Epic Garage Sale Haul- 8 items for $11

Hey guys,
I had the most amazing luck this week garage sale shopping! I hit up 3 separate neighborhood garage sales, which is probably the reason to my success. I have become addicted to garage sale shopping. I might even love it more than thrifting! I have found that garage sale prices are often 50%-75% cheaper than thrift stores. This is because thrift stores sell to make money. They often have overhead and employees that they have to pay, and still need to make a profit on top of that. In comparison, people have garage sales to get rid of their stuff. Often, they just want people to take these items off their hands. Also, when you go thrift store shopping, you don't know where these items come from. The way I see it is that garage sale shopping is just like thrifting, except you get to meet the owner whose used these items. :) And now, onto the haul:

*overview of haul:

1) Beige Hanging Shoe Organizer- $2

I have been looking for one of these for the longest time! Although this is made for storing shoes, it can be used to store other items as well. I am currently using it to store my thrift store finds. These retail for around $20 at target and walmart, but I got this for only $2! This one was in great condition, it seemed barely used. There were a few tiny stains, but I was able to easily wipe it down and clean it for use. 

2) Vintage Codello Zodiac Sign Scarf- $2

I have been looking high and low for a vintage silk scarf. I bought this from an old lady who had all sorts of vintage goodies. My friend managed to buy a Georgio Armani scarf for only $1 from her. This scarf is stunning! It has all the different zodiac signs trimming the border, with suns, stars, and moons adorning middle. I am in love, this is so unique and beautiful, I just cannot believe I got it for only $2! One of the most special finds I have ever found.

3) Jamaica Bay Hawaiian Crop Shirt- $2

I love that this Hawaiian shirt is a crop shirt- I have never seen that before. The beauty is in the details, such as the print, which reminds me of vacation postcards, and the buttons, which are wooden. This shirt goes great with my high waist denim shorts!

4) Blue Shop Hi-Low Lace and Chiffon Dress- $1

So pretty and feminine, and only for $1? Hello, can we say steal! 'Nuff said.

5) Spandex Pants with Chinese Artwork- $0.50

I actually just got back from studying abroad in China and I have to say, I have a new found love for anything oriental. These pants are super comfy, the artwork and chinese characters are beautiful, and they make my butt look good. On top of that, they only cost me 2 quarters! :) I am beyond happy with this purchase. 

6) Parasite Pals Bento Box- $0.50

This was actually brand new, with the plastic wrapping still intact! I asked the guy how much and he said "$0.50". I just remember the look on his wife's face; she definitely felt like he practically gave it away for nothing, but hey, yippee for me! I have been looking for a cute bento box to help me eat healthier and learn how to portion. I love how that this one has different layers and sections. I googled parasite pals and found that its little comic characters geared towards children, designed to teach children about parasites such as bed bugs, head lice, and stomach bug. Kind of awkward in my opinion, but they definitely teach a good lesson. 

7) H&M Blazer- $1

I am always looking for professional looking clothing, being that (*sigh) those high school days of short shorts and tiny tees are long over. If I want to give a good impression at job interviews, I need to dress for the job I want, not the job I have. These blazers usually range from $20-$30 at H&M(which is usually more expensive than F21). This blazer looked almost brand new, if not barely worn, so I was more than happy to shell out $1 to get it. It's like what people say, you don't have to pay a million bucks to look like a million bucks :)

8) X-Files Movie Poster- $2

I grew up watching x-files with my dad and I started rewatching all the season my freshman year of college so...yes I love x-files. Just the creepy title song brings back childhood memories for me. Ahhh, I remember being frightened to death by the different aliens and monsters...hmmm, this show could be the root to alot of my personal problems...haha Just kidding! But doesn't it look great on my wall? :p

Lastly, I did not buy this, but my friend Stacey's mom got this for me from Peru. Isn't it gorgeous? So beautiful, and I love the different color array of green stones. :) So thoughtful and sweet, I can't thank her enough!

