Thrifty Eats: Batch Cooking

Sundays are a wonderful day to kick back, enjoy the weather if it's lovely out, and perhaps get some chores and projects done around the house. I try to reserve a few hours of my Sunday to cook in bulk, no matter what my other obligations and desires are, because it ends up saving so much time and effort throughout the week, never mind money!



The first step in this process is to take stock of your pantry and refrigerator. If you're a Virgo, you will likely love this one: make a list of what you have on hand, with food group categories and quantities (this can be fun and be made permanent in Excel, if you are a spreadsheet girl like Struggling to Be Stylish). With a quick glance at your list you should be able to come up with one or two meals that can be made with only a few additional ingredients. Cross off your items as you include them on a separate meal-planning list, and create a shopping list for what you're missing while you're at it. Trust me, it sounds complex but you will waste so much less and avoid spending on take-out because you can't figure out what to make! Be sure to actually examine all foods you're planning to use and toss any expired produce or growing-its-own-colony bread. Once you've disovered what you need and made room for it, step two is, obviously, going shopping.

The old adages will serve you well here: don't shop on an empty stomach. Avoid the middle aisles where the chips and cookies live and try to stick to the whole, fresh foods around the perimeter. Make a list and stick to it. Try not to bring children who are easily swayed by fancy packaging and promises of gobs of salt and sugar.

The biggest mistake most Americans make when shopping for produce is buying far too much. If you've planned your meals you should know exactly what you need, and perhaps grab a few extra pieces of fruit for snacks. Don't worry that you'll run out-- you can always go to the store again if need be. It makes a lot more sense to shop twice a week than to end up throwing out piles of spoiled greens and smooshy zucchinis.

I like to do much of the washing and chopping immediately when I get home from the market so that vegetable snacks are easy to grab instead of junk. I keep Tupperware filled with carrot and celery sticks stacked on one side of the fridge, and sometimes diced peppers for quick meals as well. This is when I begin a big pot of chili or pasta with vegetables, also, while I'm getting the rest of the groceries put away and the kitchen cleaned up again. When it's done and cooled, I separate it into containers, label them and freeze them. Then I have my very own "Lean Cuisines" for work lunches or nights I am only cooking for myself. Saving $5-$10 at every meal by not getting takeout is definitely worth the extra effort.

Here are a few of my own "batch cooking" recipes, all of which are ridiculously easy and freeze tremendously well, published on SparkRecipes by SparkPeople (a terrific free healthy lifestyle site if that's something you're interested in!):

Vegetarian Chili
Lentil Stew
Spinach Mushroom pasta

Invest in a label-maker or just use small post-its to indicate what something is and when it was made, whether you store it in the fridge or freezer. Most leftovers have a shelf-life of one week. Most frozen goods can be stored six months to a year. Indicate when it should be tossed by, not just when it was made! Here's my fridge with the new system in place:




You're looking at a whopping 9 cubic feet of storage space (about a third of your average fridge) so planning is essential for me. You may not want or need to be quite this OCD about it, but keeping things visible, neat and labeled will help diminish the amount of money and food you waste.

The last thing I'll mention here is that these frozen meals and any leftovers should never be reheated in their plastic containers. Ziploc has pledged to not put any terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad dioxins or BPAs in their products, but no other brand has to my knowledge, and due to a lack of awareness/caring/FDA testing or regulation, we're still unsure how dangerous many other plastics in common use are. Better to defrost at room temperature until it's possible to slide your meal out and into glass (or microwave-safe ceramic without metal-based glazes) before microwaving. Or as a last resort in a time pinch, nuke for a few seconds to defrost/loosen from the plastic before doing most of the actual cooking in glass or ceramic.

Do you enjoy batch cooking? If so, please share a favorite recipe (it doesn't have to be meatless by any means, by the way).

Happy cooking!

Quick Thrifty Tip: Caring for your Silver

Whilst staging my above-cabinet vignette this rainy Saturday, it became necessary to give my silver collection a polish before putting it on display (once you start scrubbing one thing, you can't let the others not sparkle too, right?). I love silver and have a wine rack, footed chafing dish set and miniature tea set in this particular grouping, all of which needed de-tarnishing. (If you aren't aware, silver oxidizes when exposed to, well, oxygen, i.e., the air. You can combat this with your jewelry by wearing it often, rubbing it gently (the oils in your skin mitigate tarnish) and/or keeping it stored in an airtight container (plastic bags seem to work well). But if you're decorating with your silver you will (unfortunately) need to polish it.

