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Cheap And Easy Fashion With Free (Vintage) Accessories

You too can beautifully stare off into the middle distance with a cool cuff.My aunt has been the keeper of a lot of my grandmother’s and great grandmother’s jewelry.

My great grandmother liked the flashy costume stuff, my grandmother prefered the earthy or antique-y things as a general rule. Some pieces are easy to attibute to one woman or the other but others are a little more difficult.

Recently, my aunt cleaned out her collection and via my mother passed on some things to me.

It was perfect timing, since I have been feeling the urge to buy new clothes but having neither the money to buy them or place to put them.

Free As A Business Model

There are whole groups of people who have embraced the idea of ‘free’…none more so than personal finance bloggers and their followers.

I subscribe to three blogs (Money Saving Mom, Northern Cheapskate, and Bargain Briana) if only for their tips on getting free stuff (iced mochas at McDonalds and free Redbox rental on Mondays, for examples!).

And anytime I put the word ‘free’ in a blog post, hits go way up. And I’m pretty sure that other bloggers have the same experience.

In the Boston Globe (June 28, 2009) was an interesting article called ‘The Future Of Free’. Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, recently wrote a book called “Free: The Future of a Radical Price”. The premise:

Shameless Promotion: First Day Of Sun Edition

Those of you in the Northeast (and even elsewhere) may have noticed it’s been raining for about a month.

Here in Maine, we had our wetest June on record, and today for the first time, we all saw blue sky. Needless to say, people were pretty happy and it felt like we were all caught up in the sappiness of a Disney movie. It made me think about being grateful for things we normally take forgranted.

Some cool things from around the internet this week:

Money Saving Links

Not Driving Your Less-Frugal Friends Crazy (Wisebread)
I feel like such a putz when I can’t join my friends for breakfast out, but Wisebread addresses the issue of watching spending without making friends feel bad about theirs.

This Week In Business: A Clear Message

This week was a week of getting clearer, messagewise that is. As my first big work deadline looms next week, here’s what else has been going on:

I had a great lunch with someone who’s been where I’ve been and wants to help.

Last week, I had lunch with John Lawrence, the Executive Director of the Mount Desert Chamber of Commerce.

I met him at a Business After Hours with the Chamber and he asked me to let him know how he could help me out. Being the honest, straightforward person I am, I called him on it. And last Thursday, I did what I often do with people I know I want to get information from: I bought him lunch and picked his brain.

Too Cute Tuesday: Grommeted Pillows

This week, Craft Central moved to a different location as Nicole was visiting her ancestral home of Fort Kent, Maine. Nicole’s Mom (also known as Karen) came up with the craft and cocktail and Nicole’s sister (also known as Michelle) was the grommet expert/picture taker for the event.

Nothing like drinking cocktails with your family and completing a houseware project at the same time!

Nicole and Nicole's mom holding up Nicole's mom's successful project. The best thing about moms? They let you hold up a project like you helped when all you did was walk in the room when the photo was taken.

Review of BudgetPulse Software

My buddy Craig is the Marketing Director at a site called BudgetPulse and sent me a nice request to review the software on the site. The company has recently revamped it and he wanted to know what I thought.

Personally, I’ve been a little bored with my current budget spreadsheet so the timing was perfect.

Ok, I’m just going to say it: this is slick and I think I am going to make the switch from my spreadsheets to this online system. And you know how resisitant I am to change so this has got to be good, right?

BudgetPulse shows you your budget, expenses, and income in both linear and graphical formats. This kicks my Excel spreadsheet's butt!

Book Review: Eccentric Glamour

Eccentric Glamour has been a fun book to carry around, but be prepared to be disappointed whenever you have to stop reading it.My friend Jessica and I had breakfast the other day when she passed me this book across the table.

“You have to read this!” she said.

So I started reading it Thursday, and I couldn’t stop. The first line of the book:

“Why wouldn’t you want to be one of those fabulous people, the life enhancers, the people who look interesting and smell luscious and who dare to be gorgeously more fascinating than their neighbors?”

The book is written by Simon Doonan, who is the creative director at Barneys New York and instantly becomes the reader’s fabulous gay best friend with his knowledge and his tone, respectively.

I seemed to giggle every four or five pages, which went between ridiculous stories, sound advice, and interviews of fellow “eccentric glamour”ous people.

What I’ve Learned Losing 25 Pounds

Over the course of the last eight months, I have lost 25 pounds. It’s been gradual and since I wasn’t really large to begin with, not many people have noticed. I’ve barely noticed even, and haven’t even thought to write about it until now.

I had to dig way back to December 2007 for a before photo because I apparently stopped taking pictures of myself at one point. Now I'm feeling a lot better about my health...and about getting my photo taken!

I saw an old friend the other day who has been in Florida all winter. “I can’t believe how much weight you’ve lost; you look great!” she said, which reminded me of my accomplishment.

Long time blog readers know I’ve been working on this for awhile. Here’s how I finally did it:

What I've Learned Losing 25 Pounds

Over the course of the last eight months, I have lost 25 pounds. It’s been gradual and since I wasn’t really large to begin with, not many people have noticed. I’ve barely noticed even, and haven’t even thought to write about it until now.

I had to dig way back to December 2007 for a before photo because I apparently stopped taking pictures of myself at one point. Now I'm feeling a lot better about my health...and about getting my photo taken!

I saw an old friend the other day who has been in Florida all winter. “I can’t believe how much weight you’ve lost; you look great!” she said, which reminded me of my accomplishment.

Long time blog readers know I’ve been working on this for awhile. Here’s how I finally did it:

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