Shhhh...It's a Secret -- Where I Get My Best Deals

So this is a big secret...really.  Where I get my BEST deals.  ALWAYS.  Thrift stores are great, but did you know there are OUTLET Thrift Stores?  Well, at least the Goodwill has one, actually two in my area.  They sell stuff by the pound mostly, and some stuff by the piece.  Cheap.  

It's no secret I LOVE vintage sheets.  I have a hard time finding them at my regular thrift shops.  Then I found there is a Goodwill Outlet store closer than Seattle, there's one in Everett!  1.09 per pound over 50 pounds, 1.49 per pound under 50 pounds for clothes and linens.  That makes a nice vintage sheet like a buck!  Compared to 6 - 10 bucks at the regular thrift shop. Cool.  WAY Cool.

I got a bunch of, like DOZENS of vintage patterns that came to like 9 pounds.  Cool.  Everything is in bins, HUGE bins.  Be prepared to dig, because you will find treasures.  Vintage lace and crocheted doilies, hand sewn quilt blocks, huge body pillows (pillows are all 99 cents) a couple of goose down comforters (all blankets are 1.99 each). TONS of fabric  That's some of what I got yesterday.  Oh, and of course vintage sheets.  LOTS of vintage sheets, plus a complete set of plaid flannel sheets for my nephew.  FILLED my van for less than $100.  Did I mention the 2.99 microwave and the 4.99 chair?

Go see if you have a Goodwill Outlet in your area. 

Blogging, pharmacies, and I still sew barefoot

I haven't been good at updating my blog in the past, or even doing anything interesting with it.  I have so many ideas and projects running around in my brain it is hard to focus on any one of them.  I want to have a cool blog.  I want to contribute to the blogosphere in positive way.  I want to connect with other people who think like me.  Now that I know I am not alone, I am not a hoarder, or a nut because I am obsessed with upcycling.  I have been doing it since before there was a name for it.  I just liked taking what someone would consider trash, and making it into something beautiful, or maybe useful, or both. I still do.

In my other life I am a pharmacy technician.  Kinda funny, because there is NOTHING creative about pharmacy.  It is all cut and dry, black and white, no grey areas. Routine.  So very opposite of the ceativity I want to express, and have wanted to express.  It pays the bills.  I got a raise when I changed jobs.  I had worked for one company for many years, mostly as a floater, which I enjoyed because it afforded me some flexibility, since I also have another life as a caregiver for my best friend who lives with me.  Then things started to change.the flexibility went away, wages were frozen, no more mileage.  Slowly leaving started to creep into my mind.  A hard thought after 28 years, most of my adult life.  But I was no longer happy, and I felt I was no longer appreciated by them.  So I left, and went to work for a temp agency, which I LOVE!!  I have gotten nothing but compliments, a raise, mileage, and much better working conditions.

I am so much happier, I am glad I left, I needed to. I needed to let go of the past and move forward to my much happier and more creative future.  I hope to share my journey to creative living here.  Hopefully we can have fun on the way.

Oh, and did I mention, I sew barefoot...                                                                                                        

Social Networking and Blogging

I am trying to figure out this world of blogging and social networking.  Everyone is online, sometimes it seems like the online world is the real world, and the real world is a dream. How many people have more friends online than they do in person?  We are finding out that we are not anonymous behind our keyboards, information is always being collected so someone can market something to us.

Blogs......it seems like they have been here forever, and yet it has only been a few short years since they were created, since they went viral. Viral, that's another word that has been given a new meaning by the internet. So much information...anything we want know we can find, but we have to be careful to filter the information, sort the garbage from the gold.

Time...how much time have I spent just hopping from blog to blog, Starting with something that interests me, finding another blog linked to the first one, then on to the next one, until I fall alseep....information overload.

Oh, did I mention I sew barefoot?