Giggle

Happiness is a GREAT Deal!

Last night I went to the Just Between Friends Sale --  half-priced sale for those that are consignors and volunteers.  I am both a consignor and volunteer for the sale. I hadn't put anything in the Just Between Friends Sale before so I tagged 66 items (mostly clothes) to put in the sale and see what it was all about and how it would go.

It is EXTREMELY easy to consign. Everything is online you just type the info into your unique database for each item and it automatically creates scanable tags that you attach to your items.  It's  easy; but time-consuming to tag and prepare your items. You can choose if you want your items back to put into another sale or if you want to donate your items to charity after the event. If you choose to donate you have your fabulous list of items that you can use to complete your itemizations for your taxes. Brillant!!

I was in Chicago for work so I missed the consignor and volunteer presale.  Those that consign or volunteer are able to shop before the general public has a chance to shop.  I was a bit bummed I couldn't shop the presale but I still had an opportunity to shop the half-price sale before the general public shopped the half-price sale today.

I picked up some GREAT DEALS last night.  All but three clothing items I purchased were NEW with the original tags on them!  My finds...

• 3-piece BRAND NEW Hanna Andersson outfit for Elaina. Playdress, bloomers and capris. It was priced at $12.00 but half off it was $6.00!
• OshGosh skort and shirt set $2.00
• BRAND NEW Carter's denim pocket dress $2.00
  
• BRAND NEW OshGosh denim overall alphabet embroidered dress $3.00
  
• BRAND NEW Flapdoodles pink pants with fun embellishments $1.50
  
• Denim "4th of July" denim dress and bloomers $3.00
• Gymboree khaki pants for Zach $2.00
• BRAND NEW Carter's grey top and yellow pants $4.00
  

I also picked up a dozen books of various titles, a couple of Melissa and Doug floor puzzles for $4.50 each, Simon Says sit & spin for only $4.00, Boggle Jr for $3.00,TWO Diaper Dekor refill boxes for $3.00 (It would have been $26.00-$40.00 retail for both! WOO-WHOO!)

Then I found this...

Elaina sitting in the inflatable ball pit.

Zach hanging out in the ball pit

Crawling back into the ball pit

Zach being silly

Look at all those smiles for just $5.00! Only downside is we'll have balls all over the downstairs.  So we'll eventually have to send this toy to the basement.

The Stillwater/White Bear Lake Just Between Friends Sale is next week then the Edina sale is the following week so perhaps I'll consign the items I wasn't able to sell at the Woodbury sale. We'll see.

Ask and you shall receive....

So today over lunch I decided to check out the Gymboree website to make a list of items for the kids to spend the gymbucks I earned while shopping there this past Sunday.  That's when I realized that many of the clothes I had already purchased were marked down even more.

Talk about deflating my sails.

So on my way home tonight I swung by Gymboree to apply the 20% off coupon I had forgotten to bring on Sunday to receive that price adjustment and the girl at the counter entered the extra 20% off AND adjusted all the prices for what went on sale since I was there on Sunday.

My original bill at Gymboree at regular price:                   $345.00

30% off the entire store + Sunday in-store sale prices:   ($106.00)

20% off coupon:                                                                ($47.80)

Price adjustment for items that went on sale Monday:     ($30.00)

Grand Total:                                                                     $161.20                                                                                       

And I have $75.00 in Gymbucks for next time!! However, you DO have to spend $75 to get the $75.00 free but I DO have another 20% off coupon too!! WOOO-WHOOO!  There were a few items I waited to purchase, but did not, because I knew they would be on further sale by the time April Gymbucks spending time rolled around.

Target is just as awesome.

We purchased an outside toy for Zach on Saturday and after playing with it for five minutes it broke. Brought the toy back to customer service and explained what happened.  Perhaps it helped to have a smiling and well behaved Zach smiling up at the customer service person also sharing what had happened. "The ball went up in the air and then it went THROUGH the paddle!" 

Target took the toy back and refunded our money. 50% back on my Target Visa and 50% on a Target giftcard. 

So DO go back to stores and ask for a price adjustment or refund because you just never know!

Shopping on 50th and France

Today Carrie, Amy and I spent the afternoon shopping. Carrie had a few items to return to Athleta so we headed over to the shoppes at 50th and France to return her items she had purched online.

Carrie had never been shopping along the 50th and France so after returning her unwanted items we took to the sidewalk and did some shopping.

We stopped in Goodnight Moon and I found this adorable Florence Eiseman dress for Elaina thinkign this would be a perfect Easter Outfit...

The flower is on the front at back of the dress so you see the flower whether she is coming or going. Thus the name of the dress, Baby Girl Coming and Going Dress. I was about to pick this up and walk to the register and I thought...

Hummm....maybe I should check the price tag first...

Only $82.00

Yes, {only} $82.00 the hat is an additional $36.00.

Needless to say I did not purchase the dress and hat. It is darling but I just can't spend that much on a dress and bloomers. I'm too practical and Elaina will outgrow this in a blink of an eye. If I can find it online less expensive then sure! But the only sites I've found the dress on are at Saks and Berdorfs...so I've come up dry so far.

I did not come home empty handed though. I found some fantastic hooks at Anthropology for the mud room for the kids coats and one for the Eiffel Tower bathroom. Yeah!

Once Upon a Child Finds...

I have to admit it. I love finding good deals on used clothes for the kids. I like finding good deals on NEW clothes too! But I do tend to look for used clothes for Elaina to wear to school so when they get all stained up it's not a big deal.

Today I found two super cute jackets for Elaina.

Rothschild spring coat - with scalloped edging and embroidery -- only $7.00. Not a high end brand but super cute and still $30.00 new.

This is a John Lewis spring coat size 3T. I couldn't resist it so I purchased it for next year or even the year after depending on how fast or slow Elaina grows. It was $10.00 - typically more than I spend on second hand clothes. I had never heard of John Lewis - it's a british store.  His kids coats range in price from 20-40 pounds so this appears to be a good buy. Yeah!

Gymboree shirt and knit pants set only $6.50

"Cute" Gymboree shirts only $3.50 and $4.50 each.  The Cutie Pie shirt still had the store tags on it. Sweet!

Carters sweatshirt $4.00 - typically I don't purchase Carters second hand because you can purchase it new on-sale for the same price. However, this sweatshirt still had the store tags with a $8.00 clearance tag so who knows.Still darn cute!

Gap shirt in soft purple - only $3.50

Cute Nannette (Macy's) shorts set for only $4.50

NEW IN BOX Stride Rite shoes for Elaina - $10.00!  Stride Rite shoes are typically $35-$55 new so this was a great find today. I typically do not purchase used shoes for our kids because it can hurt their feet. If these shoes were worn it was only once or twice.

Superga Kids - found these with the tags still on them. I have a pair of these fun Italian shoes. I purchased these for Zach for only $4.00.  Brand new - $55.00.

Old Navy dress shoes for Zach - only $4.00. These were also brand new still on the hanger and stretchy string attaching both shoes together.  Clearance Price $9.50. So still a pretty good buy.

Not a bad day. There were other things I liked for Elaina but didn't purchase because who knows what this spring and summer is going to bring weather wise. Zach is between sizes and because he wears a uniform to school he really doesn't need much right now. I'll have to inventory his summer clothes and see where things are at. It's hard to purchase boys clothes second hand AND for them to still be in good shape. Call me picky...I know!

The Mini Social

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