The sensible, thrifty way to polish your silver (environmentally sound also, of course) is to eschew fancy chemical polishes that are near ten dollars (or crazy electrosometingorrather sink systems like the one my mom got scammed into when I was a kid) and simply take your nearly-finished toothpaste tube- the one that you've rolled already and have extracted every last possible morsel- and slice it up the side to the mouth and lay it flat as possible, and use a rag (you've hopefully been collecting holey shirts and socks for this purpose) to collect the remaining toothpaste, and polish away. Severe tarnish will take some scrubbing, but you should start to see shine come through the very dullest silver fairly quickly.

Left, unpolished (dull, blah) teapot. Right, post-toothpaste-treatment (bright! shiny!) teapot (please pardon crappy cell phone photo)

This trick works with nearly all kinds of toothpaste (save, perhaps, berry childrens' with crazy sweeteners and that sort of thing) from plain white to gel-ly blue. It's quite remarkable, and a great use of something you'd usually just throw in the trash. Wash in warm water and dry with a kitchen towel and you'll have your coveted shinyliciousness back! Repeat anytime your pieces start to look dull again- save your toothpaste tubes for a silver-polishing day! Which, by the way, you should schedule any time you have a cold. Inhaling menthol as you rub tarnish away leaves your nasal passages... very... clear.

If you have any special awesome thrifty hints, please share them- I might publish yours on the Cambridge MA Thrifty Living Examiner page- More info TBD!

Happy Saturday Night!

Rainbow Romance: Lucky Finds

We came home from vacation to find our first two issues of Lucky magazine!

When we had first heard about a shopping magazine, we were highly skeptical. However, Etsy members were offered a super-cheap subscription, complete with free faux-black leather mini-tote (aaah! We can't resist a freebie!), so we decided to subscribe-- just in case we were missing any fabulous deals for our readers (and also in case we decide to care briefly about what's popular rather than just what's gorgeous to us).

We are thrilled that we "splurged", as we've already discovered a couple of fantastic thrifty resources and were inspired to search for less pricey alternatives to a few luscious pieces we spotted.

We just ordered two of these chiffon handkerchief-hem skirts to layer under shorter skirts.

What a fabulous solution for those just-too-short pieces and to add some extra color to an outfit! (OK we admit we ordered one in black... we couldn't help it). $16.10 at discountdance.com - Lots of colors, and so cheap... can't wait to incorporate them!


Apparently Forever21 has launched a new line called Love 21 that is, quite frankly, a little bit less slutty (longer hems, flowier fabrics, as Lucky says). We absolutely adore this dress in caution orange which is making us possibly consider lifting the ban on orange in our personal wardrobe!

It also comes in a hot turquoise they're calling jade... This cut is so universally flattering, and you really can't beat the price of $22.80 and the semi-synthetic fiber (rayon- did you know it was made from cellulose, not oil like nylon?)


One of the most adorable trends in the "spotlight" was bustier dresses, and we love this flirty but innocent-looking pale yellow eyelet-trim version:

This one is cotton and viscose (another semi-synthetic made from fibrous organic material rather than oil), from Charlotte Russe. At $29.99 it just about busts our summer-dress budget but the detailing is awfully cute and very similar to a Calvin Klein we tried on at Marshall's that was still $50 even on clearance.


They found and we loved a watery-print dress by Necessary Objects for $57 (that now seems to be sold out), but this fantastic skirt from Forever21 captures the same spirit for only $17.80!

Target has a new designer/brand, Tracey Feith, turning out really super cute, flirty dresses. We weren't the biggest fans of the floral one Lucky chose, but this adorable cobalt and purple-- with more eyelet-trim-- spaghetti-strap one makes us very happy, especially with the zipper to harden up all of that ruffling.
Again, slightly expensive for our personal tastes at $31.48 but keep an eye on it and surely that clearance price will continue to drop.


