REI/Hidden Treasures/Goodwill

Today I wanted to give up and call it quits on this blog. I didn't want to be held accountable anymore. However, I realized that my reasoning behind those feelings was spawning from a newly acquire shopping(thrift) addiction. Yes, as you have probably realized and as I am undoubtedly now aware of I have been non-stop thrift shopping. I've been on a mission to remake some aspect of my wardrobe. And this has led me to buy more goods in the last two months than I did for the last 6 months of last year. So I am calling it quits. Monday is no longer going to be a day whittled away with hours spent searching out the used goods. Nope, I am going to actively seek out some more productive means to spending my day off. However all of this was only realized after a few hours of heavy thrifting.
Of coarse today was actually a day that I didn't want to leave the house but was forced to because of the neighbors fumigation. So that lead to a trip to REI which I've been planning on doing since I bought the chalk bag and chalk that was made in china last week. I found a brand that is a little more environmentally and socially savvy. My local reasoning just wasn't sitting well with me. It is sometimes hard to determine which issue hits home more for you. I am a strong advocate for shopping/buying locally and supporting small business. But I am also strongly against imported goods that have a social and environmental price tag on them. The dilemma is which one is more important. In the end I determined that to me it was more important to alleviate the global impact than advocate the local. Not that I can't do both, but when it comes down to a particular item this is where I stand.

Prana chalk bag = made in usa
Metolius climbing tape = made in usa
Report brown winter boots = originally made in china
Merona brown fancy boots = originally made in china
McCall's pattern = originally made in usa
Simplicity pattern= originally made in usa
2 frames= no origination
Target brand frames= originally made in china
Xhilaration black shoes= originally made in china

7-1=6 = china
1 = mexico
11 = usa
28 = thrifted

Box Store Whores = 3
Small Biz = 4
Thrifty = 6

Unique. Midwest Mountaineering

Another Monday spend day. I am probably not going to find the furniture that I want at the thrift stores, so I should just stop going because I end up spending every time I enter one. Although this visit did help cure my "15 year old" problem a little. I was told recently that part of the reason I look like a fifteen year old in my wardrobe is because of the shoes I wear with my outfits. If I could chuck the chucks and go for a heel then I would get a few more grown up points. Since anything over an inch is way to high for me it's been kind of a difficult task to find classy shoes. I have a lot of flats, but they're far more casual than what I'm hoping to go for. Today I scored two cute dressy heels at Unique thrift. Although Unique is a for profit thrift store they do still have a charity connection. And it is still recycling goods. I also finally got to browse Midwest Mountaineering. I have been in the Hub Bike Coop which is connected to it and I've ventured into Midwest Mountaineering before, but this time I had purpose. Outdoorsy purpose. And I'm justifying my made in china purchases because I was buying from a local small biz.

Style & Co shoes = originally made in china
Mossimo shoes = originally made in china
Tea tray = no se
Acco paper punch = originally made in usa
Black Diamond chalk bag = made in china
Black Diamond chalk sock = made in china
How to Rock Climb by John Long = printed in usa

7 = china
1 = mexico
9 = usa
21 = thrifted

Box Store Whores = 2
Small Biz = 4
Thrifty = 4

Arizona thrifting.

So Mom gave me some Valentine's bucks and said I had to spend it on myself this weekend. So I started off with some Mother/Daughter rummage sale-ing today. Although my Mom found a few handy items I didn't score a few items until we went to the second-hand shop. Now I have a few more items I'm going to have to cram into my luggage.

Quilt = who knows
Bed skirt = originally made in china
Power Club A-shirts = originally made in India
Max Edition black dress = originally made in usa
Necklace = who knows

5 = china
1 = mexico
8 = usa
17 = thrifted

Box Store Whores = 2
Small Biz = 3
Thrifty = 3

Arc

So it seems that I am starting a traditional Monday thrift day. Monday is my week day off to enjoy life without all the suckas that work the ole' 9-5. But I'm truly not starting any traditions here. It just so happens that the last two Mondays in a row inspired me to turn up at one of my local favs. I'm also in search of a few specific furniture items so a thriftin' here I come. However, both Mondays have left me with no furniture but an armful of other items as I leave.

Film strip photo frame = too old to tell
Cook Book = originally printed in the usa
T.H.S red dress = originally made in the usa
Blue Have green dress = originally made in the usa


5 = china
1 = mexico
8 = usa
12 = thrifted

Box Store Whores = 2
Small Biz = 3
Thrifty = 2

Arise

When I venture to uptown these days it's hard to avoid Arise Bookstore. A little collectively run radical bookstore. It's a place that I can kill far too much time. But I had a mission, i had seen a particular book there the last time I was there and hoped that it may still exist. Luckily it did. Although I may have been able to purchase "My Mother Wears Combat Boots" by Jessica Mills cheaper on amazon.con than at Arise, I am more than willing to pitch the extra few dollars to support an awesome local business. I also had to browse the dollar books and scored a possibly out of date historical book about India and Pakistan.

