Not a contest, but...

I just have to rave about thrift shop treasure-hunting!

Yesterday, I found myself with that rarest commodity of all--FREE TIME TO MYSELF!!!! YAY!! So, I decided to do the rounds of the cool thrift stores on my way home from dropping Ms. Money Pit off to hang with her friends.

My weaknesses in those places are books, vintage sewing stuff and designer purses for CHEAP. In the past, I have scored some really good stuff like a Dooney & Burke purse for $14 and a Tommy Hilfiger for $3. I can regularly find Liz Claiborne bags for under $10. Yesterday was a good day for all three of my weaknesses.

First stop--Savers in Chinatown. There I found a Pol Martin cookbook (retailed for $59.95 when it first came out) for $5.99. I also found a giant version of the ERA "cookbooklets" they used to give out years and years ago. I had a few of those, including one with my favorite Turtle Cake recipe in the whole world (the book got lost in a move). It has all those little booklets combined in one big volume and it was worth $2.99 because my cake recipe was there on page 221! The recipe for Cracker Jack that I knew I had seen was also there. I also scored a bunch of vintage craft books for under $2 apiece.

Then I hit the fabric racks. Two nice pieces of what can only be called "Miami Vice" ice cream neon fabric. You remember that stuff from the 1980s? It wasn't quite neon and it was too bright to be pastel. Anyway, a two-yard piece in orange sherbet and a white with Hawaii flowers to coordinate. I'm thinking someone cleaned out their sewing room and dumped it all at the store. OK with me--they had the right color tags to get 50% off, so both pieces were $2.99 total.

I also found a neat portable fan for $3.00, brand new in the box--it runs off AC power OR batteries. It sounds silly but think about it. Can you see carrying it along to the park so you can have a breeze on you while watching the kiddies? There were a few other little things tossed in, including some name-brand jeans for the Money Pit (also with the magic colored tag for more 50% off goodness) and a large mirror on a swivel for her vanity.

After a nice lunch at my favorite Chinese buffet (which Money Pit hates), I stopped at Goodwill. Now, usually, I hate to go there because they price things like they were new. The one I usually go to gets stuff from Target, so I know what they did cost new. More than one time, I have caught the GW pricing an item more than it cost new, WITH the Target price tag still on it! Anyway, books and vinyl LPs were on sale for 49¢, so I couldn't get hurt there.

I found a few novels and another neat craft book, so that was good. Then I dug through the LPs and found two Mario Lanza treasures--The Student Prince and Desert Song. My dad has these albums, but won't share, so I now have my own. And, yes--I have a way to listen to them. USB turntables are the best!

But, my best find of the day was something I found totally by accident. While rummaging on the dump shelves in the back of the store, I saw it. A brand new, still sealed (coated AND uncoated) with the Pantone numbers and their CMYK equivalents! For $3! The Pantone list price is $179 (on sale for $119 this week). I did such a happy dance as I snatched that puppy right up. Some people may not understand why a color chart would cause such joy, but if you work in design of any sort (textile, paint, computer, etc.) you absolutely need to have a standard reference for color reproduction. I was almost ready to bite the bullet and order one and this was the best.

The only thing I didn't find was a cheap shelf stereo to hook my ailing TV to. The speakers are going wonky and I figured a small stereo with an A/V input would work as a stop-gap. Couldn't find a one with an input at all. Maybe next time...

Slanket contest

This links to Closet of Free Samples' Slanket Giveaway:

http://www.closetsamples.com/2010/03/review-giveaway-slanket.html

The Slanket has been around longer than the Snuggy and I think it is a little cooler, personally.

My friend got me into this...

So now I set up this blog just for the contests...