Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!

Christmas Blessings

I  want to thank all of my readers for their love, support and prayers over the past 10 months and wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Patterned skirt

I've missed posting here. I often think that lately I go to doctor appointments like it is my job! Given that I'm working, too, it doesn't leave a lot of time for other activities, especially blogging.

So, I took advantage of a big mirror and snapped an iphone photo of my outfit while I was waiting in the doctors office.

I really liked this outfit, not only was it comfortable but I also felt put together, stylish and pretty.

Shirt: J.Crew
Skirt: Talbots-thrifted
Booties: Arizona-thrifted
Leather Jacket: ZouZou-thrifted
Bag: Longchamp-thrifted

Family Photos

A post I forgot to make live...and some pictures to share with all my blog friends. 

 Many thanks for the continued prayers, love and support.

I am thankful for so much this holiday season. Love to you all!

Photos by Stephanie Antshel Photography

Mommy, let's make a skirt

This is the first blog post that solely features my daughter. She is an artist and a little fashionista...wonder where that comes from? 

Together we watch Project Runway and independently she "designs" clothes, i.e. she makes drawings of elaborate gowns and asks me to help her sew them.  We went to the fabric store she picked out some fabric and What I was able to do, was help her sew was a simple skirt. She was thrilled!

Such a serious pose, I should know, this is serious business. Note: we had a really warm Saturday morning for November (50 F) so it was easy to take these photos outside. Now, we are back to snow!

Look, I have hair!

These are the most recent pictures I have, I took them yesterday. I was stunned to see my image with all that hair!! You might even think this was an intentional hair style. It's a little bit curly but it is too short to see. I am also amazed that my eyebrows are visible with out any extra makeup. You'd be amazed at what eyebrows do for your face; you don't realize until you lose them!

You can see from the following pictures that snow has arrived and the days are shorter, it is difficult to get photos after work.

I've pulled out the boots, hat and gloves.

Jacket: J.Crew
Pants: LOFT
Purse: Coach-Clothes Mentor
Hat: J.Crew-thrifted
Scarf: thrifted
Boots: Frye via Zappos
Gloves: Aris-thrifted

Many thanks to my readers for your continued love and support through prayers and well wishes. I had my post radiation CT and bone scans and the metastatic cancer is still present but, it has NOT spread. My doctors define it as "stable metastatic lesions". I take my blessings as they come and live one day at a time. I continue to receive monthly infusions and will indefinitely to keep the bone metastasis stable.

Final Fall

I found these pictures on my camera and realized I do have something to post! Our apple tree was very productive this year.

This will be the final post where it looks like fall...we've had snow the last three days with temperatures in the teens (17 F)!

Long gone are the days of a silk blouse and a light jacket with flats and no socks!

Jacket: Brooklyn Industries-gift

Shirt: LOFT

Pants: J Brand

Commentary on Thrifting

I am behind in my blog posting and I have had many good outfits come and go without pictures. I like to take pictures of me actually wearing things; it seems more authentic than just posting a picture of the clothes or adding a polyvore set. So my lack of posting is linked to my lack of photos.

I've taken some time out for thrifting, consignment shop buying and resale store visiting. This activity has got me thinking "what is thrifting?" and how I present the goods I purchase. I don't frequent a lot of different stores but the common theme is that they contain second hand clothing. So, I wonder, how do we define a shop as a thrift shop? Does a consignment store or a resale shop fit into this definition? The online dictionary defines thrifty as: "wise economy in the management of money and other resources; frugality". At all of these stores I pay a fraction of retail (20% or less), so I would consider all of them "thrift shops" where I practice the art of buying fashionable items at a fraction of retail. If you want to call me out on my designation of an item as thrifted when it comes from a consignment or resale shop, go ahead, I'm ready to defend my position.

These are the local shops I frequent, they are located in the town I live or work or are within 10-20 miles:
          

The Key- a church run shop that takes clothing in on consignment and also sells donated clothes.

Worn Again-a church run shop that takes in donated clothing and resells it. (They also have a voucher program where people of need in the community can come and select items for free).

Salvation Army-a full selection thrift store that sells donated items.

Plato's Closet-a franchised resale store for young adults, in general they buy and resell brands that are popular for teens.

The Clothes Mentor- a franchised resale store for women, they buy used items that are up 24 months old.

EcoChic- a consignment store for women's clothing.

Sunshine shop-a church run shop that takes in donated clothing and resells it. 

Encore-a local shop that takes in donated clothing and resells it to donate money back to local symphonic and orchestral groups.

Sandy's Thrift Shop- a women's clothing shop filled with used clothing purchased elsewhere by the owner.


The only place I haven't purchased anything from is Sandy's, the prices are higher than I would pay for the type of merchandise she has selected. I can get those same items at the Salvation Army for a fraction of the price. I totally love that she set up a shop like that in the University town where I teach but, I seriously think she could use me as a consultant or buyer!

I'm really into the Clothes Mentor lately, I find great quality items in brand new condition so I don't mind paying $14 for a J.Crew skirt that retails for $108, or the same for a Tibi dress that retails at around $300.

Love this skirt! Stay tuned for my styling.

