Salvo Wednesday - Canandaigua Delight!

It's been a few weeks since I've made it to a Salvo Wednesday. First, I was on vacation and decided to just wait until the weekend when I would be in Burlington, VT. Google Maps assured me there was a Salvo a few miles from our hotel, so I pinned all my hopes on that. You'd think I'd learn by now not to get my hopes up like that, but no. What I found was a Salvo in a house - a tiny house, at that - with scary selections and a screaming child in a stroller with a mom who ran the stroller over my foot.

So that was a loss. Last week we were traveling, so that was a loss as well. This week, I wasn't sure where I was going to go. Nothing has really gone well, so my desire to travel to find nothing good was at an all-time low. 

Meanwhile, my husband had foot surgery on Monday. Nothing major, and hallelujah, it was benign, but he hasn't been able to drive. And he was going out of his mind with boredom, so I offered to drive him to work on Wednesday and he agreed. So I found myself in Canandaigua on a Wednesday. I haven't found much there in the last few years, so my hopes weren't high. This, it would seem, is the key to success.

Tea n Rose, $2

If you can't tell, that's a coral and blue print on my favorite knit fabric. I can't WAIT to wear this one.

Mossimo, $2

Comfy new casual concert dress! Perfect for day concerts/Cabaret night/etc. These are worth their weight in gold to a choir teacher!

Mine, $1.50

I've never heard of the label Mine, but this is a lovely peachy-orange color and soft and breathable. It will make the (extremely rare) warm weather teaching days very comfortable!

Ambiance Apparel, $1.50

 Soft and almost fleece-like, but much thinner. I can't get over how much I love loose, drape-y styles.

Poetry, $1

 Seriously. Can't get enough of drapey styles. This one is a much prettier color than it looks against the bright green wall... kind of moss green. And again, soft.

Banana Republic, $1

Banana. One dollar. Banana. ONE. DOLLAR. Yes.

Freestyle, $2

Now, this one was tricky. I have been desperate to find more maxi dresses/skirts this summer with exactly this fabric (that knitted, breathable fabric I so adore), but to no avail. Even full price, all you can find are waterfall-style skirts (I have one and that's all I need, ever). I love maxi dresses/skirts - they cover your legs if it's cool out, but are loose and cool if the sun peeks out from behind the clouds and it suddenly warms up. They're the best of both worlds. So obviously, when I saw this one, I jumped on it. I realized that the back was messed up, but for $2, I figured I could fix it. And I did...sort of. It was much worse than I'd realized. The straps were some kind of braided weaved situation, and they had ripped and started to come unraveled. So I rebraided them and just tied and knotted everything. There's dangly bits, but the top stays up, and it looks like THAT. God bless maxi dresses.

It turned out to be my best trip of the summer so far, at a store I had almost written off as a lost cause again. I guess it's always worth the trip! I was so happy with the entire haul (and can I point out that nothing cost more than $2? Way to go with the low prices, Canandaigua Salvo!). And then I spent the rest of the time my husband was working curled up on a couch on the outdoor patio at the Canandaigua Wegmans, working on my theory course. It was a very good day.

The good news is that I finished writing my course today, and I will finish up with a final video shoot on Tuesday... so by Wednesday, it will be all Salvo, no other interruptions. 

Better Late Than Never Salvo Wednesday

So, this isn't a normal summer for me. Yes, I'm on break from school and all that it entails... but I'm doing some work for my second job (out of three). I am authoring an AP Music Theory course that will be offered online throughout New York State. Now, for those of you who haven't tried figuring out how to teach music theory online, let me fill you in. It's ridiculous. Incredibly fun, if you're both a music and a tech dork like myself, but....yikes. Time consuming and baffling at times. I'm spending the better part of most of my summer days like this:

...instead of my preferred method, which goes a little more like this:

No, that's still not it. Let's try THIS: 

Ah. Yup, there it is.

Anyway, all that to say this: I am very delinquent in my Salvo Wednesday post. And it's not going to get any better, at least not until I finish the course. So, without further ado, here is what I found a week and a half ago at the city Salvo!

NY&Co, $3.50

So what happened here was that I tried it on and I wasn't sure about it, so I took a picture to send to a friend for her opinion. And then I looked at the picture, and the second opinion was no longer necessary. In fact, when I'm feeling gross and huge this summer when I put on a few pounds as I inevitably do while marathon training (crazy, right? Makes no sense at all!), I'm going to look at this picture and feel immediately better.

Wet Seal, $2.50

Adodrable, but needs a slip underneath. Which I have, but needs hemming. I swear I'm going to get around to wearing it someday!

Bebop, $3.50

I seem to have a weakness for the dresses with tank tops, thick elastic waistbands, and fun skirts. This one has a big, pronounced zipper up the back, which I usually don't like, but really works on this dress.