Alright guys, that is my epic haul. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Until next time,

<3 Jess

Goodwill Outlet Haul

Hey guys,

I'm officially done with summer school, and that means two well-deserved weeks to spend with my family in Indiana before school starts. My mom and I share a love of bargains and being that I just started this love affair with thrifting, I decided to introduce my mom to thrift shopping. It began with us shopping the local Goodwills, until my mom and I discovered the holy grail of thrifting: Goodwill outlets! The town we live in is extremely close to a Goodwill outlet. Goodwill outlets are different than regular Goodwills in that 1) they sell items by the pound 2) they are supplied by items that didn't sell at the other local Goodwills, and 3) everything is placed in big bins, not on racks or shelves. At this particular Goodwill, the prices were: glass and ceramics at $0.49/pound, clothing, household items, and others at $0.79/pound, and shoes at $1.29/pound. With the constant influx of donations, most Goodwill stores are overloaded with merchandise to sell. To prevent clutter and keep new merchandise circulating throughout the store, Goodwill has a policy that items can only stay in stores for 3 weeks. After three weeks, Goodwill ship these items off to the outlets, so that they can be sold at a discount price. These items are then marginally sorted into bins. At the Goodwill outlet I went to, items were divided into clothing, shoe, book, and household item. The household item bins ranged from toys to furniture to all sorts of knick knack. My mom and I read up on tips and made sure to bring water, gloves, and my phone to google item values. I have to say, this store is not for the faint of heart. It's dirty, the other customers can be rude and pushy, you have to dig through junk, and there's no guarantee you will find anything. But that's part of the experience, and trust me, is was quite an experience! Luckily, I had beginners luck and found some amazing items. Enough chit chat, onto the haul!

*overview of haul:

1) Plato Dialogue on Love and Friendship (Easton Press) Leather Bound Collector's Edition

Can you believe I found this just lying in one of the bins? This is a beautiful leather bound collectors edition of some of Plato's works. I googled it and saw that it was selling on ebay for $30-$75. Unfortunately there are a few stains and knicks due to rough treatment during shipment to the outlet and well, the other shoppers aren't exactly gentle with the merchandise. I can't wait to have time to actually read it- Plato has some amazing philosophical ideology. At the time being it just sits in my room looking beautiful, a great addition to my decor!

2) Vintage Aden Clear Safety Glasses

-(top 2)

Vintage Prescription Sunglasses

While I was digging through the bins I found a bunch of glasses in the bottom and I was just estatic when I found these clear glasses! Unfortunately the lens are a bit scratched from being tossed around but overall, still in good condition. I googled the brand Aden and found that Aden is a vintage brand that made safety glasses for labs and other hazardous occupations. I found a few on ebay which were around $17. The sunglasses are so cool in shape and look extra boho funky but when I got home I discovered they had a prescription :( so I can't wear them because they make my eyes blurry. Oh well, not much money was wasted :) it probably cost less than $0.50.

3) Terrorist Poker Cards

-(brand new with case)

I saw these cards and I just started cracking up! These cards have pictures of Saddam Huissen, Bin Laden, and all other Al Qaeda members. The backs of the cards are camouflage design. Definitely a fun quirky novelty item and it will be great for playing drinking games with!

4) Heritage USA 1983 Ornament

This is the first vintage ornament I have found and I have to say this is beautiful! A perfect piece to add to my decor ;) who says Christmas decor can only be up in December? Unfortunately when I brought it home, my dog thought it was a toy and started playing with it and dropping it on the floor. :( it definitely added a few cracks to it but it's not too noticeable. Speaking of my dog Lily, everytime my mom and I come back with our goodies from Goodwill outlet, she always has to sniff each and every item. Guess she's a fan of thrifting too! My mom always jokes that we should take her thrifting ^^ she can sniff out all the good stuff haha.

5) Vintage Express Cartigan

This cartigan is so soft. It looks just like one of those grandpa sweaters old people wear. I've been looking for a sweater just like this and this is literally the epitamy of perfection! 

