Spokane Thrift Stores: Corbin Senior Center
I may have a new favorite thrift store in Spokane. Did you know that the Corbin Senior Center has one? The Senior Center is where I am going for my drawing class this summer; every Tuesday at 11, the drawing ladies take a break and go shopping. This week I bought something - a pair of nearly new, made in Italy, Classiques Entier, brown patent “croc” (as in reptile) loafers - for $2! Sorry, no camera today.
Just to review, my favorite Spokane thrift stores:
- Value Village on Boone (9 am on Mondays for the real bargains)
- Bobbi’s (formerly BJs), in the Goodwill on Third
- Salvation Army, both the one on Division and the new one out in the Valley
Apparently, this past intense winter, the Volunteers of America thrift store experienced a roof collapse. No word on re-opening.
Any thrifting tips or finds you’d like to share?
Related Posts:
My Spin on the (Winter Office Party) LBD
LBD = Little Boring Dress
I know we’re a bit behind, but Spokane was closed to a winter weather emergency on the date my hero’s office had scheduled their holiday party. Although the venue changed from the Country Club to Barrister Winery, and the time from just before Christmas, my outfit remained the same:
- dark green satiny shirt dress
- brown suede boots
- skinny brown belt
- enormous gold/purple paisley scarf
What can I say? Sunset magazine says, in an article this month mentioning Barrister Winery (which is a big room with brick walls, wood floors, and exposed beams), Spokane’s dress code is LBD for the symphony and fleece and boots everywhere else. *chuckle* Sad, but true. This outfit combines the idioms.
I never gave my outfit a second thought for the entire evening, including not being too hot or too cold. 
What’s your favorite LBD alternative?
Related Posts:
What’s Ahead in 2009
As of December 30, 2008, via CBS news:
Spokane residents were trying to dig out Tuesday after a month of record-breaking snow collapsed roofs and clogged streets.The center of a snow-laden supermarket roof in north Spokane collapsed Monday evening, prompting the evacuation of that store and adjacent businesses. A fire official said only one minor injury was reported.The roof collapse came as Spokane set a monthly record for snowfall, at 59.7 inches, after 8.3 inches were recorded in the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m. Monday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ellie Kelch. That’s more snow than the area receives in a typical winter.
So that explains alot of my recent absence from blogging. In addition to having beloved family members home from school and work, the holidays, building a long overdue second bathroom, and watching way too much antm on youtube (which I neither recommend nor excuse).
What’s on the horizon:
- The blogging continues. I have paid for another two years of “betweenmypeers.com” ownership and the web hosting. Now if only I understood how to work it all.
- By cleaning up the formatting, adding useful links, and regularly posting on basic concepts, my goal is to sharpen the focus of the blog, continually making it more useful.
- I also intend to make blogging submit to my regular life. Hence, the unannounced “vacation”.
- And speaking of my “regular life”, we will be having a spring wedding in the family. More on that to come.
Allow me to take this opportunity to express just how blessed I feel to have this opportunity for on-going discussion with you. As I wrap up loose ends from the year past (like my busted budget and marathon makeover) and begin thinking on fresh topics (like more posts on fun personality stuff and a possible series on business attire), my question to you is this:
What’s ahead for you in 2009? And what would you like to see here?
Don’t say more pictures of me. My New Year’s resolution is less.
Related Posts:
Have You Ever Wanted a Different Eye Color Temporarily?
Have you ever wished you could change your eye color, just for an evening or even a few minutes? I imagine any number of young ladies were thinking that a few weeks ago, as they were auditioning to be Disney princesses.
Spokane is pretty white. I don’t mean to be racist or anything, but there are times when I wonder things like: can you have a blue-eyed Pocahontas? I mean, you can always put a wig on somebody, but changing eye color isn’t an everyday thing.
Ah, but it could be! In our increasingly competitive world, 15-year-olds could stand out from the pack (or blend in with it) by wearing colored contacts. Play with different eye color looks at lensshoppers virtual color studio.
Now I’m wondering, since it’s Tuesday and we’re thinking about young people, do you think it’s wrong for parents to allow kids to change their eye color? Does it make a difference if they wear contacts anyway?
As I look at what’s changed in the world just in the recent past, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if colored contacts became as common as body piercing or tattoos.
Related Posts:
How to Order a Latte
How life goes: yesterday my daughter had a fabulous idea for a Teen-Style Tuesday post and this afternoon we were going to shoot it. Instead, my other daughter got released from work early (she’s a nanny and the kids’ dad got some time off), so the two ladies went thrifting. I could have gone, but I had to wash my hair. Okay, that was probably over-share.
While aimlessly floating around the blogosphere, looking for inspiration for a teen-oriented post that does not require a model, I encounter The Oracle of Starbucks, via Fabulously Broke in the City. What a cute concept! Too bad it’s so poorly done.
(Disclaimer: while I do believe that our choices reveal something about what’s going on inside, I would never advise seeking supernatural wisdom apart from God. That would be foolish. This is just for fun.)
What the oracle said about me:
Personality type: Clueless
You don’t go to Starbucks much; when you do you just tag along with other people since you have nothing better to do. You would like to order a Tazo Chai Crème but don’t know how to pronounce it. Most people who drink short double split shot mocha breve are strippers.
Also drinks: Wine coolers
Can also be found at: The mall
Now, since ordering a latte is an important skill for a teen to master, at least here in The Great Northwest, I will walk you through my order and the reasoning behind it, proving that I indeed have a clue.