Express, $3.50

I feel obligated to point out here that a) the skirt looks like jean, but isn't. It's something softer and lovely and b) this had its original tags on it. The original $79 tags. Thassright.

Skirt - Picnic by CPW, $2.50

 The top is not one of the finds from this week, but rather a Goodwill purchase from a while back. But I thought it looked rather perfect with the full skirt. I saw it and realized that somehow, a full black skirt was missing from my wardrobe. No more!

I'd also like to point out that this is my sixth black skirt. SIXTH. And only one of them does not reach my knees. So, if any current students or parents of current students are reading this, be ye warned: I will lose it the next time a kid shows up to a concert in a mini skirt and tries to tell me "but they don't MAKE skirts that long!" I. Will. Lose. It.  You've been warned.

Anyway, I did get to the Salvo this week too, and I'll get around to it, I swear. Just not today. Don't know when, really. That AP course isn't gonna write itself!

Double Salvo

Last week (yes, I'm over a week behind here... I'm afraid it's going to be like that all summer) I was in Newark on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. I had pretty much sworn off that Salvation Army since I'd gone a few times in the last 2 years and not bought one thing. In fact, every May when my kids perform at the Elenbes Awards Show in Newark, I routinely pay the store there a visit... except this year, I didn't even bother. Skipped it in favor of a run and dinner.

Well, last Tuesday, I found myself done with my commitment far earlier than I expected, so I decided I might as well give the store another shot. And was glad I did! Even though nothing I bought was half off.

J Crew, $4

Express, $5

That's right, a cute summer dress from J Crew AND a sparkly new concert dress! Well worth the visit. I guess the Newark store is back in my rotation!

On Wednesday I had a ridiculous number of plans aside from my Salvo trip, so I just ran to the one that's only a few miles away. I found some workout clothes that I won't bore you with, and I found THESE.

Glory, glory hallelujah. I've been looking for white heels for years. Literally years. I found wedges a few summers back but never heels. And lo, here they are! As for the other pair... well, I don't have to tell you. You can see the epicness for yourself.

And that's it. I promise to try not to wait another week to post this week's finds! 

The Good, The Bad, and the YIKES

I made my first Salvo trip of the summer last Wednesday. Henrietta and Greece were the lucky winners of my presence. I spent several hours and bought 3 things, one of which is a slip which you shall not be seeing. Not an auspicious beginning, but at least they were a good three things.

Merona skirt, $2

I'm really into flowy skirts this summer. They're loose and cool when it's hot, and long enough to cover you up if (and when, this summer) a storm suddenly moves in and the temperature drops 10-20 degrees. Which can stop any time now, incidentally.

Maurice, $4.50

Cute stripes, nice bell shaped skirt. And, aside from the slip, that was it for me. Sigh.

While I was shopping, a thought occurred to me that I find myself thinking an awful lot while I'm in the Salvos, browsing through rack after rack in hopes of finding one or two hidden treasures. The thought is this: "HOW are there so many horrifying articles of clothing in the world? HOW?" Because, for every amazing outfit I bring home, there's hundreds of outfits I don't bring home. And I look at all of it and think how not only someone bought that new in a store once upon a time, but someone designed it, produced it, marketed, and charged someone for it. It's enough to make the mind reel. Things like this:

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Oh yes. Those are pants. For all your vertically striped pant needs.

I love crocheting, and have been known to granny square myself upon occasion... but never in a vest. NEVER.

Let's just take a moment to consider why they sell bathing suits second hand at all. This, friends, is one thing I ALWAYS buy new.

Long jean skirt, plaid pockets. I really don't know why I didn't buy it.

Someone's recycling their 80's prom dress...

...in 2 different colors, it would seem.

In case you can't tell, that's a very, very shiny metallic fabric. One step closer to being Michael Jackson.

Because you sometimes need to pretend to have a kitten in a pretend pocket.\

And also, crawling down your back.

Sometimes people need to know where you'd rather be...

...your age and the state of your mental faculties...

...your preferred method of transportation...

...and of course, they really need to know not to hate you.

Also, these are boots.

And these were just samples. Honestly, the mind reels. It does make you thankful for the days when you leave with a bag full of amazingness. Those days are bound to happen soon... right? Fingers crossed!

It's here. It's finally here!

I have to admit, I really didn't think that summer was going to come this year. I mean, I knew eventually it would be June, and then July, and then August... but this was such a cold spring that I was having my doubts about the rest of it. When I took my choir to Darien Lake this May and had to give 4 performances in 40-degrees-feels-like-30-degrees weather, I really began to doubt.

You can almost see us shivering.

But it's happened. It's finally happened. I've been full-fledged warm all week. And then, better yet, things began to grow in my garden, which is not as ghetto this year.

