Saver's Steals!

Saver's was having 50% off nearly the entire store (ugh...come on Savers! Why can't you do 50% off sales like Goodwill!?). Clothes, shoes, and bed/bath items were marked down, so I spent 2 hours scouring the racks looking for some good clothing bargains! Even though I'm weeding out my current closet in preparation for moving, I felt like the things I found today will make good additions to my wardrobe, especially my need for "teacher clothes!"

Adorable brown, comfy heels! 

Soft Style Hush Puppies Company   |   Original: $5.99 / Sale: $3.00

 I wanted some nicer black sandals that would be appropriate for teaching. Even though it would be great, it's not very professional to teach in flip flops! haha

Original: $3.99 / Sale: $2.00

 This dress looks a little ridiculous on the hanger, but it's adorable in person. It's got a sexy LBD silhouette, but then there's the added tulle skirt that makes me feel like a grown up version of a little girl ballerina! Plus it's super comfy!

TopShop   |   Original: $9.99 / Sale: $5.00

 A basic LBD that can either be dressed up or down. 

H&M   |   Original: $6.99 / Sale: $3.50

 I swear this dress is more flattering on my person than it appears on the hanger. It will be a good fall/winter dress!

Donna Ricco New York    |    Original: $7.99 / Sale: $4.00

 I was on the fence about this dress because it's a little shorter than I normally like, but it's just so dang cute I couldn't say no! I love the fun, nautical feel of it! The picture makes it look electric blue, but it's really more muted, cornflower blue.

Love 21 (is that a part of Forever 21?)   |   Original: $6.99 / Sale: $3.50

 Always looking for professional shirts. I loved this print.

CAbi   |   Original: $7.99 / Sale: $4.00

 This shirt has a fun zipper detail in the back, too!

Anny Taylor (Score!)   |   Original: $7.99 / Sale: $4.00

 I've been on the hunt for a good yellow cardigan for YEARS now ever since my favorite sweater walked away from me my freshman year in college (I still don't know who has it!). I loved that this one was staring me down from the rack as I passed by!

Old Navy   |    Original: $5.99 / Sale: $3.00

 This is probably intended for a teenager, but it's such a fun color combo and print - who cares?

Takeout   |    Original: $7.99 / Sale: $4.00

 I was just talking with a friend about how horrible it is trying to find appropriate fitting shorts as a 20-something. Teenage shorts are hot pants, and any older turn into "mom shorts." Nobody wants that! I was able to find this pair that fit appropriately! Huzzah!

Levi's (more Huzzah!)   |   Original: $5.99 / Sale: $3.00

I have an unhealthy obsession with the hi-low trend. I'm a sucker for it. So when I found this jersey knit, turquoise hi-low skirt, I was in love!

Charlotte Russe   |   Original: $3.99 / Sale: $2.00

TOTAL: $43 - Not too shabby for all that I got! =)

Goodwill 50% Off = My Favorite! (+ Garage Sales Finds!)

Saturdays are my favorite. But not for the reason most people think. Rather than being lazy or sleeping in, I love the Saturdays that I get up early and go hunt for bargains at the 50% off the ENTIRE store sales at Goodwills around town! Especially now that I am shopping for my classroom and future apartment, in addition to all the other fun things I typically hunt for, I had a blast today picking up some good finds!

 This was my favorite find of the day. A BRAND NEW (it was still in shrink wrap and not yet assembled) Chalkboard (Luns) from IKEA. $7.50 total

 More teacher things. Magazine caddies (bare wood right now...I'll get artsy and paint them soon), a brand new (it was still in its box) pop-up Post-It note desk weight. It's an apple for the teacher! =) Brand new word strip walls (great for word walls), and brand new star accents for bulletin boards. Also a binder with dividers and additional post-it stickies of all colors and sizes (let's be honest...I really bought it for the fun stickies inside).

Grand total for all: $6.25

 I know of a singing game I plan to do with my kiddos that involves a bowl for each person to slide on the floor. Rather than have a bunch of disposable Solo brand plastic bowls that I know would be destroyed after a few rounds, I saw these four colorful sets of hard plastic bowls and decided to pick them up at $1 a set.

 Best bargain of the day! There was no price on the box, so when I asked, he gave it to me for .49 cents, which really reduced down to .25 cents! I'm so excited to continue learning more guitar chords and scales with these awesome flashcard-style tools!

 Misc. fun! Two great movies ($2 each), a CD and information book about Classical Overtures ($1), and a brand new Cribbage board ($2) - I need to refresh my memory on how to play. I miss that game!

 Kitchen awesomeness. 100 new cookie cutters for $2 (I have an addiction to collecting cookie cutters. It's a problem!), and a wonderful, functioning kitchen scale to use for baking. I'm so thankful I found such a great one for only $2!

 The thing I'm always on the hunt for at thrift shops is good pictures books for the music classroom. I'm happy to say I found some great ones today! All kids books either end up being .50 cents or .25 cents, depending on hardback or paperback covers.

 It's hard to tell...but this is a HUGE bag of crayons that I got for $1. I'm excited to finally do some crafts with crayons this summer (hello melted crayon canvases!)

 Very cute hi-low green dress - $4.00

 Long sleeve Mossimo red sweater - $3.00

Blue cardigan sweater - $2.50

And here are my garage sale finds! I LOVE a good bargain! =)

A media storage bookshelf from $20.00

A really cool metal jazz silhouette for my music room - $10.00

Fake fruit - good for tonal recall games -$1.00

Musical story books and a brand new wall calendar (has two calendars in it).
Total for all: $2.35

Happy Retirement!

On the last day of school, one of my sweet 4th {now 5th} graders came up to me on the playground and said:
"See ya next year, Ms. Polete!"
I smiled and responded, "You won't...I won't be here next year! But I hope you have a really fantastic summer!"
Her response was golden. Her face twisted up all confused and she said, "WHAT?!?! You're RETIRING?!?!?"
I just burst out laughing and said, "No! I'm not retiring! I'm only just beginning! I have my own school I'm going to teach at next year."

I don't think my kiddos always understand the concept of student teaching... =)