Short: a short is an 8 ounce cup. If you choose to order a short, you may have to explain that to the person behind the counter. Many coffee houses start their sizes at 10 or 12 ounces.
Always give the size of the beverage first!
Double: two shots of espresso. When ordering a hot drink, I always order one shot for every 4 ounces, for iced I add an extra 4 ounces. Most people consider this pretty intense.
Split-shot: half regular, half de-caf. Depending on how much caffeine I have already had, and whether I want to be bothered adding extra syllables to my order, I may leave this out.
Mocha: The simple reason I order mocha? It’s way too easy to get a flavored latte too sweet. Chocolate syrup is less sugary.
Breve: simply means use half & half instead of milk. Yum!
One thing the oracle said was true: I don’t go to Starbucks much. For the money, there are lots of places around here to get superior coffee.
What’s your order? Don’t worry, I won’t use it against you.
Related Posts:
Kohl’s August Secret Sale
Starting today, August 15th, Kohl’s customers will automatically get 15% off if they use their Kohl’s charge.
What else Kohl’s is keeping secret: when they plan to open their Spokane store. But with today being the final day of the job fair, it must be coming soon.Do you shop at Kohl’s? Have any tips to share?
Related Posts:
Spokane Thrift Stores: Volunteers of America
Not for the faint of heart, the Spokane Volunteers of America Thrift Store is one of three major thrifting spots within blocks of each other, along Boone just north of downtown. Not for the faint of heart because it’s just not as convenient in some ways.
The inconveniences:
- having to ask for the fitting room to be unlocked
- they don’t take checks
- they do take credit cards, but not at every register
- no parking lot. There is plenty of free on-street parking, but you may be forced to parallel park if it’s busy.
- the racks are not sized. They are, however, colorized and sorted and labeled by category.
All that said, if you are up to the challenge, they have a variety of treasures you may not find elsewhere. The prices aren’t necessarily the best, but the day I stopped all white tags were 50% off. This Ann Taylor pink silk sheath said “soiled” on the tag (I have yet to find where it’s soiled) and was priced $4.95 on a white tag. With tax it was $2.72.
- Yesterday I wore it Summer Day Wedding style - with vintage pearls, bag, and shoes - when our church received our new pastor.
- For this Friday’s Fashion Lab, I will use this dress to test my theory that a single dress can cover the four seasons.
Related Posts:
Closing the Space
It’s a lonely world out there. Moving from strangers to acquaintances to friends is a process that takes time and effort (hopefully NOT money), but offers immense benefits. Some practical thoughts to get you started:
- Sit by someone you don’t know, when attending an event where you know most people.
- When you run into someone you recognize, but don’t necessarily remember, introduce yourself. Repeat as necessary.
- Address people by name. Smile.
- When selecting a seat, why leave a space between? If you like the person, just go in and sit next to them as if you were their friend.
- Drive together, like to meetings and parties.
- Schedule regular times with your friends, even if they aren’t frequent. Make it a tradition, like coffee on the first day of school or lunch the third Friday of every month.
- When you have enough friends, continue to watch for those who may not.
One more suggestion: if you and I are acquainted, try leaving a comment here. It’s almost like real conversation.
I’m republishing this post from December 2005 (from the first two weeks of the blog). I still love it!
What thoughts would you add?
Related Posts:
Fabulous!
This week’s fabulous! festival is up at Thriftyspend. Jody at Gumbo Lily sent in lovely photos for a fashion lab this Friday. My friend MamaArcher moved away from here, landed in Texas, and remarkably made friends with Kim at Life in a Shoe. And Jenn at Frugal Upstate has declared a Fashion Week.
It’s all good blog news. So what could be better?
The Space Between My Peers made the local newspaper.
Frank Sennett, who writes the Spokesman Review’s Blogspotter column, featured this blog in his column this week. And he didn’t make me sound stupid (thanks, Frank!) The funny thing is, it didn’t even occur to me until after I had done the email interview that perhaps it was for the newspaper and not just for online. He hee.
Then a real life friend sent the nicest email and said she learned something about me from the newspaper. Hey, bloggers, here’s a question for you: do all your RLFs know you blog? How did you tell them?
Related Posts:
Spokane Thrift Stores: BJs at Goodwill on 3rd
Located between Spokane landmark Dick’s Hamburgers and the vacated former Costco building on Third Avenue, the original Spokane Goodwill is worth popping in to anytime you happen to be in the vicinity. For me, that’s weekly. What if you only have a few minutes? Just park on the street or in their generous parking lot and run into Bj’s, the local boutique division of Goodwill, about which I found this quote in Goodwill’s From Yesterday to Today page:
Also in 1998, Goodwill opened Bj’s next to the downtown Spokane Goodwill store. The specialty boutique features Victorian décor, an espresso bar, and higher-end clothing, vintage jewelry, art and antiques, books, furniture and collectibles. The opening received enthusiastic local publicity. Bj’s is named after President and CEO Bobbi Johnson.
Offering quality name-brand items, many with tags still attached, as well as vintage clothing, Bj’s also has a women’s plus size section just inside the door, to the right. Unfortunately they have yet to implement sizing the racks, although the main store is starting to do that now. Also, the last time I was in there the espresso bar was torn apart. But espresso isn’t what we’re after anyway, is it?
Be warned: next week, June 4th - 8th, 2007, the parking lot will be being paved.
Bj’s, the local name for the boutique division of Goodwill, not to be confused with BJ’s Wholesale Club, which I had never before heard of.