That's actually a garden in the ground, and that's actually a fence!

World's teeniest cucumber

World's teeniest spaghetti squash

And you know what's even more exciting? Tomorrow's Wednesday.

Spring break, and I'm using the term loosely.

It's spring break here in Rochester, and you know what that means... snow, and plenty of it. The awful white stuff will NOT stop falling from the sky, no matter how calmly and rationally I try to explain seasons and the calendar date to it. It will just not stop.

So what's a girl to do? Get herself to the Salvo, that's what. At my first Salvo stop, I bought one thing. ONE. The belt you see pictured below. The dress... well, I have a confession to make. Sometimes I go rogue. Sometimes I don't blog the things I buy. That was late in the summer, and I was just too lazy to post it. Now you know.

Dress, I don't remember.
Belt, $1

Besides, that dress has been wanting just the right belt before I took a picture anyway. 

So I went to my next Salvo stop, and did only a little better. I bought a pair of pajama pants, but sorry, I'm not taking pictures of my jammies. So you get to see the following, utterly amazing, dress instead.

Merona, $4

The whole day was worth it for the sake of that dress. Love. Love.

T-shirt (tag ripped out), $1.50

No idea what brand this shirt is but I don't care. I love the peacock design on the side. Asymmetrical design, little ruffly sleeves, loose fitting but still has a great shape... this is my kind of t-shirt.

And finally, good summer walking sandals (assuming I can get my husband to sit down and decide with me where we are going on vacation this summer. I hope it involves walking. I hope it involves beaches.)

Sorry about the grainy pictures... I am still experimenting with apps on my phone that have timers (WHY doesn't my stock app just have that?!) and the settings will just not cooperate. I could try again, but if taking pictures is going to require that much effort, I'll go rogue all the time. I'll try, try again next time... which will be the first Wednesday of summer break! ....maybe by then it will have stopped snowing. Maybe.

Salvo Christmas!

I had lunchtime (and after) plans this year on the Wednesday of Christmas break, so I had to make good time. I got to the Salvo at approximately 9:05 (it opens at 9) and was still beaten there by my good friend, the owner of the Snug Bungalow and her husband. I had brought my new Nexus 10 to occupy the husband, while my friend and I got down to business. I knew that if it wasn't a good enough hit, I was going to have to go out to Greece after my afternoon plans, and there was a storm a-brewin'. So we worked hard and fast and made it a good one. Starting with this:

Limited, $2.50

Now, I'm not going to get to wear this until summer, but I can't wait for the moment when I am bringing my summer clothes to the front of the dress closet and find it again. It'll be like it's new (to me) all over! I love that.

BeBop, $3.50

 I love the shape of this. I'm thinking tights and boots, and I'm thinking soon.

Isaac Mizrahi, $5

 This color is not my normal choice, and this type of lace isn't my usual taste either. But there was something about it... I kept saying "it's so different!" And different it is. It's a couple of sizes too big, too, so I had to pin the belt, but I think I'm going to lose the belt and get one of a contrasting color anyway. This needs to happen.

Aeropostale, $2.50

Sometimes a girl just needs a little plaid. In her size, and preferably with cute little buttons to fold up the sleeves.

 So I was trying out a new app on my phone (why doesn't the stock camera come with a timer??) and it had a mind of its own a couple of times and I didn't catch it until it was too late. Oops. Anyway, fun loose top with a sparkly pocket.

Ann Taylor Loft, $3.50

Love the neck, and you can never have too many white tops. Those things go with everything!

Ann Taylor, $3

This has the most wonderful beading and rhinestones with the little flowers on the top... I love it!

Aeropostale, $3

Off-white cardigan! You can never have too many cardigans, either, especially when you live in NY and get cold easily.

NY & Co, $2.50

 Really, really soft gray cardigan. Like I said...

Ann Taylor Loft, $3.50

I couldn't get over how soft this was. I need to look more closely at the fiber content - it doesn't look that soft, but oh, it is.

Ann Taylor Loft, $2.50

Ahhhh! the camera did it again! And this is probably my favorite shirt of them all. Soft, see-through stripes varied with opaque ones, and the little button things to roll up the sleeves...grr. Stupid app.

Old Navy, not sure

The tag seems to have fallen off this sweater, so I can't really tell you how much it was, but suffice it to say that it was under $5. Love the color!

I also got a beautiful new Bill Blass leather bag since I have a tablet to start toting around in addition to all my other tech geekery. And there was one more item, an Express top, that my camera app seems to have refused to save at all. Guess I won't be using that app again. Anyone with suggestions for a good, simple camera app with a timer (for Android), please let me know.

I was definitely happy enough with this lot to decide against driving all the way out to Greece as the snow started falling, so this is it for me until February. Happy New Year to all you thrifting fans!