They also featured a gorgeous cobalt tie-dye swimsuit (pictured in link only) that hurt our theoretical pocketbook, even at 30% off the original $128, so we sought out something similar, and found what we think might even be more beautiful!



Apparently Amazon carries Newport News clearance. Who knew? This one in ombre multicolor is $39.00, down from $59.00.


We had never heard of WindsorStore.com, which seems to have a pretty awesome selection, and while there are plenty of pricey pieces, we found this absolutely demure and delectable little purple floral on sale for $29.00. Not bad!


As always, hope you love the finds- can't wait to hear from you- and happy shopping!

Friday Steals and Deals: MetroStyle

We're sort of hyperventilating over here. While searching for a cheap velvet blazer, we came upon MetroStyle.com and their amazing clearance section. We wanted to share some of our crazy-thrifty finds...

How about $10-$15 for jeans? (Depending on color- they come in several! Different lengths, too!)

$10 converible sandals that you can wear as slides, or attach the ankle strap (ingenious!)

$8-$10 for this adorable ruffly sundress (just look at those princess seams! Phenomenal)!

Only $8 for this incredible vegan patent corset belt which would really funk up an outfit!
$10 for velvet jeans? (These would so be ours if didn't need the petite length!) Wow.

Moving out of the $10 range, this $15 linen/rayon-blend maxi dress has wood bead detailing at the neckline for a double-trend-whammy (maxi length + ethnic detailing = score!)


Stock up on sexy sweaters for fall now, since you really can't beat the $13 price tag and 6 color options in this surplice version:
If you, too, are trying to add a little bit more bold color in with your fondness (obsession?) for black, try this skirt with bright goring at the hem, also only $13:


How about a $12 jean jacket in one of the hottest colors for summer, coral? (Also in bright yellow "gold")
Here's another stunning sweater option at $15, although sadly we can't promise that it will do anything this incredible for your ass. *Sigh* don't we wish.
And $20 for a skirt suit! The jacket has 3 buttons and the seaming we discussed last post... it's polyester, and only the ivory is lined, but it's $20 for two pieces!
Lastly, why not liven up your boring black pump collection with some gorgeous teal or purple platform peeptoes for $20??

Now please excuse us while we go fill up our shopping cart :D

Let us know what you think of these finds and if you buy anything!

Thursday Splurge Vs. Steal: Get Drew's Look

We have loved Drew Barrymore for as long as we can remember... she is beautiful and elegant but always retains a playful personal style even when she glams way up... Here, we're imitating (yes, although we advocate finding your own look, sometimes we do encourage taking direct inspiration, if it's as hot as this!) this look from Drew's recent appearance on Regis. The dress is Narcisco Rodriguez, the bracelet Tom Binns (we looked him up. Expensive.) and the platform slingback peeptoes from Miu Miu. We, like Stacy and Clinton, love a red shoe.


Here are two interpretations, high-end and thrifty. We actually think the thrifty version is a little bit more fun! We took some liberties with the texture on the shoes and the drop earrings; Drew's are much more understated, but the little zebra hearts here picked up the dress's pattern so well that we couldn't resist!

Splurge vs. Steal: Get Drew's Look by ThriftyStylist featuring Miss Selfridge

Which outfit do you like better? Do you think the high-end version is worth $2800 more?

What We Wore Tuesday: Hibiscus and DOTS

By dots we don't mean polka, we mean those little semispheres of candy stuck to rolls of paper that we used to eat as a kid. The colors in this outfit remind us of those wretched little sweets, although we are not actually consuming any fibrous bits with it (thankfully!)

We're being AWFULLY adventurous today, venturing not only into print-land, but also wearing three (count them! 3!) colors besides neutrals today! Usually it's black and one solid. We're not sure whether the print on this Skirtology skirt is overwhelming our petite but curvy frame... we loved it at the shop (and especially loved its $8 price tag) but maybe it's a tad big? Is it making us look shorter and fatter? Hmmm... This might be one for passing on to a taller friend, even if it is quite lovely.

