise the skirt and chopped off a bunch of the extra fabric.

Then I resewed the skirt to the bodice, and things were looking pretty good. Except that the under layer was crooked. Hmm.

I had to take the bodice off the bottom again and redid the whole underpart.

Success! And the most adorable success ever. If only, if only, I could wear this somewhere where I could be guaranteed to be standing in front of a wall the entire time. Because...

Darn. 

I am not going to trouble you with further pictures of my attempts to correct this problem (thus further mutilating the original layer until it is essentially unsalvageable), but suffice it to say that it is now so small that I can only JUST get into it and while the back is actually sewn together, it has a giant bump under the butt that makes me NOT want to hear the jokes my husband would make about it.

So the dress went back into a bag, and if anybody really wants it to try to fix my horrible, horrible blunders (I swear they got worse after that last picture... much worse...), let me know and it's all yours. It could have been so beautiful. But, when you can get things like this for $3.50, why do I really need to go through the exhaustion of hunkering down over a sewing machine (or the stress of ruining something with so much potential?) 

I think I'll stick with things I actually have talent for. Speaking of which... tomorrow is my final Wednesday of the summer. Fingers crossed!

Salvo Wednesday - Lightning Strikes Twice

This week, I was on my way to the Greece Salvation Army via my old pre-Henrietta route - basically 104 from Culver Road all the way to the Salvo, which is on the far side of Greece. For those of you not familiar with the Rochester area, for years this meant braving a lot of traffic lights at best and a lot of construction at worst. It has often times been quite a long trip for such a short distance.

Yesterday, the trip took me a fraction of the time. I didn't hit one light. Not ONE light. It freaked me out, frankly, and I knew something was up. I wasn't sure if it meant good things or bad (like the time there was a fire while I was shopping there and they kicked us all out, clothing unpurchased). As you are about to see, it meant very, very good things.

Limited, $3.50

 This dress is 100% silk and 100% heaven. So soft and breathable and the diagonal stripes just about kill me. It has belt loops, but I don't really think it needs a belt, do you?

Banana Republic, $4

 Banana Republic. Four dollars. Banana. Republic. Four. DOLLARS. I nearly cried for joy when I tried this one on. It was very unassuming and looked a bit shapeless on the hanger, but the fabric caught my eye and when I realized it was Banana, I knew everything was going to come out all right in the end. Aaaahh. Banana is my favorite!!

Forever 21, $3

 The green part is so soft! I am just loving these dresses with the thick stretchy elastic bands at the waist...

Xhilaration, $2.50

...obviously. Sorry it's blurry again, but I am once again far too lazy to go retake the picture. Anyway, this one is red and brown toned floral print. Pretty!

Gap, $3.50

 This material is like jammies. Or what all jammies SHOULD be, anyway. And the color is one of my favorites!

Xhilaration, $1.50

 Cute tank top... not that I'm likely to need these much longer this year. Sigh.

Mossimo, $1

 I saw this as I was walking to the checkout, and almost didn't buy it because I was NOT going back to that crazy fitting room - until I saw it was a buck. I took a chance and I'm glad i did!

Express, $6

I spent the most on anything of this trip on a SWEATER. But, if you have to wear a sweater (which I will be doing all too soon), it should look like this one. I kept almost talking myself out of it (the tag wasn't half off!!), walking away, and then turning back to look at it again... after doing this about 5 times, I gave up and bought it. I doubt that I'll regret it come fall!

One more bargain-related item that is not a Salvo find... my curls in the above pictures were brought to you courtesy of my new $8 curling iron set. It is the Cortex 4 in 1 curling iron set, which I had been keeping my eye on for several weeks, watching the price go up and down, and trying to hold out until I could reasonably afford to spend $60-80 dollars on a curling iron set. One day I checked, and in what I can only assume was a typo, it was listed for $8 instead of $80. I bought it immediately and waited for someone to contact me and tell me they'd made a mistake and I couldn't have the set for that price after all. This never happened, and I am now the happy owner of that set. For EIGHT BUCKS. This might (almost) trump all my finds this summer. Hurrah! Here's to cheap, beautiful curls!

Only one more Wednesday left in my summer, since conference days start before Labor Day this year. After this week's amazing hit, I don't have my hopes up too high... can lightning strike THREE times? I doubt it... but it won't stop me from trying.

Salvo Wednesday - Auburn

Last Wednesday, I drove out to Auburn, NY to spend the day with my mother-in-law and her sister Beth. Beth and her son, Mattia, were visiting from Italy. We did pedis... including Mattie... had lunch, and went to the Salvo, of course. Mattie was very helpful, pointing out all the things that I wouldn't fit into ("I think... your belly is bigger than last time") and announcing that it smelled bad. I have to admit to being very impressed by how good he was at being a pest in a language that was not his native tongue. 

Despite Mattie's "help", I did find a couple of nice items.

Charlotte Russe, $3.50

 The zipper on this is a little fussy, which always frustrates me. But it's cute, so it had better be worth it.

Xhilaration, $5

 I really love the shape of this one.

Wet seal, $2

I'm really feeling all about the ruffles lately. I don't really know what that's about.

I did manage to distract Mattie for a bit by telling him that my husband had his heart set on a rocking chair, and I sent him off in search of such an item. Not only did he find it (after informing me I'm married to an old man because only old men like rocking chairs), it was in beautiful shape and for only $25!

I think Greg approves. And even if Mattie says Greg's an old man, I think he likes him (and the creepy hairless Harry.)

Back to Reality Salvo Wednesday '12

"When I think something nice is going to happen I seem to fly right up on the wings of anticipation; and then the first thing I realize I drop down to earth with a thud. But really, Marilla, the flying part IS glorious as long as it lasts. . .it's like soaring through a sunset. I think it almost pays for the thud." 

"Well, maybe it does," admitted Marilla. "I'd rather walk calmly along and do without both flying and thud. But everybody has her own way of living." (Anne of Avonlea)

I wish I was a Marilla. I do. She was wiser. But I'm an Anne, through and through. And thus went this Wednesday. Last Wednesday was so epic, so amazing, that I KNEW it couldn't last. But, like Anne, I seem to fly up on wings of anticipation... and then... thud.

Translation: I went to the Irondequoit Salvo. And I. Bought. Nothing. Not one blessed thing. Nope. There was a stretchy black thing from Express that seemed promising but it couldn't make its mind up if it was a dress or a skirt and didn't fit right either way. I heaved a sigh and made my way to the city Salvo - also known as the sketchy Salvo - where, believe it or not, I did MARGINALLY better.

H&M, $6

 Black concert dress is something to be happy about. It's nice. I like it. It didn't get me giddy like every single thing last week did, but I like it.

Aeropostale, $4

 I normally don't do halter tops because they pull on my neck, but I couldn't resist the patchwork-iness of this one. Cute.

Merona, $2

Pockets. Obviously, I had to have it.

And that's all she wrote, folks. That's it. Three nice things, which is better than no nice things. I get that. But after last week... thud.