I also picked up for $10 a gorgeous Stella and Dot necklace (on left) that retailed for about $200.

I've been to Plato's closet once and came home with unworn black suede Coach wedges, a Longchamp bag and a pair of J.Crew leopard patent leather ballet flats! Not your typical teen brands so I will definitely go back!   

Coach Wedges-$30

Shopping at The Key, trying out a pair of lace shorts, I scored these for four dollars.  Wearing a pair of $1 J. Crew espadrilles purchased at Worn Again.

                                    

So there you have it:  where I get my clothes, what I pay and why I thrift!

Final Days of Fall

I spent some time at the end of October picking grapes, making fresh preserves and steaming them for juice.

YUM!

This bag!

If you are wondering why I would post these outfit pictures looking pretty rumpled and crumpled...

There is a reason....even though I do like these clothes...

This outfit post was brought to you to highlight this like new bag I bought from a resale store* for $30. 

The Longchamp Le Pilage bag, navy with leather accents. In the store I did a quick over view of the bag and was pretty confident it was authentic before laying down my money. Personally and ethically I have a problem with counterfeit goods, to me it is plagiarism and fraud and I wouldn't want to support either.  Once I got home I went online and found a website that had a very comprehensive detailing of fake vs. authentic and everything was perfect. I think I have a good eye and can spot quality and workmanship whether I know the brand or not; this bag had all the hallmarks of quality.

Shirt: J.Crew-fall 2012
Pants: Joe's-thrifted
Leopard belt: Target
Bag: Longchamp-thrifted*

*I have been having an internal dialogue of whether or not something is thrifted if you buy it second hand at a used clothing resale store...more thoughts on that would warrant a full post.

All things pink

This past weekend was an all breast cancer awareness weekend for me, so I spent the days in pink T shirts and athletic wear. Saturday, my daughters' youth soccer program held a "Pink-out" for breast cancer and on Sunday I ran a 5 K to support a fund for breast cancer research.

Some highlights:

"Team Christine"

Click here for the run I sponsored and watch on You-tube a video clip from a story posted on the CMB Breast Cancer Research fund main website.

"Christine and Kelly"

"Grace and Lexi"

Soccer "Pink Out"

You can watch a story about the day with highlights from the Soccer "Pink Out"

Perfectly Fall

I literally threw this outfit together on Tuesday morning and was pleasantly surprised on the very fall-ish vibe it evokes.

The grey of the tree bark, the burnished orange color of the leaves, it all coordinated with this outfit. 

I've had all these items for 5+ years, except the shoes, and it is always great when you can take classic items from your closet and make it look modern with a great pair of new shoes!  

Oh, these ankle strapped heels, I splurged and I LOVE them!

Scarf: (no tag)-Thrifted 
Silk shirt: J.Crew (2007)
Minnie Pants: J.Crew (2008)
Shoes: Sam Edelman (Okala) via Zappos-here they are full price but I was lucky to get them at $85.

Pink for October

You may have seen this coming...I switched up my background color for the month of October, PINK!

I do this all in an effort to raise awareness for breast cancer and hopefully help women prevent this disease.

If you'd like to support breast cancer research in New York state, I am running a 5K race on Sunday, October 13th organized the Carol M. Baldwin foundation and you can become a member of my team, "Team Christine" as an actual or virtual runner.  Click here for the main website or click on "Team Christine", I'm in the top 5 fundraisers so I get my name on the main page of the site!
As always thank you for all the support and prayers from my friends and readers; together we will find a cure.

Peplum and Stripes

I finally thrifted a top to join all of blog land on the peplum trend.

This is the outfit I wore to be interviewed for a story on young women, binge drinking and breast cancer.

If you want to check out the story, click here 

Shirt: Ann Taylor-thrifted

Skirt: Wolford- thrifted

Shoes:  bamboo-thrifted

Gingham and Anchors

I love navy blue, this was a fun outfit for fall that would probably work well for spring.

My hair is really growing in and in certain light it is a full head of hair!! These pictures are a few weeks old so the changes now are really amazing!

Touches of gold help to tie everything together.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and prayers, my radiation is done and I a recovering and regaining strength every day.

Shirt: J.Crew-thrifted

Sweater: F21-thrifted

Pants: J.Crew

Belt: J.Crew

Shoes: Target

Tie Back

I'm back to teaching this semester, only three days a week but, it feels good to be doing what I love.

I added this striped jacket to a simple linen dress for my first back to school outfit. 

I'm behind on my blogging and my blog posts, once I start getting into the swing of things, regular posting should resume.

Jacket: Lillie Bean-local Boutique
Dress: Ann Taylor (very old)
Shoes: Payless

Snap denim with lace

Sporty hat. 

Denim.

Lace. 

Booties.

Check. Check. Check and Check.

This is my favorite outfit of the week...I may have too many trends going on here but I really liked the look and vibe of this outfit.

A seasonal segue into Fall.

Denim shirt: F21
Skirt: Sans souci
Booties: Arizona
Outfit: all Thrifted!

Sunday Silk

Too pale for champagne colored silk? 

A Sunday outfit shot by my sister-in-law.

Skirt and Silk Blouse: J.Crew-thrifted
Shoes: BCBG-thrifted