We do love the turquoise and hot pink, though, even if it took us a while to come around. This is a cropped sweater we found at Marshalls in the junior clearance for $8. We love the saturated color. Our man calls it our "miniature sweater" but it really does fit... we think anway! Layered underneath, a short-sleeved knit top with lace ribbon detailing at the gathered shoulders (we let the lace peek out around the cardigan for a little extra girliness). And... we kicked up the candy-liciousness (although you can't quite make it out in the photo) with those purple pumps we discussed earlier. (Turns out they're microfiber, not actually suede, but they were cheap and had never been worn and they're luscious so we're not complaining).


We think we'll definitely be trying some more outlandish color combinations in the future... Trinny and Suzannah (of the UK original What Not to Wear) say that any colors can go together as long as they're tonally matched-- i.e. have the same quantity of black in their shades. Who knew?!

For accessories, we picked up the pink in the sweater with hot pink and black chandelier earrings by us (of course)

And then echoed the print in the skirt with our David Anderson leaf bracelet again:


...as well as matched the turquoise with a beaded cuff (we absolutely adore coordination), also a gift from mom but not vintage... which we've now tried to transfer from the phone approximately ninety-seven times and have now given up. But it's quirky and fun, trust us- you can sort of see it in some of the outfit pics.

Wish list: tights in super fun colors. This outfit would have been kicked up to 11 with some hot pink, turquoise or (gasp! What have you done with Desiree?) yellow tights. The black are so blah, even with the purple shoes.

What do you think of our foray into more-adventurous-land?

What We Wore Today: Mac n Jac 'n' H&M

If you're like us, the second you buy something new you must.wear.it.

It's probably horribly sketchy to put on used clothes without washing them, but they looked clean enough and at least they don't have nasty factory chemicals all over them like new clothes (which we do wash first, promise). We don't really do dry cleaning unless absolutely necessary (it's not really thrifty).

So, although we had quite a difficult time deciding just which of our new treasures to wear today, we settled on the most "fun" one- the silk shantung skirt with beading and silk chiffon trim at the hem. We almost passed this up, by the way, as it was marked quite larger than our usual skirt size. However, once we tried it on, we discovered that worn on the hips rather than the waist, it's a perfect fit.



It's "Mac n Jac" brand, which we'd never heard of, but is apparently carried at Nordstrom. This fact, along with the beautiful (100% silk) fabric and exquisite beading detail, suggests to us that the $15 we spent (down from $28 originally at Raspberry Beret) is kind of like an obscene steal. We dig it.

We paired it with the new (to us of course) $5 slinky sweater which is from H&M, and some divine turquoise chandelier earrings we made for ourselves during our last craft fair (good to stay busy when absolutely no one is stopping at your table- le sigh). With earrings this big and a fairly interesting neckline to the sweater, we decided against a necklace. We are wearing a beaded bracelet with turquoise cat-eyes which we made long ago, as well as our Norway Silver leaf-print David Anderson bracelet (consignment shop, gift from mum, one of our most treasured pieces) which echoes the leafy sequins in the beading on the skirt (see detail).

Please pardon the lousy cell phone pictures. We promise that one of these days we'll get around to learning how our camera's self-timer works and leaving time in the morning for daylight outfit shots. Our bathroom mirror stinks. Sigh.

What do you think? Are the black boots too boring with it? We considered the purple pumps since the sequins have some purple iridescence to them... Maybe next time!

Dresses and Lovelies on Clearance, Oh My!

We stumbled upon Alloy's site while styling for a friend and just chanced a look at their clearance. *swoon* $10 dresses my friends. Granted they're not natural fabric, and probably not responsibly or carefully made, but $10! We are absolutely snapping up this cute lilac ruffly scoopneck...And we think this is a very cute take on the LBD with the gathered A-line satin skirt and banded waist (nice wide bra straps and good coverage for the more modest of us, too!)! Ten measly bucks. You pay more than that for lunch some days, right?

Tragically for us, this amazing deep red-violet Grecian-style ($15) is only available for our tiny sisters (juniors S-M). *Sniff* Shop on, skinny chicas!.
For $20, here's a sexy little interpretation of the psychedelic/kaleidoscopic retro print trend for the summer:

We looked around for comparable deals and didn't find much.

Victoria's Secret did have a couple of under-$20 cotton/spandex summer cuties like this halter dress (shown in white but available in several colors) and this darling babydoll in green with bow detail (precious!) for $18.99 each.

