Comparison Shopping

Winter is coming and isn't it time for a new coat?  The trend I like this year is ruffles!  Here's a coat I found on Macys.com.  It's a DKNY wool/cashmere blend coat with a pretty ruffle down the front.  It comes in both black and gray.  Unfortunately, it retails for $420!  It's currently on sale for $289.99.  Still --- alot of money!






  So here's your inexpensive alternative.  It's not a name brand, but I've found I like the Avenue's coats.  It also comes in black and gray, and is a wool/polyester blend.  It has a slightly different ruffle down the front, plus the tie belt looks great!  Retails for $129!

People

This post isn't about clothes, shopping, or even money.  Really, in the scheme of things - what are those things worth?  We go through life in our society today, looking across the street to see what the neighbors are doing, is their lawn neater than ours, are their kids successful in more activities, they painted their living room - maybe it's time to do mine again?  Do we decorate our homes not only to comfort ourselves, but in equal measure to please our company?  Is that new dress for me - or is it for people to look and admire me? Our skies change from morning to night, sometimes we look up and the moon has changed too. The weather transforms as the seasons pass, and we glimpse time getting ahead of us.  Life marches on, indeed, it often falters along.  Do we turn around often enough to look behind us, to see the people we've encountered along the way?  Are the children we see behind us, and in front of us for our future, are they thanked often enough for just being the people that they are?  The families we've been a part of, do we acknowledge their value in our lives?  And for the close friends that often provide the conversation and support, whether it's daily or just a couple of times a year, do we realize the significance of those brief or infrequent times enough?  Because after you remove all the trappings - the tangibles; clothes, new TVs, all that stuff  - what's left?  It's the people.  So ask yourself, have I thanked these people - because really what is a lifetime?

Ebay - No It's Not Clothes!

I'm on vacation for a couple of days and just laying in bed surfing ebay.  Surprisingly enough, I'm not looking at clothes or toys for my grandson!  I was looking for magnet art for my frig.  While I didn't find what I was looking for, I ran across a couple of magnet ideas that I thought were cute or interesting!  

                                                          
This first one was this set of interchangeable pinup-like girl magnets.  You can move them around, give them mismatched swimsuits or poses.  But the nuance I liked most about these was the all around rounding shape of the magnets --- which really reflected the curves of a woman's body.  An artistic statement and unconscious soulmate that the manufacturer may not have realized they were doing.  These are not the standard flat commercial interchangeable magnets that you see in gift sets!        

                 

                                                                             

Next, OMG, check out these; literally "refrigerator" magnets (and a dishwasher one)!!!  These refrigerator magnets come in different scenes and cover the entire front of your frig!  They come in sets for both the refrigerators with the freezer above the frig part and for side-by-side frigs.  Although the prints for the refrigerators are not as updated and current decorator style as the dishwashers below, it's still a neat idea!




These are the "designer" like magnetic fronts for dishwashers.  These had more of an updated decorator look to them.  One was a scrolling type print and the other was a front you could put on your dishwasher to make it look like stainless steel! 

Amazing --- who thinks of these things?!