 

6) Alfred Dunner Patterned Sweater

Such a raggedy ripped up sweater but that's what makes it look just like a vintage sweater I'd find in back of an 80's moms closet. It is a bit short so it looks almost cropped but it looks just lovely with a pair of high waist shorts. 

7) Dirty Girl On the Go mini kit

This was brand new in the packaging; it even had the plastic wrap intact! I'm pretty certain you can find these at Barnes and noble. I believe it retails for $9-$13. For what you get I think it's such a ripoff -_____-. It comes with a little notebook that you can write addresses, phone numbers, and random little notes/reminders. It also comes with two baggage tags(which are made of laminated card stark!), wipe towelette, and a Chapstick. Being that I probably only spent a quarter or less on this, I don't mind but I would never buy this for retail price. Also I travel alot back and forth from California to Indiana so the tags and booklet will come in handy.

8) Pokemon 23k plated Card

-(poliwhirl!)

This was apparently a promotional item from Burger King. It will be a perfect paperweight. Pokemon was my childhood; I would wake up every Saturday morning to watch the cartoons. I love finding things from my childhood. I have this silly idea that ill collect these novel items and show my kids someday: "Hey kids, in my day we collected cards that had creatures called pokemons on them and would battle them, using our imagination. Not like you guys with your implanted tv and computer in your eyes." Yes, in my imagined future, kids have electronics implanted in haha.

9) Gazz-it! Modeling Compound

I believe this is a knockoff of flooz? I forgot the name but that stuff was my crack when I was a kid! I love playing with this stuff. This one was brand new; when I brought this home, my brother was so excited! He remembers this from our childhood as well. This stuff definitely initiated some brother sister bonding time.

10) Vintage Cat Cry Toy

This stuff is suppose to make a noise that sounds like a cat. Unfortunately it got a bit dinged up in the bins so it's not working fully. One of the busts of my haul.

11) HP memory ram sticks

At first I thought it was a new unused crucial memory kit, which retails for $79.99! But unfortunately, it turns out to be old memory sticks someone switched out from their laptop. They seem to be unused/ in good condition, so still useable :) and lucky for me I own an hp laptop so perfect match!

12) Vintage Leather Travel Bag For Suits & Dresses

*my brother playing model haha

This travel bag is in perfect condition, and the quality is great: the label says it's made in Korea. I love finding pieces like this. I know usually items like this are rediculously marked up on etsy and ebay, so it's amazing I found this and spend close to nothing to get it. Like I said, I travel alot, so this will come in handy when I need to keep nice pieces wrinkle free. 

And that is my wonderous first haul from goodwill outlets. I hope you guys enjoyed my haul :) til next time!

<3 jess

Exploring Fullerton's Thrift Stores (8/14/2013)

Hey guys,

Today, I have to admit something horrible... I'm getting sick of my nearby thrift stores. Don't get me wrong, I love my nearby thrift stores! I'm blessed w some of the best thrift stores around, that have the coolest stuff at the lowest prices. But sometimes a girl just wants to spice things up and explore something new. Luck would have it, I had to go all the way to Fullerton to get my car inspected. Fullerton is chalk full of thrift stores, so with the help of Yelp and the thriftbuddy app, I planned out an epic thrift store trip. Allow me to present the haul:

*haul overview:

 1) Budweiser Holiday Series (Limited Edition) Champion Clydesdale 1980 Mug- $1.91 (Sav-Mor Thrift)
I found this mug at Sav-Mor thrift store on Orangethorpe Ave. This mug caught my eye right away and I had a hunch that this might be worth something so I decided to google it. Imagine my surprise when I found that this was selling for close to $50-$100 on ebay! Apparently this is part of Budweiser's holiday series mugs and was the first of the series, made in 1980. I picked it up for $1.91 and listed it on my ebay. It sold for $30+shipping! :) Thrifting has not only become a way of saving money for me, but its is also blossoming into a source of some extra cash. I made a new ebay account just for my thrifting finds so I am excited to see if this takes off!