Everything else was clearly overpriced even though it's "on sale."

We couldn't seem to find the actual clearance section this time, either, evidently due to the annual sale being on (bother!). We can usually find a few really fabulous bargains, but currently even simple tank top dresses are fetching $29; and who wants simplicity, anyway? A little bit of embellishment, like the crochet bust in the halter and the bow in the babydoll, are what femininity is all about!



We just discovered Jane'sClothing - motto "Look Fabulous For Less," which we venerate, of course- and wow... some really adorable little numbers for astoundingly cheap like this other kaleidoscope dress, in pink, $14.99, and this unusual metallic leaf-print bright magenta halter dress with no back (ooh lala) for our lucky bra-going-without girlfriends! $15.99:

We hope you're as excited for summer and flirty little dresses as we are! Now just to work off a little of this accumulated winter pudge... uh-oh...

Do you like these? Let us know if you end up buying any of them!!

Thursday Splurge Vs. Steal

Work outfit- Splurge vs. Steal! by ThriftyStylist featuring Juicy Couture bags

We are so completely addicted to Polyvore it's not even funny. Real work has been pushed to the far, far back burner as we spend our days putting together virtual outfits. We've discovered that, contrary to our previous beliefs, we DO have expensive taste! It has nothing to do with labels-- on Polyvore you see the picture first with no details-- but everything we click on seems to be ridiculously expensive! Who knew?

We were putting together a work outfit (we're lucky enough to be able to wear jeans to work; maybe you are too, or at least on Fridays?) and we found these absolutely insane purple beaded Lorenzi pumps... but at $2500, they sent the outfit careening dangerously out of "thrifty" territory. Then it occurred to us that we should do a splurge vs. steal!

We admit wholeheartedly that the SPLURGE is a cuter outfit-- the shoes are more interesting, the jacket has more detail, even the cami has more shape than the cheaper one-- but for a difference of $3200, we are willing to be adorable rather than stunning.

The ruffly orchid corduroy jacket from the STEAL outfit is available for a scarcely-believeable $10 at a site we'd never seen before but will surely be perusing frequently now, ioffer.com, which seems to be a new and better ebay-- not quite an auction house but rather a resale and trade site. There are 31 million items available as we speak, and 38,000 users online. Hmmm... we'll have to do some more *cough* research now...

Another site we've been turned on to through Polyvore is DorothyPerkins.com - amazing deals (especially with the current conversion rate) and great fashion articles and advice! And they DO ship to the US (unlike Peacocks, grrrr! We love their stuff sooo much; why does America have to lose out?!)

Which outfit do you like better? How did we do?

Let's Talk about Labels

We're reading "Shopaholic Takes Manhattan" on the subway for a nice pre-and-post-work diversion, and it's simply lovely... but we realized immediately that it is impossible for us to empathize with the heroine, given as she is to near-vapors at the sight of a designer label. Yes, we have a shopping problem, to an extent, but rarely does a single piece we buy top $30. Have we mentioned that we don't care for things that are expensive just because the designer has a certain image? We admit that frequently the higher-end labels have exquisite workmanship-- which is why we surely squeal a little at finding a huge bargain in a Calvin Klein skirt or Ralph Lauren dress (the savings off the original price tag is only part of the excitement)-- but we find it simply astounding that women pay hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for things just... because! Not couture, not hundreds of hours of beading, just that it's the "it" thing (waiting lists for handbags? o_O

To us, something being the "it" thing means that far too many people like it and we should steer clear. Tiffany jewelry and Coach bags don't say upscale to us, they say conformist. Maybe it's because we've never actually had money to throw around to that kind of extent, but we're simply aghast at times-- like last weekend when we stepped into a Macy's for the first time. You can talk all you want about the supposed sales, but this store terrified us. Arranged by designer?? What if we want to look at all of the dresses? Or all of the dresses that have been marked down? What a travesty. We ended up spotting and buying a top that we were looking for (black, slinky, tummy-control, $30) for a bachelorette party, but we got the hell out of there quickly after that. And the jewelry, mind you, was way overpriced, terribly generic and horribly gold-heavy (we forgot to mention in last week's "nevers" that we do NOT wear gold.

