How to: Thrift Shop

So, as my about me blurb succinctly states, I am a self-proclaimed thrift store aficionado. 

What it doesn't say is how this came to be and how I keep it up. So, I wanted to share a few tips I use every time I walk into my favorite thrift stores on how to find the best clothes, make the most out of repurposing something, etc.

1. Branch out and secure favorites: When my mom, grandma, and I go out thrifting, it takes all day long. Why? Because we've amassed a ridiculous list of thrift stores we frequent that pretty much spans the city we live in. To give yourself both variety and opportunity to find the best deals/treasures, visit a handful of stores instead of sticking to one or two. That being said, I do have my favorites. Goodwill will always be in my #1 spot, however this is due to regional backing. All Goodwill's are not created equal! The size, quality, and content can change from state to state all the way down to neighborhood to neighborhood. More affluent areas will have higher prices (sometimes even a different pricing system such as price per clothing item instead of general pricing) and better quality while older neighborhoods might have better pricing and greater variety. Also, I've been to a Goodwill store in the following states: Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and California. It appears that the southern states have bigger stores whereas the 4 (yes FOUR) Goodwill's I went to in California were just...awful. So small. So expensive. Ugh. 

2. Know your stores: Different thrift stores will be notable for different things. I'll give you a rundown of the stores I go to and what I go to them for specifically.

Goodwill - Everything but especially clothes

Humane Society Thrift Store - Furniture

Helping Hands - Arts & Crafts/Picture Frames

ABBA House - Furniture

The Place - Various tchotchkes 

No Longer Bound - Books/tchotchkes

The Pier - Furniture/Home Décor

Home Ministries - Christmas décor

The key here is to find out what each store carries the best of so, in the future, you'll know which stores to hit up when you're looking for something specific. 

3. Keep an open mind: The whole crux of thrift stores is that, even if you're looking for something specific, the entire inventory is comprised of things someone else decided to buy. This means you have to be flexible in what you're looking for, which is the fun part! If you're venturing to find craft materials, slowly browse through every aisle. Pick things up, compare similar items. Take an item you like and carry it over to a different section of the store to see if a match can spark your creativity. Repurposing is one of my favorite reasons to go thrifting. 

4. Clothes: So, a lot of people I know are hesitant (or are openly repulsed) about buying clothes/shoes from thrift stores. My answer (aside from a dubious eye roll) is you have to know where to go. As I stated in tip 2, you have to scope out which stores carry the best quality of clothing. Start there. Now, whether I'm looking for something specific (pants for work) or looking to needlessly expand my overfull closet, my rule of thumb is the same. Color and quality. Bigger thrift stores have racks upon racks of garments and can take hours to go through. If you don't have that kind of stamina, simply scan the racks for items with rich color (not colorful, just non-faded color) and good quality. Good quality meaning it hasn't been worn to death (pilling/holes/picked/stained/etc). This should narrow your search down quite a bit and from there, you can assess further quality as well as size and style. This may seem common sensical or unimportant, but I've gone shopping with people who wander aimlessly or get overwhelmed and give up but then ask me later however did I find such a cute top? You gotta work for it. : P 

5. Name Brands: This goes for clothes too but is worth mentioning separately. Thrift stores, especially those in affluent areas, will likely contain name brand items. Name brand clothing, shoes, purses (very common), housewares, etc. can all be bought in good shape, secondhand. In the stores around here, I find a lot of Vera Bradley bags and purses, some that retired back in the early 2000's and some that came out last spring. Examples of other brands I frequently find are Columbia, The Loft, EXPRESS, Levi's, Fossil. Almost all of my closet is name brand items that I've never paid full price for. 

It might not be much, but these tips are always in my mind when I go thrift shopping and they always helps me dictate what is really worth buying. I'm a person that would rather spend money on experiences than things, so when I can get the things I want for cheap and still look good, you better believe that's the way I'm gonna go. No shame. :)

6 Real Tips to Surviving College that No One has Bothered to Tell You: From someone who has attended THREE colleges!

College. It can be both the best and worst experience all at the same time for many different reasons. With school starting back for a lot of us, I'm going to share a couple of tips that might make your experience a little bit better for when you start college or for those of us already there. 