India~Pakistan by Milton W Meyer = printed in the usa
My Mother Wears Combat Boots by Jessica Mills = printed in the usa


5 = china
1 = mexico
8 = usa
8 = thrifted

Box Store Whores = 2
Small Biz = 3

Cliche

In true Bleach fashion we re having our holiday party two months after the holidays. I'm very fond of this idea. Shopping during the height of the winter holiday season is that last thing on earth I ever want to do. We do a gift exchange and for the last two years in a row I have drawn Barb's name. Barb is a very difficult person to buy for. She is older, settle in her life/ways. She is kind of like buying for a parent who has everything and no particular hobby, beside golfing, to choose a gift from. Luckily this year I did not draw her name. I think I may have flipped if I had.
One of the down falls of trying to purchase solely made in the us goods is finding the goods that are neat and cheap enough to fit into the maximum dollar amount. I ventured to Cliche, which is an amazing little boutique in Uptown. They carry several lines from local designers and Josh, the owner, has been on the look out for us made goods just for me. Ever time I go in there he neglects his ringing phone to try to find me exactly what I'm looking for. Pulling out all the items that are us made and trying to find the perfect garment for the occasion. It took us a little bit of searching since the girl I'm buying for this year is prego, which makes purchasing a clothing item a difficult task. In the end we found a cardigan on the clearance rack made by the local designer Swank Dollar.

Swank Dollar Cardigan = made in the usa

5 = china
1 = mexico
6 = usa
8 = thrifted

Box Store Whores = 2
Small Biz = 2

Awesomeness

"The Better World Shopping Guide" by Ellis Jones is a must have for the environmentally/socially conscience human being. I'm soooo excited about this. Check out the online and more in depth version!

Hair supplies

Due to my career I have a couple hundred dollars worth of purchases each month that I won't be recording in this journal. I have dedicated myself to 3 separate brands and with hair products it is hard to give up your comfort zone. When I first moved to Minnesota I had started working with a very unfamiliar brand. I thought it would be helpful since 3 out of 7 of the stylist at my salons also used that brand. Within the first month I turned out the worst color of my life. So I went through a bit of a discovery period, trying several different color lines until I decided on Swarzkopf and Redken Shades. We used Pureology and Swarzkopf in the salon for styling aids and I have grown to loved the looks I can create with these products. I know Pureology is made in the usa and I assume that Redken is as well. Swarzkopf is a German company, so I assume their production is in Germany. I have decided to record the styling tools that I purchase, ie. blow dryers, curling irons, etc. So on that note I had to purchase a new curling iron yesterday. The beauty supply stores basically all carry the same brands of tools, which in my case yesterday made it hard to even find the correct model of iron. The one and only marcel iron that I could find was no doubt made in China.

Hot Tools Marcel Iron = made in china

5 = china
1 = mexico
5 = usa
8 = thrifted

Box Store Whores = 2
Small Biz = 1

Salvation Army

Thrift stores have me in a quandary. They sell used goods, sometimes not so used sometimes really used. The quandary comes into play with the made in (insert any other country besides the usa). So if I support used goods made outside of the country doesn't that support the first purchase of those goods as brand new mass produced, outsourced, sweat shop goods. But it also fulfills the full cycle of recycling. So I did some thrift shopping, but I still don't know what way to feel about it.

Target brand jewelry box = thrifted, originally in china
picnic basket = thrifted, to old to tell
wall shelf = thrifted, to old to tell
black workout pant = thrifted, no brand label
Mossino shirt = thrifted, originally in china
Merona shirt = thrifted, originally in china
Merona shirt = thrifted, originally in china
Merona sweater = thrifted, originally vietnam

still deciding how to mark these.

Frozen River Film Festival

Over the weekend I misplaced my already mis-matched pair of gloves/mittens. The Frozen River Film Festival was the perfect place to find/purchase a new very matching pair. The festival was full of local vendor selling their hand made goods. I happened across a table full of hand made mittens by two girls named Rachel Vogel and Tanya Berzinski. Muddy Hands website has a few of their unique goods displayed and the future proposal of a local store in Winona, MN. Another excellent artist that I was in awe of was a girl named Melissa Fannin. Although her website doesn't seem to have them she had some amazing origami earrings that she made.

Muddy Hands mittens

4 = china
1 = mexico
5 = usa

Box Store Whores = 1
Small Biz = 1

Office Supplies

The office supply store use to be one of my favorite places to shop. Chalked full of papers for everything and containers that could make all your organizing dreams possible. Ok, so I am an office nerd. I was the kid who took my mom's checkbook so I could play secretary and fill it out. Just thoughts of pens, pencil and marker boards made me swoon. However now each trip I take to the office supply store is met with feeling of anxiety and discouragement. It's a store that is hard to avoid, what business doesn't need a container to hold receipts and a folder to separate important papers? But the screams of foreign made products in a store like Office Max can deafen the ear. My trip to my local Office Max yesterday yielded only 4 out of 9 goods made in the USA. That was with me being a very conscious buyer, checking all labels to try to find a brand that said USA and avoiding normal impulse buys of products that had no USA alternative. Even the brands that I did end up finding the USA label on had other products of foreign origin/assembly. Unfortunately there are an array of office needs that are hard to find outside the big box stores, but buying foreign made products from a local family owned business would be one step in the right direction. Also, although some of the recycled goods are produces outside of our country, it completes the earth friendly circle by purchasing recycled products. Checking labels can be very daunting in every aspect of life. The disappointments never seem to cease when I find an item that I want and can afford and turn it over to find "made in china".

Office Max brand pink erasers, mini stapler, mechanical pencil = made in china
3 Oxford Esseite folders = made in usa
Avery address labels = made in usa
Avery business card pages = made in china
Pendaflex alphabetical file = made in mexico

4 = china
1 = mexico
4 = usa

http://www.recycledofficeproducts.com/index.htm