So anyway... we got to wondering what kind of a girl goes in for that sort of thing. We know a few who love select designers-- and that's all fine and well; if you find something you love, run with it! But do you have to grow up with money to appreciate rather than denigrate the clothes in Vogue, for example? We remember even as a child not thinking "wow I hope someday I can afford this" but "what is wrong with people?"

We're probably cynical, but other than a nice solid pair of shoes or coat or bag that you will use every day, we don't see spending more than $100 for any attire.

What do you think? Does a name brand guarantee quality? Are high-end designers worth the price to you? Does the brand impart something that we are missing? (Or perhaps just don't care about) Do you think it is bred through luxurious upbringing, or perhaps a spartan one, inspiring excessive longing? Give us your thoughts!

Essential Spring Piece: OOAK Skirt!

OOAK means one of a kind, in case that was like "huh?" for you.

We have scoured etsy for you for the most fabulous, (mostly) thrifty, unique handmade pieces there are to be had (within our taste parameters, of course).

We're going to go a little heavy on the purple here, so bear with us...

From left to right, top to bottom:
Patchwork by ChopstixWaits, custom, $75
Matroyshka skirt from madebylovewithhannah, Cotton, made-to-order, $68
"Pink is the New Black" by our favorite skirt shop, AKattyWampusTale, OOAK, $56
"Funky Skirt" From Nancy's Needles and Pens, $15
Slip skirt with applique by sewsewsuckurtoe, custom, $23
Orange "flirt skirt" by RaspberryBaby, only $29- multiple sizes available!
Batik hippie skirt from Marudhara of Thailand, $20!
Gorgeous coral print skirt from econica, cotton/linen, a splurge but worth it at $90
Black/white print from BoutiqueMiaByCXV, custom sizing, $42.99
Tie-Die with lace by LucidOpticLab, on sale for $15! (We may steal this one)
And finally, "Mangosteen" purple ruffle cotton pointy-hem skirt from cottonfields, $15!

We think buying whatever is at the mall shops or wherever else people shop for work clothes is sort of... boring. We don't want to risk someone else wearing the same piece! Ha. Maybe we have a problem with this need, but we certainly enjoy finding special, individual pieces.

Happy handmade hunting!

What We Wore Monday: Almost No Black Edition

We really should have taken a photo, because there is not a single internet image available that represents the fabulosity of today's skirt, found at TJ Maxx for $10. We turned it down the first time we saw it (culled from a group of several skirts), then kicked ourselves for two weeks and were THRILLED to come back to the same store to find said skirt tucked deep into whichever rack we had secreted it. Score.

We're talking fully-lined, spring-green tiered petticoat lace. Amazing. It really defined our spring look last year (and there's nothing wrong with it this year, either).

This one is pretty cute, similar, although not as voluminous. It's available online from Firebird Clothing in the UK for 28 pounds... ~$41 as of today...

We paired the terrific skirt with a bright pink sweater. This is not a color combination we would normally go for, but because we'd been dying to wear this hand-painted silk scarf our boss brought back for us from a trip to China-- it has bright green leaves and big pink flowers-- we went for it.

The sweater we found for under $20 at Filene's Basement- it's similar to the one at right (unfortunately sold out) from Target... We really enjoy the boatneck detailing-- anything a little "different," you know... and they do still have a few nice pink sweaters on clearance like this one in plus sizes, this one in deeper pink, and this one, too, all $25 or under. We are definitely not above Target clearance for essential pieces!

We capped off the floral motif (from the scarf and floral lace) with these adorable rose-applique boots we bought on Etsy... Black boots are a subject for another day... one might say (our friends might say) that we have a terrible addiction and one can only own so many pairs, but we so enjoyed the ribbons cascading from the lace today. Hooray for girly details!

What we wore today: Professional Dress part II

Another day of forced conservatism. A bit sad, but it was OK. We wore this terrific floral circle skirt from Victoria's Secret London Jean collection, which we got on clearance for about the same as this ebay listing for it!