                     

1. Your advisor is the ONLY person who knows what is really going on. Befriend them. Love them. Bring them cookies. Know that this person holds the key to you advancing to the next stage of your education. A past advisor of mine had a funny plaque in her office that said, "I don't care what 'they said', I care what 'I said'." And it's true. Other department advisors/teachers/custodians might have an idea of what to tell you about classes or pre-req's but your personal advisor knows the most and is the only opinion that will count at the end of the semester. 

2. Perform regular check-ins about your classes. Drafted up your schedule for every semester until you graduate? Great. But things change. Things ALWAYS change. Each semester, it's a good idea to check that your classes are still the ones you should be taking with your advisor midway through and at the end of the semester. I didn't do this my freshman year and ended up with 18 credit hours of social sciences that have served no purpose other than draining my HOPE account. Do this every semester until you have a diploma in your withered hands. 

3. Know your pre-requisites. This is kind of a no brainer but still, it gets overlooked so often in the heat of signing up for courses the day registration opens. Most, if not all, upper-level courses require other classes to be taken before you can take them. Don't plan on getting into these courses only to find that a pre-req is holding you back. This can royally screw up any perfect schedule. Pre-req's are listed online under the upper level course you're wanting to take. 

4. Know WHEN classes are offered. Many of us have gotten excited at the prospect of graduating early. You know you can split the hours you have left over three semesters and you'll finally be done! However, college is always there to suck the joy out of your logical plans. Certain classes are only offered during certain semesters. Because you need to take them in a certain order. Because every student started college at the right time, in the right order, and has no deviation from the student sitting next to them, whatsoever. Makes sense right? No. It doesn't. Neither do the programs that only accept students once a year but such is life. This means you have to be careful mapping out future schedules. Make sure you know when your classes are offered so you don't get to senior year and find yourself needing one more summer class to graduate. 

5. Check your work. No, this never goes away. I've seen several students sit back and let their advisors plan their whole college career and never look twice at their schedules or paperwork, only to find halfway through that their beloved advisor made a boo-boo, paradigm shifting their entire schedule for semesters to come. Muah ha ha. Yes, I know I said to listen exclusively to the all powerful advisor, but listen up. They are BUSY people. They are also shockingly human, so they will make mistakes. And it is up to you to catch those mistakes after you walk out of their office. 

6. Update your contacts. Save every number to every important person in your phone. That way, you can contact said people anywhere at anytime if you have questions or your roommate scares the bejeezus out of you by telling you you've missed registration by twenty-minutes (true story). Just remember these people have lives and the best time to contact them is early in the week (so you have more consecutive business days to handle your problem) and before or after lunch (yes, they need to eat unfortunately). Emails work wonders too. Be very descriptive in them so as to lessen back and forth correspondence, wasting precious time. 

Bonus! Records. Please, for the love of Christmas break, buy yourself a bunch of folders or binders or trash bags, just SOMETHING to store every important and relevant school paper that comes under your nose. Later I'll be doing a post of how to organize for school including important paperwork. Having all of this organized at your fingertips means you can easily give info to advisors/registration/bursar's office/teachers/financial aid or anyone else without a problem. It's your arsenal of proof. For now, some things to keep and not toss are all of your receipts (tuition payment/fees/books/online courses/programs), registration cards from advising, a current copy of your transcript, a current copy of your program's advising worksheet, etc. Take it from someone who has changed colleges THREE TIMES, yes three. It makes any transition a whole lot easier when you know your stuff better than your advisors do, which unfortunately happens quite often. 

There are many tips out there to surviving college and all that comes with it but these are the behind-the-scenes bull-honky that I've personally dealt with and come to find most helpful. Random students and faculty will tell you all kinds of things that aren't actually true. More than once a thousand times you'll have to rework your schedule. But if you try to stay flexible and contact the appropriate people, you shouldn't have all that horrible of a time. Enjoy college while you're still in it. :) 

Tips: Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Hi there! Yesterday, I returned home from my five day stay in Orlando. My friend and I visited Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for three days to see Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley for the first time :) We had a wonderful time thanks to some small tips that made a huge difference that I thought I would share in case anyone else wants to visit the magical world of Harry Potter. I highly recommend it :) So, here they are. 

1.  Package deal: The best thing we did was purchase our tickets in a Harry Potter Universal Package. It came with three park-to-park tickets, two breakfasts at the Harry Potter parks (The Three Broomsticks and The Leaky Cauldron), access to City Walk clubs with no cover fee, an adorable welcome package and best of all, early admission to Diagon Alley all three days. Yes, it's pricey but you will feel it's well worth it the day you leave. 