*ebay account: isntshilovely

http://myworld.ebay.com/isntshilovely

                                                 

2) Kikkoman Soy Sauce Spoon Plate- $1.91 (Sav-Mor Thrift)
Got this at the same thrift store as the budweiser mug. I thought this was so cute and would be a great addition to my kitchen. Sav-Mor prices are always cheap so it was not hard shelling out $2 for this. I did some research and this was apparently a free gift that kikkoman sent out to costumers with proof of purchase. I still think this is an awesome find. 

 3) Gold Plated Seashells Earrings- $3.00 (Zion Thrift Store)

I got this at the very first thrift store I went to on this thrift store trip. The thrift store is called Zion Thrift store, and it is associated with the Zion Church in Fullerton. I have to say, I really enjoyed this thrift store. They had all sorts of knick knacks and interesting items, and the prices were more than reasonable. This store definitely required digging but I only got to spend around 20 something minutes here because I had my car appointment. I am obsessed with these earrings. They caught my eyes right away when I was strolling by the counter and they reminded me of mermaids. These are made of real seashells that are gold plated and are handcrafted. When I went home, I couldn't find anything online from this brand nor any earrings similar to this so I feel like this is an extremely special find. 

4) adorable sea creature cake forks and spoons set- $3.99 (Savers)

This was my first time shopping at Savers and I must say, it was a blast. Savers is humongous! It is like the costco of thrift stores. There were so many items to choose from and look through, I was extremely overwhelmed(but in a good way!). I managed to find this gem in the knick knacks section. It was on the wall with all the other bagged random goodies. The other bags were random assortments of items. This is a cute animal fork and spoon set for cakes and pastries. Useful? Perhaps not the most, but it definitely is the cutest thing ever! I just had to snag it. I didn't find anything else in the other sections. Unfortunately, I feel like Saver's prices are a bit more expensive than my usual thrift stores, but they do have alot of different sales on colored tags. I believe that the day I went the sale color was yellow. I took advantage of a Yelp promotion and did a check in online and got 15% off my whole purchase ^^ whoo!

Alright, so that pretty much wraps up my haul. These were not the only thrift stores I went to, there were a few others I checked out. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find anything in those thrift stores, so they don't get mentioned in this post. But if you are ever in the Fullerton area I definitely recommend checking out their thrift stores! :) I promise you won't be disappointed.

Until next time,

<3 Jess

Sav-Mor Thrift Haul and Assistance League of Anaheim Haul

Hey guys,

I'm here to present another haul. This one is from a while back. My favorite thrift store is Sav-Mor thrift. But I don't go too often because it is a 20 min drive and gas prices in my area are already up to $4.15 a gallon! The days I do get to go, I always manage to find something awesome for pennies on the dollar. Onto the haul:

1) 100% cashmere sweater-originally $1.91(30% off blue tags- $1.34)

I have always wanted a cashmere sweater but they are extremely expensive retail. Most go for around $100 and even on sale, they don't usually dip below the $30 line. So imagine my surprise when I found this cashmere sweater priced at only $1.91! On top of that, they were taking 30% off all blue tags, so I got it for only $1.34. This sweater is a size XL so it is pretty big on me, but I actually like how big oversized sweaters look on girls so I'm extremely happy with this find. 

 2) Tropical Hawaiian Flower Small Purse- $0.95

I have never ventured to Sav-Mor's purse section. You will usually find me digging through the clothing section or the home goods/trinkets. Their purse section is really just purses thrown on top of purses with no organization at all. I found alot of fake designer bags(miu miu, kate spade) and many of those cheap leather bags you can find at target or pac sun. The only thing that peaked my interest was this little hawaiian flower bag. I love the tropical feel of the print mixed with the wood design handles. On top of that, its petite size made it just irresistable to me so I had to buy it. And can we say wow to the price? $0.95 cents, that's not even a full dollar! 

