October 03, 2011

Shopping at Goodwill and Dealing with Paxil

I have been to our Goodwill store here in town twice.  The first time I didn't find anything I needed.  The second time I found a perfect woven table cloth for my dining room table. 

While I was attending a church leadership seminar in Kansas City last week, I noticed some of the clothes that the presenters were wearing.  Later in the hotel I would write down what I saw and what I liked and I was determined to find some of the same "looks." 

I have never had a jean jacket that I truly loved and after seeing the jean jackets being worn by women with various outfits I decided that I wanted a jean jacket.  Now, the one thing I am determined to do is that when I buy an article of clothing, I must get rid of something in my closet. 

On Saturday I went shopping at our local Goodwill store and I found just what I was looking for.  In fact I found a couple of really nice sweaters that I bought also.

Here is the jean jacket that I bought for $4.00. 

The following items I have had in my closet for over 5 years and I wear them off and on.



The skirt is lacey.  Here is the jewelry that I already had. 


Look what happens when I open the faux pearl necklace and wear it long.  The silver chains will be hidden by the collar on my jacket.  Then I add the rest of the articles of clothing and I get this. 



Here's the jacket close up.

Here is a crocheted skirt that I have had for at least 6 years.

Here it is with the jacket for a slightly Bohemian look.  I like both looks.


Now I am on the hunt for a knee length coat to wear with jeans and pants.  I made a major mistake when I went to Goodwill on Saturday.  As I came in the door I saw a coat that was a good possibility but I bypassed it and went looking for jean jackets.  I should have put the coat in my cart to try on after I found the jean jacket as someone else bought it before I could.  Oh well, lesson learned. 

Tuesday is a good day to shop at Goodwill so tomorrow I will take a break from my work to go and see what has come in on the latest shipment.  I'm hooked. 

While at Goodwill I didn't only purchase clothing.  I have been wanting old style canning jars for years and look what I found at Goodwill. 

And now on to Paxil.

Last week was week three of being weaned off Paxil.  Well, I hit a brick wall while I was in Kansas City in that I suddenly started suffering the side effects from going off this drug.  I could handle it for the most part but after I got home it got worse.  Migraine type headaches along with nausea, vertigo and "brain sparks."  These are like zaps or jolts in the brain.  Why I was doing so well only to be sidelined on the 21st day is beyond me. 

I couldn't cope with the side effects so I chose to go back on Paxil and leave weaning off of it for another season.  After talking to my doctor about what I experienced it sounds like when I am ready to try weaning off Paxil again I will need to decrease my dosage very, very slowly instead of what normally works for everyone else. 

While in Kansas City I went to bed a lot earlier and I am continuing to do so.  As long as I get at least 8 hours of sleep at night, I am good during the day.  I'll leave going off Paxil for another time. 

I would love to hear from any of you about your shopping experiences at thrift or Goodwill stores.  My rule remains the same of buying only what I need and at a good value.  The fun thing is that with the prices of thrift stores I can come up with a look that is all my own -- I guess the best way to describe it is I like to dress a little "funky" sometimes with a Bohemian edge and I love doing it for a small fee.

6 comments:

~Carla~ said...

Love the outfit you put together with the jacket! It looks great! :) And the blue jars are so pretty!! What are you going to do with them?

Unknown said...

Love the both outfits - very chic!

As I think about the contents of my closet, I realize that much of it is Goodwill. I'll probably be on the hunt for a new sweater or two with the colder weather coming.

I've had good luck with trousers and dress pants. For some reason, I have one of those popular sizes!

Whenever we go to Ames, I always hit the Goodwill there...I can find Cyclones clothing for the whole family, way cheaper than going to a tee shirt shop.

Martha said...

@Carla:

As to the blue jars, I will be displaying them in my kitchen and fill them with useful items. I'm also thinking they would look good in our masterbathroom filled with useful items too.

@HDNelson:

It is fun to buy clothes that fit and then look at the tags and find out that, for example, the jean jacket was a 1XJP. This translated into a misses size 10 for me. Also the clothes have been worn and washed so the chances of shrinkage are almost nil unless you put them in extremely hot water of course.

Debs said...

I'm pregnant with number two currently, and the scan says it's a boy (we know that they can still get things wrong, so we're not majorly committed to that, just in case, but it seems most likely!).
Anyway, number one was a girl, and since we were mostly given the clothes we had for her, we had lots of PINK stuff. We've been given a lot of 0-3 and some 3-6 month clothes for this one, but i've also started looking around for cheap deals in charity shops and i'm totally addicted to buying dungarees for him!

I've spent 50p or less on each one, and i've been buying good quality brands like next/gap/gymboree so i know that if we can't use them they'll have a good resale value to put on ebay or similar.

I love the outfits you put together, looks like you've made a good purchase. And seems a sensible decision re the drugs. My sister was on antidepressants for a good while and it took her several goes at weaning off, in conversation with her doc, to get it right.

Elizabeth said...

I don't shop at Goodwill too often because the nearest one is 45 minutes away and the prices have seemed to go up a lot. My second hand shopping is more often done at consignment shops and garage sales...more than 3/4 of our clothing is found that way. Love the outfits you put together!

When I weaned off paxil I had all those symptoms you experienced. It was terrible and lasted a good three weeks. I was tempted to go back on it just to feel better but every day I chanted to myself "One day down!" Being on it was terrible too though...I was completely exhausted all the time and fell asleep at the drop of a hat. I also felt like I was in a fog the whole time, but only realized that AFTER I stopped taking it. Hope that your next weaning goes better.

Lori said...

I am a huge Goodwill and thrift store shopper. I have found tons of things and have absolutely no problem taking someone else's stuff for a fraction of the cost. it is addicting and I love the thrill of the hunt. I get made fun of by some of my friends, but they can go pay top dollar and I can find a bargain and have money left over for something else.