2. Early Admisson: If you purchase the package, you will be let into Universal Studios (US) an hour before the park opens to the public. So, during peak times, park hours are moved to 8am allowing early admission to begin at 7am. What they don't tell you is this. They let you in earlier. Here's how we did it. We arrived at the parking deck at 5:45 and got in line at the US turnstiles. They open the gates at around 6:25 allowing us to be guided to Diagon Alley to wait in line again until about 6:45 where we are let in. Then most everyone gets in line for Gringotts, all around 15 minutes before you're even supposed to be let into the park at 7am. So, when you go, check to see what the opening hour is, and plan to be in line at the gates an hour prior. This hour is precious time where only those with early admission have access to the park. 

3. Hotel: If you're not staying at an on site resort, try to book a hotel that is on Universal Boulevard. This is the road that Universal Studios is on. During peak times, traffic can get crazy and the lights are really slow to change so, only having to turn left or right onto Universal Boulevard saved us a lot of hassle getting to the park early in the morning and going back midday when we left for a break. 

4. Wait times: Diagon Alley opened it's doors officially on July 8th. We went the 12th-16th when crowds were still considered "heavy". Wait times for The Gringotts ride spiked to 6 hours by noon. Our biggest fear was that we wouldn't be able to see all of both parks in three days. However, because of our early admission and two other factors to be discussed next, we rode and saw everything in both parks (Harry Potter and non) at least twice, all in the first day. And we left two hours before the park closed. So, don't let wait times or crowds scare you away. It is definitely possible. 

5. Schedule: The best day to visit Diagon Alley and both parks in general is on Sunday. Even though it's on the weekend, nobody is there. I mean, nobody. We rode Gringotts twice that morning and visited every shop in both parks way before lunch. And the whole day is like that. Monday and Tuesday the crowds kick back up to the usual high so if you can plan a Sunday into your trip, do so. I also recommend it being one of your first few days where your feet are still good to carry you through everything :)

6. Single Rider: Unless you are traveling with a big group, single rider lines are the way to go for all rides and attractions. Simply choose that entrance, walk with your friends all the way there, wait in like for like, 5 minutes, and re-ride a thousand times. While I would recommend going through the regular line at Forbidden Journey and Gringotts at least once to see the sights, doing single rider thereafter will allow you to enjoy the ride over and over again. While others waited for four hours for Forbidden Journey, my friend and I rode it 5 times in a row, walking right onto the ride each time. And 99% of the time, we would get on the same cart or at least the adjoining carts. 

7. Rain: Rain will become your friend. Don't pack up if you see storm clouds because that's what everyone else will be doing. Embrace the cooling water and run to all the rides that now have no wait. Hours after it clears up, crowds will still be lighter than normal. In Orlando, a good rainstorm hits around 5 o'clock each afternoon, religiously. Roller coasters will still operate unless there is lightning. Good thing the two best HP rides are indoors :) 

8. Grub: The food at The Three Broomsticks and The Leaky Cauldron are cheaper than most places at the park. Except for breakfast for some weird reason, however you get two free with the HP package ;) But we decided to "splurge" for an English dinner on our last night at TTB only to find it was $12 on average per entree. And you get a lot of food, really good food. Delicious shepherds pie and apple pie. Mmmm pie. 

9. Ask around: The HP workers are now your new mates. In Diagon Alley, there's a covered area in the back right called Carkitt Market where two shows are performed hourly, the witch songstress Celestina Warbeck and the ridiculously magical puppet show of The Tale of the Three Brothers. However, once you're in the park, there aren't any posted schedules of the shows. There are however, men walking around with black outfits and iPads with the schedules on them. Ask them when they are, you don't want to miss them!

*Carkitt Market

10. Surprises: No, not the good kind. My last tip is to plan for the unexpected. During our trip, there were travel companies boasting 500+ fifteen year olds that spoke no English whatsoever, guided by about four travel guides. They literally engulfed the entire park. Every line, they were there, most of the time loudly chanting songs or cutting in line. So, if you're a person with a low tolerance for crowds (hello) or have the patience of a newborn (me again), seriously just prepare for anything. Speaking of which, now is not the time to look cute and buy new shoes. Wear your old faithful's and be sure to bring some band aids because you will get blisters, calluses, cuts, or if you're lucky enough like me, all of the above. 