It's lovely, super comfortable, lined, cotton, with pockets (but they're hidden so it's flattering), such saturated color and lovely print... it's honestly just perfect, down to the cute cotton ribbon tie. We wouldn't normally wear such a print, or really any print at all in a skirt, but the black/white/blue was striking and we do love it.

A few more circle skirts we also love:

This one from BarriePace is certainly not inexpensive- $79, but down from $148-- and we personally never wear brown nor white-- but it's definitely a fun look (could use a some bigger jewelry, in our opinion, though), and the little faux shrug here is actually not that gouging at $29 on clearance.

We seem to be finding a lot of brown lately, which we'll gladly pass on to our sisters! We found a great deal in this cute printed skirt and jacket set, $33.94 if you join some sort of shopping club... not sure about all of that, but it's a cute look to seek out. We would enjoy a periwinkle scarf and peridot chandelier earrings and a cute brown suede platform peep-toe with this. But we're into matchy-matchy.

A few incredible one-of-a-kind looks we loved... this skirt is just amazing...  If you find a piece like this, who cares what it costs?! You can only be thrifty most of the time, you know? 

We also love this turqoise circle print skirt at right, rom Weezi in Canada, found on flickr, although we can't quite figure out how to purchase it. She's certainly one to watch, though. We love the light, summery feeling her clothes evoke. 

However, since it's not summer yet, we paired our circle skirt with a black sweater- ribbed, with faux shrug detailing like the white short-sleeve above... While looking for something similar, we found this adorable ruffly cardigan that is on clearance for ONE DOLLAR for our full-figured sisters. We have one just like it and it really dresses up and (well, to be honest) goths out a simple sheath or jeans and ballet flats. (OK, so it's Fashion Bug, but whatever, it's a dollar!), or check out this lovely detailed pullover on clearance at Soft Surroundings for $19.99. 

Now... we hate to tease you with something that's discontinued, but we'll leave you, perhaps salivating like we are, with this incredible version of the faux shrug in teal velvet by Boston Proper, one of our favorite catalogs to cut pictures out of for "someday" sewing projects... Oh, the sadness that it's gone... We'll hope for happy thrifting karma, that we may find something as wonderful. 

Today we talk about scarves.

Scarves are one of our favorite accessories. Since we wear a lot of all-black and we live in New England, they serve the twofold purpose of jazzing up an outfit and keeping us from getting frostbite of the neck. While we're not big fans of the pinned-or-tied-kerchief scarf (reminds us too much of our mom), we do like to use a cool scarf as a big necklace, hair ribbon or belt.

If you've been reading, you know we like to buy vintage when we can. It's not only thrifty, but good for the earth. Here are some bright, eclectic vintage options from Etsy, several on the super-cheap, all totally gorgeous!


From left to right, top to bottom:
Maggie Rouff Paris collection, silk, $60 at GeneralWhimsy2
1960s geometric print, silk, $10 at RoomForCake
Psychedelic "Warhol" print, unknown material, $10 at DriveThruVintage
Silook Japan, polyester, $8 at VintageEmbellishment
Pink japanese print, acetate, $10 at PetiteKaloo
Oscar De La Renta, silk, $15 at TheCuriosityShoppe
1970s geometric mod print, silk, $8 at TheLuckyFish
Large rainbow shawl/sarong, polyester, $14 at TheKoruBranch
Oscar De La Renta striped teal with gold threading, silk, $15 at Autumnie

We know that it's quite nearly summer (or, if you're in Boston, quite nearly spring), but that doesn't mean knit scarves are out of the picture completely. The chunky wool ones should probably go back in the closet (if only to promote the power of positive thought!), but think about lighter textures and fabrics... These finds from Etsy are a few of the beautiful handmade textured scarves available. On the left, from alonalona, a UK fiber artist, sari remnants that would otherwise be thrown away are spun into luscious yarn and then hand-knit into this beautiful, airy long skinny scarf, $16. On the right, in a gorgeous peacock- colored blend of designer Italian yarn and microfibers , a fluffy, fun, light decorative option from Maine-based designer Cathy of BabbidgePatch, handknit, $35.



Three of our favorite other sources for cool scarves are the bargain stores, of course- we often find cute ones for about $7 at Marshalls, street and craft fairs, and Oona's vintage resale in Harvard Square. Happy accessorizing!