Goodwill’s Good Exchange to Change Lives VIP Fashion Event

Last night I attended the Goodwill Good Exchange to Change Lives fashion event at Macy’s. This event was packed with great food, fashion, music, wine, prizes and gift bags, all for a good cause! Who could ask for more? All it took to enter was a $10 donation that went directly toward Goodwill’s community programs. What a fabulous event – it was great to be there supporting something so positive.

The event was hosted by Macy’s and emceed by KMGH Channel 7′s morning meteorologist Lisa Hildalgo and Carolyn Strauss, who is an amazing personal shopper, motivational speaker and female entrepreneur extraordinaire.

The night started with a fun fashion show covering some of fall’s newest trends, sprinkled with tips on how to multipurpose the clothes.  One of my favorite tips that Carolyn provided was that you shouldn’t purchase anything if you can’t think of three different ways you can wear it with the clothes currently in your closet.

The fashion show was great, but by far the most inspiring part of the show were the three guest models who been part of Goodwill’s community programs.  These three women have all faced struggles in their life, but through hard work, determination, and a little help from Goodwill to boot, they have come out on top.  It was so encouraging to see these strong women who are confident and have made decisions to turn their difficulties into something positive.  They are following their dreams and looking terrific with their new makeovers!

After the show was over there was one final announcement – Goodwill and Macy’s were teaming up to honor one more strong woman from the Denver community with a full “life”  makeover. Brittany Norton has been through a rough time of it lately – she was hit by a car when she was walking down the street and faced numerous physical injuries, including broken ribs, a punctured lung, and more. Her physical injuries have made life difficult, but throughout her entire ordeal she has kept a positive attitude and a smile on her face. Congrats to you Brittany, you deserve it!

Here’s to Goodwill and Macy’s for hosting an event that was fun, informational, and full of fashion.

Patriotism

Since we just celebrated Independence Day this weekend, I thought I’d talk a little bit about our wonderful country and the surprising amount of patriotic booty I found at my local Goodwill.  I was amazed at how much there was and wanted to let others know about the great stuff you can find on the cheap!

I am going to show a series of various patriotic items I found…and then you can be the judge if you decide to hit the stores when you are feeling red white and blue.

Flags galore!

Ties, small flags, scarves, and bandannas.

Purses, mini footballs, fancy scarves, full size flags!

A handbag, a belt, and even an umbrella.

Patriotic keychains of all types…

In commemoration of the anniversary of the birth of our nation, I got myself patriotic shirt to wear for the fireworks. It’s actually a pretty cool shirt. I think a square scarf in sateen would be a really great accessory.

I hope everyone enjoyed this weekend and took some advantage of our awesome free country and everything it has to offer!  We are the luckiest people in the world.

If you are feeling really patriotic, think about donating to the  Disabled American Veterans or of course Goodwill , where all of your donations go directly to help programs in the community.  Hope you had a very happy 4th!

PEACE OUT!

Goodwill Parker opening and 50% off Sale!

As I’ve mentioned, My mother and I attended to the 50% off sale and grand opening at the Goodwill store located in Parker.  This store just opened and was very popular, with a huge crowd of people looking to shop.  People were definitely excited about the opening! I wanted to take advantage of the new store, the new items and the half off sale.

We walked in, saw that we had missed the opportunity of the 8AM opening, and realized that it is definitely good to come early!  It was good to see, because as a thrifter, you like to have more people getting in on the thrifting trend.  It is encouraging to see that so many people are aware of the positives of shopping at a second-hand store.  The economy might have a lot to do with this shift in attention to good deals.  People don’t have the free money to spend like they once did.  Not only is shopping at Goodwill keeping money local and landfills less full, but people are excited and happy to save money while getting quality items.

We didn’t spend much time in this store, as you could understand, the Prada purse I was considering purchasing was snatched up. We decided to head out and hit a second Goodwill, since all stores had a half off sale.

The second store we visited, on Leetsdale in Denver was not as full.  Even though it was later in the day, which sometimes can mean clothing racks can be depleted,  and we got lucky.  I found some  cute spring clothes, and will happily be sporting them in the near future.

A few things we learned about shopping at half off sales and Grand Openings:

1  Get there when the store opens, so there is more room and  you have first access to all of the best items

2  Attack and conquer.  Go with a partner, that way you can hit separate aisles and shop for both yourself and your partner, thereby shortening the shop time.

3.  Volunteer at the local Goodwill to help out and well as see all the wonderful items that pass through the store!

---

Glitz, Glamour, Good Grub, Goodwill Parker VIP event!

The new Goodwill store in Parker, CO is open, and they’ve started off with a bang!

People have a tendency to assume second hand means second-rate.  As a seasoned thriftier I know that this isn’t always the case, and it definitely wasn’t the case at the newest Goodwill in Parker!  I was lucky enough to attend a pre-opening VIP party  for the new store which featured an ice sculpture, a fashion show, and amazing food with even a live band!

This Goodwill event was such a fun experience!  It was obvious people were truly enjoying themselves in this pristine, sparkling clean creative and near perfect shopping space!

The event began with  the opportunity to enter a raffle drawing for some incredible prizes, including spa fabulous trip to the spa and club level tickets to the Rockies game, and gift certificates to Texas de Brazil.  The attendees then were invited to partake in the fabulous food and delectable desserts, with open bar and beverages. The ribbon cutting commenced with Goodwill’s Interim CEO George Bogdeweicz and Parker Mayor David Casiano, as well as the Parker Chamber of Commerce and the , the mayor and the managers and employees of the new store.  A fun fashion show followed, with all models wearing fabulous Goodwill donations.

After the fashion show, all attendees had open reign to shop for an hour before the event came to an end.  I personally was excited for the shopping to begin and walked away on a shopping high, with a new pair of coach sneakers for a mere $25.00.

The store was so clean, beautiful and with its own personality.  Old streetlights framed the checkout lanes.  The floor was skid-proof and beautiful enough to look like a granite countertop.  I thought it had the look of a a high end department store, with almost-new or brand new clothes, accessories, shoes and  household items.  It was almost overwhelming to try and see everything in the store in a mere hour.

Kudos to the fabulous Goodwill employees who worked night and day to get the store in ship shape, and to all the donors and volunteers who made this a very memorable event.

Visit the Parker Goodwill soon and have a sweet shopping experience.  Say hi to the friendly staff and know you are contributing to the better good when you buy or donate to your local Goodwill!