Bonus tip!

Most people don't know this (I saw no one else at the park do it) but outside of Diagon Alley in London there is a red phone booth that is the public entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Once inside, you can dial 62442 or 'MAGIC' and it will connect you to a delightfully fun phone call :)

So, there are my tips on how to get the most out of your vacation to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Hope you can visit soon! 

Tips: Ladies, Learn Stick!

Today I thought I'd use this post as an opportunity to encourage a little equal opportunity on a skill not often taught to women: how to drive a manual car. 

First, let me tell you a little story about how I was forced learned to drive stick. It was four days before my sophomore year of high school. I had been in a small accident earlier in the summer (NOT my fault!) that totaled my beloved Beetle. RIP. It was down to the wire and I still didn't have a car. Enter a decent, fire engine red Chevy Cavalier with low gas and low mileage, one owner. Perfect! One small detail...it was a 5 speed. So, at 16 years old, two days before my first day of school, I taught myself how to drive a manual. 

**My car and its inelastic demand curve to represent the ridiculous cost of a locksmith to retrieve your keys**

In my humble opinion, I think knowing how to drive both automatic and manual lends itself to versatility in case of accidents or last minute scenarios where you have to drive someone else's car. Plus, most men don't even give a second thought to assuming a woman knows how so it's a fun thing to be able to do. ;)

So, here's a few tips that got me through it in less than two days.

~Find a hill. The very first thing I did was back my car down to the bottom of my hilly driveway, stop, and practice driving back up the hill without stalling. This will prepare you for the dreaded uphill stop sign/light when a monstrous truck is inches away from your bumper.

~Find your sweet spot. Every manual car has a sweet spot in the clutch that, in short, catches and allows you to press the gas and accelerate. It'll be a little bit different for each car, especially if it's a used car. Mine, for instance, was driven to college by a young man who caused me to replace the clutch not soon after purchasing my car.

~Scope out rural roads. My best indicator of day to day driving came when my dad took me on a rural highway with lots of stop signs that stretched for miles. It was an ideal opportunity to practice accelerating through all five gears and back down. It's all about having a small ability to multitask between the clutch, the shifter, and the ridiculous noises my poor engine was making as I maxed out my RPM's :D

~Turning. 99% of the time you will need to be in 2nd gear to make a turn. Just in case you didn't know, it's always your best bet. The "just pick C" of the auto world.

~Stay positive! Lastly, just keep at it. The only real way to learn is to get in a manual car and go for it. You will forget what order your shifter is in. You will stall...countless times...at the most inopportune times (like in the school parking lot with a truck full of good looking guys behind you). 

Just keep at it and laugh at yourself in the process!

How many of you ladies out there already know how to drive stick? Have you ever been assumed to not know how? Let me know!

5 Easy Tips to Get Healthy!

Hi!

Welcome to my blog and my first post!

Being a woman, I often find myself cringing at the mention of bikinis, "skinny" jeans, and (eek) health food. Most women are always trying to shed a couple pounds for whatever reason. Being a college student, I faced the freshmen 15 (or 20...) and have since gotten comfortable eating mostly whatever I want. But getting older means my metabolism is only headed south for the winter. So, at this point I am embarking on an endeavor to get HEALTHY, NOT lose weight. True I have dieted before and the approach remains similar, however it is your mindset that will lead you to victory in the end. So, as a humble start I've compiled five easy tips that will point me in the right direction.

1. Drink water over other drinks as much as humanly possible. Water restores skin vitality, focus, and helps keep the system moving smoothly to flush out toxins. 

2. Portion control! Did you know dinner plates used to be a heck of a lot smaller? Try using a saucer or luncheon plate for meals so you don't run into a case of your eyes being bigger than your stomach scenario.

3. Treat Week Day. I'm so bad about thinking I have to have a dessert each day. Reserve your Ben & Jerry's to one or two days to help with moderation.

4. Whole grains! Try substituting wheat for white if you haven't already. Throw in brown rice, oatmeal, and quinoa with your meals. It keeps you fuller, longer!

5. "Dessert". As I said, I can't keep eating dessert every single day. Instead, I treat myself to dark chocolate or a mashed banana with honey to curb my appetite.

But most importantly, remember to think only of the positive choices your making, remind yourself that you're able, and that it's never too early or too late to get healthy!