Before I went to Sav-Mor thrift, I actually stopped by at the Assistance League of Anaheim. I have been going to the Assistance League of Irvine near my house for a while now, so I wanted to check this one out and see what they had. Unlike the Irvine one, this thrift store is alot bigger. They even have a section of the store dedicated to "higher end" brands. Most of the items in this boutique section was overpriced(in my opinion) but I managed to score an awesome find:

3) Theory Cargo Jacket- $3

Theory is one of my favorite designer brands. Their designs are clean and simple, which makes them great additions to anyone's closet as staple items.Unfortunately, Theory clothes cost a few hundred dollars retail so it's not usually in my price range.  Imagine my surprise when I found this jacket for only $3! When I got home I googled this on ebay, and this jacket retails for $345. Once again, I find a great deal through thrifting. And, being that the Assistance League is a charity thrift store, I know my money is going to a good cause.

And thats my mini haul :) Hope you guys enjoyed this post, more thrifting coming your way soon. In the meantime, hope you guys have been inspired to do some thrifting of your own!

sincerely,

Jess

Assistance League of Irvine Thrift Store Haul (8/23/2013)

Hey guys,

today was one of those days where I just had the sudden urge to do some thrifting and so, I headed to my nearest thrift store after class. Things have been extremely stressful with summer school and thrifting always seems to relax me during these times of tension. The closest thrift store to my house is the Assistance League of Irvine. Small and quaint, this thrift store is tucked in between some business office buildings. The first time I came here, I actually drove right past it! Although this thrift store is small, I have managed to find many awesome treasures on my trips. And even though their prices are higher than my favorite thrift store(Sav-Mor), they compensate this fact by having weekly blowout sales and deals. Enough chit-chat, let's get onto the haul!

*overview of all the items I got

1) Scratch Trivia Wrapping Paper(California Edition): $0.50

This ain't no ordinary wrapping paper! Imprinted on it are tons and tons of trivia fact questions. Each question has multiple choice answers and scratch bubbles next to them so that you can "scratch" to figure out the right answer. I got this for wrapping my brother's Christmas presents. I know Christmas is a long ways off, but this was just too awesome to pass on and it only cost two quarters! My brother loves to learn odd facts and that lil' brain of his is filled with all sorts of knowledge. My friends even call him Wikipedia! On top of that, he is very bad at waiting to open presents. Last year, our whole family opened presents a week before Christmas. I guess it runs in the family. So, I thought this wrapping paper would keep him occupied and amused while he is forced to patiently wait for Christmas Eve. 

2) Travel Size Hand Sanitizer- $0.25 each

Ever since going to China, I have become a huge germaphobe. I guess having to deal with smog, pollution, and mysterious smelly puddles in China has made me extremely fearful of bacteria. I'm not actually a full blown germaphobe now, but I have a new found appreciation for hand sanitizer. I actually have big bottles everywhere in my house and one in my car for cleaning my hands after thrifting. These are the perfect size to throw in my purse and how could I say no when they are priced at a mere 25 cents each!

And my last and favorite find:

3) Vintage "The Icing" Black Crop Jacket(with gold animal accent detailing)- $10
*front

*back

*vintage brand: the icing

 *gold animal accents: zebra, elephant, lion, and even a palm tree!

*original price- $20 but the sale of the day was 50% on blue tag and blue stickered items

I have wanted this jacket for months now! I found it a while back but I could never justify spending $20 dollars on a secondhand jacket, no matter how awesome the gold animal accents are. Luckily, today they were having a sale on all blue tags and blue stickered items(50% off) and so, I got this jacket for only $10! Although still a little on the pricey side for a thrifted jacket, I doubt anyone else will be sporting the same jacket, and that in my mind, justifies the price. After I got back home, I googled this brand on ebay, and it seems that this brand's jackets use to retail for around $100-$150, so it was definitely a steal. I can't wait for the weather to cool down so that I can finally start wearing this.

total spent: $11

And that concludes my haul. :) Stay tuned, more thrifting coming your way soon! Until then, tata<3

love,

Jess